Drummond missed the extra penalty shot, and Yi Jianlian secured the defensive rebound.

6-6, the two teams tied after alternating lead changes at the start.

"China! Jia you!" (Add oil!)

The fans at the venue actively cheered for Team China.

Team China's performance after the opening had greatly boosted their morale.

Amidst the cheers of the fans, Tang Tian made a turnaround fadeaway after breaking through.

"Swish!"

Another basket!

The shouts from the venue instantly turned into cheers.

Unlike three years ago in Rio, where they were constantly suppressed and trailed by 20 points at halftime, Team China had been stalemating with Team USA since the start of the game tonight, not falling behind!

Li Chunjiang had also walked to the sideline, his right hand clenched tightly.

His prediction was correct, after Fang Shuo made that three-pointer, the double-teaming from the American team was obviously not as determined as in the previous possession.

Thompson missed a three-pointer from the outside, and Drummond directly dunked to score.

Tang Tian made a breakthrough pass in the frontcourt, and Yi Jianlian caught the ball and took off for an alley-oop dunk, but was directly blocked by Drummond.

There was a stir on the sideline, Drummond's presence had been a bit strong in these two possessions.

As the lowest in seniority among the Hard Training Brothers, his strength and fame were also the weakest.

With Davis out due to injury, he had become the most reliable player in the American team's interior.

Being dunked on and blocked, and with little time left on the shot clock in this possession, Team China was in danger of being pulled away.

But at the critical moment, it was still Tang Tian, after the inbound pass, Tang Tian received the ball and directly charged into the basket, drawing a shooting foul on Drummond.

He adjusted his breathing, and made both free throws.

8-8!

Team China tied the score again!

Team China was really evenly matched with Team USA tonight!

"Yi, if he gets another rebound, just foul him directly."

During the defensive transition, Tang Tian reminded Yi Jianlian.

As Hard Training Brothers, he knew very well that Drummond's biggest weakness was free throws.

In the American team's set offense, Leonard's shot at the basket missed, but it was Drummond again who snatched the offensive rebound.

He was a center, and Yi Jianlian mainly played power forward. It was still a small-ball lineup, but Yi Jianlian was at a great disadvantage in terms of height and strength.

Yi Jianlian directly fouled on the spot, sending Drummond to the free throw line.

Li Chunjiang hesitated on the sideline whether to substitute Shen Zijie.

Drummond's first free throw was quite off.

The second free throw also missed.

At this time, Li Chunjiang's eyes lit up, and he glanced at Popovich on the opposite half of the court, an idea forming in his mind.

Tang Tian made another breakthrough pass in the frontcourt, and this time Yi Jianlian's jump shot from the free throw line was good.

Drummond was a traditional center, tough inside, but not very mobile on the outside, he couldn't do anything about Yi Jianlian's shot.

10-8!

Team China took the lead again!

"We have a chance, we really have a chance!"

Su Qun said excitedly on the commentary booth.

Although Chinese fans were very confident before the game, as a member of the media, he was very clear about the gap in strength between the two teams.

But now, Team China was playing evenly with Team USA!

And unlike the China-US battle in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Team USA had obviously tried their best!

Just like he said, Team China really had a chance!

The game was going as he had predicted.

Tang Tian was playing steadily, always able to stand up and score at critical moments;

Yi Jianlian seized on Drummond's inability to come out, and hit consecutive shots from the outside;

Fang Shuo and Abudushalamu also made three-pointers from beyond the arc;

At the end of this quarter, the score on the court was 24-22, with Team China still leading by 2 points!

This situation made all Chinese fans feel excited and thrilled from the bottom of their hearts.

But they also knew that the real difficulty was coming at this time.

Before, when Spain played against the United States, they also played evenly in the first quarter, but were directly crushed when they entered the bench rotation.

The depth of the American team's roster was their most terrifying aspect.

Back in the second quarter, the American team's lineup on the court was Lillard and Harden on the outside, George and Barnes on the frontline, and Turner at center.

Popovich was fighting a wealthy battle, and had already used a 10-man rotation.

It was also at this time that there was a big difference in the two teams' use of personnel.

On the Chinese team's side, Tang Tian, who played the entire first quarter, was still on the court, and Ding Yanyuhang, who had rested for two minutes, was also on.

Li Chunjiang was using an 8-man rotation.

But it wasn't his fault, in this level of competition, the strength and competitive state of the other players hadn't reached the level, and it would be easy to be crushed if they went up.

The American team attacked first at the start of the second quarter, Lillard shook off Wu Qian's three-pointer and scored, directly helping the American team to overtake the score.

Back on the other end, Tang Tian made a breakthrough pass, and Wu Qian's three-pointer at the corner was interfered by Lillard's return defense and missed.

There was a stir on the sideline.

Li Chunjiang's use of personnel was already conservative enough, but judging from the performance of this period, the depth of the American team's lineup still made Team China feel very strenuous.

In the American team's frontcourt offense, Lillard used Barnes' screen to quickly break through to the basket, and after encountering Shen Zijie's help defense, he passed the ball to Turner.

Turner received the ball and made a steady bank shot from close range.

Lillard's individual strength was not as good as Curry's, but his performance in this World Cup was better than Curry's.

But just when the American team members were all preparing to celebrate, a figure flew over and blocked Turner's shot.

"Bang!"

Turner was completely unprepared, and this shot was blocked with a solid chase-down block.

When the fans took a closer look at the person who made the block, they all had unbelievable expressions on their faces.

It wasn't Tang Tian, it was Ding Yanyuhang!

Ding Yanyuhang reacted quickly, and after blocking the shot, he took down the defensive rebound!

Turner turned his head to see the person who blocked him, his face full of disbelief.

Although both of them played in the NBA, Ding Yanyuhang didn't have many opportunities to play in the Pelicans, and he didn't even recognize him!

Team China launched a counterattack, Tang Tian assisted Ding Yanyuhang, who followed up in the fast break, and the latter caught the ball and dunked with both hands.

Team China overtook the score again!

At the critical moment, Harden helped the American team to overtake the score again with a signature step-back three-pointer in the frontcourt.

The depth of the American team was really terrifying.

But Tang Tian took the initiative to find Ding Yanyuhang with a breakthrough pass in the frontcourt, and the latter responded with a three-pointer from the outside.

"Swish!"

He made it!

It exploded, the cheers at the venue exploded instantly.

Ding Yanyuhang had scored 5 consecutive points since returning in the second quarter!

"Look at Xiao Ding, it's different when you play in the NBA!"

Zhang Weiping said with a big laugh on the commentary booth.

In fact, since the start of the group stage, many people have had misunderstandings about Team China.

As soon as Team China is mentioned, the first reaction is Tang Tian's team, and that Team China can make it to the finals is all because of Tang Tian.

But in reality, Fang Shuo, Yi Jianlian, and Ding Yanyuhang all had their representative battles, and Abudushalamu and Shen Zijie's performances also exceeded expectations.

In other words, in this World Cup competition, not to mention whether they can win the championship in the end, this group of people has already been trained.

Or in other words, this Chinese men's basketball team is the strongest Chinese men's basketball team!