Chapter 2 The Lead Extends

With a little over three minutes played in the second quarter, the Chinese team was still leading, and had even extended their lead!

32 to 28. Although the point difference had only increased from 2 to 4, it was significant.

The Chinese team had not only survived the period where the American team's substitutes were expected to excel, but they had even gained an advantage!

This made a huge difference psychologically.

With the starters back on the court, the Chinese team's morale was also greatly boosted.

With two minutes left in the second quarter, the score was 38 to 36, with China in the lead.

Durant drove to the basket and scored two points with a euro-step layup, tying the game for the USA.

But in the next possession, Tang Tian broke through the double team and quickly scored a layup for two points.

Those two points brought his individual score for the first half to 15 and helped China regain the lead!

Although Durant was in excellent form, Tang Tian was also starting to heat up.

And because both teams had already reached the foul limit for the quarter, neither dared to make easy plays on the defensive end.

Durant passed to Leonard for two points, and the American team tied the score again.

Li Chunjiang called a timeout at this point, with less than a minute left in the first half.

After the timeout, the Chinese team made a surprising substitution, with Kelan Bake being brought onto the court, who hadn't played at all previously.

No one understood, including Popovich.

He even turned to look at the detestable Chinese coach on the opposite side of the court with a puzzled expression, wondering what tricks this coach was up to.

The game continued, and Tang Tian passed to Yi Jianlian, who went for a dunk. This time, Drummond reached out to block it but failed and was called for a foul.

Yi Jianlian went straight to the free-throw line.

He swung his arms, adjusted, and made both free throws.

China took the lead again!

The game on the court was exceptionally intense.

The stalemate couldn't be broken, and whoever could take the lead at the end of the first half would have the psychological advantage.

Durant inbounded the ball from the baseline. The Chinese team was pressing full-court, and Curry and Leonard were both double-teamed, while Thompson was tightly guarded by Tang Tian.

The only player left unguarded was Drummond, who quickly retreated to his own half to receive the ball.

Durant managed to get the ball to him.

But before Drummond could pass it to anyone else, Kelan Bake rushed forward and fouled him directly.

The referee blew his whistle, signaling a foul on the Chinese team, and Drummond was given two free throws.

It was at this moment that everyone understood.

Li Chunjiang was going to use the Shaq-hack tactic!

And he was doing it professionally!

The rules of FIBA games differ from those of the NBA in many ways, one of which is the rule regarding fouls on players without the ball.

In the NBA rules, before the new regulations, as long as the foul count for the quarter was reached, fouling anyone would send them to the free-throw line.

This was the famous Shaq-hack tactic, invented by former Mavericks coach Don Nelson and popularized by Popovich.

The NBA later introduced new rules, stipulating that the Shaq-hack was not allowed in the last two minutes, or it would be called a technical foul.

In other words, in the NBA, you could only use the Shaq-hack in the first ten minutes of each quarter.

But there is no such rule in FIBA games, or rather, there is no explicit regulation.

The referee's criteria for judgment are as follows: according to the spirit of the FIBA rules, the defensive team must actively try to steal the ball, with the aim of contesting possession or defending against the ball carrier's breakthrough. Defending a player without the ball means preventing him from receiving the ball, or trying to intercept the ball as it's about to reach him.

But if the ball will never reach him, and he is in a non-ball area, and you foul him to stop the clock, to make him shoot free throws, according to the spirit of the FIBA rules, even if your movement is slight, it should be penalized as an unsportsmanlike foul.

In simple terms, FIBA does not allow fouls on players without the ball, otherwise it will be called an unsportsmanlike foul.

This is where Li Chunjiang's professionalism came into play.

He forced the American team to pass the ball to Drummond, and then fouled him.

At this point, it was a foul on a player with the ball, and would not be called a foul.

In fact, he had already had this idea in the first quarter when Drummond missed three consecutive free throws at the start of the game.

Then, when the score was tied in this quarter, after careful consideration, he finally put his idea into practice.

But Popovich's expression at this time was something to behold.

He was the one who popularized the Shaq-hack tactic, and it was celebrated by fans when he used it on O'Neal for five seconds to celebrate his birthday.

Now Li Chunjiang was using this tactic on him!

He really wanted to say three words in his heart: Ru He Xiu? (How dare you be so brilliant?)

FIBA's rules encourage confrontation, and this loophole may be explicitly amended in the future, but at least this time Li Chunjiang was successful.

Drummond went to the free-throw line, and the arena was filled with boos.

Drummond missed both free throws!

His career free-throw percentage in the NBA is only a pitiful 44%, not to mention FIBA games which are more intense and require more stamina.

Yi Jianlian secured the defensive rebound, and China's Shaq-hack tactic was a complete success.

Popovich's expression was unusually interesting. He was always the one hacking others in the NBA, but he never thought he would be hacked in FIBA.

What goes around comes around.

But he didn't take Drummond off the court, and instead gestured from the sidelines to pass the ball to someone else.

The American team still relied on Drummond's defense.

The weakest part of this American team was the interior, or rather, the American team's interior was now depleted, with most of the All-Star interior players being international players.

Davis was injured, DeAndre Jordan's ability had declined significantly, and now the only usable players were Drummond and Turner, and the only one who could really make a difference was Drummond.

In China's set offense, Tang Tian showed his individual ability, turning and fading away in the double team to score.

44 to 40, China had extended the lead to 4 points!

The American team's inbound pass, this time the passer became Curry.

Durant and Leonard were running off-ball plays on the court.

Obviously, the American team had practiced this sideline play.

But still, the ball couldn't be passed to anyone else.

It was simple, the Chinese team ignored Curry who was inbounding the ball, and ignored Drummond, and were playing 5 against 3 on the court.

No matter how strong Durant and the others were, it was difficult to receive the ball while being guarded by two people.

And even if he could receive it, Curry wouldn't risk a steal.

At this point, there wasn't much time left in the first half, and Popovich didn't call a timeout.

The result was that Curry was forced to pass the ball to Drummond.

Then Kelan Bake, the clever little devil, rushed up quickly and committed another foul.

The referee gave a regular foul as before.

Drummond, back to the free-throw line again!

This time, the whistles and cheers in the arena exploded.

Li Chunjiang had successfully used the Shaq-hack tactic twice in a row!

On Popovich's team!

This time they really wanted to say to Li Chunjiang, the same words that the air traffic controller said to Zhang Hanyu in the movie *The Captain*:

How can you be so awesome!