James was getting anxious. He was now the offensive and defensive core of the Heat, and if he left the court, the Heat would inevitably be at a disadvantage.
So he shouted loudly at the referee.
The referee immediately issued him a warning. If he shouted again, he would be given a technical foul.
Wade quickly ran over, pulled him aside, and whispered, "It's okay, I'm still here!"
Indeed, this was the benefit of the "Big Three." Even if James went off to rest, the team on the court wouldn't be significantly worse.
Replacing James was the locker room leader of the Heat, Haslem.
He was a veteran of the Heat. Although his stamina wasn't what it used to be, he could hold his own for 5 to 10 minutes.
With James off the court, Li Feng's objective was achieved.
The Heat went on offense. Wade held the ball at the top of the arc. Without calling for a screen, he faced Lowry, changed direction, and drove into the paint.
Wade's penetration was also historic. In terms of pure driving ability, he was not inferior to James.
Upon reaching the paint, Wade executed a "phantom step," faked out Yao Ming's help defense, and scored with a layup using his opposite hand.
The home crowd cheered ecstatically. After James left the court, the soul of the team, Wade, immediately stepped up to score for the Heat!
13 all!
The game was too intense. This was already the third tie between the two teams today.
The Knicks went on offense.
With James off the court, Haslem and Wade continued to double-team Li Feng.
But this time, Li Feng didn't choose to stand by. Instead, he dribbled past Haslem!
Haslem, though a strong defender, was far inferior to James in terms of movement.
Wade tried to chase, but Li Feng, being very smart, used Haslem's positioning to block Wade.
Li Feng drove into the paint. Facing Bosh's defense, he faked, changed direction, and shook off the "Dragon King."
Swish!
Li Feng made a skillful underhand layup!
The Knicks took the lead again.
James watched from the sidelines, shaking his head in anger. He thought, "If I were on the court, Li Feng wouldn't be so arrogant."
In reality, he was overthinking it a bit.
While the double-teams from James and Wade were formidable, Li Feng, to increase his efficiency, hadn't resorted to forcing shots.
If it came down to a crucial moment, Li Feng would still rely on individual offense.
The Heat went on offense, Wade's competitive spirit was ignited.
Wade was originally a top-five player in the league, a former warlord who had even led his team to a championship in '06.
However, after James arrived, he made sacrifices, which led to his perceived status decline.
But if he were to truly take the lead, Wade was still the "Flash" of old!
Wade brought the ball past half-court. This time, Li Feng and Lowry suddenly double-teamed him.
Although Wade possessed strong dribbling and control skills, the double-team from Li Feng and Lowry was simply too sharp.
Wade stumbled, almost turning the ball over, and was forced to pass it to Chalmers in a hurry.
Chalmers had just driven into the paint and was about to attempt a floater when Bill Walker swatted it away with a huge block.
The ball landed beside Lowry. He leaped up, tipped the ball to Li Feng, who quickly crossed half-court.
Wade was chasing closely from behind, determined to disrupt Li Feng's layup.
Li Feng sensed Wade behind him and deliberately slowed his pace.
After entering the three-point line, Li Feng suddenly accelerated, gaining half a step on Wade.
Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Wade tried to block again, but it was too late. Li Feng executed a second acceleration, driving to the basket.
With no other option, Wade could only watch Li Feng score with a layup.
After James left the court to rest, the Heat's offense and defense indeed dropped a level. The Knicks seized the opportunity to go on a small run.
As the first quarter reached 8 minutes and 42 seconds, the score was 25:19, with the Knicks leading by 6 points.
Spo had no choice but to call a timeout.
Li Feng's sudden burst of offense was too strong; no one on the Knicks could match him.
Furthermore, James's two fouls had put the Heat in a difficult situation on both ends of the court.
During the timeout, Li Feng wiped his sweat and encouraged his teammates.
Although the Knicks had just gone on a run, Li Feng noticed that his teammates' state was still average, not very excited.
Yao Ming needed to go off for a rest, and Li Feng had to play the entire first quarter.
After the timeout ended, the game resumed.
After Yao Ming left the court, Bosh suddenly exploded.
He scored on Jordan Hill twice in a row, both resulting in and-ones!
This immediately put the Knicks in a passive position.
Although Jordan Hill was a backup center, his role in the rotation was crucial. If he got into foul trouble too early, Yao Ming would have to play more.
