Chapter 541: The Suns' Playoff Goals

In fact, even if Lillard insists on breaking through from the left side, he can't get past Wade Dong.

What if...

Trying to overpower Wade Dong only leads to a steal; how could Wade Dong refuse? He simply reached out and intercepted Lillard's ball.

Teammates need to have a certain synergy; for example, when Lillard dribbled behind and changed direction, Curry began to run forward. After Wade Dong successfully stole the ball, he passed it to Curry, who was already at the front court, with no one from the Trail Blazers back to defend.

Phoenix's little Wade Dong's "showtime"!

"Bang!!!"

Curry jumped with all his might and barely dunked the ball into the basket.

21:5!!!

The Suns finally had a second player score, but the Trail Blazers were already down by 16 points. Falling behind by so much at the start is rare, even in regular season games.

"Should we call a timeout?!"

This thought kept swirling in Stotts' mind... he really wanted to call a timeout.

The audience also noticed that Wade Dong's sudden appearance disrupted Stotts' pre-game strategy; this was a test for the head coach. However, he had already called one timeout; calling another would make it a joke.

This was the Trail Blazers' home court, and the first quarter wasn't even over yet; calling two timeouts in quick succession would be embarrassing.

"What is Gentry doing?!"

Stotts turned to look at Gentry and was instantly filled with frustration. While he was anxious and on edge, Gentry was casually drinking water... and it was known that there were goji berries in his thermos, which was no secret in the league.

...

In the Huaxia live broadcast room.

- Zhang said, "After Wade Dong returned, the Trail Blazers have lost all their ability to resist."

- Yu added, "This might be Gentry's plan; there was no news before the game about Wade Dong's sudden return, which broke all of Stotts' pre-game strategies."

- Zhang continued, "Gentry is also an old fox, but the strength difference between the two teams is too great."

...

"Timeout!"

After nine minutes of play in the first quarter, Stotts had no choice but to call a second timeout.

37:13!!!

The Trail Blazers were now down by 24 points.

"We must reduce outside ball handling; our tactics should revolve around Aldridge and Gortat. Lillard, you need to pass more and not try to take on Wade Dong one-on-one!"

"In this league... there is no one who can win against Wade Dong in a 1V1 situation."

Stotts sighed; in the previous two games, the Trail Blazers had held on until the last moment largely thanks to Lillard's heroics.

But with Wade Dong back, in one-on-one situations, he completely overwhelmed Lillard... after nine minutes of play in the first quarter, Lillard shot 1 for 11 with only 2 points, while Wade Dong scored 27 points on 11 of 13 shooting. 

This is the difference!

Gentry was overjoyed inside; "It feels great to have Dong back. Everyone put in some effort; if we win this game, we just need one more win to finish this series."

"Dong, why did it take you so long to recover from your injury?"

Finally able to chat with Wade Dong, Curry asked his lingering question.

"This is my first injury; of course I had to be cautious."

"That makes sense..."

Wade Dong's answer was perfectly reasonable.

Moreover, Wade Dong had no intention of announcing his child's birth yet; before their first month celebration, the child wouldn't be able to come to America. This time Qi Juan didn't know why she was so stubborn; according to her wishes, she wanted to give their child the best growth environment—which naturally meant staying in their home country.

It seemed unlikely that their child would come to Phoenix before turning one year old.

Fortunately, the playoffs would soon be over; if they could continue sweeping their opponents, Wade Dong would make it back in time for his child's full month celebration. Plus, with a long offseason ahead, he could spend plenty of time with his child during that period.

Thinking about it...

Not being able to attend his child's full month celebration as a father truly felt like a heartbreaking story for those who heard it.

...

After the timeout ended, the Suns had already substituted in their bench lineup.

This allowed the Trail Blazers to breathe a sigh of relief.

Gortat caught a pass under the basket and teamed up with Aldridge for a play; Aldridge received Gortat's pass and made a mid-range shot.

37:15!!!

The Trail Blazers were still down by 22 points.

Although they had substituted out their starters, the Suns had already built momentum. McCollum held the ball outside and faced Matthews one-on-one before taking a quick jumper.

"Swish!!!"

The basketball went through cleanly.

39:15!!!

McCollum's improvement was evident; he was no longer just that player lurking in the corner waiting for an opportunity but had been continuously enhancing his ability to create shots off the dribble.

...

As the first quarter ended, some fans began leaving.

Winning by nearly thirty points against the Trail Blazers in just one quarter had effectively ended any hope for them... The fans were rational enough to realize that there was no chance for a comeback from Portland and chose not to watch anymore.

"We need to increase our inside attack since we can't get anything going from outside; let's try to cut down this deficit before halftime and keep it within 15 points."

"If we lose this game, we might get swept; everyone needs to grit their teeth and hold on!"

"Coach..."

Carmelo sitting on the bench interrupted Stotts' words. "We all know deep down that once Wade Dong is back, we have no hope of winning."

Lillard shot Carmelo a glare. "You need to remember that we beat the Suns once during the regular season."

"And how did we win that game? We all know that... because they needed a loss for adjustments before entering playoffs at their best state."

Carmelo replied sulkily.

When the Suns were pushing for an 80-win regular season and still had two games left at that point, many analysts speculated that they would strategically lose their second-to-last game for adjustments before heading into playoffs at peak performance.

Many guessed...

This season not only were they aiming for an 80-win regular season but also possibly creating another record—an undefeated playoff run!

It's worth noting... this is also an incredibly daunting record; even teams as strong as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant lost once during playoffs. To date, no team has achieved an undefeated playoff record.

Clearly,

The Suns were aiming for this record; this was their best opportunity yet.

...

As the second quarter began,

Durant and Curry took the court alongside three other players: Yi Nan, Whiteside, and McCollum.

The Trail Blazers' backcourt consisted of Lillard and Blake.

Without Wade Dong's defense, Lillard drove with the ball and passed it out to Blake beyond the three-point line.

"Swish!!!"

Blake raised his hand for a three-pointer as it went cleanly through.