Li Feng adapted to Rid's harassment, maintaining a steady mindset, and countered with even greater strength.
Rid, a seasoned veteran in the league for five or six years, had hoped to provoke the rookie Li Feng and disrupt his mental balance.
However, Li Feng regained his composure, as serene as still water, in a remarkably short period.
The Knicks were on offense. Li Feng held the ball at the top of the arc, and Rid once again attempted to disrupt him.
Utilizing his speed, Li Feng directly shook off Rid, denying him any opportunity for interference.
As Rid moved to pursue, the Knicks' Gallinari stepped in and screened him.
This was the unspoken understanding between teammates. Gallinari had long noticed how bothersome Rid's tactics were, so he lent Li Feng a helping hand.
Li Feng drove straight into the paint. The Bucks' defense collapsed once more, with Bogut blocking his path.
Unexpectedly, Li Feng glanced at the basket, and as Bogut raised his hands, Li Feng threaded the ball under his arm to the cutting David Lee.
David Lee scored with a bank shot!
The Bucks players groaned in unison. The Knicks' offense was incredibly fluid, and Li Feng's decision-making was remarkably clear.
For a rookie to make the optimal choice in the blink of an eye was simply terrifying!
As the second quarter neared its end, the Bucks' head coach decided against calling a timeout, instead opting to stand with his arms crossed, watching Li Feng with a sense of helplessness.
He found himself wondering, when would he have a player like this under his command?
Jennings, in comparison to Li Feng, was far too green.
Not only was his mentality too impatient, but his court vision and defensive capabilities were also vastly inferior.
Who exactly gave Jennings the courage to challenge Li Feng?
Was it Liang Jingru?
In the ensuing possessions, Rid couldn't even touch Li Feng's clothes. Li Feng and his teammates employed various tactics to leave Rid behind.
When one scheme failed, Rid devised another!
During a Knicks offensive play, Rid anticipated Li Feng and David Lee's pick-and-roll and positioned himself early, drawing an offensive foul on David Lee.
This was Rid's way of surviving in the league.
Basketball games were both simple and complex, filled with subtle techniques in offensive and defensive strategies.
For instance, players skilled at drawing offensive fouls were often smaller in stature.
Battier, Lowry, Lin Shuhhao, and others were all masters of this.
Rid was also adept in this regard. David Lee looked at the referee with an innocent expression, but the referee remained firm in his call of an offensive foul.
Possession changed hands, and the Bucks went on the offense.
Rid shot a smug glance at Li Feng. Li Feng ignored him; this was all part of the game experience that Li Feng needed to absorb continuously.
Rid's cunning tactics constrained Li Feng and his teammates' coordination, allowing the Bucks to seize the opportunity and go on a run.
At the end of the first half, the score was 57-53, with the Knicks leading by only four points.
The spectators at Madison Square Garden were dissatisfied. Li Feng had clearly outplayed Jennings, yet their home team was only ahead by four points.
Not only the fans, but Li Feng himself was also unhappy.
He sat on his locker room chair, not saying much.
Li Feng reflected on the recent possessions in his mind.
The Bucks were, after all, the sixth-ranked team in the Eastern Conference last season, while the Knicks were second to last.
The gap in overall strength was evident, and Li Feng needed his teammates to grow.
"David Lee, when we're on offense later, don't just force it. Let's pass more and try to find open teammates."
"Gallinari, you and Baron need to set more screens and find open shots."
...
Under Li Feng's guidance, his teammates' offensive and defensive awareness improved, but they still needed game experience to mesh.
In the Bucks' locker room, the atmosphere was rather somber.
Before this game, Jennings was a chatterbox, filling the locker room and training grounds with his incessant talking.
Especially before this game, he had been non-stop boasting, claiming he would dominate Li Feng.
"Jennings, don't be like that. It's just halftime, and we're only down by four. We'll come back in the second half!" Bogut showed some care for the rookie.
Perhaps Jennings' arrogant demeanor resonated with his own, so Bogut wanted to help Jennings regain his footing in the second half.
"Brothers, both Jennings and Li Feng are rookies. We absolutely must catch up in the second half and show that Li Feng a thing or two!"
The other Bucks players were indeed quite defiant. In their eyes, the Knicks players were not on the same level as them.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely increase the intensity on that Li Feng in the second half!"
"Yeah, we have to let him know that the NBA isn't that easy to play in!"
"Let's treat this like a preseason game, we absolutely cannot lose this one!"
...
The second half began, and the Bucks displayed their overall strength, increasing the intensity on both offense and defense.
Li Feng was subjected to playoff-level double-teams and countless small fouls.
In the first half, only Rid was being disruptive; in the second half, all the Bucks players were.
Li Feng felt helpless, wanting his teammates to step up, but they really couldn't. Under the opponent's high-intensity defense, their shooting percentages plummeted.
Just over five minutes into the third quarter, the Bucks had not only caught up but also taken a five-point lead.
Li Feng had scored no points, but his arms bore many scratches.
D'Antoni complained to the referee and received a technical foul. It was hard to imagine this happening in the Knicks' home arena.
The home crowd erupted in anger, beginning to curse the referee, with "suck" chanting filling the arena.
Li Feng had no complaints; he had faced similar treatment on the Olympic stage.
The Australian style of play was like that, and Li Feng was not unfamiliar with it.
Matters on the court had to be settled with basketball!
The Knicks called a timeout. Li Feng sat on the bench, frowning, trying to figure out a solution.
Currently, the Knicks were suffering severe fouls on offense and couldn't contain the Bucks' overall performance on defense.
To defeat the Bucks, they had to fight fire with fire.
The Knicks players were somewhat refined; David Lee and Gallinari were both white.
Of course, skin color wasn't the issue. The important thing was their soft playstyle, with strong offense and weak defense.
"Brothers, we need to treat this game like a playoff game. Will you be able to increase your physicality?"
For some players, their styles were already set; it was difficult for them to become rougher.
Li Feng saw the difficulty on his teammates' faces, so he immediately activated his [Team Soul] skill.
Under the effect of the [Team Soul] skill, the Knicks players seemed to have experienced a moment of enlightenment, instantly understanding much more.
The timeout ended, and the Knicks players returned to the court.
The Bucks, having just taken the lead, had a surge of morale. They were a bit eager to establish a commanding lead in the third quarter!
Who would have thought that once the game resumed, the Knicks players seemed like a different team, their eyes red, their movements wild!
As the Bucks initiated an offense, Bogut received the ball and went for a layup.
Baron suddenly charged out, like a tiger descending from a mountain, and slammed down on Bogut, suppressing him.