Chapter 231: Can You Be Serious When Playing Ball?

Bynum was about to inbound the ball, and Wade Dong noticed that Bynum seemed a bit careless.

He stayed in the backcourt and held out his hand, asking for the ball.

And... Bynum actually passed the ball to Wade Dong.

Jackson: "???"

Wade Dong was also stunned after receiving the ball.

Bynum realized his mistake; he had just made a very basic error.

But... Wade Dong did something that surprised all the fans!

After Bynum entered the court, Wade Dong returned the ball to him and scolded, "Can you be serious when playing ball?" ✦

This game was being broadcast live in China.

Chinese fans heard the original audio, and while some might not have understood 'Can you be serious when playing ball,' everyone understood the profanity.

Dong Ge was encouraging Bynum.

The Suns players didn't think much of Wade Dong returning the ball to Bynum, and they all ran back to defend.

This was Wade Dong's personality; besides being the strongest player on the team, he treated his teammates like brothers, even if he often spoke without thinking.

Bynum's basic mistake was embarrassing, but Wade Dong's action of returning the ball eliminated the awkwardness.

Jackson was shocked!

But at this moment, he finally understood why Bynum, whom he couldn't control, respected Wade Dong so much.

After receiving the ball, Bynum passed it to Dragic.

Dragic dribbled to the frontcourt and organized the offense. Huang Yu missed another shot, and Green and Gortat boxed out for the rebound, but Wade Dong grabbed the offensive rebound.

Wade Dong dribbled to the frontcourt and set a screen with Gortat, then passed to Curry again.

"Swish!!!"

Curry made another three-pointer.

Jackson called a timeout.

With Curry making five three-pointers in the opening minutes and the Suns leading 15-0, he needed to make adjustments or the second quarter would become garbage time.

...

Gentry put down his thermos and said, "The Warriors will increase their defensive intensity, so we need to move the ball more. If there's no shot, get the ball to Curry immediately!"

There was no need for Dong Ge to step up yet; Wade Dong could focus on organizing the offense and defense.

This season, Green's improvement was more significant than Middleton's, mainly because he had been learning and imitating Wade Dong. While his offensive skills were still a bit awkward, he had developed his own style in organizing the offense and defense under Wade Dong's guidance.

Moreover, Green also had 'talent' for making subtle fouls. Wade Dong rarely did so, but Green had invented many of his own.

After the timeout, the Suns still had their starting lineup on the court. Although they were leading by 15 points, only three minutes had passed in the first quarter.

As soon as they returned to the court, the Warriors focused their defense on Curry.

This left McGrady open, and he scored two mid-range shots off Wade Dong's assists.

The Warriors started scoring as well.

With seven minutes left in the first quarter:

Suns 29, Warriors 6!!!

The Suns led the Warriors by 23 points, and Gentry made a substitution.

Before Curry was subbed out, he had made seven three-pointers, contributing 21 of the Suns' 29 points. The remaining 8 points were all scored by McGrady, while Wade Dong had not attempted a single shot in the first quarter, which was a rare occurrence. However, he had already accumulated 7 rebounds and 9 assists.

Before Nash and the others came in, Gentry instructed them, "The Warriors have many of our brothers, so go easy on them!"

"Hehe~"

Nash smiled but said nothing.

Was this Gentry's style of 'going easy'? If so, how did they manage to win by 69 points in the regular season?

After the Suns made their substitutions, the Warriors adjusted their lineup as well.

Dudley, Dragic, Huang Yu, Bynum, and Morris stayed on the court.

In Game 2, this lineup effectively countered the Suns' bench players. On paper, Dragic, at his peak, was no worse than Nash, his mentor.

Huang Yu had proven himself to be better than Thompson.

Dudley was guarding Middleton, Bynum was on Frye, and Morris was on Tucker, giving the Warriors a slight advantage.

With this advantage and Jackson's targeted tactics...

The Warriors slowly started to close the gap!

But Gentry wasn't worried. He sat on the bench, sipping from his thermos and chatting with Wade Dong.

...

The first quarter ended.

Suns 35, Warriors 17!!!

The Suns' lead was down to 18 points.

However, as soon as the second quarter started, Nash became serious and hit two consecutive three-pointers, pushing the lead back above 20 points.

With five minutes left in the second quarter:

Suns 47, Warriors 23!!!

The Suns led by 24 points, and Gentry sent in the starters.

Wade Dong had not attempted a single shot in this game. After coming into the game, he received a pass from Curry and missed a shot from the free-throw line.

Gentry couldn't help but laugh and said, "Dong Ge, your 20+ scoring record is about to end!"

"Damn it, you jinx!"

Wade Dong glared at Gentry as he ran back to the backcourt.

The Warriors had the ball, but David missed his shot, and Wade Dong grabbed the offensive rebound and dribbled to the frontcourt.

The Warriors' five players were in position, but Wade Dong dribbled through them like a butterfly, getting past Dragic and Huang Yu. He then used a Euro step to get past Dudley and drove to the basket, facing the defense of David and Bynum.

He dunked with a powerful tomahawk slam!

A one-on-five play, and it was his familiar tomahawk dunk. This was also Wade Dong's first score of the game.

After Huang Yu made a three-pointer:

Curry missed a shot, but Wade Dong grabbed the offensive rebound and made the putback.

Then, Wade Dong went on a scoring spree, making three-pointers, posting up, and driving to the basket.

"Beep!!!

At halftime:

Suns 69, Warriors 37!!!

The Suns led the Warriors by 32 points.

In the last five minutes of the second quarter, Wade Dong scored 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and also had 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

By halftime, Wade Dong already had a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

...

After halftime.

The third quarter began.

Wade Dong came in and made a three-pointer, after which Gentry subbed him out for Thompson.

Wade Dong played only 13 minutes in this game, scoring 20 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists for a triple-double before clocking out.

"Dong Ge, you're amazing!"

"Dong Ge, 666!"

As Wade Dong came off the court, Gentry sat on the sideline and complimented him.

After Wade Dong left the game, it became a blowout, and both teams played casually, just running out the clock.

"Beep!!!

As the referee blew the final whistle, the game ended.

Suns 137, Warriors 96!!!

The Suns won by 41 points in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs.