On the court, the two teams faced off for a jump ball at center court.
Yao Ming looked at Tang Long before him, a smile playing on his lips.
"Tang Long, I absolutely won't let you have this jump ball."
"Then let's try, Brother Yao, I'm not afraid of you!"
Tang Long's face was also full of smiles.
As the referee's whistle blew, the basketball was tossed high into the air.
Tang Long's ascent speed was clearly much faster than Yao Ming's.
Despite Yao Ming's height advantage, he was at a disadvantage against Tang Long's extreme leaping ability.
Ultimately, the ball was tipped into Larry Hughes' hands.
Larry Hughes dribbled the ball up the court.
Arriving at the frontcourt, Tang Long had already established position in the paint and called for the ball from Larry Hughes.
Larry Hughes estimated the distance between the two.
At this distance, there was practically no chance of getting the ball through, and the possibility of a steal was too high.
He passed the ball to James, who organized the offense.
Seeing Tang Long call for the ball, James didn't hesitate and lofted a high pass to Tang Long in the paint.
This game was a Dragon Country derby between Tang Long and Yao Ming.
James could completely understand Tang Long's excitement in this game.
Tang Long received James's high lob pass.
He then used his back and shoulders to press against Yao Ming behind him, feeling the intensity of Yao Ming's defense.
Yao Ming pushed Tang Long's shoulder with his hands and said softly, "Don't think you can score easily."
Tang Long backed down, exerting force backward with his body. His formidable core strength even made Yao Ming retreat repeatedly.
Yao Ming was very tall and weighed as much as a power center, but his lower body strength was slightly weaker.
Facing such a powerful back-to-the-basket move from Tang Long, even he could only retreat without any room to resist.
Tang Long seized the opportunity, took two steps back, and directly chose a fadeaway jump shot.
Yao Ming, watching Tang Long fade away for a jump shot, couldn't help but chuckle. This move looked familiar; he himself loved using it against O'Neal and others.
The next moment, Yao Ming stretched out his arm, attempting to block Tang Long. However, he couldn't block this kind of shot at all and could only try his best to contest, hoping Tang Long would miss.
To Yao Ming's disappointment, as the sound of the ball swishing through the net echoed, Tang Long scored first.
"Brother Yao, I scored first this time, no need to be polite!"
Tang Long laughed heartily.
Yao Ming looked at the smile on Tang Long's face and feigned anger, "Good kid, you just wait, I'll teach you how to play in the post later!"
With that, Yao Ming took the ball and prepared to inbound from the baseline.
Zhang Weiping's voice simultaneously rang out from the broadcast booth. He couldn't help but sigh, "This is what our Dragon Country derby looks like! Tang Long's low-post offense is now masterful; he's playing so effortlessly against an inside giant like Da Yao!"
Weiping praised Tang Long with satisfaction.
He had been following Tang Long's performance since his very first game.
As Tang Long played better and better, his affection for Tang Long grew.
Although there was still a gap in fame between Tang Long and Yao Ming, there was no doubt that Tang Long was more suited to the intensity and rhythm of the NBA earlier than Yao Ming.
His formidable physical qualities and individual abilities gave him an absolute advantage in this regard.
Looking at the excited Tang Long, a smile flickered across LeBron James's face.
He understood the importance of this game to Tang Long.
He didn't mind being the supporting actor for Tang Long in this game.
Nearly 1.3 billion people across the ocean were watching this game; it was a superpower!
This was also the reason for Tang Long's excitement, and James would not steal his teammate's spotlight at this moment.
And at this very moment, both teams had tacitly chosen to feed the ball to Tang Long and Yao Ming.
Allowing them to showcase their strongest abilities!
The Rockets had possession.
This time, Yao Ming chose to establish position in the low post. Alston passed the ball directly to Yao Ming with a bounce pass.
As soon as Yao Ming caught the ball, the Rockets players immediately ran to the other half of the court.
They completely cleared Yao Ming's area, allowing him to single-handedly guard Tang Long with peace of mind.
Yao Ming held the ball with his back to the basket. He first used his shoulder to push Tang Long behind him, testing his strength.
But he clearly sensed that Tang Long's strength was much greater than during the World Championships.
It had to be said that Tang Long had made tremendous progress during this period!
In this situation, driving to the basket head-on was definitely not Yao Ming's style.
He used his right foot as a pivot and chose to turn and face the basket.
Yao Ming's face-up game was much more refined than Tang Long's.
Coupled with Yao Ming's height and wingspan, his face-up offensive success rate was very high.
In this position, Yao Ming's face-up offense was actually more threatening than his back-to-the-basket game.
Watching Yao Ming do a few probing steps in front of him, presenting a triple-threat stance.
Tang Long felt the same helplessness he experienced against O'Neal at this moment.
A 229cm giant center could perform such moves; it was simply unbelievable.
He couldn't guard him already, and now he had such offensive skills.
Facing Tang Long's defense, Yao Ming chose a direct pull-up fadeaway jump shot.
Tang Long jumped, having already tried his best to block Yao Ming, but he still had no effective way to counter Da Yao's fadeaway jumper.
After all, Da Yao's fadeaway jumper was too difficult to defend.
A 229cm giant playing a fadeaway, the defensive difficulty was evident.
And in this game, Yao Ming's shooting touch was hot.
He calmly made the first shot, and the score became 2:2.
For a moment, the Chinese spectators on the sidelines began to cheer for Yao Ming.
"Well done! Yao Ming!"
"You must win, you are the number one center in the NBA!"
"Come on, come on, give that kid Tang Long a good lesson."
They sang the Yao Song in the arena.
Hearing the Yao Song in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was indeed a comical sight.
But it also proved how popular Yao Ming was throughout the United States, including within the Chinese community.
Looking at Yao Ming who had just made his shot, Tang Long smiled and said, "Brother Yao, your fadeaway jumper is too unfair! With such height, using a fadeaway jumper, it's impossible to contest!"
Yao Ming's strongest asset was his extreme height, which perfectly blended with his shooting.
As a power center, he possessed such a soft touch and accurate shooting ability.
This, in a large part, already made his performance exceptional!
Moreover, his physical confrontation ability was also very strong, capable of going head-to-head with many elite interior players in the league.
This was why he could become a top-tier center in active play!
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