"What was that shot just now!"
"Great shot, China Tang is still China Tang, unstoppable, unguardable!"
"This is the explosive power of China Tang's dunk!"
"I feel like China Tang could totally participate in this year's Slam Dunk Contest, that dunk was so cool!"
The spectators by the sidelines cheered with excitement.
At this moment, Tang Long made a gesture of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, saluting the audience.
In just two minutes, Tang Long led the Cavaliers to erase a seven-point deficit.
The score difference was now only ten points.
The possession changed, and it was the Rockets' turn to attack.
This time, Al Alston's offensive pass was clearly more cautious. He first directed his teammates to move.
He passed the ball to McGrady through a tactical play. McGrady was being mismatched by Drew Gooden, leaving him with no space to shoot.
Helpless, he could only pass the ball back to Alston.
The Rockets' strategy failed. Alston reorganized, drove inside, and passed to Yao Ming under the basket.
The hope was to break through with Yao Ming's offensive ability and win this possession.
However, this time, Tang Long wouldn't indulge Brother Yao.
He gradually entered a state of selflessness. Yao Ming posted him up, and with a delicate hook shot near the basket, he attempted to score.
Seeing this, Tang Long immediately leaped up and said to Yao Ming, "Brother Yao, you think a little hook shot can take me down? You're underestimating me too much!"
"Bang!"
Activating his [Absolute Defense] skill, Tang Long blocked Yao Ming's shot with a solid rejection.
The ball bounced off the backboard and out. LeBron reacted quickly, immediately grabbing the loose ball.
"Opportunity has come again, fast break!"
LeBron roared, his spirit renewed. He dribbled the ball rapidly up the court.
Reaching the basket, he made an alley-oop pass to Larry Hughes for a score.
At this point, the score difference was only eight points.
"Oh my god! The Cavaliers have completely gained momentum. China Tang's block on Yao, and LeBron's fast break for two more points, what a brilliant play."
The two commentators at the Quicken Loans Arena stood up in excitement.
LeBron and Tang Long high-fived in celebration. One contributed a block, the other orchestrated the offense.
With them, the Cavaliers were very strong at seizing opportunities.
The Cavaliers fans on the sidelines could clearly feel that the relationship between LeBron and Tang Long was improving with every victory.
Constant victories could mask all team problems.
As the Cavaliers' inside core, Tang Long's personal ability was unquestionable.
With mid-range shooting and post-up ability, such an inside player was almost perfect.
Most importantly, Tang Long was still very young, something Z could not compare to.
The future achievements of such a young Tang Long and LeBron were immeasurable.
Subsequently, the game situation instantly shifted in favor of the Cavaliers.
In the sports channel studio, Zhang Weiping and Yang Yi looked on with admiration: "Tang Long is starting to exert himself. Brother Yao, you'd better be careful. As far as we know, when Tang Long gets going, he's no less than Shaq in his prime!"
Thereafter, Tang Long continued to put on an offensive showcase.
He not only narrowed the deficit to five points but also greatly boosted the Cavaliers' morale.
The Cavaliers players were clearly playing with more resilience than before, and LeBron, who had been sluggish in the first half, gradually found his rhythm.
Then, with three minutes left in the first half.
The Cavaliers were now trailing by only five points.
It was another possession, and the Cavaliers had the ball.
Larry Hughes dribbled to the frontcourt and passed the ball to LeBron.
As a point forward, LeBron's vision was clearly much better than Larry Hughes'.
Facing Shane Battier, LeBron went for a bulldozer-like drive.
Battier lost his balance and was knocked to the ground by LeBron.
The referee saw no foul. Yao Ming, under the basket, came up to help defend.
This help defense was effective, completely stopping LeBron's progress.
Facing Yao Ming's help defense, LeBron had already found his target.
With a bounce pass between the legs, the ball zipped under Yao Ming's legs. The pass was perfectly timed, and Tang Long smoothly caught it and scored an uncontested layup.
"LeBron, a truly perfect pass!"
Tang Long smiled and made a celebratory gesture towards LeBron.
"The LeBron-Tang connection is getting better and better!"
The Cavaliers fans on the sidelines cheered wildly for the coordination between Tang Long and LeBron.
This kind of exquisite passing was not uncommon in the second quarter, and their chemistry grew with each play.
Seeing LeBron and Tang Long interacting frequently and scoring, Yao Ming looked on with envy.
His chemistry with McGrady was clearly not as mature as LeBron's.
On the next possession, the Cavaliers returned to defense, and the Rockets attacked.
Due to the deficit they were trying to overcome, the Rockets' offense started to show some problems.
Streetball legend Al Alston dribbled past half-court, wanting to make a play himself.
The team was in a passive situation, and usually, in such moments, someone needed to step up and make a couple of crucial shots to stabilize the teammates' mentality.
In the 90s, the Bulls' Big Three often had that one "clutch player" filling that role.
In the current league, Kobe of the Lakers was definitely one such player.
When the team's offense stalled and became stagnant, Phil Jackson would tell his players to spread out and let Kobe go one-on-one.
Letting Kobe attack from anywhere, single-handedly dominating the opponent.
And on the Rockets, that role should have belonged to McGrady.
After all, in terms of isolation play, McGrady was not inferior to Kobe. It was just injuries that plagued him, making him less reliable than Kobe at times.
Al Alston knew that McGrady was still injured.
And after a string of missed shots, he wanted to try and involve his teammates to get the offense going.
Thus, the streetball king executed a series of flashy moves, with consecutive crossovers and changes of direction, shaking off his defender Larry Hughes, and driving straight to the basket.
The Cavaliers were not worried about his drive.
Because there was an iron wall in the paint, Tang Long was always guarding it.
If Al Alston dared to drive in for a layup or a dunk, he would definitely be taught a lesson by Tang Long.
"Buddy, you can't hold back anymore, can you?"
"Whose head are you trying to dunk on? Did you get my permission?"
Tang Long activated his [Absolute Defense] skill and immediately enveloped Al Alston.
Yao Ming thought, "It's over. Is this guy looking for death by driving at Tang Long? What is he thinking?"
He had originally thought Alston would pass the ball to him or Luis Scola after beating Larry Hughes.
But he never expected him to be so reckless, charging towards the Cavaliers' basket with the ball.
"Get down!"
"Boom!"
With a dull thud, Al Alston was taught a lesson.
His layup was firmly swatted away by Tang Long.
Due to the force of the block, the batted basketball even hit a beautiful Caucasian girl!
...