Chapter 544: Was Wade Dong Playing Injured?

"Dong, fast break!" 

After a successful steal, Curry shouted as he tossed the ball forward.

Lillard turned to chase down the court, but his speed was no match for Wade Dong!

Wade received the ball, dribbled once, and took off from the free-throw line.

"Bang!!!"

Once again, Wade executed a dunk from the free-throw line with ease; this move had become second nature to him.

"...."

The crowd fell silent for a moment before finally turning their support.

"Wade Dong!"

"Wade Dong!"

"Wade Dong!"

The away fans began chanting Wade Dong's name; they no longer cared about the outcome of the game; appreciating the performance was what mattered.

4:2!!!

The Suns took the lead.

The Trail Blazers' strategy was clear: to let Aldridge and Gortat work together in the post or execute low-post plays. Green struggled defensively against Gortat.

Gortat's footwork had become increasingly refined; in terms of footwork alone, he possessed at least 70% of Hakeem Olajuwon's skill and about 60% of Wade Dong's ability.

23:19!!!

Seven minutes into the first quarter, the Suns led by just 4 points.

As Green left the court, he complained, "Dong, you trained Gortat; now I'm suffering against him!"

Green wasn't afraid of physical contact on defense, but Gortat's footwork left him feeling helpless and even frustrated.

"Just stay with him; don't bite on his fakes!" 

Wade Dong advised. "Gortat may have great footwork, but his touch isn't soft enough. If you don't let him get close to the basket, he won't be able to show off."

"That makes sense!" 

Green scratched his head, realizing how simple that logic was.

"You're such a fool!" 

Wade Dong scoffed and then said, "Our defensive strategy is fine, but we need to increase our intensity! I want to see us expand the lead to 30 points before halftime!"

"Got it, Dong!" 

Everyone nodded in agreement.

On the Suns' side, Thompson and Durant were substituted out for Tucker and Whiteside to strengthen their defense.

Wade Dong's plan was simple: with him and Curry on offense, that was enough; everyone else needed to focus on defense and stop every single Trail Blazers attack.

...

After the timeout ended,

The Trail Blazers attacked; Lillard passed the ball to Matthews as he reached midcourt.

Since Wade Dong returned to single-cover Lillard, Lillard had been feeling immense pressure; all his moves were read by Wade. In height, speed, strength, dribbling, and shooting—he couldn't match Wade in any aspect.

As soon as Matthews received the ball, Tucker pressured him aggressively. Gortat tried to establish position under the basket but was pushed out by Green into the three-second area while Whiteside defended Aldridge closely.

The Trail Blazers' offense became disorganized...

In a rush, a pass went awry. Wade Dong intercepted it and dribbled straight upcourt. He positioned himself just beyond the three-point line and took a shot.

"Swish!!!"

The basketball went through cleanly.

26:19!!!

"I called a timeout for a reason; how did that allow the Suns to gain momentum?" 

Stotts felt frustrated.

He had seen hope for narrowing the gap when he called for a timeout to set up a strategy but didn't expect that the Suns would also adjust their tactics. Their aggressive defense disrupted everything for the Trail Blazers' game plan—this timeout effectively helped the Suns instead.

The Trail Blazers attacked again.

The Suns played defense like five rabid dogs; even Curry made Afflalo uncomfortable with his defense. The speed at which they switched defensive assignments left the Trail Blazers struggling to adapt.

Matthews forced a shot that missed!

Whiteside grabbed the rebound as Curry brought it upcourt. Before any Trail Blazers players could set their defense properly, he took a shot just outside of three-point range.

"Swish!!!"

The basketball went through cleanly.

29:19!!!

"Great job, team!" 

Wade Dong clapped his hands in encouragement. "Aggressive defense and decisive offense—that's our Suns' spirit."

...

In the Huaxia live broadcast room,

Zhang said, "Lillard and Aldridge are both being contained; no one else has stepped up to score—it's tough for the Trail Blazers."

Yu added, "The Suns are not giving the Trail Blazers any chances; they want to finish this series in four games."

Zhang continued, "I've said before that this year's Suns are historically strong. If they keep this roster intact after summer free agency, they could win four or five championships."

Yu replied, "Interestingly enough, most of their players have contracts expiring this summer."

This wasn't merely coincidence; for example, signing Durant only offered a two-year contract—this was timed with Wade Dong's contract year so that when Wade's deal expired, there would be enough salary cap space to re-sign him.

...

In the final minutes of the first quarter, it was evident that the Trail Blazers were struggling immensely.

39:25!!!

At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were down by 14 points.

Stotts felt puzzled. "After last game's post-game interview where Wade said he played injured—he certainly doesn't look like someone who's hurt right now."

"To win this game, relying solely on Lillard and Aldridge won't cut it; every player on our team needs to step up and score!"

Stotts reminded his team again.

In the early part of the second quarter, he planned not to put Lillard back in since Wade's one-on-one defense rendered Lillard ineffective on court—even suggesting that Lillard could stand at one corner with Wade smoking together without any impact on gameplay.

...

As the second quarter began,

Wade Dong remained on court after playing through the first quarter without rest.

Durant and Thompson substituted in for Curry and Tucker while Green and Whiteside stayed on as well; notably, Green also hadn't rested a minute during that first quarter.

"Wade isn't playing injured?" 

This question lingered in Stotts' mind—how could someone play injured without taking even a minute off?

Blake held onto the ball beyond three-point range and noticed Wade was just half a step away from him before taking a decisive shot!

"Smack!"

Unfortunately for Blake, half a step wasn't enough distance as Wade blocked his three-pointer cleanly.

The ball flew toward midcourt... Blake turned around to chase after it. Although Wade was a step slower than Blake initially, he quickly surpassed him before reaching midcourt and dove forward to snatch up the basketball.

"Yahha..."

Blake shouted as he tugged at Wade's jersey.

He could only resort to fouling Wade to prevent him from scoring since it was still early in the second quarter without many fouls committed; after Blake picked up one foul here, it led to an out-of-bounds play for the Suns.

Wade circled out and received a pass from Durant.

"Smack!"

As Wade shot off while being contested by Blake who struck his arm during his release—due to losing balance upon landing—Wade stumbled backward two steps but did not fall down.