Could Li Feng truly be easily pushed down with his strength?
The answer, of course, was no.
However, Li Feng had already laid the groundwork, and the referee would blow the whistle without hesitation.
With over two minutes left in the first quarter, Li Feng had drawn two fouls on Wade, one on James, one on Bosh, and one on Haslem.
Li Feng seemed to have mastered the art of "Eighteen Falls from a Touch," tumbling and rolling in various ways, appearing quite disheveled.
Spoelstra on the sideline couldn't help but laugh. He understood Li Feng's "ploy," but there was nothing he could do. Who could blame Li Feng for having such a high basketball IQ?
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 33:24, with the Knicks leading by nine points.
Li Feng alone had scored 23 points in the quarter.
In 23 minutes, Li Feng made 8 of 8 free throws, a first for him.
In Li Feng's previous games, most of his points were "field goals," with few free throws.
The fans were stunned.
However, they hadn't realized Li Feng was intentionally drawing fouls. In their eyes, Li Feng was merely falling repeatedly due to the opponents' intense defense.
Even from replays, it was impossible to tell Li Feng was doing it on purpose.
Only a select few knowledgeable fans understood that these fouls were a combination of Li Feng's high basketball IQ and skill!
In the second quarter, the teams' bench players faced off.
Billups once again displayed his veteran leadership. His calm demeanor and rich game experience played a significant role in this important match.
He led the bench players, suppressing the Heat's reserves and extending the lead to 14 points.
Spoelstra had no choice but to bring in the starters with four minutes into the second quarter.
D'Antoni dared not be careless and also brought in Li Feng and Bill Walker early.
In such a crucial game, Li Feng had to give his all.
After Li Feng entered the game, he continued his sensational performance.
Because his foul-drawing technique had been so successful, the Heat players' defensive intensity towards Li Feng had slightly decreased.
For Li Feng, it was like a ferocious tiger unleashed from its cage, becoming even more unstoppable.
Li Feng showcased all forms of scoring, and combined with his foul-drawing technique, he unleashed a scoring run.
Even though James was still resisting fiercely, Li Feng accurately predicted his driving lane once again when James drove, positioning himself in advance!
When Li Feng was bumped by James, the referee's whistle blew, pointing to James once more.
James now had three fouls and, unfortunately, had to be substituted out early.
For the Heat, James's substitution was a huge blow.
The point difference was already approaching twenty points. With James off the court, the situation worsened, and they might be blown out in the first half.
James lost some of his composure and kicked the basketball into the stands as he walked off the court.
The referee hesitated but still assessed him a technical foul.
When it rains, it pours.
Li Feng stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly made the shots.
The home crowd's anxious hearts finally relaxed. It seemed the Knicks would finish the game in the first half.
As expected, after James left the court, the game became one-sided.
The point difference quickly widened to 21 points.
Li Feng scored another 16 points in the second quarter, reaching 39 points in the first half!
His scoring ability was astonishing!
When the Knicks were on the brink of elimination, Li Feng once again stepped up, announcing the Knicks' survival with an even more explosive performance!
At halftime, the score was 66:45.
...
In the China Sports Channel broadcast booth, Yu Jia and Coach Zhang were commentating on the game, with Yang Yi as the guest once again.
As the Knicks were on the verge of elimination, Yu Jia and Coach Zhang had serious expressions during their pre-game analysis.
This was Li Feng and Yao Ming's team, naturally becoming the home team for all of China. They didn't want the Knicks to be eliminated early.
However, Yang Yi seemed to be in a good mood today, smiling broadly before the game, even cracking jokes occasionally.
Yang Yi was, of course, happy because after the previous game, Yang Yi had posted a long Weibo.
He had subtly and overtly criticized Li Feng.
The gist was that Li Feng's championship last year was a fluke, and he had revealed his true colors this year.
The real backbone of the Knicks was Yao Ming, and Li Feng was just a freeloader.
Although there were a lot of curses under this Weibo, Yang Yi didn't care. As long as people were still scolding him, it meant his traffic was high, and he could make money!
In today's pre-game analysis, Yang Yi's viewpoint was very clear.
That is, only by making Yao Ming the core could the Knicks possibly turn the tide and win.
If the Knicks handed the ball to Li Feng again, the Knicks were bound to lose!
Yu Jia and Coach Zhang did not share this view.
