Wei Guo receives the ball, takes a step forward, and jumps!

Mourning dodged instantly...

Barbosa wisely avoided the situation...

There were originally two players in front of him, but now the court is empty, and Wei Guo's pent-up energy can only be released on the basket.

"Bang!!!"

A powerful, heavy two-handed dunk.

After landing, Wei Guo looked up at the basketball hoop. It was of good quality... If the hoop was bent, the stadium would have to replace it with a spare one.

29:19!!

This is the second time the Suns have led by double digits.

The Heat had a double-digit lead at the start of the first quarter, but they adjusted their strategy and closed the gap.

Mourning wiped his sweat...

Although he dodged Wei Guo's dunk, he didn't feel ashamed at all... It's embarrassing to be dunked on by Wei Guo; if he had made a bigger move, Wei Guo could have scored a 2+1.

Being teammates with Wei Guo wasn't a happy experience. He had witnessed Wei Guo dunking over opponents too many times, and this sense of dominance was ingrained in his bones. Even the tough guy Mourning would instinctively dodge when he saw Wei Guo about to dunk.

The Heat are on offense.

Wade drove past Richardson one-on-one, using a crossover dribble to break through, and then forced a layup over Wei Guo under the basket.

"Top 10 Goals! This definitely deserves a spot on the top 10!"

The Heat's bench erupted in cheers... The more difficult the shot, the more impressive it is.

Getting past Richardson wasn't difficult, but with Wei Guo under the basket, Wade showed no fear whatsoever, forced his way to the basket, and even scored.

Just this one ball...

This gave Heat fans watching on TV renewed hope of winning.

......

The Heat's bench players' enthusiasm hadn't even fully ignited before it was extinguished.

Then...

Wei Guo successfully defended against the Heat's attacks three times in a row.

On the other hand, for the Suns, although Wei Guo didn't directly participate in the offense, young players Richardson and Barbosa had a good shooting touch, each scoring a basket, and Marion also made a three-pointer.

37:21!!

Before the second quarter was even halfway through, the Suns were leading by 16 points.

Van Gundy kept Mourning and Wade on the court, while O'Neal and three other key players returned to the court one after another.

Van Gundy has a very clear plan regarding players' playing time. Wade and Kidd should play for more than 40 minutes each. Inside players expend more energy, and O'Neal is a big guy... so his playing time is controlled at 35 minutes to keep him in top form.

As for Haslem... his starting position is related to his position. Giving him about 20 minutes of playing time is enough. Miller is a veteran, and you can't push veterans too hard. Once their stamina drops, their shooting percentage will also drop. So Miller's playing time is also controlled to around 20 minutes.

That makes perfect sense!

Mourning can take away some of Haslem and O'Neal's playing time, while Eddie and Damon can take away some of Haslem and Miller's playing time. The playing time of these three will be controlled to around 20 minutes, or even longer.

For example, the first game of the finals...

Damon Jones is in great form, and he's playing more minutes than Miller.

......

After bringing in their starters, the Heat only managed to stabilize the point difference. They were completely overwhelmed in the first half and couldn't adapt to the Suns' rhythm at all.

......

Away game locker room.

Miller kicked over a bench as he walked in, then found a corner to squat in and sulk. Tonight, he was matched up against young Joe Johnson, and Miller went 0-for-7 from three-point range, so Joe Johnson kept nagging him.

I've never been this humiliated in my entire career...

Just now, near the end of the first half, Miller couldn't resist pushing Joe Johnson and was called for a technical foul.

55:41!!

The Suns lead by 14 points.

The lead wasn't that big, and the Heat weren't worried about the score, but rather that Wei Guo hadn't even started to perform yet... In the first half, every player on the Suns played very well, and Wei Guo was willing to play the supporting role to highlight his teammates.

Aside from a few successful defensive plays, Wei Guo had almost no standout performances.

This is like playing a video game.

You've used up all your skills, but the other person is still saving their ultimate move. How can you possibly win?

Although his teammates were sullen, there were still some things that needed to be said. Mourning spoke first, "I think the main target to mark in the second half is Wei Guo."

Mourning is older and was once teammates with Wei Guo, so his words carry weight, but some people still raised different opinions.

Miller said, "Weiguo's offensive desire is not strong. Our defense has been good. In the second half, we should focus our energy on offense and take more shots to score more points."

