Chapter 324: An Early Exit

Before the game, the Rockets players noticed that many of the Suns players had greasy mouths. 89shu.com

"What did they eat before the game?"

Of course, the Rockets players had no idea that each Suns player had eaten a whole roast duck before warming up.

And Durant and a few others were afraid of indigestion, so their warm-up was more like a leisurely stroll.

The starting lineups for both teams were as follows:

Suns: Wade Dong, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.

Rockets: Chandler Parsons, Lin Hao, Patrick Beverley, Francisco Garcia, and Omri Casspi.

Lin Hao was an M-nationality Chinese. He had always wanted to regain his Chinese nationality, but in this world, Chinese nationality was the most difficult to obtain. Lin Hao had yet to fulfill his wish.

In this game, both the Rockets and the Suns players had a relaxed mindset, but for different reasons. The Suns players were relaxed because they didn't think they could lose, while the Rockets players were relaxed because they didn't think they could win.

The Suns' greatest strength was not individual skill but their team chemistry, a unity of purpose. Wade Dong was the undisputed leader of the team, and everyone respected him. Although Alvin Gentry seemed useless, he was instrumental in creating the team's positive atmosphere.

Before the game, Lin Hao approached Wade Dong, "Dong Ge, can I have your phone number?"

"Sure."

Wade Dong's phone was in the locker room, so he asked Varrick to bring him a pen and paper. He wrote down his number and handed it to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao carefully put away the number and asked, "If I regain my Chinese nationality, will the national team recruit me?"

"Of course!"

Wade Dong smiled, "If you regain your nationality, you'll meet the criteria for the national team, and they'll need you."

"That's great!"

Lin Hao smiled, "Then that day won't be far off."

It was these simple words that made Wade Dong realize that Lin Hao had been working towards regaining his Chinese nationality, and he wouldn't have brought it up if there hadn't been any progress.

...

The arena in the Western United States was packed.

"Beep!!!"

With the referee's whistle, the game began.

Durant and Garcia jumped for the tip-off. Durant effortlessly tapped the ball to Wade Dong, who dribbled to the frontcourt and passed it to Curry. Curry raised his hand and took a three-pointer.

"G~~~"

The basketball circled the rim twice and then came out.

"Emmm..."

Curry rubbed his stomach; he was a bit stuffed, which affected his performance.

Garcia grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to Lin Hao, who dribbled to the frontcourt. He used Beverley's screen to get past Thompson and drove to the basket for a layup.

Score: 0:2!!!

The Rockets took the lead.

Then, Durant missed a mid-range shot, and Garcia grabbed another defensive rebound, passing it to Lin Hao. Lin Hao dribbled to the frontcourt and assisted Parsons for a three-pointer.

Score: 0:5!!!

Right from the start, the entire Suns team was sluggish. After five minutes, the Suns trailed by 11 points.

Alvin Gentry called a timeout and said to the players, "An individual's effort is addition, but a team's effort is multiplication..."

"He..."

Wade Dong yawned. He had been traveling back and forth by plane these days, dealing with jet lag, and hadn't gotten much sleep. He was in a terrible state.

After Gentry finished his pep talk, Durant and the others' mindset seemed to have improved.

When Gentry finished his lecture, Wade Dong said, "I'm exhausted. I'll only play the first half, and then I'll go back to the locker room to catch some sleep."

"???" Durant and Gentry both exclaimed.

The teammates and coaches were speechless. Was Dong Ge showing off?

But looking at Wade Dong's condition, it was indeed not good. If he forced himself to play, he might risk an injury. In fact, the Suns' initial sluggishness was partly due to Wade Dong's influence.

...

After the timeout, the Suns made substitutions. They brought in Carter to replace Durant and Gortat to replace Green. Since Wade Dong said he would only play the first half, Gortat was brought in to secure the rebounds. If they were still trailing at halftime, they would need Durant's performance in the second half.

The Suns attacked.

Curry dribbled to the frontcourt and asked for the ball at mid-range. Curry passed the ball to Wade Dong.

Wade Dong received the ball and faked a shot, causing Parsons to jump.

Wade Dong leaned into Parsons and took the shot.

"Swoosh!!!"

Despite Parsons' interference, Wade Dong forced the ball in and made a 2+1!

Alvin Gentry smiled, "Dong Ge is really tired. Normally, he wouldn't use such cheap tricks."

The teammates knew that Wade Dong's ability to draw fouls was top-notch in the league, but he rarely used such tactics.

Score: 23:15!!!

After Wade Dong made the free throw, the Suns were only trailing by 8 points.

The Rockets attacked.

Lin Hao drove and dished the ball, but Beverley's shot was disrupted by Gortat.

Wade Dong grabbed the rebound and went on a fast break.

Facing Parsons and Lin Hao, who were chasing him, Wade Dong deliberately went for Parsons as he shot!

"Slap!"

"Beep!"

Parsons had pulled Wade Dong's arm, and the referee blew the whistle, signaling a defensive foul by Parsons!

"Swoosh!!!"

Wade Dong made the free throw.

Score: 23:18!!!

The Suns were only trailing by 5 points.

Less than a minute after the timeout, Parsons had committed two fouls, forcing the Rockets' head coach to substitute him out.

This meant the Rockets lost one of their primary scorers.

Then...

The Rockets missed a shot, and Gortat grabbed the rebound, passing it to Curry.

Curry dribbled to the frontcourt, evaded Lin Hao's defense, and passed to Wade Dong at the 45-degree angle.

"Swoosh!!!"

Wade Dong raised his hand and made a three-pointer, the ball swishing through the net.

Score: 23:21!!!

The Rockets' 11-point lead had evaporated!

...

The first quarter ended.

Score: 29:35!!!

The Suns had taken a 6-point lead.

In the first quarter, Wade Dong had made 7 out of 9 shots, scoring 18 points.

...

The second quarter began.

After Wade Dong came in, he received a pass from Curry beyond the three-point line and took a three-pointer.

"Swoosh!!!"

The ball swished through the net.

With 21 points, Wade Dong continued his streak of consecutive 20+ point games.

After making this shot, Wade Dong didn't return to defense. Instead, as the Rockets were inbounding the ball, he pulled Lin Hao.

"Beep!!!"

The referee blew the whistle, calling Wade Dong's first foul of the game.

The fans watching on TV...

The Chinese fans...

The Rockets players...

The commentator...

Everyone witnessed a strange scene. Why did Wade Dong commit a foul? And after the foul, he walked straight off the court, with Durant taking his place. Wade Dong then headed directly towards the players' tunnel.

...

In the Chinese live broadcast room.

Yu Jia, "Why did Wade Dong leave the game?"

Coach Zhang, "Is it a health issue?"

Yu Jia, "I hope it's not an injury!"

Coach Zhang, "I hope Wade Dong returns to the game soon!"