At Yao Ming's age, his stamina would definitely be affected if he played until the fourth quarter.
D'Antoni hesitated for a moment but decided not to substitute, letting Jordan Hill continue playing.
Thanks to Bosh's efforts, the deficit was narrowed to 2 points.
Li Feng stepped up again!
He and Lowry executed another classic play.
Li Feng passed the ball to Lowry, and then Li Feng unleashed his "Hamilton Off-Ball Technique"!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Li Feng's intense movement had Haslem running ragged, unable to keep up with Li Feng's rhythm.
Lowry, seeing Li Feng had created space, immediately passed him the ball.
Catch and shoot!
Li Feng received the ball comfortably and drove for a three-step layup!
Upon reaching the basket, facing Bosh's defense, Li Feng continued to glide in the air, swooping past Bosh and flying to the other side of the basket for a spectacular reverse layup!
Spectacular!
Although layups weren't Li Feng's most impressive move, his layups always gave a different feeling!
His layups truly felt like flying.
While others executed layups during their descent, Li Feng would perform his while still ascending.
This created a strong visual impact, maximizing the entertainment value.
After the basket, Wade nodded slightly. His layups were also impressive, but compared to Li Feng, Wade admitted he was inferior.
The Heat went on offense, and the ball returned to Bosh.
Li Feng knew he couldn't let Jordan Hill commit any more fouls, as he already had two. If he had to go off, Yao Ming would inevitably have to play more minutes, which would be a hidden danger for the entire game.
So, as Bosh prepared to continue exploiting Jordan Hill, Li Feng suddenly abandoned Wade and rushed to Bosh's side.
Bosh was startled. He knew Li Feng's steals were potent and tried to quickly secure the ball.
Li Feng was still half a step faster. Just as he was about to gather the ball, Li Feng's lightning-fast hands struck, *bang!*
Li Feng snatched the ball.
Bosh, after all, was a power forward with considerable strength. How could he let a small guard like Li Feng steal the ball from him?
So, Bosh also put more force into his hands, pulling with all his might towards his chest.
Any other guard would have been taken down by Bosh.
But Li Feng didn't budge an inch. With a roar from Li Feng, the ball was forcibly snatched away.
Bosh was furious and tried to reclaim the ball, but Li Feng reacted extremely quickly, giving Bosh no opportunity. With a flick of his wrist, he passed the ball to Lowry.
During the scramble where their four hands collided, slow motion revealed that the poor basketball had been dented from Li Feng's grip.
This demonstrated the terrifying power of Li Feng's hands!
The "little cannon" Lowry crossed half-court. Facing Chalmers's defense, he smartly used his strength to bump Chalmers aside and then calmly made a layup!
Lowry was improving rapidly, learning to use his body to his advantage.
Compared to Li Feng, Lowry was at a disadvantage in height, strength, and speed, but this was only in comparison to Li Feng.
In front of other guards, Lowry was still considered a powerful guard.
Chalmers spread his hands, signaling to the referee that Lowry had bumped him, but the referee remained unmoved.
In the 2010 season, the NBA wasn't as soft; it encouraged legal contact.
With Li Feng enhancing the protection of Jordan Hill, Yao Ming could rest more.
The first quarter ended with the score 37:27, the Knicks leading by 10 points.
This result truly surprised countless media outlets and fans.
The Heat's "Big Three," who had charged in with great momentum, were trailing after the first quarter!
Although the game was far from over, and a 10-point deficit wasn't insurmountable, the "kingly aura" displayed by the Knicks was evident to the fans.
Li Feng played the entire first quarter and scored 9 points. Although the score wasn't high, he only took 5 shots, exhibiting extremely high efficiency.
James did not return to the court after his two fouls in the first quarter.
However, at the start of the second quarter, James came on with the reserves, and Li Feng sensed trouble.
As expected, after James entered the game, he began an unstoppable barrage of drives.
Since Jordan Hill already had 2 fouls, his defense was inevitably a bit hesitant.
James seized the opportunity, driving twice consecutively, narrowing the deficit to 5 points, and even drawing a foul on Jordan Hill.
With three fouls, D'Antoni had to substitute Jordan Hill.
Yao Ming did not come on. D'Antoni replaced him with another big man, Mozgov.