Their opinions were consistent: "For the Knicks to win the game, they must let Li Feng handle the ball and attack!"
As a result, at the end of the first half, Yang Yi's face was slapped.
Yu Jia and Yang Yi had a good personal relationship, so he felt awkward mentioning his previous remarks during the halftime break.
"Coach Zhang, Mr. Yang Yi, the Knicks played well in the first half, and the Heat seems to be in foul trouble. The Heat's chances don't look good today."
Coach Zhang was not about to coddle Yang Yi. He chuckled and turned to look at Yang Yi.
"Yang Yi, didn't you just say that if Li Feng played the lead role, the Knicks would definitely lose?"
Yang Yi was thick-skinned. He had been proven wrong so many times that he didn't care at all.
He replied with a sly smile, "Coach Zhang, today Li Feng just happened to have a great shooting day. Plus, the Knicks' home-court advantage helped him; otherwise, he wouldn't have had so many free throws."
Coach Zhang immediately retorted, "Your statement is flawed. Li Feng earned all his free throws with his grit. Which one is problematic?"
Yu Jia, afraid that the two would start arguing again, intervened to smooth things over.
"Gentlemen, let's get back to the main topic. How should the Heat adjust in the second half?"
Coach Zhang, being older, and out of respect for Yu Jia, decided not to dwell on Yang Yi's comments.
"Let me speak first. For the Heat to catch up, they have to defend Li Feng with all their might, and they also have to hope that Li Feng's shooting touch cools down and his accuracy drops."
"Moreover, the Heat's offense must also open up. James and Wade must be threatening with their drives. Only by increasing income and reducing expenditure can they catch up."
Yu Jia nodded repeatedly. Coach Zhang's analysis was very insightful.
Yang Yi said sarcastically again, "In my opinion, Li Feng's current form won't last. In the second half, the Heat just needs to defend him one-on-one to contain him. If the Knicks' coach wants to win, he must let Yao Ming play more!"
Coach Zhang shook his head in exasperation. Yang Yi was trying to boost him into a slump.
While Yao Ming was also very important, against the Heat's defense, having Yao Ming pound away one by one would be exhausting and inefficient.
Wouldn't that be going back to the Rockets' playstyle?
However, Coach Zhang was too lazy to argue with Yang Yi anymore. He simply turned his head away, refusing to look at him.
...
The second half of the game began.
The Heat immediately launched a counterattack.
Since they were trailing by a significant margin, they had to intensify their offense.
This was different from the previous game.
In the last game, the Heat had been leading throughout, so their focus in the second half was on defense.
But now, trailing by 21 points, they had to chase the score!
James first used a drive to score two points with a dunk.
In this Heat possession, both Li Feng and Lowry were screened by Wade and Chalmers.
This was Coach Spoelstra's adjustment. He couldn't let these two shorter guards draw fouls on James anymore; it was too costly.
Under James's leadership, the Heat narrowed the gap to 15 points.
Just as the home crowd was starting to worry for the Knicks, Li Feng stepped up again.
He used a teammate's screen and moved to the baseline.
The moment Haslem sagged off Yao Ming to provide help defense, Li Feng made a bounce pass to Yao Ming under the basket.
Big Yao didn't miss the opportunity. As Bosh came to defend, he scored with a powerful dunk.
Beep!
At the same time, the referee's whistle blew, and Bosh was also called for a foul.
Bosh now had three fouls.
Yao Ming's 2+1 stabilized the team's morale.
Of course, the biggest credit for this play still went to Li Feng.
Yao Ming stepped up to the free-throw line and made the additional free throw, extending the lead back to 18 points.
Although the Heat played well in the third quarter, the Knicks' offense remained sharp under Li Feng's leadership.
Therefore, the point difference stayed around 20 points, making it impossible to catch up.
James battled for a few more minutes and found it futile. Spoelstra substituted his starters out.
Yao Ming was also substituted out, but Li Feng remained on the court.
The Knicks needed to ensure they had a significant lead by the end of the third quarter.
This way, they wouldn't need their starters to play much in the fourth quarter.
The next game was a Game 7, and it was an away game, so the Knicks had to prepare in advance.
Li Feng did not disappoint the fans. He played the entire third quarter, extending the lead.
By the end of the third quarter, the Knicks led 93:68, a 25-point advantage!
