บท 540: Chapter 540: Don’t Try to Single Out Wade Dong; You Don’t Have That Ability
Lillard's face flushed red; he thought he had gotten past Wade Dong.
Little did he know, Wade was doing everything intentionally, deliberately giving him half a step because he had already read Lillard's offensive moves and was just waiting to deliver a thunderous block.
Fortunately, Gortat's shout of "Nice block!" came as Wade was dribbling upcourt, so Lillard didn't hear it.
If Lillard had heard it... his mindset would have crumbled!
The Suns hadn't set up any specific tactics for Wade's presence before the game, but that didn't matter—Wade himself was the tactic!
With the ball beyond the three-point line, Wade signaled his teammates to spread out.
"Whoosh~"
With a quick change of direction and burst of speed, Wade blew past Matthews and drove to the basket, pulling off a layup to evade Aldridge's block.
"Bang!!!"
Wade slammed the ball home with both hands.
"Great play!!!"
After half a month away, Wade's first shot back on the court ignited the entire arena!
2:0!!!
"Good thing I brought my thermos."
Gentry pulled out his thermos and some goji berries, handing them to Warrick. "Go get me some hot water and brew these goji berries."
While Warrick went to fetch water, Gentry joked with the bench players, "What tactics do we need? Just give the ball to Dong Ge—that's our best strategy."
"Finally admitting that, huh?"
"Dong Ge has only missed six games; for Coach Gentry, it feels like an entire season has passed."
"Seriously... our head coach has lost all pride!"
"Hahaha..."
All the bench players teased Gentry, but he was genuinely happy; their words didn't affect him at all.
13:3!!!
"Whew!"
Seeing this score, Warrick was startled; in just a moment of fetching water, the Suns had already built a 10-point lead.
In just four minutes of play, Wade had gone 5 for 5 with 13 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, and 1 block—he was on fire.
"Timeout!"
Stotts had no choice but to call a timeout.
The strategy set up by the Trail Blazers targeted the absence of Wade Dong; his sudden return disrupted everything Stotts had planned before the game. This was also a key reason for Portland's poor start.
"Wade's back means we must adjust our strategy."
Stotts said: "Curry and Durant will have their touches reduced significantly; our focus now needs to be on defending Wade."
Calling this timeout emphasized that their strategy resembled what they had used when they defeated Phoenix earlier in the regular season.
On the Suns' side,
As soon as Wade stepped off the court, Gentry rushed over to embrace him but was playfully pushed away by Wade.
Gentry wasn't upset and said: "Stotts doesn't have any tactics; he'll just use what worked for them last time. We don't need to change anything—just give the ball to Dong Ge."
"Okay!!!"
Everyone nodded vigorously.
Wade's return had clearly elevated the Suns' overall morale; whatever Gentry said now seemed right.
.....
After the timeout,
Neither team made adjustments to their lineups since only four minutes had elapsed in the first quarter.
Lillard brought the ball upcourt.
Unlike in previous games, Wade began to single-cover Lillard. The intensity of Wade's defense was on a different level compared to Curry's; it could even be described as worlds apart. Lillard found it difficult to score against Wade one-on-one.
After several unsuccessful attempts to shake Wade off with crossovers, Matthews came around to receive a pass from Lillard.
Matthews took one dribble and forced a shot that missed.
Gortat grabbed an offensive rebound and passed it back out to Middleton. Middleton received the ball and shot again.
"G~~~"
This shot missed again—now 6 for 21—Middleton's shooting percentage was below thirty percent... It was evident how poorly he was performing tonight.
Yinan secured another defensive rebound and passed it to McCollum.
McCollum darted upcourt like a little steel ball, weaving through defenders for another layup.
87:69!!!
Jefferson attempted to go one-on-one against Yinan but missed again as Whiteside grabbed yet another defensive rebound.
Suns' offense resumed with several quick passes leading Yinan to take another mid-range shot.
