For the next few rounds, Li Feng again handed over possession.
Those familiar with Li Feng knew that he would let his teammates develop a feel for the game in the first quarter.
Li Feng himself knew that the French team was very strong, and if they couldn't solve them in the first half, they would have to rely on a surge in the second half.
The Chinese interior line, composed of Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming, bore the brunt of the offense in the first quarter.
Especially A Lian, his performance in the previous few games had been average, decent.
But today, facing several NBA stars from the French team, A Lian seemed determined to prove his worth.
He became exceptionally active and proactive, calling for the ball whenever he secured good positioning.
Chen Jianghua, Li Feng, and even Yao Ming felt A Lian's increased energy and cooperated, constantly passing him the ball.
A Lian also delivered, making four out of six shots in the first quarter.
The most spectacular play was a sharp crossover that got him past Bateleur. He drove to within a step of the free-throw line, leaped, and threw down a thunderous dunk over Diop.
Thanks to Yi Jianlian's performance, China held a slim lead in the first half.
13:12.
France's head coach Collet called a timeout.
On the Chinese side, they were preparing to substitute Yao Ming for Zhang Zhaoxu.
Li Feng knew very well that if the French team had ample time for training, they would be extremely difficult to handle.
Their players were too strong, possessing talent at every position, making their roster almost flawless.
After the timeout, the game resumed.
With Zhang Zhaoxu on the court, the French team intensified their attacks in the paint.
However, through the experience gained in the group stage and Yao Ming's guidance, Zhang Zhaoxu's interior defense had improved significantly.
His ability to box out, block shots, and protect the rim had all increased.
France attacked the basket twice but failed to capitalize.
Although they drew one foul on Zhang Zhaoxu, it was of little consequence for him coming off the bench.
The game remained tight, and Li Feng's shot attempts were still minimal.
Chen Jianghua's performance today was indeed average. Under France's strong defense, he frequently turned the ball over on drives and struggled with his shooting.
In the more than seven minutes of the first quarter, Deng Huade replaced him with Guo Ailun.
Guo Ailun had been holding a chip on his shoulder since being moved to the bench.
He trained diligently, and both Li Feng and Deng Huade noticed his effort.
In reality, Guo Ailun's overall ability was comparable to Chen Jianghua's, but Chen Jianghua was a few years older and had more experience in his drives.
Despite his recklessness, Chen Jianghua’s technique was still refined.
In terms of style, Chen Jianghua was somewhat like a "beggar version" of Westbrook, while Guo Ailun was a "beggar version" of Lowry.
Therefore, it was not wrong for Chen Jianghua to be the starting point guard.
After coming onto the court, Guo Ailun received a pass from Li Feng and, without hesitation, attempted a three-pointer!
This was the confidence of a young player!
Swish!
The three-pointer was good!
Guo Ailun had also improved, his shot selection more decisive and more steady.
After the score, Guo Ailun excitedly high-fived Li Feng.
"Well done, keep it up!"
Li Feng encouraged Guo Ailun.
The French team responded immediately, with Batum receiving a pass from Diop in the corner and hitting a three-pointer!
The scores were incredibly close, a real back-and-forth battle!
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 27:24, with France leading by 3 points.
Deng Huade wore a worried expression. He could see that the French players' overall strength was too balanced.
Although the Chinese team had a superstar like Li Feng, basketball was a team sport, and no matter how strong Li Feng was, he couldn't be everywhere on both offense and defense.
At the start of the second quarter, Li Feng rested and came off the bench!
Liu Wei, Wang Shipeng, Zhou Peng, Zhu Fangyu, and Zhang Zhaoxu took to the court.
The French team fielded players like Pietrus and Nando de Colo.
Pietrus had also been an important member of the Magic team and, although he had faded from the NBA, his abilities were still considerable.
The reserves from both sides played with great effort, but the Chinese players struggled with their shooting under the opponent's tight defense.
The French reserves did not gain any significant advantage either.
After four minutes into the second quarter, the score was 37:35, with France still leading by 2 points.
Just as the coaches of both teams were preparing to bring in their starters, the Chinese team doctor suddenly announced that Yao Ming would not be able to play today.
It turned out that in the first quarter, when Yao Ming was fighting for a rebound with the opposing center, Ronny Turiaf, his knee was hit.
At the time, Yao Ming didn't feel too much, just a sharp pain, thinking it was a hard knock.
However, after a brief examination, the doctor felt it was not good.
Although the Chinese players had some psychological preparation, hearing this news cast a shadow over them.
