100:125.
The East is trailing by twenty-five points.
When they first fell behind, the Eastern stars were a little upset, thinking they could go up and tie the score with their own abilities.
But with such a large deficit, most people were unwilling to play.
If they went out and lost by dozens of points, wouldn't they be at a disadvantage when standing on the same court with those Western stars in the future?
"I've never seen an All-Star game lose by so much," Wade sighed dejectedly.
"I don't even know what this old man is thinking," James said angrily. "Even if he's the coach of the Celtics, he shouldn't be so blatant."
As he spoke, James nudged Wade's arm and asked, "If the coach tells you to go up now, would you still go?"
"Of course not, do I look like an idiot?" Wade shot James a glance. "These guys dug such a big hole for us to jump into, do we look foolish watching?"
BEEP!
Just then, the referee's whistle blew for a timeout.
Garnett and a few others walked off the court with grim faces. Pearson was still complaining to Howard, "You can't make the shot, why did you keep shooting? You should have passed to me."
"Why should I pass to you?" Howard said indignantly. "And don't talk to me like you're ordering me around, I'm not a Celtics player."
Seeing the few players arguing as they walked off, Doc Rivers' forehead was covered in black lines.
"LeBron, Wade, you two get ready to go in," Doc Rivers' eyes swept over the other players and finally landed on Tang Long. "Tang, you're going in too, later."
Before Tang Long could speak, James shook his head. "I'm not going. If we go in now to clean up their mess, do you think we're stupid?"
"What did you say?"
Doc Rivers' face turned extremely long. He was already full of anger, and James dared to oppose him at this time, which almost made him explode.
"Didn't you hear? I said I'm not playing."
"Hmph, don't regret it." Rivers turned to Billups. "Chauncey, you go in."
Billups shook his head. "I'd better pass. I can't make up such a big deficit by myself."
Rivers' forehead was covered in black lines.
Who would have thought that these players would all go against him? This made Rivers very angry.
He looked at the other players, and they all turned their heads away, pretending to look elsewhere.
Clearly, Rivers' stubbornness had angered the players.
Soon, the referee's whistle blew again for the game to resume.
But a jaw-dropping scene occurred: the Eastern players did not appear on the court.
Even the referees were stunned.
What did this mean?
The previously lively stadium fell silent at this moment. The fans all looked towards the Eastern All-Stars' bench, and many were whispering to each other.
"Doug, get your players on the court."
The referee walked over, looking at Rivers with black lines on his forehead.
"This..."
It was only then that Rivers realized that no player was willing to play. And at this moment, the cameras were all focused on them.
For a moment, Rivers was sweating profusely with anxiety.
"There seems to be some situation on the East side. We can see the players are all sitting on the bench and have no intention of continuing the game..."
The commentator was stunned for a moment before reacting.
At this time, the person in charge of the broadcast reacted quickly, "Quick, switch to commercials."
...
"What happened? Why did it switch to commercials?"
The referee blew the whistle again. Everyone was expecting to see the stars' comeback, but as soon as the referee walked to the sideline, the screen switched to commercials. This left everyone confused.
"It seems like the Eastern stars are all sitting on the bench, and no one is getting up."
"Internal conflict?"
"This is a first, an All-Star game with internal conflict. This is getting interesting."
"I was wondering why Tang Long and James weren't on the court. There must have been something that happened, so they didn't play."
"This is interesting. I just don't know what happened on the spot."
Chinese fans were discussing it enthusiastically. Both those who watched the game and those who didn't flocked in, as this was too rare.
...
At this moment, the live audience booed, some cursing James, others cursing Tang Long and Wade.
"LeBron, Dwight, we should still play."
Tang Long stood up and walked in front of the two.
"No!"
James refused without a second thought.
These boos did not affect his decision at all. For someone with a big heart, if boos could change anything, wouldn't they stop playing with so many boos on the road?
"If he doesn't go, then I won't go either."
"Listen to me."
Tang Long leaned in and whispered a few words into their ears. James and Wade, who were originally angry, had their eyes light up, and their gloomy faces instantly brightened.
"Okay, we've decided to play."
Seeing the three starters decide to play, Doc Rivers breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly substituted in Kidd and Chris Bosh as well.
When Tang Long and others reappeared on the sidelines, the game broadcast was switched back.
The shrewd referee announced that there had been a statistical error and that Rivers had called a long timeout, cleverly resolving the awkwardness.
The few players reappeared on the court, and there was no more unnecessary talk. Kidd brought the ball past half-court and passed it to Tang Long under the basket.
Chinese fans had been waiting for Tang Long's confrontation with Yao Ming, and after such a long time, they finally saw it again.
As soon as Tang Long got the ball, he drove to the basket. Yao Ming and Duncan double-teamed him. As they closed in, Tang Long passed the ball directly to James.
Duncan had to abandon Tang Long to defend James.
James shook off his defender and drove to the basket. Duncan, worried about his shot, blocked his offensive space, preferring to let James shoot rather than score easily in the paint.
James suddenly retracted his extended arm and then, with lightning speed, passed it to Wade in the corner.
The unguarded Wade caught the ball and shot, making a three-pointer.
103:125.
"Dwight, well done."
"That shot was too easy. Brotherhood basketball is the best."
Anthony, standing nearby, curled his lips. "You're still down by 22 points, and you think you've already won."
"Tch, the game isn't over yet, so who wins or loses is not decided."
Anthony gestured towards the scoreboard. "The game isn't over, but there are only seven minutes left. I don't believe you can make up 22 points in seven minutes. Do you think we're just decorations?"
Anthony's words made the excited Wade and James a little dejected.
If there were seven minutes left in the third quarter, plus the fourth quarter, they might have been able to make up the deficit. Now, they were too far behind.