This is a brutal elimination round. If the score gap widens in the fourth quarter, the losing side has to pack their bags and go home.
Lithuania's head coach had to call another timeout.
The Chinese men's basketball team had gained momentum, and Lithuania needed their core player to turn the tide and catch up.
Antanas's gaze fell on forward Jonas Valančiūnas.
Valančiūnas was considered a veteran, 32 years old this year, with all-around skills.
"Jonas, we'll run the offense around you now. Everyone else, set screens for him!" Antanas gave the order.
This was a highly disciplined national team.
The timeout ended, and the game resumed. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the score was 86:71, with China leading by 15 points.
Li Feng knew Lithuania would make adjustments, but he didn't know what they would be.
As point guard Renaldas Seibutis dribbled past half-court, Valančiūnas suddenly moved to the high post, screening Wang Shipeng.
Then, Seibutis drove to the left side.
Just as the Chinese players thought he would pass to the paint, Seibutis suddenly executed a "rhino looking back" pass back to Valančiūnas beyond the three-point line.
Valančiūnas, with Wang Shipeng on him, shot a three-pointer!
Wang Shipeng's height was insufficient, and he could only watch him shoot.
However, the Chinese players didn't panic because Valančiūnas had only attempted two three-pointers in the first three quarters, and both missed.
Who would have thought—
Swish!
As expected of a veteran, when the coach told him to take over the game, he immediately exploded!
86:74, the deficit was shrinking.
Li Feng, from the sidelines, felt something was off. Lithuania, which had always focused on the inside game, was now playing the perimeter, and they were doing it decisively, clearly a last-resort strategy!
Indeed, during China's offensive possession, Lithuania also intensified their perimeter pressure. Liu Wei's pass was intercepted by a Lithuanian guard, and Valančiūnas immediately activated, driving past half-court.
The guard made a long pass, Valančiūnas caught it and drove into the paint for a layup!
In the blink of an eye, Lithuania had scored 5 points, and the lead was back to 10.
86:76.
Deng Huade was still hesitating, wanting to make a substitution, but seeing the fighting spirit of the substitute players, he held back, deciding to wait and see.
China's offense.
Liu Wei crossed half-court, called for a screen, Zhou Peng moved to the high post, and then Liu Wei drove into the paint.
Suddenly, Renaldas Seibutis rushed in from the side and bumped Liu Wei. Liu Wei stumbled, and the ball dropped.
Lithuanian forward Jonas Mačiulis grabbed the ball and launched another counter-attack.
Liu Wei was furious and yelled at the referee, but the referee seemed to pretend not to see it.
Lithuania had a 3-on-2 fast break and scored another 2 points.
Deng Huade couldn't sit still anymore and quickly called a timeout.
Lithuania had increased their intensity, and the Chinese reserves really couldn't handle it.
This was the style of a top world-class team.
In the crucial moments of the fourth quarter, aggressive pressure was inevitable.
If you can't handle it and can't even hold onto the ball, you don't deserve to win.
Li Feng sighed softly. During the pre-game training camp, he had done his best to help his teammates improve their physical resistance.
However, Liu Wei and Wang Shipeng were older, and their strength couldn't be trained too much, otherwise, they wouldn't recover in time, affecting their passing and shooting.
So when they were bumped, they really couldn't withstand it.
The score gap narrowed to 8 points.
Although China was still leading, Lithuania had regained its morale. If this pressure wasn't contained, it would only take two or three minutes to tie the game.
Li Feng stood up. He told Yao Ming to rest a bit longer and that only he himself would be substituted in!
He had to lock down Valančiūnas.
Although Valančiūnas was 2.04 meters tall and a small forward, Li Feng was confident he could suppress him with his "Death Coil"!
The timeout ended. Lithuania's head coach Antanas felt uneasy seeing Li Feng on the court.
But then he thought that Li Feng wasn't guarding Valančiūnas directly, so he didn't think it was a big deal.
