Chapter 486: Consecutive Mistakes

In a five-star hotel in China.

Alvin Gentry brewed a new pot of tea.

This summer, after the NBA Finals, Alvin Gentry came to China. He was attending Wade Dong's wedding, and he truly loved this country, so he stayed and never left, like a backpacker.

Besides tea tasting, Alvin Gentry had another great passion—Chinese cuisine. Wade Dong was too busy to pay attention to him, so Alvin Gentry traveled to Chengdu alone. His plan was to spend two months eating his way through the city's culinary delights, but two months had passed, and Alvin Gentry's movements were still limited to within 500 meters of the hotel.

After the first half ended, it was already 1 a.m. in Beijing.

Alvin Gentry walked to the window, and the lights outside were still bright. He muttered, "If the US Men's Basketball Team wins, I'll go to sleep after finishing this pot of tea. If the Chinese Men's Basketball Team wins, I'll go out for a hot pot meal."

On these two teams, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were on the US team, while Wade Dong was on the Chinese team. However, they were all teammates on the Phoenix Suns.

In his heart, Alvin Gentry was rooting for the US team to win... because he was American. But he also knew that a team with Wade Dong was unbeatable.

Why did he want to eat hot pot if the Chinese team won?

Well, Alvin Gentry was a celebrity in his own right, and he was the head coach of the Suns. It was normal for people to recognize him when he walked down the street.

Tonight was the final of the Men's Basketball World Cup.

Alvin Gentry was just craving hot pot. If the Chinese team lost, and he happily went out for hot pot, would the neighboring table throw a bottle at him?

...

The second half was about to begin, and the players returned to the court.

Wade Dong frowned slightly when he saw Coach K make another substitution, "If they play like this, some of the US guys will have stamina issues in the fourth quarter."

On the other hand, the Chinese team...

Li Pei played for 13 minutes in the first half. Besides Wade Dong, Gu Qi, Huang Yu, Lin Hao, Yi Nan, and Li Pei took turns resting, but they only got one or two minutes of rest.

"Go, China!"

"Go, USA!"

"Go, China!"

The tens of thousands of spectators in the arena were a mix of Chinese and US team supporters. This situation made it a real concern that fans might start fighting at the end of the game.

Lin Hao passed the ball to Yi Nan while driving.

Yi Nan leaned on Davis, spun, and drove to the basket. He rose for a powerful dunk!

This move was clean and crisp, even surprising Deng Hua... Yi Nan was really showing his fighting spirit, and he was quite capable.

"Bam!"

Just as Yi Nan was about to dunk, James Harden suddenly rushed in and blocked his shot.

The ball flew out of bounds...

"What the...?"

Wade Dong furrowed his brows tightly. James Harden had blocked Yi Nan's dunk? That was brave... even Wade Dong didn't see that coming.

The TV audience fell silent. The fans who had been about to cheer suddenly went quiet. That bearded guy, James Harden, had blocked Yi Nan's dunk?

The Chinese team had the ball out of bounds, and Yi Nan walked to the baseline without a word to inbound the ball.

"Give me the ball!"

Wade Dong ran back, dodged Kyrie Irving's defense, and received the ball from Yi Nan at the baseline. He dribbled, took one step, and jumped, performing a big windmill dunk with his back to the basket!

"Clang!"

This dunk didn't seem difficult, but in a real game, only three of the ten players on the court could pull off this move. Stephen Curry, for one, definitely couldn't do it.

China was only down by 3 points!

"Go, China!"

"Go, China!"

"Go, China!"

As the point difference narrowed, the fans' cheers grew louder.

The US team attacked, and James Harden and Anthony Davis executed an alley-oop. Davis slammed the ball into the basket.

China was down by 5 points.

Gu Qi received a pass from Wade Dong under the basket and had a great opportunity to lay it in. But he hesitated for a moment, and Davis stole the ball and passed it to Irving for a fast break.

Wade Dong caught up.

Irving lifted the ball with one arm under the basket and faked a shot, followed by a turnaround jumper.

"Squeak..."

The people sitting on the sidelines could clearly hear the sound of the shoe sole rubbing against the floor.

Wade Dong slammed on the brakes!

A long blue mark was left on the floor.

Klay Thompson's expression turned painful as he watched, "What kind of knees can withstand such a sudden stop? Please don't get injured, Dong."

Wade Dong stopped and jumped, then swatted the ball with the back of his hand while facing away from Irving!

This was a badminton backhand swipe. Wade Dong used his arm like a racket and swatted the ball away with a palm. However, Stephen Curry quickly followed up, picked up the ball, and attempted a three-pointer.

"Bam!"

Yi Nan appeared behind Curry and blocked his shot with a palm.

...

In the Chinese live broadcast room.

Yu Jia: "A backhand swipe for a block, that's the skill of the Block King."

Zhang: "Yi Nan is also holding back. He was just blocked by James Harden, a guard, right in the face. That's a bit embarrassing."

Yu Jia: "Curry was in a hurry to shoot and didn't notice Yi Nan behind him."

Zhang: "The Chinese team needs to play like this to take the lead."

...

After Yi Nan's block, the ball landed in Lin Hao's hands. Lin Hao maintained the rhythm in the frontcourt, waiting for Wade Dong to get into position, and then passed the ball to him.

Wade Dong took a mid-range jump shot over Irving, but it missed!

But it didn't matter... After taking the shot, Wade Dong immediately drove to the basket. As the ball bounced off the rim, Wade Dong caught it in the air and shot again as his body descended.

This move should be called a "falling jumper," right?

"Swish!"

The ball went through the net!

China was still down by 3 points.

...

This 3-point deficit didn't last until the end of the third quarter. With 2:47 left in the third, Lin Hao turned the ball over, and Irving stole it.

"Swish!"

Irving scored on the fast break.

China was down by 8 points.

Then, Huang Yu's pass to Wade Dong was intercepted by Curry again. Huang Yu chased after him, but Curry stopped just a step away from the three-point line and took a three-pointer!

"Swish!"

The ball went through the net.

Deng Hua's face fell, and he shouted from the sidelines, "No more turnovers!"

Two consecutive turnovers had put the Chinese team down by 11 points, and Deng Hua was anxious. Against the powerful US team, any carelessness could cost them the game.

"Time out!"

Wade Dong signaled to Deng Hua to call a timeout.

There were 2:27 left in the third quarter. When the players returned to the sidelines, Wade Dong asked the bench players, "Who's ready to come in?"