"Our advantage is in the paint, so we need to let Shaq get the ball more often."

"Wei Guo's defensive rotations were quick, and Stoudemire is back. Our inside and outside advantages aren't as obvious anymore."

"Just do it! What's there to be afraid of!"

"Cough cough..."

Van Gundy cleared his throat twice to stop the players' discussion. "I think Mourning is right. In the second half, the task of defending the national team should still be left to Mourning."

This is a company where newly hired employees share their ideas.

The leader immediately delegated authority...

This delegation of authority isn't for training new employees; it's just that the leaders understand how ridiculous this whole thing is, and since the new employees want to do it, they might as well just let them do it.

"rest assured!"

Mourning patted his chest, "I want to win this game more than any of you."

After saying that, Mourning immediately shut up... He was just expressing a determination, but it seems he said something wrong. Of everyone in this room, except for him, everyone else had been defeated by Wei Guo, especially O'Neal, who lost to Wei Guo twice in the Finals. Wasn't he the most determined to win?

The Phoenix Suns' locker room.

Cummings frowned as he looked at the statistics table. "Brother Wei, these numbers aren't very impressive."

"I only care about winning..."

Wei Guo laughed and said, "If I could win a championship ring just by sitting on the bench, I definitely wouldn't play."

Cummings frowned even more. "Brother Wei, I suspect you're subtly criticizing me?"

"Hahaha..."

Joe Johnson laughed loudly, "Get rid of any doubts, Wei-ge is talking about you."

Cummings turned to Gentry, his face resolute, "Old Gentry, your humble servant Cummings requests permission to fight!"

"Get out of here."

Gentry yelled, "I haven't even settled accounts with you yet! A few days ago you were walking around holding your back, what happened?"

"Nothing's wrong... I'm just feeling a little unwell."

Cummings turned away guiltily and stopped talking.

He thought he had kept it a secret from the coach, but it was no secret from the moment he asked the team manager for tickets, especially since everyone had seen how he had been indulging in excessive pleasure these past few days.

Fortunately...

Cummings' role is not on the field.

If it were Joe Johnson or Richardson making this mistake during the Finals, they would definitely be criticized by the coaching staff.

......

The second half is about to begin, and the players are returning to the field.

For the Heat, the third quarter is the most crucial. If they can't catch up in the third quarter, it will be almost impossible to win the game in the fourth quarter.

because...

The nation will always draw its sword at critical moments.

The Heat are on offense.

Kidd dribbled to the vicinity of the free-throw line, leaned against Nash, and didn't draw a foul.

O'Neal twisted his body and positioned himself in front of Stoudemire. He simply raised his right hand, and Kidd immediately passed the ball to O'Neal. O'Neal then stuck out his big butt and pushed Stoudemire to the basket.

Turn around and jump!

"Beep!!!"

The referee's whistle blew...

O'Neal slammed the basketball down in anger, yelling, "Fuck!"

Just as O'Neal was about to get up for a powerful dunk, Stoudemire grabbed O'Neal and fouled him, denying O'Neal the chance to dunk.

Anyway...

Stoudemire only committed two fouls in the first half, which is more than enough for him.

Before the game, Gentry told Stoudemire that if he couldn't stop O'Neal, he should foul him, and if he committed more than four fouls, he should have Weiguo switch positions with him to defend him.

Stoudemire kept the head coach's instructions in mind...

All three of his fouls were on O'Neal, which is why O'Neal cursed after being fouled. He was fed up with the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy. He used to like Gentry, thinking that Gentry wasn't the kind of flashy coach. In so many regular season and playoff matchups, Gentry rarely used the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy.

This also makes sense. Gentry has never been a rigid head coach. He didn't use the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy before because the player guarding O'Neal was Wei Guo, and there was no need to foul him. But Stoudemire really couldn't guard O'Neal.

There's another Chinese player in the league... named Da Ba.

Gentry also remembered this guy; he was very strong and once knocked O'Neal to the ground during a confrontation, which became a famous moment for the coach.

O'Neal steps to the free-throw line!

"bang~~~"

The first free throw missed.

His mindset was affected...

Wade walked over, patted O'Neal on the butt, and then walked away.

O'Neal took a deep breath, dribbled the basketball a few times, and took his second free throw.

