Wade didn't wait for James, but drove the ball himself to the vicinity of the baseline.
Bosh, screened by his teammate, moved to the 45-degree angle, and Wade immediately passed him the ball.
Just as Bosh was about to shoot, Stoudemire suddenly stood in front of him.
Amar'e's defense had been steadily improving because he was working hard, not wanting to be a weak link for the team.
Therefore, in training, he had repeatedly asked Li Feng for advice on defensive techniques.
Li Feng, of course, shared his knowledge without reservation.
He broke down the defensive skills provided by the system and taught Amar'e step by step.
Not only Li Feng, but Yao Ming also taught Amar'e some interior defensive techniques.
Hard work pays off.
In this year's playoffs, Amar'e's defensive skills had taken a qualitative leap.
He was no longer a weak link for the team; instead, he had become a nightmare for opposing power forwards!
Bosh was surprised at how quickly Stoudemire had rotated to help on defense.
With no other option, he abandoned the shot and intended to use his interior skills to overpower Stoudemire.
But Amar'e firmly anchored himself against Bosh's lower body and used his body to contest, denying Bosh space to drive to the basket.
Bosh tried a few times, basically just spinning in place, unable to break through.
Amar'e not only held his ground but also didn't fall for the pump fakes, giving Bosh a major headache.
With only 3 seconds left on the shot clock, he had no choice but to pass the ball to Chalmers.
Chalmers, receiving the pass, took a hurried shot under Lowry's defense, and the ball bounced off the rim.
Yao Ming secured the rebound and passed it to Bill Walker.
Bill Walker crossed half-court, but he didn't drive for a layup, as the Heat's defense had also rotated back quickly.
He waited for a moment and passed the ball to Li Feng, who was making a run up the right side.
Since the Heat's offense had failed, starting with James being double-teamed.
James was extremely frustrated and was determined to disrupt the Knicks' current possession and regain possession!
James stayed close to Li Feng, adjusting his steps.
Li Feng knew James was sticking to him, but he remained calm, continuing to drive towards the basket at a steady pace, inside the three-point line.
James and Li Feng were old rivals. James had not been closing out tightly to prevent Li Feng from shooting threes.
Now that Li Feng had given up on the three-point shot and driven inside, there was no doubt that Li Feng was going for a layup.
So, James maintained a distance of about half a meter from Li Feng, preparing for the final block.
Li Feng, after crossing the three-point line, feigned a drive to the basket, but his peripheral vision caught Stoudemire also following in the middle.
So, after crossing the free-throw line, Li Feng suddenly tossed the ball off the backboard.
The move was too sudden; it looked like a floater, but not entirely, due to its casualness.
But James still reacted instinctively and leaped up, trying to catch the ball.
However, Li Feng's backboard pass was skillful; he added spin, an upward spin.
The basketball hit the backboard and did not bounce in the expected direction but flew upwards.
This arc perfectly cleared James.
And Stoudemire, who had followed in behind, caught the ball and finished with an alley-oop dunk, bang!
This kind of play was usually only seen in All-Star games.
Yet Li Feng and Amar'e had executed a dream-like play in such an important game.
Not only did they score, but they also toyed with James.
This basket was spectacular, once again igniting cheers from the entire crowd!
Li Feng and Amar'e also laughed and high-fived.
The opening basket and a pass fully showcased Li Feng's abilities.
The Knicks' team morale reached its peak.
With a smooth offense, it also boosted their defense; all the Knicks players seemed to be on adrenaline, running non-stop.
Today's Knicks were like last game's Heat.
Unstoppable!
Cheered on by the Madison Square Garden crowd, the Knicks team grew stronger with every play!
At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks surprisingly led the Heat by 13 points.
36:23!
Li Feng had scored 15 points and 4 assists in the first quarter, while Yao Ming had 8 points.
Although James also scored 12 points, he only had 2 assists, and the Knicks had successfully limited him.
Wade scored 4 points, but his contribution to the team was not significant, as Wade was playing isolation ball all game.
Bosh had 5 points, but he took 4 shots, making his efficiency only average.
Furthermore, Bosh only grabbed 1 rebound.
Fans in the forums had already started referring to Bosh as "Bosh-one-board."
Li Feng was happy, not for his own performance, but because he saw the entire team playing with such passion, which made him the happiest.
