Team America had the world's most elite big men.
Their average height was already greater than China's.
On top of that, Team America had two freakishly gifted players: Greek Monster and French Giant.
Taking rebounds away from them was incredibly difficult.
In the games leading up to this one, whenever other teams faced Team America, they were almost completely dominated on the boards.
The rebounding battles were often eight to two.
Very few teams could even manage a seven-to-three split against Team America.
So for China Team to keep the rebounding battle at six to four was already quite impressive.
Because China was a little worse than Team America on the boards, the lead gradually shrank. By the end of the second quarter, China Team was ahead by only two points.
At that moment, many fans in the domestic livestream chat were still excited.
"I heard this year's Team America is the strongest team ever, but we're still leading them by two at halftime. That's awesome!"
"We're up by two at halftime, so we'll be up by four after the second half!"
"Brother Yi barely even tried in the first half, and we're still up by two. If he turns it on in the second half, we'll be up by twenty!"
Clearly, these fans didn't usually watch much basketball.
Some of the more knowledgeable fans, however, were worried.
"Team America's style is a lot like the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies over the past couple of years. The difference is that they're taller and more gifted than either of those teams, so this style seems almost impossible to defend."
"If we can't defend them, then we can only try to outscore them. But our offensive resources aren't nearly as deep as theirs."
"Then we can only count on Brother Yi!"
"Damn