Li Feng crossed half-court, facing Barbosa's isolation defense, and didn't call for a screen, driving straight to the basket!
With Yao Ming resting, Li Feng was the sole core of the Chinese team. He had to step up early and open up the game.
Swish!
Li Feng executed a behind-the-back dribble, shifting more than a meter to his left, shaking off Barbosa.
Barbosa was quick too. Although shaken off, he quickly retreated, continuing to block Li Feng's driving lane.
Li Feng knew that dealing with a fierce defender like Barbosa required more than just one move.
Immediately after, Li Feng drove to the right again, a crossover acceleration like Sam Goode's, but even faster!
Barbosa's feet hadn't stabilized yet. Seeing Li Feng change direction again, he could only grit his teeth and chase.
Unexpectedly, at the moment Barbosa attempted a second block, Li Feng suddenly stopped the ball and pulled up for a step-back three-pointer!
Barbosa couldn't keep up no matter what and could only watch as Li Feng smoothly took the shot!
A deep three-pointer, and it was good!
The Chinese fans in the venue, who had been waiting for a long time, finally witnessed this moment and erupted in cheers!
4:3, China was still trailing by one point.
However, Deng Huade wasn't happy, and Yao Ming, sitting on the sidelines, also had a grave expression.
According to Li Feng's usual habit, he would organize and facilitate plays in the first quarter, letting his teammates take shots.
The fact that Li Feng shot so early today could only mean that the on-court situation was extremely unfavorable!
The Brazilian players were also intimidated by Li Feng's unorthodox play.
But Barbosa waved his hand, reminding his teammates that it was nothing to be afraid of, and to keep playing hard!
After all, he was an "NBA colleague," and Barbosa had witnessed this kind of play before.
In the following few possessions, Brazil continued to hold the upper hand.
On the Chinese side, Li Feng no longer enjoyed isolation defense and was instead facing double-teams, and very aggressive ones at that.
At this point, Chen Jianghua needed to step up.
Unfortunately, while Chen Jianghua was good at driving, his shooting was truly average. Under the opponent's defense, his touch was poor.
When he drove to the basket, he was blocked twice by the opponent's interior defenders, making it very difficult.
Brazil gradually took the lead.
By the end of the first quarter, the score was 27:18, with Brazil leading by nine points.
Many Chinese fans were incredibly nervous because, from the overall performance, the Chinese team was being suppressed and struggled to cope.
On the contrary, the Brazilian team grew more confident as the game progressed, with a clear strategy: lock down Li Feng on the perimeter and dominate the paint!
At the start of the second quarter, the reserve players from both sides faced off.
Brazil's reserve lineup also had strong interior players. Varejão had high basketball IQ and was extremely cunning. In just three minutes, he drew two fouls on Wang Zhizhi.
Fortunately, Zhu Fangyu and Wang Shipeng had good shooting touches and were hitting from the perimeter frequently, preventing the deficit from widening further.
Five minutes into the second quarter, the score was 40:32, with Brazil leading by eight points.
Deng Huade had to call a timeout, preparing to bring in the starters.
But Li Feng refused: "Coach, my teammates are playing well, let them play a bit longer!"
Deng Huade was stunned, then understood. Zhu Fangyu and Wang Shipeng were hot, and Li Feng didn't want to disrupt his teammates' offensive rhythm.
"Alright, let's see for a bit longer."
Brazil brought in their starters, and the game continued.
It was true that the basket seemed like a vast ocean for Zhu Fangyu today; every shot he took went in.
In the second quarter, Zhu Fangyu shot 7-of-9, already scoring 19 points!
The Chinese fans at the venue and the Chinese bench players went wild.
They all chanted Zhu Fangyu's name in unison, cheering him on!
The Brazilian coach, helpless, had to double-team Zhu Fangyu, even defending him before he could receive the ball.
Once Zhu Fangyu was contained, the Chinese reserves couldn't keep up, and Brazil widened the gap again.
With over eight minutes played in the second quarter, the score was 50:43, with Brazil still leading by seven points.
Deng Huade felt the reserves were tired and let them rest, bringing the starters back onto the court.
After Li Feng entered the game, he scored 2 points with a pull-up jump shot, but the disparity in the paint continued to limit China's offense.
By halftime, Brazil had extended their lead over China to 11 points.
58:47.
Li Feng had only scored 14 points in the first half, while Zhu Fangyu scored 19.
For Brazil, Nené had 10 points, Splitter 12, Varejão 7, and Barbosa 8.
From the statistics, Brazil's interior players dominated the game, while China was relying on their perimeter play.
If the second half continued in the same vein, China would face its first defeat in this Olympics.
