Fortunately, Kidd did not like to push fast breaks. In contrast, Kidd preferred to play steadily, relying on his passing and control abilities to direct his teammates to make running moves and find scoring opportunities. This was also the main reason why this Dream Team seemed less dazzling in star power, but was still difficult to deal with. Because they had a very tricky soul-level point guard.
Kidd still had his teammates run fully before looking for open shots.
On this play, Garnett and Ray Allen had a crossing after a no-ball run. Garnett made an out-of-bounds run and suddenly went straight to the baseline. Mourning, under the basket, naturally held Yao Ming, leaving space for Garnett to take off.
Kidd would naturally not let go of this excellent opportunity, and with a no-look lob pass, he directly connected with the taking-off Garnett. Garnett responded to Da Zhi's two-handed slam dunk just above his head with an alley-oop dunk.
Da Zhi could not catch up in pursuit and could only watch Garnett take off, alley-oop, and dunk...
This was a gap in talent. At his peak, Garnett roamed between the third, fourth, and fifth positions. Perhaps only a forward like Duncan could slightly suppress him. Other players were either not as tall, not as fast, not as strong, or did not have his footwork and shooting skills... In short, the peak Timberwolves king was a highly malleable, all-around player who could play multiple positions and fit into multiple tactics. He was the player coaches loved to coach the most, and the teammate point guards loved to play with the most.
If he were a teammate, He Xi Meng would not hide his admiration for Garnett. But once he was an opponent, He Xi Meng would not hide his hatred for Garnett, because there was simply no effective way to contain Garnett. Most of the time, it could only depend on luck, and Garnett's performance and shooting touch on the day...
In the third quarter, the Chinese team, with Da Zhi's sudden emergence in the paint, helped the Chinese team continue their firepower which had been lacking due to Yao Ming's declining stamina. However, on the Dream Team's side, Garnett, who had not played much in the first half, also had a small outburst in the third quarter, basically offsetting the damage Da Zhi had inflicted on the United States.
In addition, the score was slow to widen, and Carter and Ray Allen also became more serious. They successfully stole several passes from the Chinese team before the end of the third quarter, helping the United States slightly expand their lead to 5 points before the start of the fourth quarter.
Trailing by 5 points after three quarters, the Chinese team's performance this year had already satisfied Chinese fans. Especially the performances of Yao Ming and Da Zhi, who did not fall behind in the face of the Dream Team, which was mostly composed of high school students.
But Chinese fans had not given up their last hope, because the team's biggest star, He Xi Meng, had not truly exerted himself. They did not believe that He Xi Meng would remain so silent throughout the game, even though He Xi Meng's personal statistics were already double-digit: 15 points and 10 assists!
On the American side, Coach Tang also did not believe that He Xi Meng would lead his team to surrender. He firmly believed that He Xi Meng would cause trouble in the last quarter, so he instructed Kidd and Ray Allen to be prepared to deal with He Xi Meng's explosion in the final quarter at any time.
Coach Tang's prediction was only half correct!
He Xi Meng was indeed unwilling to give up and was prepared to do something big in the final moments! But how to do it? He did not initiate the offense himself, as Coach Tang predicted.
He Xi Meng asked head coach Zhang Bin to replace Liu Yudong, who had difficulty getting shots in the mid-range, with Li Nan, who was more adept at shooting from beyond the three-point line. At the same time, Hu Weidong was moved to small forward, forming a three-guard lineup for China! This was also the lineup with the strongest three-point shooting ability among China's players.
Therefore, when all the Dream Team players expected He Xi Meng to go crazy shooting from beyond the three-point line, He Xi Meng used his ability to draw double teams and help defense to frequently create outside shooting opportunities for Hu Weidong and Li Nan, and urged them to shoot decisively without hesitation!
In the last quarter, thanks to Hu Weidong's two three-pointers and Li Nan's two three-pointers, the Chinese men's basketball team once tied the Dream Team, scaring the Dream Team into a cold sweat.
At a critical moment, Carter stepped up first and made a turnaround jump shot from mid-range! Carter's dunking ability was so dazzling that people forgot that as one of the "Big Four Guards," Carter's turnaround jump shot from mid-range was also very lethal.
After Carter, Ray Allen also stepped up. He received a drive-and-kick pass from Kidd and calmly shot from the left corner, hitting a cold-blooded three-pointer!
These two players with big hearts, before the end of the game, helped the Dream Team regain a 5-point lead.
The game entered the last minute, and He Xi Meng finally took over the game. First, he made an ultra-long three-pointer from two steps beyond the three-point line, narrowing the score to 2 points.
Then, Kidd connected with Mourning, who attacked Yao Ming in the paint, drawing a foul from Yao Ming. Mourning made both free throws, extending the lead to 4 points!
Turning around, He Xi Meng had his teammates spread out and singled up Kidd at the top of the arc. He Xi Meng feigned a drive, but instead made a step-back three-pointer, shooting over the lunging Kidd with a high-arcing shot, narrowing the score to 1 point again!
The entire stadium began to get excited, cheering wildly for China, or more accurately, cheering wildly for He Xi Meng!
It was no exaggeration to say that they had waited for the entire game for this moment when He Xi Meng would draw his sword.
For most of the first three quarters, Yao Ming, Da Zhi, Hu Weidong, and Li Nan had taken turns leading the Chinese team's offense for a period of time, helping the Chinese men's basketball team to keep pace with the Dream Team in terms of the score, creating an opportunity for He Xi Meng to kill the Dream Team at the last moment...
It had to be praised that China's rhythm in this game was quite perfect! They showed tenacious fighting spirit and united tacit understanding. The only regret was probably that at the last moment, when He Xi Meng drew his sword, China failed to tie the score or take the lead. Trailing by 5 points, the difficulty of a comeback was too high, and the possibility of a strong counterattack from the Dream Team was very high. For example, in the current situation, He Xi Meng had already made two difficult three-pointers out of nowhere, but in terms of the score, the Dream Team still held a slim lead.
In the final possession, the Dream Team had less than 20 seconds of offensive time. China had to resort to a foul to send the American team to the free-throw line and regain possession.
On the American side, Kidd's career free-throw percentage was only 78%. For a top point guard, this free-throw percentage held him back.
In contrast, Carter's career free-throw percentage was 80%, and Ray Allen's was 90%. Without a doubt, the American team's first choice was Ray Allen!