"I..."
Antoine Jamison looked at Wade, then at Doc Rivers, hesitated, and decided to play: "Coach, I'm willing to play."
Jamison turned his head, not daring to look Wade and James in the eye. However, it was a critical moment for him to renew his contract with the Wizards, and his All-Star performance was crucial for his upcoming contract, so he hesitated for only a moment before deciding to play.
It was just a matter of pride, too childish.
Jamison muttered to himself, finding a reason that made him feel comfortable.
Garnett grinned triumphantly, clearly satisfied with the current lineup, and not forgetting to wink and provoke Wade and the others.
"You traitor."
Wade cursed, but Kidd pulled him back.
The bigger picture matters.
Soon, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the fourth quarter.
...
"Doc Rivers' lineup for the fourth quarter is a bit baffling."
In the broadcast booth, Zhang Zhidao frowned.
Logically speaking, Tang Long was the top vote-getter, and his playing ability was undoubtedly top-notch, so there was no issue of skill inferiority. He didn't play in the third quarter, so he should have been on the court at the start of the fourth quarter. However, the lineup in the fourth quarter was mainly based on the Celtics' core, which was perplexing.
This is an All-Star game, not a regular season game, so why build a Celtics core.
"Do you think the Celtics' Big Three are more familiar with each other and have better chemistry on both offense and defense?"
Yu Jia thought for a moment, and this seemed to be the only explanation that made some sense.
"While this may be more beneficial for offense, it doesn't make much sense to do this in an All-Star game. After all, the outcome is not important, and everyone is more interested in star matchups. With Wade, James, and Tang Long all on the bench, this also goes against the purpose of the All-Star game."
Yang Yi felt this explanation was a bit far-fetched, but after all, it was a broadcast, and tens of millions of people across the country were watching the game. Ambiguous remarks were not suitable for broadcast as they could easily cause controversy.
"Let's wait and see. Perhaps Doc Rivers plans to use a surprise tactic to confuse the opponents."
...
After the three Celtics players took the court, the situation was no longer so passive, but in terms of chemistry, Jamison and Howard clearly lacked it with the Big Three.
Howard, being a showman, no longer passed the ball. He either went for it himself or missed his shots.
After a few plays, the Big Three simply stopped passing to the two of them and started running their own plays.
Three against five, and the opponents were the strongest stars in the Western Conference, the situation was very passive, and they couldn't score at all. Ray Allen's three-point shot was also cold, clanging off the rim.
After missing a few shots, the Western Conference players scored consecutively, and the Eastern Conference All-Stars quickly fell behind by twenty points.
This time, even the bench players couldn't sit still.
Both teams were comprised of top players in the league, and losing by a few points wouldn't be a big deal, but being swept by twenty points was a loss of face.
Who wasn't a star?
"Coach, I think you should make some substitutions now."
Tang Long stood up and walked to Doc Rivers.
Rivers' face darkened, and he remained silent.
He had thought that with the Big Three, plus Jamison and Howard, they could at least stabilize the situation, but the players were playing individually, and they were immediately hit by a scoring run from the Western Conference stars right after coming onto the court.
Worse yet, the Big Three couldn't break through the defense. If this continued, he might become the losingest coach in All-Star game history.
If he angered Stern, his coaching career would be difficult.
"Wait a moment longer."
Rivers was still unwilling to give up and wanted to observe a little longer. After all, if he sent Tang Long and the others onto the court at this time, it would prove that his decision was wrong, and Tang Long and the others would be emboldened.
He also cared about his reputation, so Rivers directly refused Tang Long.
Tang Long glanced at him and sat back down.
"We can see that the Eastern Conference All-Stars are struggling to score. Although Garnett is a strong player, he is having a lot of trouble facing Duncan and Yao Ming on the Western Conference All-Stars. He has very few opportunities to shoot. Why isn't Rivers making substitutions at this point?"
The commentator was puzzled. Even he knew that substitutions should be made now, but Rivers seemed indifferent.
Not only were the live commentators confused, but even the domestic fans were getting anxious.
What was Rivers thinking?
Why wasn't Tang Long playing?
After all, a large part of the fans' passion for watching the game was because of Tang Long and Yao Ming on the court. With Tang Long off the court, what was the point of watching the game?
The comments in the live stream chat were scrolling rapidly, with most of them questioning Rivers, and some of the more hot-tempered fans were already cursing!
Of course, at this time, there were always "reasonable and objective" people who chimed in.
"What do you guys know? Can't a professional coach see better than you? If you're so good, why don't you become coaches."
"The Cavaliers had a thirty-game winning streak, but they mostly played weak teams. How can they be as stable as the Celtics? Now that even the Big Three can't break through, what good would Tang Long do if he came on?"
"It's not just because there are so many Chinese fans that Tang Long and Yao Ming were voted into the All-Star game. The coach knows their true abilities."
At this moment, the haters clearly had the upper hand.
"Exactly. Aren't the foreign fans watching the game live more knowledgeable than you?"
The haters brought out their favorite argument of "foreign fans" again.
However, this time the haters were disappointed, because the fans at the scene were also very dissatisfied with Rivers' decision.
"Why isn't James playing?"
"We want to see Wade."
"Quickly put Tang back on. We don't want to watch such ugly offense."
Compared to the cheers of the Western Conference fans, the Eastern Conference fans were extremely unhappy at this moment.
They had expected a feast for the eyes, but the fan-voted starters weren't playing, and they were already trailing by twenty points in an All-Star game.
This implied that the East was inferior to the West, and how could people be satisfied with that?
Listening to the boos filling the arena, Doc Rivers' face was grim. If he substituted Tang Long and the others now, it would mean that he had made a mistake before, which would be a direct slap in the face!
Doc Rivers gritted his teeth and held on. Even if he had to make substitutions, it couldn't be a change made because of fan pressure, otherwise, where would he hide his old face?
In the brief moment of hesitation, Kobe hit another mid-range shot, widening the gap to twenty-five points.
The situation on the court was passive, and the offense couldn't break through.
Howard simply stopped running to the basket and shot whenever he got the ball.
Long-range shooting was not his strength, and he could only miss wildly.
Jamison didn't want to play anymore. If he continued to play, let alone a big contract for renewal, it was uncertain whether his salary could be higher than it was now!