Having gone through last year's championship journey, Li Feng deeply understood that for a team to defend its title, the entire team must be in good form.
Relying on just one or two players wouldn't lead to victory in the end.
Even the early Jordan didn't grasp this concept; in his early career, he was omnipotent, frequently scoring high points.
However, the team consistently failed to break out of the Eastern Conference.
Later, when Phil Jackson took over as the head coach of the Bulls, he taught Jordan a lesson.
That is, winning a championship couldn't be done by one person alone, because basketball is a team sport.
To win a championship, one had to give up some of the ball, to ignite the teammates' potential and passion.
Only then would the Bulls be forged into a dominant team.
Initially, Jordan was half-skeptical, as Coach Zen was also a rookie coach at the time.
He had no prior successful coaching experience.
But Jordan chose to trust him, began to relinquish some control of the ball, and implemented the coach's "triangle offense" tactics.
Under the triangle offense, Jordan's shot attempts decreased, but the team's win rate gradually increased.
Finally, from 1991 to 1993, the Bulls achieved the three-peat dynasty!
...
In the second quarter, both teams' reserves entered the game.
With the roar of the home crowd, the Knicks' reserves also played well.
Although the point difference did not continue to widen, Billups effectively limited the Heat's reserve Mike Miller.
At 5 minutes and 31 seconds into the second quarter, the score was 44:30, with the Knicks leading.
The main players of both teams returned to the court.
James knew very well that he had to narrow the deficit to within 10 points in the first half.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to catch up in the second half.
He was actually very curious why Li Feng, who had a severe cold, could play so dominantly.
Was he just toughing it out?
In fact, James was only half right. Li Feng was indeed toughing it out.
However, in the first half of the first quarter, Li Feng broke into a sweat and felt much better.
So by the latter half of the first quarter, Li Feng was no longer feeling uncomfortable.
After coming back on the court, James chose to play without the ball, which was unavoidable.
As long as he had the ball in the backcourt, the Knicks would full-court press.
Wade brought the ball past half-court. He first ran a pick-and-roll with Bosh and then passed the ball to Bosh.
He wanted Bosh to exploit a mismatch against Lowry.
But the Knicks were prepared for this situation. Bill Walker immediately abandoned James and came to help on defense.
Seeing that James was unexpectedly open, Bosh immediately passed him the ball.
But the Knicks' overall defense was too strong. The moment James received the ball, Li Feng appeared in front of him again.
Facing Li Feng, James could only choose to shoot.
He hesitated for a moment and took a long two-point shot!
Today, James seemed to be off his game, or as fans would say, he had too much bad karma before the game.
Clang!
The shot missed, and Stoudemire grabbed the rebound.
The Knicks once again executed their fast-break offense, with Lowry driving past Chalmers for a layup.
From this possession, it was evident that the Heat's offense lost significant power unless James had the ball.
And the pick-and-roll tactic between Wade and Bosh seemed ineffective against the Knicks.
The point difference was slowly widening, and James was genuinely getting anxious.
He had made bold claims before the game and even imitated Li Feng's cough.
If he actually lost, he would truly be ridiculed.
So James suddenly exerted himself, demanding the ball as soon as he crossed half-court, and repeatedly drove to the interior.
An enraged James was indeed unstoppable.
Stoudemire and Yao Ming both picked up their third fouls and had to leave the court to rest.
After Yao Ming and Amar'e left the court, Jordan Hill and Wilson Chandler came in to replace them.
Although Jordan Hill had been playing well recently, there was still a significant gap between him and Yao Ming.
James continued to exploit the Knicks' interior defense.
At this point, Li Feng whispered a few words to Lowry, and the two of them took turns trying to draw offensive fouls on James.
These two Knicks guards were masters at drawing fouls.
They repeatedly positioned themselves correctly the moment James started to drive.
After deliberation, the referee called James for two consecutive offensive fouls.
Combined with the foul he received in the first quarter, James now had three fouls.
As a result, James had no choice but to reluctantly leave the court to rest.
Li Feng and Lowry's strategy was successful.
Although both of them also accumulated two fouls, being able to force James to the bench was worth it.
At this point, there were 2 minutes and 26 seconds left in the first half.
The score was 54:46, with the Knicks still leading by 8 points.
