20 Points in a Quarter

During the timeout, Jonas devised a final offensive strategy, the key being to have Li Chen lead the attack.

Meanwhile, Yao Ming and others were substituted off the court, and substitutes such as Sun Yue returned to the game.

On the other side.

Although the USA Team held a clear advantage, Coach K, in order to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, decided to further demoralize the Chinese team and therefore had to stop their attack.

His strategy was to eliminate Li Chen. Li Chen was the X-factor in this match.

After the timeout ended and the game resumed, Li Chen was double-teamed by Kobe and Chris Paul as soon as he received the ball.

Chris Paul, like a pig that never learns from its mistakes, continued to make small, malicious moves against Li Chen.

At this moment, Li Chen regretted not equipping the "insurance fraud" skill.

At this moment, Wang Zhizhi saw that Li Chen was double-teamed, so he immediately set a screen for Li Chen.

The instant Wang Zhizhi blocked Kobe, Li Chen stepped forward.

At this moment, Chris Paul, who was feeling smug about his successful little trick, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

He had a bad feeling. In a flash, he took a big step forward, following Li Chen's rhythm, trying to block Li Chen's breakthrough route.

But at that moment, Li Chen suddenly stopped.

Chris Paul was startled again, but his reaction was also very quick. However, his quick reaction caused him to take too big a step while chasing and defending. As the saying goes, taking too big a step can easily lead to injury. So, he performed what is called a split on the court.

This unexpected turn of events momentarily stunned Li Chen, but the momentary daze was fleeting. He immediately pulled up for a three-pointer.

In the brief moment Li Chen was stunned, Kobe had already shaken off Wang Zhizhi and leaped high to block Li Chen's path in the air.

Kobe jumped really high on that play, incredibly high; he probably used every ounce of his strength.

That's what Li Chen thought anyway.

Seeing that Kobe had blocked the ball's path, Li Chen immediately gathered the ball in mid-air and then executed a layup, drawing a foul from Kobe in the process.

Thump! The ball hit the rim, bounced a few times, and finally fell into the Nets.

"3+1! Li Chen scored a beautiful 3+1 at the very last second of the first half."

Zhang Weiping shouted excitedly in the live broadcast room.

"Chen, this 3+1 play was absolutely crucial. Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay."

"After Chen faked Chris Paul to the ground, he paused slightly, then pulled up for Pull-up Jumper. Kobe blocked it, Chen pulled his arm back, letting the ball return to his chest, stretched his body, and then pulled up for a layup. But that wasn't all. Kobe fouled to stop Li Chen, but Chen had incredible luck, and the shot still went in."

"Li Chen is the pride of 1.4 billion people. That was a beautiful shot!" Zhang Weiping shouted excitedly again.

At this moment, Kobe was also impressed, and he couldn't help but give Li Chen a thumbs up for the Kobe.

Upon seeing this three-pointer layup, domestic fans cheered, and the entire Wukesong Arena erupted in cheers.

At this moment, the USA Team doctor rushed onto the court and checked Chris Paul's injury. It wasn't anything serious, just a torn O, and it was unlikely he would be able to play in the next game.

Then, both teams' players left the court, and Li Chen took the free throws.

Swish! Li Chen calmly made the free throw.

With the score at 48-56, the National Team still has a chance, as the score is only eight points.

Domestic fans have full confidence in the National Team and Li Chen.

The second half of the match began after halftime.

After the start of the third quarter, the National Team launched a strong counterattack and once tied the score.

However, five minutes into the third quarter, the National Team players' offensive efficiency dropped sharply. They made a series of mistakes and lost the ball every time they dribbled.

This is the drawback of domestic players; they are more than capable of playing in the CBA.

After all, they are all outstanding players in the country, with top-notch skills in dribbling and physical fitness.

But when he competed on the international stage against those tall and strong foreign players, everything he was so proud of was exposed because of their shortcomings.

It's like playing chess; how can you improve by playing against a terrible player?

The USA Team gradually found their rhythm, and their performance improved.

As the score shifted, the National Team's lead gradually widened again.

By the end of the third quarter, the National Team's score had been widened to 18 points, and this was only thanks to Li Chen's strong resistance; otherwise, the gap would have been even larger.

In the third quarter, Li Chen's shooting touch was terrible, and he was also double-teamed by Kobe and Wade, so he did quite well.

During the break, Li Chen headed towards the restroom, knowing that it would be difficult for the National Team to win this match.