"bang~~~"

The second free throw missed.

"Shit!"

O'Neal reluctantly returned to defense.

No need to think...

If the second free throw misses, the defensive rebound will definitely go to Weiguo.

The Suns are on offense.

Nash dribbled to the basket, then circled out, shook off Kidd, and took a fadeaway jumper.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

This is Nash's preferred way of scoring... Don't be fooled by Nash's accurate shooting; he scores just as many points under the basket as he does from the outside.

57:41!!

The Suns lead by 16 points.

Van Gundy can't go back to the bench. If the Heat are down by more than 20 points, the only way to catch up is to replace Miller with Jordan.

This attack was very important...

The Heat played with great patience, passing the ball out of Kidd's hands three times before finally giving Miller an opportunity to shoot a three-pointer.

"Whoosh!!!"

Miller hits an open three-pointer.

57:44!!

This three-pointer gave the Heat a huge boost.

A veteran is a veteran...

He was 0-for-7 from three-point range in the first half, but he was still decisive when he had a shooting opportunity.

......

For the next seven or eight minutes, the two sides traded blows.

The Heat have many superstars...

The Suns are not bad either, with four players making it to the All-Star Game this year, the most of any team.

The point difference remained around 15 points.

This situation changed when there were only 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

Stoudemire has five fouls!

After committing his fourth foul, Stoudemire was much more careful and stopped intentionally fouling O'Neal. But this time, on defense... he felt there was nothing wrong with his actions, yet the referee called a foul on him.

certainly...

O'Neal also failed to score.

Van Gundy shouted, "Shakel, you're great... Stoudemire has already fouled out five times."

It's only the third quarter, and Stoudemire will inevitably have to leave the game after committing five fouls. He might even be sidelined for most of the fourth quarter. Without Stoudemire, Wei Guo will need to return to the inside defense, which will create opportunities for the Heat's outside shooters.

O'Neal hasn't even started his free throws yet.

Van Gundy made a decisive personnel adjustment, replacing Mourning with Damon Jones, signaling the imminent arrival of three-pointers.

Stoudemire was also substituted by Barbosa...

This was Gentry's counter-strategy: when Van Gundy brought in a three-point shooter, he brought in the defensively aggressive Barbosa.

......

"bang~~~"

The first free throw missed.

"bang~~~"

The second free throw was missed.

......

Van Gundy thought to himself, "Shaq's free throws tonight were absolutely terrible. If O'Neal had made a few more, the Heat wouldn't be down by more than 10 points."

Wei Guo grabbed the defensive rebound.

Nash dribbles the ball up the court...

Wei Guo didn't go to the basket to box out O'Neal; he strolled leisurely behind Nash.

Cummings laughed, "Wei is about to reap the rewards of the match."

Even many viewers smiled with relief, those who know, know... If Wei Guo is behind Nash, it's not that he's not playing aggressively, but that he's about to switch to one-on-one mode.

The audience was getting impatient... The game was almost over, and Wei Guo hadn't even scored 20 points. Was this still the same Wei Guo who was invincible on offense and became the scoring king?

Scoring 108 points in a single game is so exhilarating, but unfortunately that game was played in San Antonio, and Phoenix fans could only watch it on television.

As expected...

Nash didn't even look, he just tossed the ball behind him.

Wei Guo received the ball and, with three steps to the three-point line, took a shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

The commentator excitedly shouted, "Three!"

81:65!!

The Heat are down by 16 points.

The third quarter continued in this pattern: the Heat would score a basket to bring the deficit down to less than 15 points, and the Suns would score a basket to bring the deficit up to more than 15 points. The Heat trailed by as many as 19 points and as few as 11 points.

"Defense!"

Wei Guo said, "I have to defend every single ball!"

Defense is very important...

The Suns cannot extend their lead if they cannot contain the Heat's scoring.

Without Stoudemire, Wei Guo had to guard O'Neal in the paint, but that wasn't enough... so he had to leave the perimeter to his teammates. Fortunately... Wei Guo always trusted his teammates.

The Heat are on offense.

Nash closely guarded Kidd...

The defensive strategy is clear: allow drives but not shots. If you're good enough, you can get past me and score a layup, but I will never give you a chance to shoot.

Kidd made a breakthrough, saw Wei Guo, and then passed the ball to the outside!