Chương 216: Chapter 216: Career Low in Scoring
As Paul began to heat up, Wade Dong patted Green, who was sitting next to him.
"You're up! Go and limit Paul."
"Me?"
Green looked at Wade Dong, who nodded, and then he stood up and walked towards the technical table.
This was the Suns' style; sometimes, Wade Dong didn't even need to consult Gentry to make substitution decisions.
On the court, the Clippers' Weyns drew a defensive foul from Gortat and went to the free-throw line.
Green also took the opportunity to substitute Middleton.
With Green defending Paul, Paul became uncomfortable. It wasn't that Green was an exceptional defender, but he had a tendency to use some dirty tactics.
This defensive style was similar to Paul's, but that didn't mean Paul liked it.
Gentry, seeing Paul's offense being disrupted, took a sip from his thermos and said to Wade Dong, "That substitution was a good call."
"Huh?"
Wade Dong noticed Gentry's bald head and asked, "Where's your hair?"
"Pfft!"
Gentry spat out the goji berries he was chewing, screwed the lid back on his thermos, and said, "I just heard that the Huaxia coach who likes to blow-dry his hair has a bad reputation, so I shaved my head again."
Wade Dong joked, "No more blow-drying, just goji berries now?"
Gentry shook his head and said, "When you reach middle age, you have no choice. Soaking goji berries in a thermos is part of traditional culture, right?"
"Get out of here!"
Wade Dong laughed and said, then stood up with Curry, preparing to take the court.
With seven minutes left in the second quarter, the score was 71-39, with the Suns leading the Clippers by 32 points.
...
Huaxia Live Broadcast.
Yu Jia, "At this point, the game has basically lost its suspense."
Zhang Zhidao, "But the Suns will still bring in their starters because their starting lineup is younger."
Yu Jia, "Zhang Zhidao, what do you think the Suns' winning margin will be?"
Zhang Zhidao, "They should win by more than thirty points. The players won't take the garbage time seriously."
...
After the Suns brought in their starters, the Clippers also had their main lineup on the court.
Griffin sat on the bench, feeling anxious. If he were on the court, the Clippers wouldn't be trailing the Suns by so much.
However, with the playoffs approaching, his knee injury had flared up again, so he wouldn't be playing in the last few regular-season games to ensure he was ready for the playoffs.
After Wade Dong took the court, he blew past Odom's defense, made a dribble move, and passed the ball to the cutting Tucker.
Tucker received the pass and easily scored a layup.
"Sigh..."
Seeing this play, Griffin sighed, "Besides me, no one on the team can stop Wade Dong."
"Not even me?"
Griffin thought, "Who can stop a player who excels in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks?"
The Clippers' offense.
Paul passed the ball to Jordan in the paint, and Jordan faked out Tucker with a pump fake, then jumped for a dunk.
"Watch out for Wade Dong!"
Paul shouted from behind Jordan.
But it was too late. Wade Dong flew past Jordan and swatted the ball away.
Curry grabbed the ball, dribbled to just outside the three-point line, and pulled up for a jumper.
Swish!!!
The ball swished through the net.
"Deep three-pointer!"
The arena DJ shouted excitedly, emphasizing the word 'deep.'
"Such a show-off!"
Wade Dong smiled and said to Curry, then stepped back and took a three-pointer from two and a half steps beyond the arc.
Swish!!!
Another one went in!
"Deep three-pointer!"
Once again, the arena DJ shouted excitedly.
In this game, all the Suns players were on fire, and with Griffin on the bench, the Clippers' full starting lineup couldn't stop the Suns. Paul was also contained, and the Clippers' offense was completely stifled.
End of the first half.
Score: 88-43!!!
In the five minutes that both teams' starters were on the court, the Clippers only scored four points, and the Suns' lead had widened to 45 points.
...
Halftime.
Gentry held his thermos and briefly discussed the second-half tactics with the players.
After the discussion, Gentry said, "Dong Ge, if the Clippers don't play Paul in the second half and use their role players instead, you guys don't need to play either."
"Okay~"
Wade Dong nodded.
With a 45-point lead, if Wade Dong were Tyronn Lue, he would have let Paul play for five more minutes. If Paul couldn't reduce the deficit to below 30 points in those five minutes, he would have taken out the starters.
It wouldn't be appropriate for Wade Dong and Curry to stay on the court if the Clippers brought in their role players.
...
Start of the second half.
As Wade Dong expected, the Clippers still had their starting lineup on the court.
However, with such a large deficit, they seemed to have lost their fighting spirit.
At the start of the third quarter, Butler's pass to Jordan was intercepted by Wade Dong, who then drove to the frontcourt and finished with a dunk.
Paul's mid-range jumper missed.
Wade Dong grabbed the rebound and passed to Curry.
"Make one more three-pointer, and the game will be over," they all agreed.
Not just the Clippers, but the Suns also wanted to end the game early.
One minute into the third quarter, if the point differential reached 50, the Clippers would call a timeout and substitute their starters. At that point, the Suns would also rest their starters.
Curry slowly dribbled to the frontcourt, with the Suns' bench right beside him.
At that moment, Warrick looked at the stats sheet and, as Curry passed by, whispered, "Dong Ge only has 17 points."
"Oh?"
Curry understood what Warrick meant.
Wade Dong was still maintaining his consecutive 20+ points streak, having recently surpassed Robertson for second place in history. If Curry made this three-pointer, Wade Dong would also be subbed out, and the streak would end.
So, when Curry reached the three-point line, he passed the ball back to Wade Dong, shouting, "Dong Ge, you end this game!"
The Clippers' defense had completely collapsed.
So, Wade Dong took a three-pointer, and after making it, he winked at Curry, understanding his intention.
During halftime, Wade Dong had noticed that he only had 17 points.
Score: 93-43!!!
One minute into the third quarter, the Suns led the Clippers by 50 points.
"Timeout!"
Tyronn Lue also called a timeout at this point and substituted his starters.
The Suns also made adjustments, leaving Warrick, Whiteside, Tucker, Middleton, and Green on the court, which was the weakest possible lineup for the Suns.
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