“Focus on passing! Watch your man!”

Coach K glanced at the scoreboard and shouted at the players on the court.

With a 15-point lead and 7 minutes left, Team USA just needed to play it safe to maintain their advantage.

But Tang Tian's personal show, scoring 5 consecutive points in one possession, was too damaging.

Green, after being scolded, responded with a three-pointer from the arc, helping Team USA increase the lead back to 13 points.

Green roared at the Chinese team after the shot, clearly feeling great about that basket.

But as soon as he finished yelling, Tang Tian came back with a three-pointer off the dribble from the outside, immediately answering back!

Tang Tian, was in the zone!

The players on the Team USA bench had complex expressions.

They were all NBA players, but they knew how terrifying Tang Tian's scoring explosion could be when he got into the zone.

28 points in a single quarter, 66 points in a playoff game, 62 points in three quarters of the Finals, these were inhuman feats!

Although this was an international game, basketball was still basketball, the court was still the court, and the three-point line was even closer!

Durant started asking for the ball in the frontcourt.

Green's encouragement had worked, as the core of Dream Team XII, he no longer feared Tang Tian and dared to shoot, he had to respond!

He received the ball and posted up, then hit a turnaround jumper, Zhou Qi's long arms weren't enough to bother him.

"Swish!"

Durant's jump shot was good, bringing the lead back to 12 points!

But Tang Tian immediately responded, a turnaround fadeaway in a double team, shooting over Green and Thompson, and still making the shot!

The lead was back to 10 points!

Durant continued to ask for the ball, and facing Ding Yanyuhang's help defense, he once again hit a turnaround jumper!

Another 12-point lead!

The fans in the arena were loving it.

In this stretch, Tang Tian and Durant were in a scoring duel!

The two were already rivals in the NBA, and before the new season even started, they were going at it on the international stage!

Tang Tian scored two points, and Durant immediately scored two points.

Durant made a 2+1, and Tang Tian immediately hit a 3-pointer.

The two put on a top-level scoring show, thrilling the fans at the court.

With 3 minutes left in the game, Team USA still led China by 10 points.

Although Tang Tian was unstoppable in this stretch, Team USA's lead remained.

And Tang Tian's stamina was once again becoming an issue.

Continuous shots in double teams were too taxing on his stamina.

It looked like Tang Tian and Durant were trading scores, but because of the difference in team strength, the defensive intensity they faced was completely different.

Durant's strong attack was defended, Tang Tian advanced slowly to the frontcourt, and Li Nan quickly called another timeout.

This was China's last timeout in the second half.

He had to call it in advance because Tang Tian needed to rest.

Gasping for breath, Tang Tian looked up at the score.

Although Yao Ming's words at halftime made him realize that winning or losing wasn't so important anymore.

But victory was close, and everyone would want to fight for it.

Even more so because he was playing for his country, wearing the number 13 jersey, he wanted to win more than at any moment in the NBA.

"Hold your ground! Use all your strength, leave nothing behind! Just the last three minutes, give it your all and hold them off!"

Li Nan shouted loudly to the others at this time.

Although he was a puppet coach with limited ability, Yao Ming had indeed chosen the right person, and he wasn't one to back down either.

Moreover, he also knew what the other Chinese players should do at this time.

The one-minute timeout passed quickly, and Tang Tian adjusted his breathing and stood up from the bench.

"If needed, I'll find a way to buy you some rest time."

Li Nan said softly to Tang Tian before he went on the court.

Tang Tian didn't know what method he was talking about, but he nodded anyway.

When Tang Tian held the ball after the timeout, three players from Team USA rushed towards him.

Coach K's coaching ability was really strong, this defensive adjustment during the timeout was very effective.

Tang Tian was forced to pass the ball to Ding Yanyuhang, who drove hard to the basket.

Durant helped defend and successfully interfered with Ding Yanyuhang's shot.

The basketball hit the front of the rim and bounced out!

However, Yi Jianlian grabbed the offensive rebound after fighting with Green, and immediately looked back for Tang Tian.

Tang Tian cut in, caught the ball, and sent the ball into the basket after a mid-air collision with Green! And he drew a defensive foul on Green!

Tang Tian staggered and fell to the ground after landing, the constant high-intensity confrontation made his legs feel like they were filled with lead.

Green gestured to the referee with his hands on his head, indicating that he didn't foul.

But unfortunately, this wasn't the NBA, nor was he on the Warriors, and the referee ignored his protest.

Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi came to help Tang Tian up, Tang Tian took a breath and went to the free throw line.

He steadily made the extra free throw, and with two and a half minutes left in the game, he successfully helped the Chinese team break through the 10-point difference bottleneck.

A 7-point difference, there was definitely a chance.

Durant wanted the ball again in the frontcourt, but when he looked up, he saw that his defender had become Tang Tian.

Tang Tian basically hadn't distributed his stamina to the defensive end in the second half.

But now he couldn't care about that, if he didn't limit Durant's scoring, China wouldn't have a chance to win.

Durant chose to break through after a crossover.

Tang Tian's stamina had reached its limit, and this was his chance.

Tang Tian really didn't have enough stamina, and was almost faked out by Durant.

The Chinese fans in the arena were restless, they really felt sorry for Tang Tian now, he was carrying the Chinese team forward for the last 7 minutes!

And now he had to defend Durant!

Durant squeezed past Tang Tian and broke into the basket, this was a rare occasion when he broke through Tang Tian's defense!

He had a happy expression on his face, and did his signature big loop layup.

"Pa!"

But just as he exerted his strength, he felt a lightness in his hand, the ball was gone!

Tang Tian!

Although he was squeezed past by Durant, he used his excellent judgment and experience to turn around and steal the ball from Durant's hand!

Durant couldn't believe it, and when he turned around and saw Tang Tian's fast break, the hair on his body stood on end.

He was still stolen by Tang Tian!

The confidence he had built up these past few days because of Green, collapsed instantly!

Tang Tian gritted his teeth and rushed to the frontcourt, shook off Butler, held his breath, lifted his lead-filled legs, and slammed the ball heavily into the basket with both hands!

His jumping height had obviously become lower, but Butler was right behind him, and his layup might not go in, so he had to choose a dunk.

The difference came to 5 points!

The fans in the arena already wanted to cry, Tang Tian's image was incredibly tall at this moment, coupled with the number 13 jersey he was wearing.

The two most important backs in the history of Chinese basketball overlapped in an instant!

Team USA called a timeout!

In 2 minutes, they came back from a 15-point deficit to a 5-point difference, the Chinese team really managed to make the game suspenseful.

Tang Tian held onto Yi Jianlian, and Yi Jianlian supported him hard, and the two walked to the sideline together.

Li Nan took a deep breath at this time, Coach K's timeout was called passively, but it indirectly bought Tang Tian some rest time.