China's offense. Li Feng had the ball past half-court. Facing a double-team, he passed the ball early to Wang Shipeng.
Since Wang Shipeng was shooting well today, Lithuania immediately moved to close him down, but Li Feng suddenly broke away from his defender and rushed to Wang Shipeng's right side.
This was a tactic Li Feng had practiced with Wang Shipeng and other guards.
The moment Li Feng ran past Wang Shipeng, Wang Shipeng made a bounce pass between his legs to Li Feng.
After receiving the ball, Li Feng quickly moved laterally around Wang Shipeng, making it impossible for the defender to keep up, and then shot a three-pointer!
This small tactic was brilliant. The Lithuanian players could only watch as Li Feng's three-pointer was accurately made!
Swish!
This three-pointer was incredibly imposing, clean and decisive, making the fans at the scene cheer.
The spirits of the Chinese teammates were also boosted!
89:78, the lead was back to double digits.
Lithuania's head coach Antanas's face twitched twice. Li Feng's three-pointer made him feel a deep sense of despair!
Lithuania's offense.
Now it was up to Valančiūnas to step up and trade shots with Li Feng, at least to maintain morale.
Lithuania's offense. Valančiūnas received the ball at the 45-degree angle, faced Zhu Fangyu, feigned a move, and then executed a step-back jumper!
This series of moves was indeed smooth, and Zhu Fangyu couldn't keep up with his rhythm.
Just as Valančiūnas was preparing to catch the ball and shoot, Li Feng suddenly appeared from the side, stretched out his long arms, and lightning-fast, poked the ball away from Valančiūnas!
Too fast!
Not to mention Valančiūnas, even Li Feng's Chinese teammates didn't notice. Li Feng seemed to have teleported!
After stealing the ball, Li Feng grabbed it and launched a counter-attack.
Valančiūnas also reacted quickly, gritted his teeth, and gave chase.
This was the competitiveness of a core player; being stripped of the ball, he had to chase to the end!
Li Feng heard footsteps behind him and didn't dare to be careless, continuing to accelerate. However, Valančiūnas behind him was still closely pursuing.
This guy was quite fast; Li Feng couldn't shake him off with speed alone.
Reaching the paint, Li Feng suddenly stopped the ball, making a move as if to take three steps for a layup.
Valančiūnas immediately adjusted his steps, also preparing to take three steps to block.
Unexpectedly, Li Feng took off on his first step. Whoosh!
Valančiūnas was stunned. He never expected Li Feng to have such incredible control over his rhythm!
Bang!
Li Feng soared and slammed the ball down, right under Valančiūnas's nose. The Lithuanian didn't even have time to react.
What a joke!
Li Feng was a two-time NBA player.
This indicated that the team's cohesion time was insufficient and their chemistry was poor.
Since the Chinese team had performed excellently from the group stage to the knockout rounds, the media had been praising China extensively and downplaying the French team.
This made the French players very unhappy.
In pre-game interviews, French players expressed their dissatisfaction and took their anger out on the Chinese team.
"The Chinese team? Heh, they've never been in our imaginary enemy list, besides Li Feng, who else is there?"
"Yao Ming? If it were a few years ago, maybe. But now, forget about Yao Ming..."
"We will win by at least 20 points against China and reach the finals!"
"This is not China; they will taste the bitterness of defeat!"
...
Hearing these remarks, the Chinese men's basketball team did not respond, as these were the usual boasts before a knockout match.
When Li Feng was interviewed, he humbly and low-key stated his view: give it their all!
On August 10th, at midnight, the semi-final match between China and France kicked off!
Countless local fans flocked to the stadium to witness this game.
Although only a small portion were Chinese fans, local London fans also came to the scene to support the Chinese team!
The reasons for this were complex; there were historical grievances between Britain and France.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend!
It was the same on the football field; every Anglo-French clash was fiery and full of passion!
China's starting lineup was still Li Feng, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Dasheng, and Chen Jianghua.
France's starting five were Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf, and Mickaël Piétrus.
