Chapter 63: 58-Point Blowout

Before Game 2 between the Clippers and the Suns, the Suns were already considering their potential opponents in the Western Conference Finals.

If Thibodeau knew about this, he would be furious.

The second game began.

Wade Dong finally returned to the team. Before the game, Gentry specifically instructed Wade Dong, "No more fighting."

Wade Dong, "???"

He wasn't a violent person. The reason he hit Pau Gasol in the previous game was that Gasol deserved it. However, the Clippers were relatively friendly.

Suns starting lineup: Nash, Iverson, Wade Dong, Hill, Gortat

Clippers starting lineup: Paul, Griffin, Jordan, Martin, Redick

Wade Dong continued to play the power forward position, which relieved Gortat. This reduced the defensive pressure on him in the paint.

In the previous game, Gortat had to defend Griffin and then Jordan several times.

During the regular season, the Clippers and the Suns had faced off, and Wade Dong had once chosen to defend Griffin, even blocking one of his shots. However, after the block, Wade Dong apologized to Griffin and called him his idol, which made Griffin feel better.

This time, Wade Dong was directly matched up against Griffin.

Griffin knew Wade Dong was strong, possibly even stronger than himself, but he still wanted to prove that he deserved the title of idol in front of Wade Dong.

So, at the start of the game, Griffin chose to isolate against Wade Dong's defense.

Crossover, spin move!

"Huh?"

"Huh??"

"Huh???"

Griffin tried to back down Wade Dong but couldn't move him at all. Wade Dong's strength was incredible!

With no other choice, Griffin passed the ball back to Paul and reset his position to receive the ball again.

However, when the ball returned to Griffin, Wade Dong was there to defend him again. Griffin's mid-range shot was disrupted by Wade Dong.

"He got stopped?!"

Seeing this, Thibodeau almost went crazy!

Griffin was one of the top three power forwards this season, yet he couldn't do anything against Wade Dong's defense.

Was Wade Dong's defense that strong? They had a height difference of over ten centimeters!

In the previous game, Gortat could barely defend Griffin, but Griffin still scored 32 points over him. With Wade Dong back, the Suns' interior defense was incredibly strong!

Thibodeau felt like smashing the tactics board. How were they supposed to play this game?!

On the Suns' offensive end, Nash passed the ball to Wade Dong, who used a dream shake to get past Griffin and easily scored. While returning to defense, Wade Dong said to Griffin, "Idol, come find me during the offseason. I'll teach you some post moves... That's not how a power forward should play."

Griffin, "???"

He was one of the top three power forwards this season, and now Wade Dong, a shooting guard, was teaching him how to play?

Besides, Wade Dong, why don't you just play your shooting guard position? Why are you trying to take the power forward's job?

When Griffin faced Wade Dong again with the ball, he started to provoke him, "Shorty, you're not suited to play the power forward position. Go back to playing shooting guard."

"But I have long arms," Wade Dong shrugged and stole the ball from Griffin, passing it to the frontcourt where Iverson received it and easily scored.

Six minutes into the first quarter.

7:19!

The Clippers had only scored 7 points. Facing Wade Dong and Gortat in the paint, and Nash and Iverson on the perimeter, the Clippers had no solutions.

The first quarter ended with the Clippers trailing the Suns 17:31.

The second quarter ended with the Clippers trailing the Suns 36:59.

The third quarter ended with the Clippers trailing the Suns 62:103.

In this game, Paul's shooting was off. He shot 4 out of 17, scoring only 11 points. Paul hadn't scored this low in a long time.

The Suns led the Clippers by 41 points entering the fourth quarter, and the game entered garbage time.

In the final quarter, neither team's starters played. This wasn't a Game 7 situation, and even if it were, being down by 41 points after three quarters meant the starters couldn't make a comeback.

However, the Suns went crazy, with the entire team shooting lights out. Even with Wade Dong, Iverson, Nash, and Hill off the court, the Suns' bench continued to extend the lead.

Wade Dong felt a bit uncomfortable watching this. He wanted the Suns' bench players to ease up, but Gentry didn't call a timeout, and he couldn't shout from the sidelines, as that would be even more disrespectful to the Clippers.

In the final minute, both teams stopped playing.

"Beep!!!"

The referee blew the final whistle.

89:147!

The Clippers lost to the Suns by 58 points at home.

Game statistics:

Wade Dong: 29 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 7 blocks

Iverson: 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

Nash: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 17 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Griffin: 21 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Paul: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks

It was a resounding victory, but after the game, the Suns players didn't celebrate. Celebrating at this point would be inappropriate and could lead to trouble.

So, as soon as the game ended, the Suns players returned to the locker room, took a shower, and completed their media interviews before flying back to Phoenix overnight.

On the plane, Wade Dong criticized the bench players, "We're all in the same league, and we'll see each other again. You guys shouldn't have done that today. We were already leading by so much, and you should have eased up a bit. Winning by 58 points, the Clippers have no face left."

The bench players felt wronged, "We thought about it, but today the basket was like the ocean, everything we threw up went in..."

"Varick, I have to criticize you too," Wade Dong said to Varick. "In the middle of the fourth quarter, when you defended Crawford, you should have just let him score. Instead, you turned around and blocked his shot."

Varick looked at the post-game stats sheet, "Brother Dong, I only blocked one shot, but you had seven blocks today!"

"Really?" Wade Dong touched his nose, "I accidentally blocked seven shots from the other team. I didn't mean to."

Dudley laughed, "You say you didn't mean to, but in the second quarter, when you defended Jordan, you blocked three of his shots in a row under the basket. Jordan was stunned."

"And also..."

The bench players added, "You say we didn't ease up in the fourth quarter, but you scored the game-high 29 points."

"Can we compare?" Wade Dong smiled smugly, "29 points is almost the lowest score of my career."

"Tsk..."

Everyone leaned back, not wanting to deal with Wade Dong.

In summary, the Suns were becoming more and more cohesive, and their mood was more relaxed, which was a good thing. Maintaining high tension on the court but being relaxed off the court was beneficial for their overall state.