2008 Olympic Champions

In the crucial fourth quarter, the offensive pace quickened, putting immense pressure on the exhausted National Team.

The game had just begun when Kobe blocked Zhu Fangyu's shot, and the basketball flew out of bounds.

The National Team serves the ball out of bounds.

After receiving the ball, Li Chen connected with Yao Ming to complete an alley-oop dunk.

In the next possession, James' layup attempt was blocked by Li Chen's "Iron Wall and Bronze Barrier" defense, and Wang Zhizhi grabbed the rebound.

Both teams then went through a two-minute goal drought.

Li Chen broke through and passed the ball to Sun Yue Sun Yue, who did not disappoint Li Chen this time.

90 to 81.

Coach K quickly substituted Wade into the game. As soon as he entered the game, Wade teamed up with Kobe, and Kobe made a shot after a mid-air collision.

90 to 83.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Fangyu was intercepted, and Deron Williams hit a three-pointer.

90 to 86.

Immediately afterwards, Wade's aggressive defense forced Sun Yue into a turnover, and the ball was stolen again.

The USA Team launched a fast break, during which Kobe almost lost the ball to Li Chen, who regained possession and orchestrated the offense, assisting his teammate for a dunk.

90 to 88.

The moment Wade entered the game, the situation on the court immediately changed, and the Dream Team instantly erased the score difference.

However, if the USA Team wanted to take the lead, it was up to Li Chen to decide. At the crucial moment, he immediately responded with a three-pointer, widening the score gap to five points again.

Kobe's unwavering determination led him to make no room for mercy, sinking another three-pointer from the corner.

93 to 91.

Li Chen responded again, shooting arrows on horseback once more, scoring two points in return.

95 to 91

On the USA Team's side, after Kobe finished, it was James' turn. James' second-chance points under the basket made the Dream Team's lineup truly enviable.

On the other hand, only Li Chen was struggling to keep the National Team afloat. Li Chen dribbled the ball up the court.

In that split second, Li Chen suddenly accelerated past Kobe and, overpowering center Howard's long arms, unleashed a stunning tomahawk dunk. That play was incredibly inspiring.

Li Chen also made the free throw; no wonder he's the first man in the 200 club, his free throws are incredibly consistent.

98 to 93.

This also drew five fouls from Howard, forcing Howard to leave the game five times, leaving Coach K with no choice but to substitute Bosh.

The intense competition on the court only served to highlight Kobe's superstar charisma.

He received the ball, faked a shot, and pulled up for a three-point play, bringing the Dream Team one step closer to their coveted gold medal.

Kobe made the free throw.

98 to 97.

However, Li Chen was not going to give in easily. He responded with a three-pointer, and in an instant, the score difference was back to four points.

At that very moment, from the same spot, Dwyane Wade Wade unleashed a devastating three-pointer that pierced the net. Wade's shot was crucial.

101 to 100.

Meanwhile, time was running out, and it was the National Team's last attack. Regardless of whether they succeeded, the victory would belong to them.

But the USA Team wouldn't give up easily. They first gained possession by fouling, and then Coach K called a timeout.

Li Chen went to the free-throw line and swished! He made both free throws.

103 to 100.

The USA Team needs to make a three-pointer to force overtime.

In the rest area, Li Chen frowned, pondering who the USA Team would choose for the final shot.

However, he couldn't come up with a concrete plan after thinking it over and over, because the USA Team was full of talent, with players like Kobe, James, Wade, or even Carmelo Anthony, all of whom had the ability to win games.

Forget it, we can just play overtime. As for not having enough stamina, we can just have another Functional Drink.

After the timeout, both teams entered the game, and the USA Team took the throw-in.

Li Chen ignored everyone else; he just kept harping on Kobe, giving off a vibe that the game could be lost, but Kobe had to die.

Li Chen's tenacious defense made Kobe very happy.

Kobe received the ball but didn't shoot. Instead, he passed it to James. Old Zhan thought to himself that he couldn't take the blame anymore, as he already had too many blemishes. So, Old Zhan shifted the blame to his good friend Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony's personality is like this: if you give me the ball, I'll play.

So after receiving the ball, he didn't hesitate and immediately took a three-point jump shot.

At the same time, the game time was reset to zero.

Seeing this, Sun Yue immediately jumped to block Anthony's shot. It's worth noting that Sun Yue had already blocked Anthony once in the first half, so he was full of confidence. However...

Smack! Sun Yue committed a foul, but thankfully, it didn't result in a 3+1 play.

At this moment, Sun Yue regretted it; he shouldn't have been so radical.

At this moment, Li Chen patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Kid, you did a good job."

Sun Yue felt somewhat grateful to Li Chen, knowing that Li Chen was trying to comfort him.

However, Li Chen's words were sincere, not the kind of comfort Sun Yue was hoping for.

Because it can lower their free throw percentage.

It's important to know that [Iron Wall and Bronze Barrier] can reduce the gravity of opposing players within one meter by 25%, thus decreasing their shooting accuracy.

Then...

Anthony went to the free-throw line, and his first shot was a bit of a miss.

This put even more pressure on Anthony for his second free throw.

Brother Gua took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Bang! This time, Melo's luck was just as good as last time; the basketball bounced off the rim.

With the score at 103-101, the USA Team has no chance of winning.

Finally, the National Team narrowly defeated the USA Team 103-102 to win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At this moment, the Wukesong Arena erupted in cheers as hundreds of millions of fans across China witnessed the rise of Chinese basketball.

As the blood-red flag was hoisted at the top, the fans stood up in unison, silently chanting along with the National Team players, "Arise... ye who refuse to be slaves..."

In this game, Kobe was still the top scorer for the USA Team with 26 points.

On the National Team side, Li Chen scored 38 points, including 18 points in the third quarter alone.

After the Olympics, Li Chen returned to the United States and announced that he had joined the Dallas Mavericks.

The media and fans had anticipated this outcome, as the Dallas Mavericks' trade last season was quite intriguing.

Therefore, they had long suspected that Li Chen and the Dallas Mavericks had reached a secret deal.

At the same time, Li Chen's character was recognized by everyone; even though he was leaving, he didn't forget to find an All-Star caliber open spot for the Knicks.

Cuban was overjoyed by Li Chen's arrival and immediately chose to personally greet Li Chen.

"Chen, I've been waiting for you for so long." With that, she gave Li Chen a big hug.

Li Chen said politely, "Mr. Cuban, you're too kind. I'm just a basketball player."

Upon hearing this, Cuban gave Li Chen a meaningful look, thinking to himself, "You probably have enough money to buy several NBA teams now, right?"

In October, both Li Chen and Nowitzki attended the Summer League, but they did not play.

Since the start of the NBA regular season, the Mavericks have been leading the entire league by a wide margin.

Dirk Nowitzki won Player of the Month for four consecutive months and also won the All-Star MVP award at the NBA All-Star Game, marking the peak of his career.

Li Chen's stats dropped significantly, but he still averaged 25 points and 12 assists per game.

After the regular season ended, Nowitzki saw his first regular season MVP award.