Capítulo 303: Chapter 303: 20+20+20
"Damn!" Coach D'Antoni cursed.
He had reminded his players to watch out for Wade Dong's passes, but after the timeout, the Suns' first score still came from Wade Dong's precise pass.
And so...
The 10-point lead held until the end of the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Both teams started the fourth quarter with their bench players, except for the Suns, who kept Wade Dong on the court.
Durant noticed Wade Dong on the court and whispered to Coach Gentry, "Coach, if needed, I can play over 40 minutes per game."
"Me too," Curry added.
Coach Gentry smiled and waved them off, "We have the lead, so rest up and get ready. The team will rely on you guys in critical moments!"
In the first game of the new season, Coach Gentry wanted to play it safe.
Keeping Wade Dong on the court gave him the most peace of mind.
Midway through the season, Coach Gentry might experiment with the lineup, perhaps letting Curry and Wade Dong take turns leading the bench players. After all, they were the only two players on the team who could play the point guard position.
The Suns' regular rotation of twelve players:
- Shooting Guards: Curry, McGrady, Carter, Wade Dong.
- Small Forwards: Tucker, Thompson, Durant, McGrady, Carter, Wade Dong.
- Power Forwards: Green, Durant, Gortat, Wade Dong.
- Centers: Frye, Gortat, Whiteside, Wade Dong.
This showed that the Suns had the fewest options at the point guard position.
In the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the lineups were:
- Lakers: Marshall, Nick Young, Farmar, Harden, Gasol.
- Suns: Wade Dong, Carter, Tucker, Gortat, McGrady.
The Lakers had the ball.
Nick Young dribbled to the frontcourt, with Wade Dong defending him.
Nick Young trash-talked Wade Dong, "I'm going to score on you!"
"Is it hard to score?" Wade Dong chuckled and replied, "I already have 17 assists in this game."
"Can you get 17 assists in an entire season?"
Seeing Nick Young's expression, Wade Dong offered some consolation, "It's not that hard."
This comment was quite devastating.
Nick Young's dribble became unstable, and he lost the ball.
Wade Dong bent down and stole the ball, then passed it ahead to Carter, who drove for an easy layup.
"Look..."
Wade Dong smiled at Nick Young, "I have 18 assists now."
With four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Suns led 93:76.
The Suns had extended their lead to 17 points, and as the Lakers' hopes of winning faded, Coach D'Antoni quickly brought back his starters.
Kobe and Gasol checked back in.
The Suns also made substitutions, bringing back the 'Death Lineup': Wade Dong, Curry, Thompson, Durant, and Green.
The Suns' offensive capability with this lineup left Coach D'Antoni feeling hopeless.
In fact, this lineup had been dominating all season. Curry and Thompson had already broken out, showcasing the power of the 'Splash Brothers'. But now, the Suns also had Wade Dong and Durant.
In the new season's top ten player rankings, Wade Dong was first and Durant third, which spoke volumes.
After the Lakers brought in their starters, Kobe switched to isolation mode.
This was Coach D'Antoni's strategy, giving Kobe the green light to shoot, as Gasol and Howard provided enough rim protection.
But Coach D'Antoni was wrong.
After Kobe missed a fadeaway jumper, Wade Dong grabbed an offensive rebound between Gasol and Howard.
Wade Dong dribbled the ball up the court, facing Kobe's help defense. He made a behind-the-back pass to Durant, who easily scored a layup.
The Suns led 95:76.
The Lakers trailed by 19 points.
The Suns entered the fourth quarter with a lead and had yet to lose a game this season.
This game was no exception.
Coach D'Antoni kept drawing up plays, but against a team with Wade Dong, Durant, and Curry, most tactics seemed ineffective.
The Suns led 113:92 with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Suns subbed in their bench players: Thompson, Frye, Tucker, Whiteside, and Varejao.
The Lakers also brought in their bench.
The game was essentially over, and the 21-point lead continued to grow in garbage time!
Beep!
The final whistle blew, and the game ended.
The Suns won 119:95.
In the highly anticipated matchup touted as a Western Conference Finals preview, the Suns dominated the Lakers by 24 points in the first game of the regular season.
The game's stats:
- Wade Dong: 21 points, 20 rebounds, 21 assists, 5 steals, 6 blocks.
- Durant: 29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
- Curry: 23 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks.
- Kobe: 31 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks.
- Howard: 22 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks.
- Harden: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks.
Kobe had the highest score with 31 points, but Wade Dong's scoring wasn't particularly impressive. Durant, Kobe, Curry, and even Howard had more points than Wade Dong.
However, Wade Dong was undoubtedly the game's MVP.
A 20+20+20 performance!
The last player to achieve this was Chamberlain! In the last thirty years, no player had recorded three 20+ stats in the same game.
Wade Dong's performance in this game reminded people of Jordan in the 80s. When the Bulls' point guard was injured, Jordan played the point guard position and recorded 10 triple-doubles in 11 games. Now, Wade Dong was playing point guard, and this was just the first game...
Not only did Wade Dong achieve three 20+ stats, but he also had 5 steals and 6 blocks.
In this relatively easy game, Wade Dong set a record that was almost impossible to surpass.
Post-Game
After the game, the players briefly attended a press conference before heading home.
However, the Suns players didn't rush home after the game.
They waited to celebrate with Wade Dong, as his 20+20+20 performance was a historic moment.
"Holy sh*t!"
Wade Dong found his Lamborghini stuffed with popcorn in the underground parking lot and cursed, "Who the hell did this?"
"Hahaha..."
His teammates, including Coach Gentry, appeared at that moment.
"Congratulations, Big Brother Dong, on your 20+20+20 performance!"
"Congratulations, but..."
Wade Dong added with a hint of concern, "Don't waste food like this. Your country is still relatively poor."
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