The Heat coach called a timeout.
During the timeout, the coach didn't talk to the players; he was busy discussing with the coaching staff how to break the elevator door tactic.
Wade also looked helpless. The 20-point deficit had been narrowed to 11 points so quickly.
The Heat coaching staff quickly came up with a method to counter the elevator door.
That was for the defensive players not to chase Li Feng, and let Wade and Chalmers go around the screens.
These two were indeed good at navigating screens, and once they adapted to the elevator door tactic, they should be able to limit it.
Unexpectedly, after the timeout, Li Feng and his teammates suddenly abandoned the elevator door.
Li Feng switched modes again, from personal offense to assist mode.
The Knicks teammates regained their shooting touch, and David Lee and Gallinari continuously hit open three-pointers.
Although Wade also made two mid-range jumpers, three points were still one point more than two.
The point difference continued to shrink.
More than four minutes into the third quarter, the score became 64:59, with the Heat leading by only 5 points.
The media was stunned, especially Barkley.
He really couldn't believe that Wade couldn't do anything against Li Feng.
The Heat's home court fell silent again.
"Is this Li Feng really a rookie? He's terrifying!"
"Wade's expression is terrible, he probably has no solution..."
"This is the first game of the regular season, are they going to lose?"
"It's normal to lose; the Knicks are playing too well."
...
Many home fans were conquered by Li Feng.
Despite the Heat's head coach making tactical adjustments, he couldn't contain Li Feng.
By halftime, Wade had scored 21 points, and Li Feng had 18 points.
However, before the third quarter ended, Li Feng had already scored 32 points, while Wade had only 25 points.
No one dared to say that Wade was suppressing Li Feng anymore.
After 8 minutes and 52 seconds into the third quarter, Li Feng was substituted out, and the Knicks were leading by 13 points.
From being down by 20 points to leading by 13 points, the Knicks took only 9 minutes.
This was the power of the run-and-gun offense, coupled with Li Feng's three-point explosiveness, making it incredibly easy to close the gap.
Wade felt his basketball philosophy collapsing for the first time.
His drives were still sharp, and he scored 2 points in a stumble, but in return, Li Feng scored 3 points in just three or four seconds!
The gap in his heart was too large.
...
Yao Ming and Miller, sitting in the commentary booth, were no less shocked than Wade.
Yao Ming found that Li Feng had become even stronger than during the Olympics.
Although Li Feng worked hard, improving so quickly in just a few months couldn't be explained by talent alone.
Miller was a very confident person, always believing his three-point shooting was unmatched.
His feat of scoring 9 points in 8 seconds was more terrifying than McGrady's 13 points in 35 seconds, and he was once called the "Demon Terminator."
Another famous moment was in an Eastern Conference Finals game where he pushed Jordan aside and hit the game-winning three-pointer.
In an era where inside scoring reigned supreme, Miller's three-pointers were indeed remarkable, and they were always clutch shots.
Being able to compete with Jordan in the same era showed that Miller was a formidable player of his time.
But today, seeing Li Feng's three-point shooting, he was no longer as confident in his own.
"Can three-pointers be shot like this?" Reggie Miller asked Yao Ming with wide eyes more than once.
Yao Ming clasped his hands over his head, already envisioning the effect they would create when teaming up with Li Feng next time.
If the on-site commentators were conquered by Li Feng, let alone the media.
...
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks led by 9 points.
The Heat's bench players managed to score a few points, narrowing the deficit to within 10 points.
The Heat still had hope of a comeback.
Although the point difference wasn't large, everyone watching the game live knew that as long as Li Feng was on the court, the Knicks wouldn't lose.
The reserve players continued to battle, and the game was tight, with the score always within 10 points.
Li Feng, sitting on the bench, casually turned his head to look at the Heat's bench and saw Wade looking at him.
Wade's gaze no longer had the sharpness from the start; it had transformed into admiration.
More than five minutes into the fourth quarter, the difference between the two teams was 6 points, and the gap had not widened.
The main players from both teams returned to the court.
Although Wade admired Li Feng, he had to give it his all in the final stages!
After all, as the third-greatest shooting guard in history, Wade had an extremely strong competitive spirit.
Upon entering the court, Wade drove to the basket and dunked over Gallinari, narrowing the gap to 4 points.
After scoring, Wade roared, venting his frustration.
This dunk reignited the morale of the Heat players.
Li Feng remained expressionless; he needed to respond.
Even though he deeply respected Wade in his heart, this was a game, and giving his all was the greatest respect to Wade.
Li Feng dribbled past half-court. Wade no longer double-teamed him but focused entirely, preparing to guard Li Feng one-on-one.
Morale was paramount at this moment. He wanted to show his teammates and the fans through this offensive and defensive possession that he was still the king here!
Li Feng's overall performance was better than Wade's, but a one-on-one matchup was not that easy.
He slowly dribbled the ball, observing Wade's balance shifts.
Li Feng suddenly realized that Wade's defense was much stronger than in the first half; he wasn't falling for fakes at all!
Wade's experience was indeed rich; he could improve his defensive ability through just one game.
Seeing that the offensive time was down to 8 seconds, Li Feng decided not to play any fancy moves.
With a swoosh!
Li Feng used the league's fastest first step, squeezing past Wade.
Wade tried to use his body to block him, but Li Feng's strength was greater, and he forcefully pushed Wade aside.
The Heat's interior players quickly came to help defensively. O'Neal moved to the free-throw line area to block Li Feng.
Li Feng didn't slow down; he took off, facing O'Neal, and leaped from the free-throw line!
Both players looked at Li Feng in astonishment.
Li Feng had quite a few famous moments of dunking over interior players, but this was from the free-throw line!
Moreover, O'Neal was a 7-foot tall player with incredible jumping ability.
Could he still dunk over him?
Li Feng continued to ascend. O'Neal glared, unwilling to let anyone dunk over him from the free-throw line!
Bang!
Li Feng's vertical leap was too fast; he flew over O'Neal's shoulders and slammed the ball down with his left hand!
O'Neal was furious and tried to pull Li Feng down, but Li Feng held onto the rim firmly, protecting himself.
Beep...
The referee's whistle blew, calling a blocking foul on O'Neal!
Li Feng actually wasn't sure of himself, but at that moment, he was fired up with a single thought: to dunk over O'Neal.
He didn't expect to actually make the dunk.
After scoring, Li Feng couldn't help but recall Wade's famous moment.
He faced the crowd, pointed to his jersey with both fingers, and shouted loudly, "This is my house!"
Wade was speechless...
Li Feng had actually used Wade's taunting style to taunt him!