"Here they come! They're finally here! The China-USA match of the century!"

"Go China! We believe you can do it!"

"I think this US team is overrated. Spain fought them to the last five minutes, and only lost because they ran out of gas. We have a chance!"

"Don't be scared, just go for it! We have Tang Tian, we're not afraid of anyone!"

"Exactly, we beat them once in 2016, why can't we win this time? The US team is stronger, and so are we!"

"Let's go, Olympic and World Cup champions, let the world of basketball feel the strength of the Chinese team!"

"Go China! Take the championship and give the motherland a great gift for her 70th birthday!"

"China will win!"

…

After the two finalists were decided, Chinese fans on domestic forums were already filled with endless dreams of the championship.

And it was obvious that Spain's performance had given them tremendous encouragement and confidence.

However, on the American social media side, the view of the final was completely different.

"This national team has basically completed its mission. By defeating its most powerful opponent, Spain, it has basically regained the world championship."

"China was very lucky. They avoided all the top five FIBA teams in the group stage. Argentina even helped them get rid of Serbia."

"This is China's art of drawing lots. They put themselves in the best group, which guaranteed they could qualify perfectly."

"Yes, if the Australian team hadn't shot itself in the foot by insisting on starting Bogut, China might have been eliminated in the quarterfinals. Not to mention that China met Argentina in the semifinals, who had been overperforming, but just happened to run into China when their performance declined."

"Although Tang is great, and I'm a Pelicans fan, I don't think the Chinese team has much of a chance against the US team."

"I really can't think of a reason why this US team would lose. Although LeBron and AD didn't come, they are already the strongest Dream Team in active service."

"That's right, TMZ has already reported that the reason they lost in Rio in 2016 was because some players went to nightclubs to relax before the game, but this time Popovich is in charge. If James (Harden) or Klay went, he would spank their butts hard!"

"The Dream Team should be the world champion."

"Of course, I have to go on a business trip tomorrow and won't be able to watch the game. I'll wait for the news of the championship."

…

The American fans are paying a lot of attention to the final, but they all think the final will be easier than the semi-final.

Not to mention anything far away, just look at the season that just ended. The Spurs and Lakers gave the Pelicans a lot of trouble.

Now that Tang Tian doesn't have his Pelicans teammates around him, not to mention Davis, even guys like Gasol and Brogdon aren't there.

And the American team is a combined lineup of Spurs + Lakers + Warriors.

In their opinion, this game shouldn't and won't have much suspense.

With two days to go before the game, both teams are actively preparing for the final.

The Chinese team's training seems to be much easier than expected.

When it was open to the public, Li Chunjiang even organized the players to play mid-court shooting.

The result was as expected, Tang Tian made more shots alone than the rest of the team combined.

After training, the reporter interviewed Tang Tian and asked about the training.

"That's a way to relieve stress."

Tang Tian's answer was very concise.

And judging from the smiles on the players' faces after training, it was indeed very useful.

"Are you confident about tomorrow's game?"

The reporter also asked a must-ask question.

"I can't guarantee that the team will win, but I can guarantee that tomorrow will be my best game of the World Cup."

Tang Tian's answer was also domineering.

Using the softest words to pretend to be the toughest.

That's very Tang Tian.

On the day of the game, neither team scheduled training in the afternoon.

Obviously, neither Li Chunjiang nor Popovich wanted to put too much psychological pressure on the players before the game.

However, Yi Jianlian and Ding Yanyuhang came to the stadium early for warm-up training.

Everyone handles pressure differently, and they use training to release it.

That night, the Wukesong Arena was packed, and even the aisles were filled with fans who had come in by various means.

This put a lot of pressure on the arena's security, but the arena's approach was to invest more manpower to maintain order.

On such a special night, everyone is treated specially.

Many basketball celebrities also appeared on the scene.

Hu Weidong, Liu Yudong, Gong Xiaobin, most of the players from the '94 golden generation also came to the scene.

Including former head coach Gong Luming.

In Rio, the Chinese team had a surprise upset in a situation that everyone was not optimistic about. They reversed a 20-point deficit in the second half to win the championship, which was an absolute surprise.

But this time, no matter what the American fans think, everyone on the Chinese team is full of confidence in the team.

They don't want to miss being able to witness the birth of history.

Half an hour before the game started, the players from both sides came out of the player通道 (player tunnel), and the atmosphere at the scene quickly entered a climax.

The players from both sides began to do their final warm-ups on the court, and the smell of gunpowder began to permeate the air.

The game was tense, but many people from the American team came over to say hello to Tang Tian.

Thompson, Drummond, the two hard-training brothers, and Curry and Leonard.

Of course, there was also Durant, who had already joined the Pelicans.

Although Tang Tian has retired from the NBA, his connections are still very strong.

Durant's expression was the most exciting after he finished greeting Tang Tian.

Although he has now joined the Pelicans, tonight's game is really important to him.

One aspect is the failure of 2016.

He was the core of that Dream Team.

He still remembers that in the final, the US team led China by more than 20 points in the first half.

Everything seemed to be going as expected, and the US team would continue the myth of the Dream Team.

But everything changed in the second half. The Chinese team launched a death charge in desperation, constantly eroding the score difference like a virus.

Until the last moment, Tang Tian beat him, and finally he made consecutive steals to kill the game.

That was a game he would never forget in his life, even more unforgettable than the times he was defeated by Tang Tian in the NBA.

The other aspect is because of Tang Tian's retirement.

Tang Tian said that he does not rule out a comeback, but no one knows if he will come back.

In other words, if Tang Tian no longer plays in the NBA, considering his competitive state of not playing professionally for a year, Tang Tian may not play in next year's Olympics, and this may be the last chance for him and Tang Tian to be opponents.

It is also his last chance to beat Tang Tian.

The last meaning is that if he can't do it tonight, then he will always be Tang Tian's loser in this life.

Just like Barkley, Malone, Stockton, and Ewing to Jordan.

So among the many looks he gave Tang Tian, the most firm one was: Boss, I'm sorry, I'm going to win tonight!