Leonard made the free throw as well, and the USA Team scored five straight points to start the game.
"Come on, China Team!"
The poor start prompted the chinese fans in attendance to cheer for the China Team.
But the USA Team's defense was airtight. After Tang Tian was forced to pass once again, Ding Yanyuhang's stop-and-pop pull-up jumper was disrupted by James.
The China Team's offense still had nothing!
Durant attacked again in the frontcourt. This time, his shot drew a hand-check foul from Ding Yanyuhang.
Li Chunjiang stood on the sidelines cursing under his breath, though his expression was somewhat helpless.
The additions of James and Davis had greatly strengthened the USA Team on both ends of the floor.
Durant made both free throws through contact.
7–0!
The USA Team had delivered the China Team a show of force right from the opening.
Tang Tian brought the ball up again. This time, he changed his offensive style. After passing to Ding Yanyuhang, he began moving without the ball.
Originally, after patting each teammate on the head before the game, he had planned to attack through drives and kick-outs. But the USA Team's help defense was in place, and the 10% stability brought by the "Stone Buddha" failed to take effect.
In other words, aside from him, everyone else—including Lin Yi—was being suppressed in their matchups. He could only shift from organizing the offense to scoring himself.
Only by drawing even more defensive attention could he get the team's offense flowing.
Just as he had done at last year's World Cup.
He caught the ball after getting open, then rose for a stop-and-pop pull-up jumper over James.
Swish!
The basketball dropped cleanly through the net.
The pregame head-patting had included self-touching too. Tang Tian's shooting was as steady as