Back on the court, the players' emotions were soothed.
The Nuggets had possession, and Iverson was bringing the ball up from the backcourt.
Although Iverson's position was shooting guard, his dual-threat guard abilities allowed him to play point guard perfectly.
Iverson often did this, which was why he had the highest assists per game on the team.
Reaching the frontcourt, Iverson made a hand gesture.
Clearly, a play was about to be run.
The Nuggets' formation shifted rapidly. Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby in the paint quickly moved up, setting screens for Iverson.
Carmelo and Anthony Carter positioned themselves at the corners, ready to shoot threes at any moment.
Iverson used the pick-and-roll to drive, charging straight towards the basket.
Tang Long was already waiting under the basket, ready to reject Iverson's shot as soon as he entered.
This time, Iverson was smart. With a flick of his wrist, he passed the ball to Carmelo at the corner.
Carmelo caught the ball, adjusted, and shot directly.
Even though LeBron James wasn't out of position defensively, Carmelo still made the shot.
On the sidelines.
Head coach Mike Brown frowned. It seemed the Nuggets' shooting touch was quite good.
While LeBron's defense wasn't top-tier, he was still a first-class player.
Carmelo could still force shots over his defense and make them, indicating his hot hand.
The crowd was startled by the shot; the outcome of today's game was still uncertain.
Possession changed, and LeBron took the ball.
He was dribbling at the top of the arc, about to drive himself, when he suddenly saw Tang Long in the paint, establishing position and signaling for the ball.
LeBron passed it in without hesitation.
Tang Long received the ball in the low post, facing Marcus Camby's defense.
Camby was a blue-collar center with no chance of stopping Tang Long.
Tang Long only needed two simple pushes to turn and dunk forcefully!
It was too easy!
The game quickly developed an interesting pattern. The Nuggets were exclusively shooting from the perimeter, while the Cavaliers mostly relied on Tang Long's isolation plays, with a smaller portion of LeBron's drives.
One side scored twos, the other scored threes.
On the surface, the Nuggets seemed to have the advantage, but the three-point shooting percentage couldn't match the two-point percentage.
Especially in the paint, where the shooting percentage could reach seventy to eighty percent.
Therefore, the Cavaliers actually held the advantage.
The Nuggets' head coach, George Karl, stubbornly refused to double-team Tang Long.
No matter how many points Tang Long scored, he would not issue a double-team command.
During this time, when Kenyon Martin tried to double-team, George Karl rejected him every time.
He wanted to see just how good Tang Long was, whether he could defeat his team single-handedly!
In the NBA, this kind of tactic was quite common. For example, the Spurs, when playing against the Lakers, would let Kobe score and stubbornly refuse to double-team him.
Either he would single-handedly destroy the team, or they would lose the game.
Tang Long clearly had that kind of strength. Realizing George Karl's defensive strategy, he became even more excited.
Then let me single-handedly destroy you!
For the remainder of the first quarter, Tang Long completed five dunks, setting a new personal record for dunks in a single quarter.
The Cavaliers led 29-21, by eight points.
During the break, in the Nuggets' locker room.
Carmelo Anthony was the first to disagree with the head coach's approach.
"Coach George, I believe we must double-team Tang. Marcus Camby is a good player, but he has absolutely no physical strength to contend with Tang, and he's even picked up two fouls!"
"The current situation is that as long as Tang receives the ball, the Cavaliers essentially get two points. Our three-pointers can't catch up."
Iverson and the other players nodded, especially Marcus Camby himself, who was starting to fear matching up against Tang Long.
Of course, switching was not an option. As the starting center, he had to bear this responsibility.
George Karl pondered for a moment and nodded. It seemed there was no hope of winning with man-to-man defense.
So, they would implement a double-team strategy!
The break ended, and the game resumed.
The Nuggets had possession, with Iverson still organizing the offense.
Reaching the frontcourt, he lobbed the ball to Kenyon Martin in the low post.
Having the "beast-style" power forward post up Drew Gooden should have been no problem.
And so it was. Drew Gooden couldn't withstand Kenyon Martin, who backed him down step by step.
Kenyon Martin didn't have any extra moves. He directly turned to go up for a layup.
Suddenly, a pair of large hands appeared from behind!
[Heavenly God's Block] activated!
Tang Long swatted Kenyon Martin's shot down from behind!
Kenyon Martin no longer had the strength to hold onto the ball, and it bounced off the floor and out of bounds.
"Another block by China Tang! After dominating offensively, he's appeared on defense again!"
"He's like a demon god! No one can stop him!"
"This is China Tang's third block of the game! At this pace, will he get a triple-double in blocks?"
"Kenyon Martin is also a player with outstanding physical abilities, but after that block by China Tang, he couldn't even hold onto the ball!"
Joe Tait loved to comment on Tang Long's explosive performances on defense.
Marcus Camby was simply not good enough. Tang Long played too easily, and even Joe Tait found it a bit boring.
But on defense, it was different. Tang Long's help defense was incredible!
He always appeared in the correct defensive position and then delivered a thunderous block!
This time, the possession was even the Cavaliers'!
A huge profit!
Kenyon Martin gave Tang Long a mournful glance and turned back to defend.
"Tang, your little fanboy looks sad!"
LeBron joked.
Tang Long chuckled, finding it quite amusing to teach his little fanboy a lesson.
Back on the court, Larry Hughes was about to pass to Tang Long, but Tang Long refused.
Playing the same routine over and over was too boring, so he signaled for Larry Hughes to shoot himself.
Larry Hughes' defender was a short guy, only 1.85 meters tall, making it difficult to contest his shot.
So, after taking one dribble, Larry Hughes pulled up for a jump shot.
Unfortunately, Larry Hughes' touch was clearly off today. The ball bounced off the rim.
Marcus Camby had already established position, but a pair of large hands reached in from behind and snatched the rebound!
[Absolute Rebound]
Another classic "stepping on heads" rebound!
This had almost become Tang Long's signature move!
After securing the rebound, Tang Long threw the ball out to Larry Hughes on the perimeter.
"Keep shooting! I've got the boards!"
This was a favorite scenario for perimeter shooters: a rebounding monster.
Larry Hughes didn't hesitate and shot another three-pointer.
His touch was really off today, and the ball bounced off the rim again.
Of course, Tang Long grabbed the rebound again and passed it back to Larry Hughes.
This time, Larry Hughes finally made the three-pointer.
"Tang! I love you!"
Larry Hughes shouted excitedly.
With Tang Long on the court, it felt like he was just practicing his shooting!