Li Feng and the other starters could now rest assured on the sidelines.
At the start of the fourth quarter, James returned to the court with the reserves.
"Tian Ji's horse strategy!"
Spoelstra intended to use James to narrow the gap first.
If they could reduce the deficit to around 10 points in the first half of the quarter, they could still make a comeback in the latter half.
Li Feng did not sit down to rest. He stood by the sidelines, cheering his teammates on.
He hoped his teammates could hold on, which would allow them to gain experience and give himself more rest.
Although the Knicks' bench players were trying their best, James's ability was truly exceptional.
James's strength lay in his ability to revitalize the team even when surrounded by bench players.
Mike Miller and James Jones received many opportunities thanks to James's playmaking, and they converted most of them.
Meanwhile, the Knicks' reserves persevered.
Although Billups and Felton also made a few shots, the deficit continued to shrink.
After more than five minutes into the fourth quarter, the point difference had returned to 14 points.
D'Antoni was very disappointed.
With over six minutes left in the game, a 14-point lead was not secure.
He had no choice but to put Li Feng back on the court.
The effect was immediate after Li Feng entered the game. He first hit a three-pointer over James.
Then, he drew a foul on James Jones and went to the free-throw line.
Under Li Feng's leadership, the Knicks quickly stabilized the situation, and the lead returned to 20 points.
Although James was playing exceptionally well, the Knicks continued to score under Li Feng's relentless offense.
As time ticked away, the Heat's hope of a comeback grew increasingly slim.
Spoelstra, fearing James might be overworked, substituted him out with over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Heat now had an all-bench lineup on the court.
Li Feng played for over three minutes, stabilizing the situation, and then also went to the sidelines to rest.
It was a thoroughly satisfying victory today, with Li Feng delivering an outstanding performance.
Finally, the Knicks defeated the Heat at home with a score of 121:102, tying the series at 3:3!
Li Feng played 35 minutes today, scoring 59 points, turning the tide, and saving the Knicks!
Li Feng could have played a few more minutes and scored 60+ points.
However, Li Feng refused, voluntarily asking to be substituted out to rest.
With this attitude, Li Feng demonstrated that statistics were not important to him; as long as the team won, he wouldn't mind scoring zero points.
Therefore, as Li Feng left the court, all the home fans stood up and applauded him. Today, Li Feng was the hero of the Big Apple!
Li Feng, almost single-handedly, pulled the Knicks back from the brink!
It was truly a close call!
However, Li Feng's face remained without a smile, as he knew they were back to square one.
The real game had just begun!
The next Game 7 would be a "Mars colliding with Earth" showdown!
And it would be in the Heat's formidable home arena.
It would be extremely difficult for the Knicks to defeat the Heat.
Putting aside tactical considerations, the Heat had a significant advantage in terms of stamina.
The average age of the Heat's key players was only 26.6 years, and it was well-distributed.
The average age of the Knicks' key players was 28.8 years.
Yao Ming, Scola, were all over thirty, and Stoudemire was also 29.
Only Li Feng and Lowry were younger players.
Therefore, the Heat had a higher probability of winning the next game.
However, after this battle, the fighting spirit of all the Knicks players had been significantly boosted.
As the team's star player, Li Feng had given his all. What reason did the others have not to fight?
It was just an away game; they had to win it!
The Knicks players remained silent. After the game, they quietly returned to the locker room.
However, their expressions showed that they all held a conviction to win!
The Knicks and Heat game captured the hearts of billions of fans; this playoff series had the highest viewership ratings.
The other matchups were also very fierce.
In the Eastern Conference, the Bulls and Celtics game also went to Game 6.
Ultimately, the Bulls eliminated the Celtics with a 4:2 series victory, being the first to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Rose performed exceptionally well, almost single-handedly fighting against the Celtics' Big Three of old, eventually eliminating the opponent.
The Western Conference competition was even more brutal, with the Thunder and Grizzlies also tied at 3:3, heading to a Game 7 in two days.
Another matchup surprised countless fans.
The Dallas Mavericks swept the Lakers 4:0.
The Lakers, who were in the NBA Finals last year, were thus eliminated from contention.
Countless Lakers fans were shocked and couldn't accept the result.
They were still thinking about getting revenge this year and reclaiming the championship from the Knicks.