Mozgov was still a rookie that year, playing limited minutes in the regular season. However, with a lack of big men in the playoffs, he had to step in for a while.
Remarkably, Mozgov performed well, blocking one of James's layups upon entering the game.
This play greatly boosted morale. The Knicks' reserves were all excited, high-fiving him and cheering him on.
James had been a bit complacent. Seeing that Mozgov had some ability, he adjusted his playstyle.
After driving, James chose to pass or take pull-up jump shots.
Although James's shooting wasn't his strong suit, he was quite steady in crucial moments.
Just as James was showcasing his dominance, the Knicks' reserve core, Billups, stepped up!
He hit a pull-up three-pointer, widening the lead again, and then assisted Mozgov for an easy basket under the rim!
With Billups's resistance, James couldn't close the gap.
Spo watched from the sidelines, becoming a bit anxious.
He had originally hoped that James could narrow the score during the "off-peak" period.
But the Knicks' reserves were proving to be surprisingly tenacious!
Was this the resilience of a yet-to-be-crowned champion?
James was also enraged. He had made such a big decision in the offseason precisely to win a championship.
And his biggest enemies were the Knicks and Li Feng!
Although the Bulls and Rose were also fierce, James didn't truly fear them.
But on the very first game of the season, they were trailing, something James could not accept at any cost.
Thus, James began his "berserk mode"!
Not only was he more determined in his drives, but on defense, he led by example, proactively guarding Billups!
Billups, being older, struggled under James's tight defense and began to make more turnovers.
With James's efforts, the Heat quickly caught up.
The home crowd was ecstatic. James, as expected, did not disappoint them; when the team needed saving the most, James stepped up!
As the second quarter reached 4 minutes and 36 seconds, the score was 42:43, with the Heat leading by 1 point!
D'Antoni grew flustered and immediately called a timeout.
He had initially thought the reserves could hold on for a while, but he never expected James to play with such fierce dominance; it was truly terrifying!
Li Feng and Yao Ming, sitting on the bench, were also stunned. Had James gone mad?
Despite having experienced a Finals once, both of them felt that James's performance just now was not inferior to Kobe's performance in the previous Finals.
D'Antoni brought the starters back onto the court and, at the same time, instructed Li Feng to provide help defense on James.
There was no other way. Even forwards couldn't stop James; now, only Yao Ming could hold the last line of defense.
And when James started his drive, it would depend on Li Feng.
Although Lowry's defensive capabilities had improved greatly, he couldn't guard James now, as James was even more ferocious than during the regular season.
After the timeout, the game resumed.
Upon entering the court, Li Feng, along with Bill Walker, tightly shadowed James.
Although James wasn't afraid of double-teams, being double-teamed before he even started his move made it very difficult for him.
So, he opted to pass!
Wade received James's pass and initiated a drive.
One must remember, this was Wade!
With James drawing the double-team, the other four players were in a 4-on-3 situation, and Wade certainly wouldn't pass up such an opportunity.
The "Flash" drove into the paint, executed his "phantom step," and scored twice consecutively.
He also drew a foul on Yao Ming.
Fortunately, Yao Ming only had one foul in the first quarter. With two cumulative fouls now, it wasn't a major issue.
However, Li Feng's brow furrowed. When he had double-teamed James earlier, he knew it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.
Because they had a "Big Three," Wade would definitely punish them.
But what else could they do?
If James wasn't double-teamed, he could easily drive into the paint and draw fouls.
Caught in a dilemma, the Heat slowly extended their lead.
With 1 minute and 43 seconds left in the second quarter, the score was 56:48, with the Heat leading by 8 points!
The Heat fans at the American Airlines Arena finally unleashed their emotions. They all stood up and cheered loudly!
This was the true "Big Three"!
This was the demeanor of a championship team!
How could they trail in their first home game?
Li Feng's mood was also dejected at this moment. He felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Despite the Knicks' thorough preparations, the chemistry between James, Wade, and Bosh was simply too good.
They had already passed the difficult integration phase and could calmly handle various complex situations.
Li Feng felt he needed to switch to an offensive mode.
So, in the remaining minute or so, Li Feng had his teammates constantly set screens to break through the opponent's double-teams and drive into the paint.
Although Li Feng scored 7 points in the last minute, the Heat also scored.
By the end of the first half, the Heat still led the Knicks by 7 points.
63:56!