Chapter 77: Coach Wade Dong

The atmosphere in the Suns' locker room was still relaxed.

Dudley joked, "Tonight, Brother Dong is going for 70 points."

Scoring 35 points in the first half was not surprising for Wade Dong's teammates. After all, Wade Dong had once scored 37 points in a single quarter, so scoring 35 points in a half was not much.

"Compared to 70 points, I prefer to finish the game in three quarters," Wade Dong said seriously. "So, everyone, don't let up in the third quarter. Let's finish the game in one go."

"Come on! Come on!" The Suns players encouraged each other.

The third quarter began...

As soon as Wade Dong received the ball, James came to defend him, even slapping the floor to provoke Wade Dong.

"Hello, idol~" Wade Dong greeted him, then made two fake moves with his back to the basket and shot a fadeaway jumper.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went through the net.

This was a combination of Kobe Bryant's and Michael Jordan's fadeaway jumpers, which Wade Dong had practiced for a long time after acquiring both skill packages.

Compared to Kobe's and Jordan's fadeaway jumpers, Wade Dong's fadeaway was not only beautiful but also more difficult to defend.

When the Heat were on offense, James drove to the basket, and Wade Dong stuck close to him on defense. Just as James was about to shoot, Wade Dong blocked the shot.

Nash grabbed the rebound and quickly passed it to Iverson, who scored on a fast break layup.

71:44!

The lead kept growing!

Wade also stepped up his offense, making it a battle between the number 3s!

But Wade's offense was stopped by Iverson!

Nash quickly launched an attack, and facing Chalmers' defense, he hit a three-pointer. This was Nash's first shot of the game.

The Heat launched another attack...

The Heat launched yet another attack...

The Heat launched yet another attack...

The commentator, Coach Zhang, started to get anxious for the Heat, "They're 0 for 6, and the lead has grown to 35 points!"

Spoelstra called a timeout, but the effect was still not significant after the timeout.

With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the Heat took out their starters, and the Suns also substituted their starters.

Yujia regretfully said, "The game entered garbage time too early. Wade Dong's scoring hasn't even reached 60 points yet."

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's whistle, the first game of the Finals ended.

117:79!

The Suns won by 38 points on the road against the Heat.

Game stats:

Wade Dong: 53 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks

James: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Iverson: 27 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks

Wade: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Nash: 3 points, 4 rebounds, 19 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

Bosh: 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 1 block

Wade Dong and Iverson both finished the game in three quarters, but their combined scoring was one point higher than the entire Heat team. This game's loss for the Heat was partly due to the poor performance of their Big Three.

More importantly, in the first quarter, Wade Dong suddenly changed his playing style, which caught the Heat off guard and disrupted their rhythm.

...

After the game, Wade Dong was interviewed by Coach Zhang and Yujia.

Wang Dapeng came over to shake hands with Wade Dong, "Long time no see! In the blink of an eye, you've become a hot star in the NBA."

"Long time no see," Wade Dong replied, although he didn't recognize Wang Dapeng, he was used to this kind of situation.

Yujia said, "Tonight, you made 23 out of 24 shots, with a shooting percentage close to 96%. This is truly a miracle."

"This is indeed a miracle," Wade Dong smiled. "I felt particularly good tonight, but this kind of hot hand won't happen every night."

Coach Zhang asked, "You have millions of fans in China. Do you have anything to say to them?"

Wade Dong smiled, "Basketball is a great sport. I hope everyone loves basketball."

Coach Zhang asked, "Will you participate in the Olympics this year?"

Wade Dong said, "Bringing glory to the country is the responsibility of every Chinese person. Of course, my mind is still on the Finals. Let's talk about it after I win this series and the championship."

Coach Zhang said, "Good luck."

Wade Dong replied, "Thank you."

After the interview, Wade Dong returned to the locker room.

...

The media began to hype up this game, as it was the first time this year that the Heat lost by more than 30 points at home.

At the start of the season, the Heat were the favorites to win the championship. Experts predicted that the only teams that could give the Heat trouble were the Bulls and the Thunder. No expert thought that the Suns would meet the Heat in the Finals and win the first game by a large margin.

This loss seemed to become a disgrace for the Heat.

...

One day later, at the Heat's home court.

The Suns and the Heat faced off in Game 2 of the Finals.

The entire Heat team was ready to avenge their previous loss.

"Beep!!!"

The referee's whistle sounded!

As the game began, James and Wade showed strong offensive intent, continuously attacking the Suns' basket.

In just five minutes of the first quarter, the score was 11:19, with the Suns trailing the Heat by 8 points.

Gentry called a timeout!

Then, the reporters captured a strange scene. The Suns players were huddled together, and although Gentry was holding the clipboard, it was Wade Dong who was giving instructions.

After the timeout, Nash and Wade Dong ran a pick-and-roll. Wade Dong received the pass from Nash and drove towards the Heat's basket.

"Stop Wade Dong!"

Everyone thought Wade Dong would go straight for the dunk, even Coach Spoelstra was shouting from the sidelines.

But no one noticed that after Nash passed the ball to Wade Dong, he slipped to the corner.

Wade Dong drove to the basket and, without looking, passed the ball behind his back to Nash in the corner.

At that moment, Nash was wide open.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went through the net.

14:19!

Nash's three-pointer stopped the Suns' offensive slump.

Then, the Heat went on offense. James dribbled at the top of the key, sticking close to Wade Dong, and made a bounce pass. This was the chemistry between him and Wade. James knew that Wade would be in the right position.

But someone was faster than Wade! Iverson intercepted the pass on James's passing lane.

Iverson was stunned after stealing the ball because this was the defensive strategy Wade Dong had just set up. Wade Dong had told Iverson to wait at the 45-degree angle position, and if James chose to make a bounce pass, to immediately cut back. Sure enough, Iverson intercepted the pass from the middle.

Iverson was amazed. How did Wade Dong predict James's passing lane?