So he needed to replenish his energy, so he went into the bathroom and took out Functional Drink that he hadn't touched in several seasons of competition.

He didn't want to lose, really, he really didn't want to lose. The so-called "Golden Generation of '96" and the "Platinum Generation of '03" would all be conquered by him.

A sense of self-importance suddenly emerged from his body.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the USA Team first attacked Kobe's left-side drive to the basket.

Yao Ming didn't hold back and tried to block his teammate Kobe's shot.

However, Kobe didn't force a shot; instead, he passed the ball to Prince on the outside.

Prince assumed a shooting stance, and Li Chen immediately moved forward to close in on him.

Prince passed the ball to Kobe under the basket again.

Kobe had just received the ball when he was double-teamed by Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, two centers.

Kobe leaned on Yao Ming and passed the ball to Boozer.

Boozer's floater missed, and Yao Ming grabbed the rebound.

However, Yao Ming lost possession of the ball, and Kobe cleverly tipped it away, allowing Wade to get the ball.

The USA Team regained possession, but just as Wade received this unexpected windfall, a pair of hands reached out.

He almost rudely snatched the basketball from Wade's hands.

Immediately afterwards, he surged ahead and slammed the basketball into the basket with tremendous force in his own frontcourt.

64 to 80.

This powerful dunk excited domestic fans, who shouted at the top of their lungs, "Go China!"

Even if they see only the slightest hope, they will do everything in their power to cheer for their National Team. That's what fans in China are like.

Deron Williams dribbles at a 45-degree angle on the perimeter for a three-pointer.

He made a wide pass to Wade was positioned at a 45-degree angle at the top of the key.

Instead of shooting when facing Sun Yue's defense, Wade passed the ball to Howard.

Howard broke through and slammed the ball down for a dunk, and Yao Ming, already exhausted, was knocked to the floor by Howard.

However, the ball slammed into the rim.

After Li Chen grabbed the rebound, he launched a fast break.

Boozer tried to stop Li Chen, but Li Chen beat him in one step.

In desperation, Boozer chose to foul, but Li Chen seemed to know what Boozer was thinking. At the same time as Boozer fouled, he threw the basketball out of his hand.

As the referee blew his whistle, the basketball bounced off the backboard and went into the basket.

Li Chen's brilliant 2+1 play.

The fans cheered with joy.

At this moment, Li Chen walked up to Yao Ming and said, "Brother Yao, if you're not feeling well, just take a break. I'm here for you. We won't lose."

Yao Ming looked at Li Chen for a moment with a tired face, then shook his head and said, "I want to continue the game."

Seeing that Yao Ming had made up his mind, Li Chen didn't say anything.

Li Chen fell in love with the free throw line. He took a deep breath and then shot the basketball.

Thump! The basketball bounced off the rim a few times before reluctantly falling into the Nets.

Li Chen scored 5 consecutive points, narrowing the gap to 13 points, bringing the score to 67-80.

In the USA Team's rest area, Coach K muttered to himself, "No way! Could Li Chen have pulled off another comeback?"

He glanced at Kobe, James, and others, then decided to observe for a while longer.

Williams lobbed the ball to Boozer in the paint again, but Boozer didn't hold onto it properly and the ball slipped from his hands.

On the other side, Li Chen was like a leopard poised to pounce, waiting for its prey.

When he saw Boozer make a mistake, he dashed towards Boozer, who had just regained possession of the ball, like lightning.

Wade's eyelids twitched at the sight. Li Chen was too fast; he guessed that's how he had just been stripped of the ball.

Thinking quickly, Wade immediately shouted a warning, "Carlos, watch out!"

However, this warning came too late; Li Chen had already stolen the ball again and launched another fast break.

Wade cursed inwardly, then stopped thinking and chased after Li Chen.

Wade, known as the "Little Flying Man," was just as fast as Li Chen, so he quickly caught up with him.

Li Chen pulled up for a three-pointer, Wade blocked it. Li Chen then attempted another layup to draw a foul.

The basketball bounced off the backboard, then bounced back onto the rim, and then bounced a few more times before finally falling back into the basket.

At the same time, the referee blew his whistle again, indicating that Wade had committed a foul by touching the hand, and Li Chen was awarded a free throw.

Li Chen scored another 3+1.

This scene made Kobe on the bench a little anxious. These guys were too unreliable. They had only played for a minute and a half and Li Chen had already scored 9 points in a row.

James had an "I knew it" look on his face; he knew that man wouldn't give up easily.