The US's TNT was also following the game.
They had already considered China as the biggest rival to the US Dream Team.
Therefore, there were many commentators, four in total: Barkley, Smith, Reggie Miller, and O'Neal.
Barkley, a staunch fan of Li Feng, spoke with a touch of awkwardness.
"Li Feng seems to be contained, which is strange. Brazil's double-teams are so aggressive," Barkley said with a worried expression.
O'Neal teased, "What's wrong? Are you feeling sorry for Li Feng being double-teamed?"
Smith and Reggie Miller were amused and burst into laughter.
These two were truly lively characters; as soon as they met, they attacked each other, never tiring of it.
"It's not that I feel sorry, I just find it hard to believe Brazil's defense is that good. Li Feng has never been successfully double-teamed in the NBA."
Smith chimed in, saying, "Don't underestimate the Brazilian team; they are not weak. Plus, there's no defensive three-second rule in the Olympics, and their big centers can camp in the paint. Li Feng will indeed be limited."
Reggie Miller shook his head, "I don't think that's the main reason. Li Feng doesn't fear campers; he just wants to ignite his teammates' potential. He should increase his shooting in the second half."
O'Neal was dismissive, "Li Feng's performance today isn't as good as Zhu Fangyu's. I think he'll show his true colors in international competitions!"
Barkley scoffed, "His true colors? Have you forgotten Li Feng's performance in the 2008 Olympics? He almost led the team to defeat the Dream Team; his ability is too strong!"
"So what? It's a different time. Back then, they weren't familiar with him, which is why he could explode. Now, Li Feng has been thoroughly studied, so naturally, he's not as formidable."
Seeing these two about to argue again, Smith quickly interjected, "Li Feng really hasn't exerted himself yet, and his shot attempts are not many. Let's see what happens in the second half..."
Deng Huade spoke with Li Feng during halftime.
In Deng Huade's opinion, losing this game wasn't a big deal, especially since Yao Ming was resting and the other players' form wasn't great.
As long as they qualified from the group stage and avoided meeting the US team early, it would be considered a success.
Li Feng didn't say much, only replying lightly, "Okay, Coach. We can't let Brazil's interior players run wild in the second half. I will punish them."
As this was his first time coaching Li Feng, Deng Huade was still somewhat skeptical.
He felt that Brazil's interior players were indeed strong and had some advantage against China, which was normal.
Even the US team would struggle against strong centers in international competitions.
The second half of the game began.
Brazil continued with their high-post offense while aggressively double-teaming Li Feng.
However, the Chinese team also made adjustments, with Yi Jianlian and Sun Dasheng increasing their long-range attempts.
The only way to counter tall interior defenders was with high-percentage three-pointers, which was considered a gamble.
If they lost the gamble, the defeat would be severe because the rebounds wouldn't be in their hands, and there would be no second-chance points.
Fortunately, to double-team Li Feng, Brazil gave too many open looks to other Chinese players.
Yi Jianlian and Sun Dasheng, who had poor shooting touches in the first half, found their rhythm and hit consecutive shots.
More than four minutes into the third quarter, the deficit was narrowed to two points, 69:67.
The Brazilian head coach quickly called a timeout.
He knew that China had temporarily won the gamble, and Brazil's paint-sitting defense had been targeted.
Li Feng was playing intelligently; after being double-teamed, he constantly made cuts and moved, allowing his teammates to take shots with ease.
Li Feng and his teammates high-fived and encouraged each other, shouting loudly, "You are playing great! I'm proud of you!"
Li Feng was slowly bringing out the full potential of the entire Chinese team, which was precisely what Li Feng wanted to see.
If Li Feng had forced shots, he might have achieved good statistics, but the team's win or loss would have been uncertain.
After the timeout, Brazil changed their strategy, substituting Splitter out and bringing in forward Marcus.
While reducing their height, they increased the range of their perimeter defense.
Responding to every move, the Brazilian head coach's on-the-fly command ability was very strong.
Li Feng saw the change in Brazil's defensive strategy, and the difficulty of shots for Sun Dasheng and Yi Jianlian increased.
Heh, Li Feng wanted exactly this effect!
He gestured to Chen Jianghua, and the two began to frequently drive to the basket.
With no interior height, only Nené remaining as a center, Zhang Zhaoxu finally found some breathing room and started to explode.
There was no choice; in the first half, with Brazil's twin towers in the paint, Zhang Zhaoxu had a very difficult time.
When Li Feng and Chen Jianghua drove into the paint, they reacted accordingly, either taking floaters themselves, passing to Zhang Zhaoxu, or finding open shooters on the perimeter.
Under their relentless assaults, Brazil's defense began to crumble.
