Chapter 193: Why Provoke Wade Dong, That Bastard?

First Quarter Ends.

46:27!!!

The Suns, led by Wade Dong and Curry, unleashed a torrent of offense, combining for 38 points in the first quarter, outscoring the entire Magic team by 11 points.

The Magic's defense couldn't contain Wade Dong and Curry's three-point barrage.

...

Second Quarter Begins.

The Suns bring in their bench players.

Nash and McGrady enter the game. These two haven't had many opportunities to play together this season. Usually, when McGrady is on the court, Nash is resting on the bench.

However, both players are highly skilled and have strong organizational and offensive abilities.

McGrady's unstoppable drives combined with Nash's brilliant passing continued to expand the lead.

The game gradually lost its suspense.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Nash was replaced by Curry.

After Nash left the court, Wade Dong moved aside to make room for Nash and said with a smile, "Old Nash, you've worked hard~"

"Not hard at all."

Nash smiled and said, "I didn't even break a sweat..."

Wade Dong said, "With this style of play, I think you can play until you're forty."

At this pace, Nash would likely not play again today.

Since moving to the bench, Nash's playing time has been significantly reduced. Previously, Nash would play about 30 minutes per game, but now that time has been cut in half, leading to a significant drop in his stats.

"I don't plan to play that long."

Nash took a sip of his drink and said, "I'll play for two more seasons, and then I'll retire when my contract expires."

"That works too."

Wade Dong said slowly, "You can take advantage of these two seasons to sit on the bench and observe the games. When you're not playing, you can learn from Coach Kidd and Kerr how to be a coach. After you retire, you can directly step into the coaching role."

Wade Dong thought this was a good suggestion. Looking around the league, not many top players become top coaches. Those top coaches were usually bench players during their playing days, spending a lot of time on the bench observing games and learning tactics from the coaches. This laid a solid foundation for them to become top coaches.

Now, the Suns have Coach Kidd and Kerr. If Nash follows their lead and learns well, he should be able to become a good coach.

"You've planned it all out for me?"

Nash raised an eyebrow, "But I don't plan to become a coach. After I retire, I want to enjoy life."

"The future... who can say for sure?"

Wade Dong said something that left Nash puzzled, then took off his warm-up jacket, preparing to enter the game.

...

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

The away fans cheered "MVP" again as Wade Dong entered the game.

Wade Dong's popularity was truly terrifying!

After entering the game, Wade Dong immediately drove past Redick's defense, rushing to the basket. Big Baby Davis jumped to try to block Wade Dong's shot.

The two collided in the air again.

Wade Dong was almost bounced away by Davis again, pausing briefly in the air before adjusting his posture and making a small hook shot.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went through the net.

After scoring, Wade Dong wanted to pat Davis's belly again, but this time he restrained himself.

69:41!!!

The Suns led the Magic by 28 points.

The away fans cheered "MVP" again.

...

In the final possession of the first half, with 5 seconds left, Curry dribbled to the midcourt and shot a three-pointer.

"Swish!!!"

The ball went through the net.

After making the shot, Curry was very excited and put his hand to his ear, wanting to hear the fans' cheers.

"Wow... wow~~~"

Only a small portion of the fans cheered. The fans' reaction to Curry's shot was vastly different from Wade Dong's.

"Sigh..."

Curry sighed softly. The excitement of scoring was greatly diminished. Playing alongside Wade Dong, it was easy for Curry's brilliance to be overshadowed.

The first half had already made the game a foregone conclusion.

Wade Dong and Curry played the entire third quarter, completely taking the game away.

The Suns' lineup for the fourth quarter was Varlick, Bull, Middleton, Green, and Frye.

This was basically the Suns' weakest lineup at the moment.

Knowing that Wade Dong would not return to the game, many fans started to leave the arena as the fourth quarter began. Neither coach called a timeout, and they let the 12 minutes run out...

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's final whistle, the game ended.

Game stats:

Wade Dong: 37 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks.

Curry: 31 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks.

Nash: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks.

...

On March 9th, the Suns faced the Cavaliers.

They won the game without much difficulty and flew to Oklahoma City to prepare for their away game against the Thunder.

The Thunder are ranked second in the West.

The Thunder's Big Three are well-known throughout the league and are strong contenders for the championship this year.

This season, the Suns have played the Thunder three times, winning two and losing one. In the game they lost, the Suns relied heavily on Wade Dong but couldn't stop the collective explosion of the Thunder's Big Three. Westbrook had a triple-double with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in that game.

Since entering the league, Wade Dong has faced the Thunder four times, with a record of two wins and two losses.

The Thunder are currently the only team that has a tied record against Wade Dong.

Before the game, Ibaka made a statement, saying that the Block King title belongs to the big men. He wanted to show Wade Dong, the "stat padder," what a real block looks like.

This news also made the game highly anticipated.

Ibaka is averaging 2.9 blocks per game this season. He has been at the top of the blocks leaderboard for most of the season but was overtaken by Wade Dong after the All-Star break.

Wade Dong is also averaging 2.9 blocks per game. Ibaka has played 57 games this season with a total of 166 blocks, while Wade Dong has played 60 games with a total of 175 blocks. Ibaka is only 0.004 blocks behind Wade Dong. In this game, if Ibaka gets two more blocks than Wade Dong, he will reclaim the top spot on the blocks leaderboard.

Before entering the arena, Green asked Wade Dong, "Brother Dong, Ibaka is provoking you. You have to teach him a lesson."

"Yeah... okay!"

Wade Dong smiled and nodded.

He loves being provoked. Only when you provoke him can he slap you in the face.

...

Before the game, on a certain forum, the most popular basketball forum in China.

Ibaka's pre-game comments about Wade Dong also became a hot topic. The highest-rated comment was: Durant's Mini-Me: Ibaka, why do you have to provoke Wade Dong, that bastard?

Everyone could see that since the Suns started using the "Death Lineup," Wade Dong has been taking it easy.

Every game, he scores around 30 points and gets 3 blocks, then clocks out...

Fans were worried that if this continued, Wade Dong's Block King title might be in jeopardy. Ibaka's comments about Wade Dong instantly made the forum lively.