While Li Feng was the absolute core of China, Yao Ming had contributed too much to the national team over the years and had long been the team's spiritual leader.
His injury would make the players uneasy.
However, before the Olympics, Yao Ming had already predicted in a team talk that his physical condition was not good and that it was questionable whether he could last until the end of the Olympics.
Having played for so many years, Da Yao had numerous minor injuries and too many hidden dangers.
If he were an unprofessional player, it would be fine, and his career would be much longer.
But Yao Ming was not that kind of person; he would always give his all whenever he stepped onto the court!
This was also a major reason why Yao Ming was respected and loved by fans.
With Yao Ming unable to play and Wang Zhizhi also resting, China's interior players would face a huge test today.
Zhang Zhaoxu was arguably the only traditional center, while Yi Jianlian and Zhou Peng were both power forwards.
Both teams brought their starters back onto the court.
Li Feng entered the game, and Zhang Zhaoxu went to the bench for a rest. The interior was left to Zhou Peng and Yi Jianlian to hold down.
In international competitions, the interior game was extremely important.
France's coach Collet was very cunning. Upon learning that Yao Ming could not play, he immediately targeted the inside offense.
In just two minutes, Zhang Zhaoxu accumulated two fouls.
Adding the foul from the first quarter, he now had three fouls, forcing Zhang Zhaoxu to leave the game early.
When Yao Ming was not injured, Zhang Zhaoxu was not worried, but with Yao Ming out, Zhang Zhaoxu's foul count would be a fatal blow to the Chinese men's basketball team!
As expected, after Zhang Zhaoxu left the court, China's already weak interior was once again outmatched.
At the end of the first half, France led China by 16 points!
55:39!
In the Olympics, a 16-point lead at halftime essentially meant the game was won.
Especially against a strong team like France.
Moreover, Yao Ming's injury was a further blow to the Chinese men's basketball team.
The live commentators from China Sports Channel were also filled with concern.
"Coach Zhang, what are your thoughts on the first half?"
"Alas, Yao Ming's injury makes China's path to advancement look grim!"
Coach Zhang knew the importance of Yao Ming to the team.
Yu Jia also sighed, "Yes, after so many years of Yao Ming's career, his body is truly overloaded. With such a heavy frame, he sprints all over the court every time he plays."
"Da Yao's professionalism is truly admirable. If he conserved energy like Shaquille O'Neal during the regular season, his body would be much better."
"Fortunately, we now have Li Feng. His dominance is even greater, and I hope he can lead the team further!"
"Yes, Li Feng's emergence is the biggest surprise for our Chinese men's basketball team. If they can make a comeback in the second half, it will depend on Li Feng!"
"But several of France's players are NBA players. It's too difficult for Li Feng and Yi Jianlian to stage a comeback."
"It is indeed difficult, but Li Feng is a superstar, of higher caliber and greater influence than them! It's like playing Dou Dizhu; sometimes, one big king is more useful than three twos!"
"Haha, Coach Zhang, your analogy is very interesting and so true!"
...
In the Chinese men's basketball locker room, Li Feng did not rally his teammates as he usually did.
He knew very well that this was the time to showcase star power!
The opposing team was full of NBA players, and the other Chinese players truly could not compete with them in a short period.
And with the great achievements he had made in the NBA, it was time to show it.
Otherwise, no matter how high the Chinese fans praised him, the fall would be even more devastating!
Even so, there were still many "haters" who were persistently criticizing Li Feng, which was unavoidable.
...
The second half began.
Before the players took to the court, Deng Huade issued a special command:
"I don't care about offense, but if anyone doesn't try hard on defense, they're sitting on the bench!"
Deng Huade was smart. He knew Li Feng was about to explode, but even if Li Feng scored, they couldn't win without defense.
After all, they had dug such a big hole in the first half.
Therefore, he issued this command, telling everyone not to worry about offense, just to focus on defense. He believed that China could definitely reverse the deficit against France.
Li Feng understood Deng Huade's good intentions, so he didn't put pressure on his teammates, only shouting encouragement with them!
France had possession.
Parker crossed half-court, used a screen, and drove into the paint.
Once in the paint, Parker was a handful because he had so many scoring options and could also pass.
In the first half, Parker had already scored 13 points, all of them in the paint.
But this time, Parker encountered trouble.
Chen Jianghua, with his exceptional speed, positioned himself in front of Parker, hands raised high, guarding his floater.
Just as Parker was about to use a spin move to get past Chen Jianghua, Yi Jianlian had already positioned himself in his path.
Yi Jianlian's defensive habits were getting better and better.
Bang!
