บท 55: Chapter 55: Nash Gets Knocked Down
The timeout ended!
The Spurs strengthened their perimeter offense, just as Popovich had said. With Wade Dong playing the power forward position, the Suns had one less perimeter defender.
First, Parker hit a mid-range jumper, followed by Leonard's jump shot.
However, these two baskets did not solve the Spurs' problems. The current situation was that the Spurs could not defend against Iverson on the perimeter and could not stop Wade Dong in the paint.
If the Suns had played like this from the first game, Popovich would have surely found a solution, given the Spurs' deep roster. But since this change came in the fifth game, they could only rely on the players' adaptability on the court.
The biggest drawback of the Suns' current lineup was probably their lack of bench depth.
The first quarter ended.
29:21!
The Suns led the Spurs by eight points.
At the start of the second quarter, Iverson and Nash were both resting on the bench. Due to the Suns' lack of bench depth, Wade Dong was on the court right from the start of the second quarter. He did not want to rest, could not rest, and did not need to rest.
At this point, the Suns' backcourt consisted of Wade Dong and Dudley, while the frontcourt had Gortat, Frye, and Lopez. This lineup had the height but was much slower, so at the start of the second quarter, Ginobili scored two consecutive layups with his snake-like drives.
The Spurs' bench was about to cheer, but Wade Dong responded with a quick pull-up three-pointer.
34:25!
This made the Spurs players realize that although Wade Dong was playing the power forward position this game, he was still one of the league's top shooting guards.
The atmosphere on the court was tense!
The Spurs were fighting with their backs against the wall, and the Suns wanted to win this game and avoid returning to their home court.
Ginobili entered his scoring mode, living up to his nickname "The Argentine Assassin." But Wade Dong was not to be outdone. Whenever Ginobili scored, Wade Dong responded with a mid-range jumper or a three-pointer.
The bench players played for five minutes, and the lead remained around ten points. The starters returned to the court.
At this point, Wade Dong was back at the power forward position, going head-to-head with Duncan.
If this were pre-injury Duncan, he might have been able to match Wade Dong, but the current Duncan, despite his height and wingspan advantage, struggled against Wade Dong, who had Olajuwon's various skill packages.
Fake, fake, another fake, three consecutive fake moves finally shook Duncan off, and Wade Dong jumped up for a folding dunk!
"Damn!!!"
The Suns' bench waved their towels and stood up. This dunk was too impressive!
After landing, Wade Dong leaned in and whispered to Duncan, "Idol, this is no longer your era."
Wade Dong's taunt left Duncan silent.
However, Duncan responded with a turnaround jumper, as if to tell Wade Dong that this was still his territory!
The Spurs tried to catch up, but they could not stop the Suns' offensive momentum.
The NBA has a magical phenomenon where any player playing alongside Nash can elevate their game, a testament to Nash's leadership. But throughout his career, Nash had never encountered a situation like this, with two super scorers like Wade Dong and Iverson by his side.
Now, with Wade Dong and Iverson scoring inside and outside, along with Hill and Gortat, this team's scoring ability was unmatched in the league.
Wade Dong, playing as a power forward, made the Suns' interior defense impenetrable. By the second half of the third quarter, Wade Dong had already recorded six blocks, blocking shots from Duncan, Jeffersen, Leonard, and Parker.
Iverson was also on fire from the perimeter, scoring 30 points with his inside-outside game!
The scales of victory were tipping in favor of the Suns. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Suns led the Spurs by 21 points.
At this point, Popovich sent in veteran Horry. Horry had retired in 2010 but was re-signed by Popovich last year. Horry had not played much this season and had only appeared in two playoff games, the first time being in Game 2 when Duncan was ejected, where he played for two minutes without any contribution.
There were still eleven minutes left in the game.
The Suns' lineup on the court was Nash, Wade Dong, Dudley, Frye, and Lopez.
Wade Dong had not rested a single minute in this game!
The Spurs missed another shot, and Wade Dong grabbed the rebound, passing it to Nash, who quickly pushed the ball up the court.
At this moment, Horry also caught up to Nash. As Nash was about to cross the midcourt line, Horry used his shoulder to ram into Nash, who was running at high speed and was knocked flying, crashing into the courtside Gatorade table and falling to the ground in pain.
Yu Jia and Coach Zhang saw this scene.
Coach Zhang, "Oh my, that's a dirty play!"
Yu Jia, "I don't understand Horry's actions. The Spurs are already losing, and this won't change the outcome. It also goes against the spirit of sportsmanship."
Coach Zhang, "It looks like there's going to be a fight. The Suns' bench players are all standing up."
Yu Jia, "Wade Dong must not get involved in the fight. Fighting can lead to suspensions."
Coach Zhang, "I think Wade Dong is a very gentlemanly person and won't get involved in a fight."
...
"Damn!!!"
The Suns players rushed over!
The Spurs players also rushed over to protect Horry, fearing he would be beaten up by the Suns players!
This scene was familiar to Wade Dong, reminiscent of a similar incident in his previous life, although the timing and details were different, possibly due to the parallel universe.
Seeing the bench players also wanting to rush onto the court, Wade Dong pointed at them and shouted, "All of you, get back!"
At this moment, the players on the court could rush over, but if the bench players also came onto the court, it would violate league rules, and they could be suspended for the next game.
"Wade Dong is still calm!"
Coach Gentry was both angry and relieved—angry about Horry's foul and relieved about Wade Dong's composure.
The Suns and Spurs players on the court were already pushing and shoving, on the verge of a full-blown fight. The referees quickly intervened to stop it, while Wade Dong went to check on Nash, hoping he was not injured.
Fortunately, Nash's injury was not serious, just a bloody nose. After a simple treatment, he returned to the court.
Horry's action was only penalized with a Flagrant 1 foul.
After returning to the court, Horry even shrugged at Nash and taunted him, "Your acting skills are amazing. You should be awarded an Oscar."
...
Coach Zhang, "Oh my, Horry is still taunting Nash!"
Yu Jia, "We can't hear what he's saying."
Coach Zhang, "Oh no, what is Wade Dong doing?!"
...
On the court, just as Horry finished taunting Nash and was feeling smug, Wade Dong rushed over and punched Horry in the nose, adding a polite phrase, "Fuck you!"
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