"Swish!!!"
The basketball went cleanly through again.
Despite all five players on court being substitutes, this lineup excelled defensively... With height and physicality, Tucker, Yinan, Whiteside, and Dinwiddie all possessed solid individual defensive abilities.
93:71!!!
At the end of the third quarter, Portland trailed by 22 points.
"Steady..."
Gentry breathed a sigh of relief. "The Mavericks' chances of making a comeback are slim now."
The Suns had many young players who had playoff experience; several players had even played in finals—including veteran Warrick—so they not only had energy but also plenty of playoff experience. In contrast, the Mavericks relied heavily on veterans.
Trailing by 22 points entering the fourth quarter meant they had essentially lost this game.
Seeing Gentry's demeanor suggested he wasn't planning on putting starters back in during the fourth quarter; Curry said: "I feel it's still not secure; let's go back in for a few more minutes."
"That works!"
Gentry nodded. "After all, it's playoffs; giving our all is the greatest respect we can show our opponents."
....
As the fourth quarter began,
Curry, Durant, and Green returned while only Whiteside and Yinan remained from the bench lineup.
As soon as play resumed,
Curry held the ball beyond three-point range against Harris's defense and launched another three-pointer.
"Swish!!!"
The basketball went cleanly through again.
96:71!!!
Next up was Jefferson's shot that was blocked by Whiteside. Durant grabbed the loose ball and charged upcourt before taking two steps inside the free-throw line for his jump shot.
"Bang!!!"
97:71!!!
Immediately after that Harris' pass was intercepted by Durant again.
The Mavericks quickly transitioned back on defense but with such a bench lineup how could they stop Durant's offense? He took another mid-range jumper.
"Swish!!!"
The basketball went cleanly through again.
99:71!!!
It looked like they were about to stretch their lead to 30 points. Carlisle's face turned grim—what would be the point of putting starters back in now?
The Mavericks missed another shot attempt.
Curry received a screen from Durant and drove past defenders into space before making an impressive behind-the-back bounce pass.
"Bang!!!"
Yinan followed up with a two-handed slam!
101:71!!!
In just over two minutes from trailing by 22 points to now trailing by 30 points—the Mavericks allowed that margin to widen in just 2 minutes and 11 seconds with less than ten minutes left in this game. Gentry decided to substitute all his starters out.
"Damn!"
Carlisle smashed his tactical board in frustration. "What does Phoenix want? To kill us or break our spirits?!"
....
"Beep!!!"
With that final whistle from the referee signaling game time,
123:87!!!
The Suns achieved a massive 36-point victory over the Mavericks at home.
Game Statistics:
- Curry: 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
- Durant: 22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
- Thompson: 25 points, 3 rebounds
- Nowitzki: 17 points, 9 rebounds
- Rondo: 7 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists
- Middleton: 15 points, 3 rebounds
....
After the game ended, Middleton appeared somewhat downcast. Green approached him to offer comfort: "Buddy, is it because Dong Ge isn't here that you're struggling?"
"Is Dong Ge's injury serious?"
This was Green giving Middleton an easy way out; however, Middleton genuinely cared about Wade Dong's ankle injury.
Green replied: "Dong Ge's ankle isn't serious; he should be back in no time."
Middleton said: "I called Dong Ge but his phone has been off; there hasn't been any news about him on TV either."
"Shh..."
Green placed his finger over his lips and quietly reminded him: "You know Dong Ge's background—those crooked media outlets wouldn't dare fabricate stories about him."
"You have a point."
"How about grabbing a drink tonight?"
Green invited Middleton since they were stuck in Phoenix after two consecutive away games and wouldn't fly back to Dallas—it would be too much hassle otherwise.
"No thanks!"
Middleton shook his head. "Let's wait until after we finish this series; I need to get my rhythm back—I can't let down my team's expectations."
"Good luck out there!"
Green sincerely encouraged Middleton.
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