As a result, Parker ran headfirst into Yi Jianlian's arms. The scene was quite comical.
A Lian grabbed the ball with both hands and pulled it into his embrace, stealing the ball!
This wasn't a steal; it was a robbery!
After stealing the ball, Yi Jianlian immediately passed it to Li Feng.
France's defense was also fierce. Batum and Bateleur double-teamed Li Feng, denying him the opportunity to pick up speed.
However, Li Feng was already in the zone!
Swish!
Li Feng used a change of direction to move to the left, where Bateleur was positioned.
Bateleur spread his arms wide, blocking Li Feng's path tightly.
Just when everyone thought Li Feng had no path to drive, Li Feng executed a behind-the-back pass, then shifted to the right, squeezing between Batum and Bateleur.
This behind-the-back crossover was insane.
For anyone else, making such a large directional change would have broken their ankles.
Batum, in frustration, reached out to pull him back, but Li Feng's strength was too great, and he powered through.
The fans in the arena were shocked and jumped to their feet!
To be able to slip through the defense of these two defensive stalwarts was like performing magic!
Li Feng drove straight into the paint and unleashed a "Carolina dunk," stunning the crowd!
The Carolina dunk was invented by Carolina's husband, Maxey.
The characteristic of this dunk was that the dunking motion resembled a cradle, making it very graceful and extremely difficult to execute.
Before this, only Jordan's Carolina dunk was frequently discussed by fans.
Although many dunkers had imitated it later, none possessed that same aesthetic, like Vince Carter's explosive dunks.
Today, Li Feng, in a playoff game, actually performed a Carolina dunk, providing a huge treat for the fans in attendance!
Even the French players widened their eyes!
There were many players who could dunk, but witnessing Li Feng's dunk in person was truly awe-inspiring.
After the explosive dunk, the morale of the Chinese men's basketball team instantly increased by 100, while the morale of France dropped by 100!
In the subsequent play, the entire Chinese team played defense with renewed vigor, allowing Li Feng to focus more of his energy on offense.
About five minutes into the third quarter, China had already clawed back 13 points, going on a run.
France's head coach Collet was terrified and called a timeout to try and break Li Feng's momentum.
59:52, France still led by 7 points!
Deng Huade was running back and forth on the sideline, like an excited fan.
He knew the momentum had shifted to China's side.
It remained to be seen if any French players would step up.
After the timeout, France made a substitution, replacing Parker with Pietrus.
Without Tim Duncan from the Spurs, Parker's offensive threat diminished. Coach Collet decisively brought in the taller Pietrus.
With Pietrus on the court, France shifted their offensive focus to the forwards.
And their defense on Li Feng became even more aggressive.
Batum and Pietrus, two defensive stalwarts, tightly clamped down on Li Feng.
Li Feng appeared weak, pitiful, and helpless, struggling to break free between the two, which looked somewhat comical.
The referees allowed France's defensive physicality, and Li Feng was essentially unable to receive the ball.
Under the tight defense of the French players, the game became a stalemate, with both teams struggling to score.
In the three minutes after the timeout, both teams combined only scored 2 points, which were free throws from the French center.
The deficit widened to 9 points, with the third quarter nearing its end.
The Chinese fans began to worry again. At this rate, a 9-point deficit would be difficult to overcome.
Li Feng could barely get his hands on the ball; how could the game continue?
Deng Huade had to substitute Li Feng out.
Surprisingly, this substitution had a miraculous effect.
Wang Shipeng replaced Li Feng.
Due to Li Feng's absence, the French defensive players were suddenly unsure whether to continue double-teaming. As a result, Wang Shipeng hit two consecutive three-pointers.
The deficit immediately shrunk back to 3 points.
With 15 seconds left in the third quarter, the score was 68:65.
For the Chinese men's basketball team, anything was possible!
France had possession.
China's interior once again became the target of France's offense.
Ronny Turiaf received a long pass from a teammate, and while leaning on Zhang Zhaoxu, scored 2 points.
With only 0.6 seconds left for China's offense, Wang Shipeng made a forceful throw, but it missed.
The score remained a 5-point difference.
The French players were frustrated. Their 16-point lead at halftime was almost entirely eroded by China.
Deng Huade was not overly optimistic, as they were still trailing, and Li Feng had been severely hampered by the defense earlier.
If Li Feng could not find a way to break through, the Chinese men's basketball team would still be in danger.
Deng Huade walked over to Li Feng and asked, "Their defense is very tight, and their actions are rough. Can you handle it?"
Li Feng wiped his sweat and drank some water, shaking his head. "It's not easy to solve..."