Yao Ming, as the team's elder brother, seeing the situation, quickly stepped forward and pulled Zhu Fangyu away.
Although he was also furious, what had happened was done. Zhu Fangyu could not afford to be fouled out, as Zhu Fangyu's three-pointers were a crucial part of China's offense.
The referee also rushed over, separating the players from both sides, and then asked the team doctor to check Li Feng's injury.
In fact, Zhu Fangyu's punch earlier should have resulted in a foul, but the referee also saw that Pelkanos had intentionally injured someone, so he turned a blind eye.
Li Feng lay on the ground with his eyes closed, looking very concerning.
However, Li Feng was actually not seriously injured. It did hurt, but a skill in the treasure chest given by the system was damage immunity.
Li Feng had thought this skill would be useless before, but today, it was indeed used.
He never expected that the opponent would use such dirty tactics against him; he was truly enlightened.
Li Feng lay on the ground for about a minute, then slowly stood up, stretched his muscles, and looked coldly at the Greek head coach, Giannakis.
Although he didn't say anything, Giannakis felt a chill.
Giannakis thought, "My goodness, what kind of physique does this guy have? He's still okay after this?"
The referee saw that Li Feng could continue the game, and after consulting with the team doctor, he announced the penalty.
Pelkanos was given a flagrant foul, resulting in immediate ejection!
It was very satisfying!
The spectators, seeing that Li Feng was fine, all breathed a sigh of relief. When they saw the culprit being ejected, they all applauded.
Span had been watching from the side. He originally thought that as soon as Li Feng was injured, he could show his full potential.
His only fear was Li Feng.
But Li Feng was unharmed, and Span cursed "useless" in his heart.
This intentional foul completely enraged Li Feng, and he entered berserk mode.
Drives! Dunks!
Pull-up threes!
Drive and kick!
Unstoppable one-on-one!
...
Li Feng attacked in various ways, and the point difference continued to narrow.
More than seven minutes into the third quarter, the deficit had shrunk to six points, 58:52!
Span watched this and became anxious.
He knew that if Li Feng wasn't taken down, Greece would definitely lose.
Span had to personally complete the "mission" that Pelkanos had failed earlier.
...
It was Greece's turn to attack again.
After China's continuous scoring, Greece urgently needed someone to step up.
Span was locked down by Li Feng, so Greece brought in a tall shooter, Makarios, who was 2.05 meters tall.
Makarios had previously tried out in the NBA and played in the Summer League but was not signed by any team and returned to Europe.
His open three-pointers were very good, with a hit rate of 48% in previous games.
Although his output was not large, he was very consistent.
Giannakis brought him in because he saw that Span was being guarded by Li Feng and wanted to find another scoring option.
Makarios indeed had some skills, hitting a corner three-pointer right away.
Li Feng saw this and frowned. He knew he couldn't let the opponent rally because it was already the second half.
If the gap widened again, there would be no time to catch up.
So Li Feng immediately signaled to Jonas to call a timeout and set up defensive tactics.
Jonas trusted Li Feng completely and immediately called a timeout.
At this moment, the score returned to a nine-point difference, and the situation was delicate. A timeout was necessary.
During the timeout, Jonas indicated for Li Feng to say a few words.
Li Feng didn't hesitate and directly said, "Greece's number 12, Makarios, is very accurate with his three-pointers. We must assign someone to guard him specifically, and pay attention to switching on screens."
Jonas nodded and asked, "Who do you think would be better to guard him?"
"Sun Dasheng and Yi Jianlian. Their footwork can keep up. If they encounter a screen, they must switch defense promptly, leaving him no room at all!"
Although Li Feng was only 18 years old, he had a strong leadership presence, and his words were resolute.
Yi Jianlian and Sun Dasheng were already famous, but at this moment, they were all convinced by Li Feng's command and nodded repeatedly.
On the Greek side, they were also making tense arrangements.
Giannakis was satisfied with Makarios, praised him a couple of times, and then said, "You continue to shoot resolutely, don't hesitate. If China assigns someone to guard you, you need to make early cuts and find open shots!"
Both sides were strategizing and countering, engaged in a tense and fierce battle.
After the timeout, the players returned to the court, and China was on offense.
Li Feng broke through to the basket again, attracting the defense of three opponents, and then passed the ball under the opposing center's arm to Yi Jianlian, who was cutting to the basket.
Yi Jianlian slammed the ball down with both hands, narrowing the deficit back to seven points.
Then, Greece attacked, continuing to look for Makarios.
Makarios saw Yi Jianlian sticking to him and immediately started off-ball cuts, trying to shake off Yi Jianlian.
But Yi Jianlian was prepared. As soon as Makarios shook off Yi Jianlian through a screen, Sun Dasheng immediately rotated over.
And Li Feng constantly directed his teammates to rotate and cover.
China's defensive formation operated like a precise instrument, stable and unwavering, giving Greece no opportunity to shoot.
Makarios was miserable. He ran tirelessly but couldn't find an open shot.
The other Greek players held the ball, looking for Makarios, but there were no opportunities.
Helpless, they had to pass the ball to the inside player, Borousis.
Seeing that the shot clock was about to expire, Borousis rushed into a floater, but unfortunately, Big Yao was already watching.
*Slap!*
Yao's block!
A huge block sent the ball flying past the three-point line. Zhu Fangyu grabbed the ball and immediately launched a counter-attack.
Li Feng and Sun Dasheng started at the same time, a three-on-two fast break!
Only two Greek players managed to retreat in time.
Zhu Fangyu saw Li Feng's position out of the corner of his eye and made a no-look pass to Li Feng.
However, Li Feng didn't try to score himself. He drove into the paint, attracted two defenders, and then made a beautiful behind-the-back pass, *whoosh!*
Eyes in the back of his head!
The basketball was precisely passed to Sun Dasheng, who flew up and dunked directly!
The score difference became five points!
Li Feng's unselfishness once again earned thunderous applause from the crowd, who cheered for China's counter-attack!
For China, this possession was not just about these two points; it was about how China easily broke down Greece's new tactic.
Makarios's three-point shooter tactic was rendered useless, completely locked down!
Giannakis unleashed one tactic after another, but Li Feng nullified them all, leaving Giannakis very frustrated, shaking his head repeatedly.
In the next few possessions, Li Feng made another three-pointer and assisted Big Yao for an inside score, tying the game again!
67:67!