To gain the advantage in the second half, Li Feng had to work hard to extend the lead to over 10 points.
With James off the court, Li Feng immediately switched to individual offensive mode.
Fadeaway jumper!
Driving layup with a spin!
Pull-up three-pointer!
Li Feng showcased all his signature moves.
James sat on the bench, his face ashen.
He couldn't understand why the Knicks would come up with such a dirty tactic.
Having two smaller guards draw offensive fouls on him?
James, who was invincible driving to the basket, was actually taken out of the game to rest by such a bizarre tactic; it was speechless.
He didn't know that Li Feng was also reminded by his past life memories.
A Puerto Rican player, Arroyo, had played exceptionally well in the 2011 NBA Finals.
This was why Li Feng had Lowry take on the role of Arroyo.
Under Li Feng's leadership, the Knicks played dominantly in the final two minutes of the first half.
At the end of the first half, the Knicks led the Heat by 17 points.
66:59!
Li Feng played 17 minutes in the first half, scoring 28 points, as if possessed by a war god!
He had a cold?
...
In the TNT broadcast booth, Barkley, Smith, and Reggie Miller were providing commentary for the game.
In the previous game, Barkley hadn't said much because Li Feng's performance was average, and as a "honey," he naturally didn't want to say more.
However, he firmly believed that Li Feng would make a strong comeback.
Today, Li Feng's first-half performance was perfect, which made Barkley extremely excited.
"See, this is Li Feng's strength. Although he has a cold today, he has played a dominant performance!" Barkley didn't know how else to praise him.
Smith's analysis was as objective as possible, but he still praised Li Feng's performance today.
"That's right, Li Feng's desire to win today is too strong, he's not giving the Heat any breathing room at all."
Reggie Miller's attitude towards Li Feng was generally neutral, but Li Feng today had moved him.
"If this were the NBA Finals, with today's performance, Li Feng would definitely win FMVP!"
Barkley laughed heartily, "There's no need to worry about that; if the Knicks really make it to the Finals, he'll have a similar performance then!"
Then Barkley didn't forget to tease James and Wade a few times.
"Haha, these two guys mocked Li Feng for having a cold before the game. I didn't expect Li Feng to play so well. Can I call Li Feng the 'Cold War God'?"
"That nickname is good, 'Cold War God,' haha!"
Smith and Reggie Miller also laughed.
Although Barkley was loud-mouthed and unrestrained, his ability to create memorable phrases was also strong, with many golden lines in his commentary.
And he never cared about being proven wrong.
Even if he was proven wrong, he would just chuckle and continue his commentary.
...
The second half of the game began.
After the halftime break, the Heat adjusted their tactics.
James and Wade increased their shooting attempts.
The shooting of these two was indeed not very consistent and could not be considered a regular weapon.
However, in crucial moments, it was worth a gamble.
In the previous two games, their shooting percentage was quite good after increasing their attempts, and in the first game, they almost made a comeback.
Now that the Heat were in another crisis, their shooting in the third quarter was actually quite good.
With an improvement in offense, the Heat also increased their defensive intensity by two levels.
Especially targeting Li Feng, the Heat had crazily employed a localized three-man trap.
That is to say, even if Li Feng broke through a double-team, there would always be someone rotating to cover, and then the other two would pounce again!
This kind of treatment was something only Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant had experienced before.
Under such defense, Li Feng's shot attempts were indeed reduced, but he still created opportunities for his teammates through passing.
The Knicks' teammates' shooting touch declined in the third quarter, wasting several of Li Feng's good passing opportunities.
This was also unavoidable; if the Knicks had a hot hand for the entire game, they would have already won the championship.
The Heat slowly closed the score.
At 6 minutes and 44 seconds into the third quarter, the score was 71:62, with the deficit reduced to 9 points.
D'Antoni had to call a timeout.
He had anticipated a comeback from the Heat, but the fact that the Heat had resorted to a three-man trap was unexpected.
During the timeout, Coach D'Antoni told the players to pass the ball to the interior from now on and let Yao Ming solve the problem.
In fact, in the few possessions just before, the Knicks had been doing this under Li Feng's direction.
But Kasparkas had been very successful in limiting Yao Ming, as he firmly held his position and denied Yao Ming the ball.