"The Cavaliers' stamina is having issues," Coach Zhang stared intently at the broadcast signal. LeBron James's breakthrough speed had already diminished. Sometimes, he wouldn't even bother breaking through, directly handing the ball to Tang Long and letting him post up against Howard. After one or two attempts, the Magic players also noticed this situation. Evans, who was supposed to help defend James, simply handed over the task of guarding James to Lewis and joined Howard in defending Tang Long.
"Now the Cavaliers' offense relies more on Tang Long as a focal point. But without anyone to share the scoring load, Tang Long facing double-teams also consumes a lot of energy." Yang Yi agreed with Coach Zhang's assessment. "At this point, I believe Mike Brown is also in a difficult position. If he substitutes the bench players, the score difference will only widen. If he keeps the starters on the court, then the fourth quarter is essentially over before it begins."
Mike Brown's mind was indeed a mess. He thought more long-term. The Magic's home court was already difficult to play on. If the starters exhausted their stamina in this game, they might not recover in time for the next one, which would have a more significant impact. Should he let the bench play first in this game? Even if they lost, at least the starters would have a bit more energy. But right now, the score difference wasn't large, and theoretically, there was still a chance. Moreover, the players' morale also needed to be considered. So, he was conflicted. He decided to wait and see! Mike Brown chose to trust his players.
On the last possession of the third quarter, James used his speed to blow past Lewis. At this moment, Nelson surged from the side. James immediately passed the ball to Pavolvic at the baseline. Pavolvic was unguarded; it was an open shot. After easily receiving James's pass, Pavolvic surprisingly didn't shoot directly. Having gone 1-for-8 and scoring only two points in the game, he had lost his confidence.
"No problem, shoot it, I'll get the rebound," Tang Long's shout reached Pavolvic's ears. He took a deep breath, pushed off with his legs, and put all his strength into the shot. The basketball flew like a missile, falling into the net under the gaze of players and fans. The shot was good! Pavolvic jumped up excitedly, waving his fist. 90-88, the Cavaliers were no longer trailing by two points.
Beep! At this moment, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the third quarter.
"Phew." James let out a long sigh, and with his exhausted body, he plopped down in his seat, panting heavily. Pavolvic, who had just made a three-pointer, was still energized. Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden were also sprawled out, too tired to care about their appearance.
"See that? The Cavaliers' players are already panting with exhaustion. No matter if we send out the bench or the starters next, it won't make much difference to us. From now on, we'll do one thing: crush them." Van Gundy stopped setting up tactics because the Magic had completely taken control. Moreover, in the last few minutes of the third quarter, he had already substituted his starters to rest.
"The coach is right. As long as we continue to play as we have been, we'll definitely win this game. We'll let that arrogant guy know the strength of our entire team." "We beat them 4-0. Now we're going to slap him in the face." Howard boasted gleefully, "When the game ends and reporters interview me, I'll ask that Tang, didn't he say he wouldn't let us win? I wonder if he'll find a crack in the ground to crawl into."
"Hahaha..." The entire Magic team was amused by Howard's demeanor. Hearing the laughter from the other side, the entire Cavaliers team felt a surge of suppressed anger. These guys were too arrogant. But despite their anger, everyone could see that James and Larry Hughes were indeed experiencing stamina problems. Tang Long, however, was doing better. Despite sweating profusely, he still looked capable of continuing the game.
Mike Brown looked conflictedly at James and the others. Although he knew they couldn't win this game without James and the others on the court, for the sake of future games, he decided to let the bench play first in the fourth quarter. Based on his guess about Van Gundy, Van Gundy would also likely send out his bench players first in the fourth quarter. If it was bench versus bench, then the Cavaliers might still have a chance to win this game.
"LeBron, Larry Hughes, drink water." Tang Long said, handing the water bottles to Drew Gooden and Pavolvic. They didn't think much of it and gulped down the water.
"Big Z, Varejão, you two will start in the fourth quarter." Just as Mike Brown finished speaking, James stood up and said, "Coach, wait, I think I can still play."
"Me too." Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden also stood up. Although they looked exhausted, judging by their eyes and complexion, they seemed to have recovered quite a bit.
"Are you sure?" Mike Brown looked at James incredulously. James nodded seriously. "But your stamina is still..." "Coach, we definitely know our own condition. If us playing would affect the team, we would definitely let them play first." "Alright then." Mike Brown nodded, looking at these guys with envy. They were still young, and after a short rest, they were so full of energy.
Tang Long thought to himself, "That was close." Fortunately, the recovery potion was only diluted into four portions. If each person had a whole bottle, they would probably be drug tested by the league in this game.
When Tang Long and James appeared on the court in the fourth quarter, Van Gundy was stunned. Were these guys made of iron? How were they back on the court? Van Gundy looked at Mike Brown with a questioning gaze. What was going on in this guy's head? Was he really going to overwork the starters? While Van Gundy was still in a daze, the Cavaliers had already launched an offense. Tang Long drew the attention of three Magic players and passed the ball back to James. James pulled up for a three-pointer from beyond the arc and made it.
...
Pavolvic received an assist from Tang Long and hit a baseline three-pointer, making it again.
...
James and Tang Long executed a pick-and-roll. All the Magic players were drawn to the perimeter, leaving the paint open. James passed the ball to Drew Gooden, who launched a surprise attack directly into the paint. Two points made. In less than a minute, the Cavaliers went on an eight-point run, going from trailing by two points to leading by six.
"F---." Van Gundy cursed fiercely and immediately called a timeout. He had no choice. If the bench continued to play, the Magic would be trailing by double digits. And this was the fourth quarter. Trailing by double digits against the Cavaliers' starters would make it incredibly difficult to catch up. "What just happened? How did the Cavaliers take the lead?!"