Except for Mickaël Piétrus, all of them were NBA stars.
Of course, Mickaël Piétrus was not bad either; he played for Khimki Moscow Region and was a strong, robust power forward.
Although the pre-game interviews were filled with tension, when the players met, Parker and Batum still greeted Li Feng and Yao Ming.
Li Feng knew France was very strong and did not take them lightly, constantly reminding his teammates to strengthen their defense.
The knockout stage was like the NBA playoffs; defense was the foundation for advancing.
At the center court jump ball, Yao Ming won the first possession for China.
Li Feng dribbled past half-court, and Parker and Batum immediately double-teamed him.
They were all colleagues in the NBA, so they knew how good Li Feng was and didn't hold back, directly double-teaming him!
Li Feng was prepared and didn't force the issue, passing the ball to Chen Jianghua.
Chen Jianghua used his speed to drive into the paint, attempting a floater.
But France's help defense was excellent; Boris Diaw stepped in front of him and blocked his layup!
Diaw might seem lazy and like a "floor player" usually, but his jumping ability was astonishing!
Chen Jianghua was careless.
It couldn't be helped; this was Chen Jianghua's characteristic, full of drive and not yielding to anyone.
But his weakness was also obvious: too reckless, too many turnovers.
After the block, France launched a counter-attack, with Parker and Batum quickly driving past half-court.
Li Feng was closely chasing Parker, but Parker was smart and didn't force a shot, instead passing to Batum, who made the layup.
Chen Jianghua was very frustrated and yelled at Li Feng, "It's my fault!"
Li Feng didn't criticize him, just patted his arm and comforted him, "It's okay, we'll get them next time!"
China started their offense again, and Li Feng still didn't get involved, handing the ball to Chen Jianghua.
Chen Jianghua, having learned his lesson, passed the ball to Yao Ming.
Yao Ming had heard the French players' interviews before the game and was holding a grudge; the French players had said he was old.
It wasn't that Yao Ming didn't admit his age, but the way they said it was dismissive and contemptuous.
Yao Ming's competitive spirit was ignited.
After receiving the ball, facing the young Heat reserve center Ronny Turiaf, Yao Ming roared and directly dunked over him!
The Great Wall of China!
So dominant!
Bang!
Yao Ming's skill was still sharp!
This powerful dunk instantly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans at the scene!
Chinese fans started singing the national anthem again, waving national flags, and cheering for the heroes of the Chinese men's basketball team!
2:2!
From the very beginning of the game, both teams showed immense offensive desire.
France's offense.
"Little Spinning Top" Parker dribbled past half-court, faced Li Feng's defense, and directly called for a screen, driving into the paint.
Facing Yi Jianlian's help defense, Parker used his "spinning top" move, shook off Yi Jianlian, and before Yao Ming could rush over, he made a low layup!
So fast!
As expected of the Spurs' sharpest blade, incredibly incisive!
4:2!
China's offense. Li Feng needed to respond!
Facing a double-team, Li Feng also called for a double screen and then squeezed through the gap between the two defenders!
Li Feng's strength and speed were immense. Although Batum tried his best, Li Feng's bump sent Batum staggering.
Driving into the paint, facing Diaw's help defense, Li Feng also imitated Parker's "spinning top" move. Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Diaw was left behind by Li Feng.
Before the French center could rotate to help, Li Feng exploded and executed a one-handed slam dunk!
This ultimate move was even more fierce than Parker's, boosting the morale of the Chinese men's basketball team.
When the strength of the two teams is similar, morale is the key factor determining victory!
4:4 tie!
A fierce and exciting semi-final!
France's head coach was Vincent Collet, who had studied the Chinese men's basketball team for several days.
He had noticed China during the group stage.
He was one of the few head coaches who considered China to be in the same tier as the United States.
He had done a lot of targeted research, especially concerning Li Feng.
However, Li Feng was still able to break through France's defense right from the start, which gave Collet a headache.