Larry Hughes, especially the substitute, played with high efficiency this season.
He not only scored himself but also formed a good chemistry with Baron, dishing out 3 assists.
The Suns' bench looked dejected.
They were dominated by Li Feng in the third quarter, and then the Knicks' reserves exploded in the fourth.
After just over three minutes into the fourth quarter, the deficit had widened to 13 points.
Suns head coach Gentry had no choice but to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Suns' bench regained their confidence. Their inherent strength, coupled with the momentum, allowed them to start closing the gap.
With 5 minutes and 52 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the difference was back to 4 points, with the Knicks leading.
D'Antoni waved his flag, and Li Feng, along with the starters, returned to the court.
Li Feng was satisfied with the score. He had expected the bench to be trailing by a few points and for him to have to chase them down.
Nash and Stoudemire had been murmuring to each other while resting on the sidelines.
It was likely they were both unhappy with their performance today, as their connection was the Suns' foundation, and it had been severely stifled.
Therefore, they must have been discussing countermeasures.
As expected, as soon as the Suns' starters stepped onto the court, Nash fed Stoudemire with a bounce pass. Stoudemire dribbled once in the paint and soared for a powerful dunk!
The deficit narrowed to 2 points.
Li Feng, unhurried, dribbled with one hand and gestured to his teammates with the other.
This was the Knicks' internal tactical signal.
His teammates understood and began to move. Li Feng, facing a double-team, passed the ball to Duhon through a gap in the defense.
The moment he passed to Duhon, Li Feng made a backdoor cut, leaving his defender behind with lightning speed and slicing into the paint.
Just as Nash and Richardson were about to pursue, the "elevator door" play reappeared!
David Lee and Gallinari effectively screened them, allowing Li Feng to smoothly get to the 45-degree angle and attempt a three-pointer!
Swish!
Three-pointer made!
The lead was back to 5 points!
Li Feng's response tightened Nash's chest.
He realized that the offensive moves Li Feng had displayed in the first three quarters were only a small part of his arsenal.
Li Feng still had many tricks up his sleeve...
The Suns were on offense, with Nash bringing the ball up. He drove into the paint using a screen.
Stoudemire quickly moved to the baseline. Nash executed a "rhino gazing at the moon" move, looking to the left but passing to the right.
David Lee was caught off guard as Stoudemire received the pass, took a step towards the basket, and threw down a dunk, scoring two more points!
Both sides unleashed their ultimate offensive moves, making the game incredibly exciting.
The home crowd was thoroughly entertained but also worried because Li Feng was so steady.
Even though the Suns were playing well and scoring, the Knicks' scoring efficiency was clearly higher.
The score gap widened, and with just over a minute left in the game, the Knicks were leading by 10 points.
Gentry's face was ashen. He truly did not want to lose to D'Antoni's team.
After all, the Suns were imprinted with D'Antoni's style everywhere, and he was constantly facing scrutiny.
If he lost today, he could already imagine how the media would report it, inevitably comparing him to Coach D'Antoni.
However, Li Feng's performance filled him with despair.
This rookie had perfectly dominated the game. Every move he made was like a sharp knife, piercing the Suns' weakest points.
Even though Nash scored 5 consecutive points in the final moments, offering a glimmer of hope, Li Feng hit two clutch three-pointers, stunning the Suns once again.
The referee's whistle blew, signaling the end of the game. The Knicks defeated the Suns 114:103, extending their winning streak to four games!
Li Feng played 31 minutes, scoring 35 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 14 assists!
A perfect triple-double!
Nash had actually played well today as well, logging 33 minutes and scoring 31 points with 8 assists.
Despite his good statistics, Nash clearly did not play the brand of basketball he was known for.
Although he had a frustrating game, Nash still approached Li Feng to offer a congratulatory embrace.
"Li Feng, you played very well today. Keep it up, your future is limitless!" Nash's blessing was sincere.
As the two generations of core players in the run-and-gun offense, Nash saw dominance in Li Feng.
"Thank you, Nash. You are my role model. Coach D'Antoni often praises you."
Li Feng's response was also genuine. Coach D'Antoni did mention Nash occasionally, asking Li Feng to watch Nash's assist highlight reels.
"You will lead the Knicks to glory. I will continue to follow your progress!"
"I will follow you too, Nash. You keep up the good work!"
...
After a brief exchange, Stoudemire also came over to greet Li Feng.
"Youngster, your dunk over me today was eye-opening!" Stoudemire said with a smile.
Li Feng replied with a smile, "You are too kind. Your dunks were also spectacular! Hope to see you again in the next game!"
"Definitely! We'll win the next game, you wait and see, kid!"
Although his tone was teasing, it was clear that Stoudemire was fond of Li Feng.
In fact, Stoudemire and Da Yao were also a pair of "friendly rivals." Some even said Stoudemire would be Yao Ming's lifelong opponent.
Da Yao had a knack for neutralizing athletic big men.
For instance, Dwight Howard always had a headache when facing Yao Ming.
Da Yao's "eat, sleep, beat Howard" saying was no joke.
Li Feng was named the game's...
Boyce asked curiously, "So who wins more often when you two play?"
"It's almost a tie. For example, if I win today, then Steph will win it back tomorrow!"
Boyce applauded, "What a shame! If only there were videos. I really want to see the duel between you two super three-point shooters!"
Speaking of this topic, Li Feng immediately took out his phone and said, "Actually, there are videos. I recorded a few segments back then, thinking of correcting my shooting form."
Boyce was very excited. In 2009, it was still rare for players to do this.
"Can we show the videos on the big screen?"
"Of course."
Li Feng asked the staff to copy the videos over and then play them on the big screen.
This program often had such impromptu segments, not pre-arranged.
Boyce watched the video, his mouth agape in shock.
"My goodness, you made 13 out of 20 shots!"
"Steph made 18 out of 25, that's amazing!"
In the video, Li Feng and Curry were chatting and laughing while shooting from mid-court.
Moreover, their shooting percentage was similar from any angle.
This was terrifying.
It was believed that once this video was seen by NBA players through the production team, it would strongly motivate them.