He couldn't help but look at Kobe, thinking resentfully, "I told you I didn't want to come, but you insisted on making me participate in the Olympics."

James is now traumatized by Li Chen's performance. Ever since he joined the NBA in 2003, he has had a terrible run in international competitions, finishing either 7th in the Olympics or reaching the top 16 in the World Championship. How can the Emperor Zhan face his fans with such poor results?

Coach K was also frustrated; he never expected these substitutes to be so unhelpful!

He couldn't gamble anymore, so he took advantage of Li Chen's free throws to substitute Kobe and others onto the court.

Li Chen's free throws were still unstoppable; swish! The basketball swished through the net.

With the score at 71-80, in just one and a half minutes, Li Chen's phenomenal performance brought the score back to single digits.

The USA Team is on offense.

Kidd passes the ball to James.

James drove to the basket, and although Yao Ming was forced to retreat several times by James, he gritted his teeth and withstood James's attack.

Old Zhan saw there was no opportunity to pass the ball to Anthony.

Carmelo Anthony's three-point jump shot goes in cleanly.

71 to 83.

The USA Team's key players demonstrated their formidable strength as soon as they entered the game.

Li Chen dribbled the ball up the court, first passing it to Sun Yue, and then cutting inside himself.

Sun Yue lobs the ball to Yao Ming.

After receiving the ball, Yao Ming passed it to Li Chen.

James immediately abandoned his double-teaming of Yao Ming and instead helped defend Li Chen.

After receiving the ball, Li Chen immediately took a step-back three-pointer.

Swish! 74 to 83

Although James arrived in time, the ball still went in.

James was helpless with that shot! He did his best, except for committing the foul, but the ball still went in.

He then looked at Li Chen helplessly.

When their eyes met, James was startled. It was a look he had never seen before—a look that was calm yet resolute, resolute yet filled with a mad, unwavering determination to achieve its goal.

At that moment, he suddenly had a feeling that the game had only just begun.

"We won't give up on this game," Li Chen said calmly, then ran towards his team's backcourt.

Immediately afterwards, Deron Williams drove to the basket for a layup, but his shot was blocked by Yao Ming.

However, the referee called a blocking foul on Yao Ming.

Deron Williams goes to the free-throw line.

He made both free throws.

74 to 85.

Li Chen dribbled the ball up the court, where Kobe was waiting intently near the three-point line for Li Chen's arrival.

However, Li Chen did not play by the rules; he suddenly fired a shot from two steps beyond the three-point line.

Kobe never expected Li Chen to pull this stunt; being too far away, he could only watch the basketball fly towards the basket.

Swish! Another three-pointer.

77 to 85.

Next up was Deron Williams, who evaded Yao Ming's block with a layup and scored again.

77 to 87.

The two sides traded baskets in the remainder of the game, with one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

The score was now 96-98, with the National Team trailing the USA Team by only two points.

Li Chen has scored 20 points so far in the fourth quarter.

The National Team called a long timeout in the last minute because Jonas realized that Li Chen was very tired.

At this moment, enthusiastic applause rang out in the arena. They couldn't describe the excitement and gratitude they felt for Li Chen, the man who gave them hope whenever they were in despair.

In the USA Team's rest area.

"To be honest, I'm very disappointed, really disappointed in you guys. We were in such a great situation, and we were forced into this situation by Eastern China. You know, we were leading by a full 18 points at the end of the third quarter, that's a whole 18 points!" Coach K said with a heavy heart.

The USA Team players lowered their heads and remained silent; they were helpless too! What could they do if the ball was blocked?

"Coach, we will definitely win," Kobe said firmly.

Kobe's statement earned Coach K's repeated nods of approval.

"Very good. Our USA Team will definitely win this game," Coach K said confidently.

Hearing the coach's confidence, James and the others were invigorated.

Next, Coach K said, "The players' stamina is a fatal problem for the Chinese team. Li Chen kept attacking in the fourth quarter and barely rested throughout the game, so his stamina will inevitably drop to a minimum. Therefore, our next tactic is..."

On the other side.

"Coach, I need to recover my strength for a while," Li Chen said as he dressed and lay down on the floor.

Jonas nodded, Li Chen's strength once again impressed him deeply.

A short while later, as the timeout expired, Jonas called another long timeout, the last one of the quarter.

Seeing Jonas call another long timeout, Coach K nodded confidently. Sure enough, Li Chen couldn't keep up. But how much stamina could he recover in three minutes?

However, when the second long timeout ended and the game resumed, a scene that left Coach K speechless unfolded.