On the offensive end, Brazil's reduced height led to a sharp decline in their shooting percentage.
In the latter half of the third quarter, China managed to overtake the score.
With Li Feng's buzzer-beating three-pointer, the score became 77:72, with China leading by five points!
The Chinese fans at the venue were ecstatic, cheering and waving Chinese flags incessantly!
Such scenes deeply moved every overseas Chinese, leaving them incredibly impressed and touched!
Deng Huade, on the sidelines, also clenched his fists in excitement and waved them continuously!
He finally understood how fortunate it was to have a star player like Li Feng on the team!
Coaching had become much simpler.
Brazil, which had been so dominant in the first half, was easily overturned, which was truly incredible.
Deng Huade decided to let Li Feng rest for a while in the fourth quarter before re-entering the game to take charge.
But Li Feng refused again.
"Coach, Brazil is a strong team. We must go all out. I need to keep playing in the fourth quarter!"
Deng Huade patted Li Feng on the shoulder, saying nothing more, only uttering a few words: "You've worked hard."
"It's my duty. I am always Chinese."
Deng Huade was deeply moved by Li Feng's patriotism and nodded vigorously.
As the fourth quarter began, when the Brazilian head coach saw Li Feng still on the court, he was greatly alarmed.
Is he a machine?
Li Feng and Zhu Fangyu's shooting gave Brazil's reserves a headache.
At the same time, Wang Zhizhi and Zhou Peng's interior passing and offensive capabilities also gave the Chinese team a significant advantage.
In less than three minutes, China's lead extended to 11 points.
The Brazilian head coach was stunned and had to call a timeout, preparing to bring in his starters early.
Li Feng's stamina was not an issue because each quarter in international competitions is 10 minutes, two minutes shorter than in the NBA.
Brazil's starters entered the game, but China was still playing with Li Feng leading the reserves.
Splitter re-entered the game, teaming up with Nené to form the twin towers again, and Brazil was also gambling!
Sometimes, things are so mystical. Brazil gambled on China's perimeter shooting touch, and Zhu Fangyu indeed went cold.
Seeing that Brazil had caught up again, Deng Huade had no choice but to substitute all the reserves and bring in the starters again.
The situation became a stalemate, with both teams trading baskets.
With 2 minutes and 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the score was tied again!
Chinese fans became tense.
Perhaps the three-game winning streak had given many Chinese fans the illusion that China was invincible and could not be defeated.
But the reality was that, apart from the "China trio," the other players were just of international average caliber.
And Brazil was among the top-ranked teams in the world.
Li Feng's stamina was being heavily depleted. Deng Huade noticed this and quickly called another timeout, solely to give Li Feng a break.
"Do you want someone to substitute for you for a minute?" Deng Huade tentatively asked Li Feng.
Li Feng shook his head, remaining silent. He was using the [Curry Stamina Recovery Technique] to quickly regain his energy for the final push.
After the timeout, China did not make any substitutions and returned to the court.
Li Feng had regained his vitality. He shouted to his teammates, "Come on! Let's win the fourth game!"
Hearing Li Feng's roar, his teammates were re-energized and shouted in unison, "China will win! China will win!"
The Brazilian players and their coach were incredulous seeing Li Feng still on the court without any rest.
Even more terrifying was that Li Feng's spirit was high, not at all like a player who had played three full quarters.
China's offense. Li Feng faced double-teams and passed the ball out again.
Chen Jianghua received the ball and drove to the right, while Li Feng suddenly broke free from the double-team and sprinted towards the baseline.
Barbosa and Teixera rushed to chase, but Chen Jianghua, with quick hands, passed the ball back to Li Feng.
Upon receiving the ball, Li Feng didn't hesitate, didn't even dribble, and went straight for a three-step layup, driving to the basket!
Nené had been arrogant all game and thought Li Feng feared him. He roared and charged at Li Feng!
"Li Feng, stop dreaming. With me here, you won't be able to score..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Li Feng had already taken flight.
"You..." Nené couldn't believe how swiftly Li Feng took off and could only instinctively push Li Feng.
But Li Feng's body was like a truck. His push had no effect; instead, he sent Nené staggering back a few steps, losing his balance and falling with a thud!
Nené ended up sitting on his backside!
Bang!
Li Feng slammed the ball down with his right hand, a thunderous dunk!
This dunk instantly ignited the entire arena. Regardless of whether they were Chinese fans or not, everyone jumped up in shock at Li Feng's dunk!
Beep!
The referee's whistle blew, and he also called a foul on Nené for pushing.
2+1!
With this foul, Nené now had four fouls.
At this point, Brazil found themselves in a huge predicament.