Chapter 513: Another Quintuple-Double
The altercation was stopped, but Green continued his verbal assault, his mouth running incessantly.
Wade Dong simply glanced at Green without saying much. As the older brother, he had to tolerate his younger teammate's temper.
Wade got another steal, and there were still over 6 minutes left. He now had 9 steals and 7 blocks.
When Curry returned to the court, Wade's offensive burden was reduced, and he resumed his position at the 5.
The Suns were on the attack.
Curry sank a no-look three-pointer, and the ball swished through the net.
130-118!
The Suns continued their 4-on-3 defense on the perimeter, and Paul passed to Capela.
"Go for the layup if you get the chance!" D'Antoni reminded Capela, fearing he might hesitate.
Capela half-turned and saw Wade a half-step away. He jumped for the layup.
"Smack!"
Wade took a step forward and swatted the ball against the backboard.
Block number 8!
Brewer grabbed the offensive rebound, faked a move, and then went for a fadeaway jumper.
But that fake gave Wade the time to recover.
"Smack!"
Wade snatched the ball out of the air, declaring, "My paint is not to be trifled with!"
Block number 9!
At that moment, the 6'6" Wade evoked memories of Shaq's dominance in the paint.
In fact, aside from height and wingspan, Wade was not inferior to Shaq in any other aspect, including strength, and he had better leaping ability and judgment.
Wade passed the ball to Curry and quickly ran to the frontcourt.
Paul guarded Curry, who kept shaking him off. Then, turning, Curry forced up another three-pointer.
"Swish!"
The ball swished through the net again.
133-118!
With Curry on the perimeter and Wade inside, the two were unstoppable. The Rockets were trying to catch up, but they were gradually overwhelmed.
With 2:17 left in the fourth quarter, Harden's layup was blocked by Wade.
At this point, Wade had achieved a mind-boggling stat line: 53 points, 21 rebounds, 12 assists, 9 steals, and 10 blocks.
"Just one more steal..."
After Varick's reminder, Wade was also pondering this. The Suns were still leading by 11 points. Steals, unlike points, required anticipation and opportunities from the opponents.
This was Gentry's permissive coaching style.
Most coaches would not encourage players to go for steals on the court, as a failed attempt could lead to easy points for the opposition.
With 2 minutes left and the Rockets trying to avoid mistakes while trailing, getting another steal would be challenging.
Difficult!
But not for Wade!
Wade had the 'Prophetic Potion', which he had used twice during the FIBA World Cup finals.
Paul dribbled up the court, and the Rockets played patiently.
"One more basket!"
Paul directed his teammates' movements.
They needed to score two more baskets and stop the Suns' offense to have a chance at a comeback. If they missed this shot, the game was lost.
"Prophetic Potion!"
Wade used a bottle of the potion.
The Rockets players started moving, and Green, who was defending Harden, was blocked by Brewer. The Rockets patiently executed their play, and no one noticed Wade had disappeared under the basket.
Only four Suns players were left on the court.
Paul passed the ball to Harden in the corner.
As soon as Harden received the pass, a large hand reached out from behind and snatched the ball!
"What?!"
Harden was startled. Where did this person come from?
"Oh yeah!"
The arena erupted, with no distinction between home and away fans. Everyone stood and cheered for Wade.
In the China live stream room, Yu Jia exclaimed, "A divine steal! Only a god could pull off such a steal!"
"I feel like I'm watching a sci-fi movie."
Coach Zhang also shook his head in excitement, "When did Wade sneak into the audience?"
After Wade's successful steal, Harden stood frozen in place.
Paul caught up to Wade and committed a foul, a necessary move to prevent an easy two points on the fast break. There was still a 4% chance Wade might miss the free throw.
As Wade stepped to the free-throw line, the arena's big screen zoomed in on him, and a data stream appeared at the bottom.
Wade: 53 points, 21 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 steals, 10 blocks
The second quintuple-double in league history had been achieved, and the creator was once again the NBA's god, Wade!
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
The away fans had started cheering for Wade. The Rockets didn't lose this game unfairly; Wade had dominated both ends of the court, and each of his five stats was the highest of the game.
Even if you split these five stats into different combinations of triple or quadruple-doubles, each would still be an incredible achievement.
"A player like this doesn't belong on this planet!"
"What's most exciting is that Brother Dong is Chinese!"
"The basketball god!"
"I can't find words to describe Brother Dong's performance tonight."
The Chinese fans were even more excited, and some even fainted from the excitement.
With 1:57 left in the game, Wade made his first free throw, and the arena erupted in cheers, "MVP! MVP! MVP!"
Wade made his second free throw, and the cheers continued, "MVP! MVP! MVP!"
151-138!
The Rockets trailed by 13 points.
The game's outcome was no longer in doubt, and the Rockets were stunned by Wade's quintuple-double.
The MVP chants continued, some fans losing their voices, but they didn't stop.
The final whistle blew.
The game stats:
Wade: 55 points, 21 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 steals, 10 blocks
Curry: 46 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks
Harden: 41 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Paul: 43 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks
This was a clash of the titans, with the Suns' dynamic duo combining for 101 points and the Rockets' stars for 83. But even their dazzling stats paled in comparison to Wade's quintuple-double.
After the game, Wade felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue, even after using a bottle of 'Stamina Potion'. This was a mental exhaustion.
Even for Wade, the quintuple-double was his limit.
While a sextuple-double was theoretically possible, it was as difficult as climbing Mount Everest for Wade, who had a career-high of only 3 turnovers in a game.