Although Nash said so, he did not intend to go all out in this preliminary round. He had originally planned to hold back and compete with He Xi Meng in the finals.
However, to Nash's surprise, he made a small mistake in the first passing segment.
Following this, in the long-range shooting segment, which was most prone to errors, Nash, as expected, encountered trouble. Nash missed all five of his shots...
"Oh, shit! I forgot to remind Steve that the basket needs to be adjusted for a higher arc today..." He Xi Meng, watching from the sidelines as Nash repeatedly missed shots, suddenly remembered that he had apparently not reminded Nash.
"No way!" O'Neal turned and replied to He Xi Meng, "I just loudly reminded Dwyane, and all the fans in the arena heard it. Steve must have heard it too!"
O'Neal's words made sense, and He Xi Meng's guilt slightly eased.
In the end, Nash's score was fixed at 50.2 seconds, and he was eliminated along with James.
As O'Neal had predicted, Wade successfully advanced to the finals of the Skills Challenge, earning the opportunity to compete with He Xi Meng!
In the finals, Wade learned from his preliminary round mistakes. Not only did he make the first pass flawlessly, but he also made the long-range shot in the middle segment with one attempt. For the final layup, an excited Wade ended with a flying slam dunk!
He completed the entire course without any errors, with a final time of 26.1 seconds! This time was not as good as He Xi Meng's in the preliminary round.
If Wade had opted for a layup instead of a dunk at the end, his time would likely have been under 26 seconds. However, Wade did not give up the opportunity to showcase himself for the sake of a better time.
Perhaps, in Wade's heart, he believed that He Xi Meng had already delivered a perfect performance in the preliminary round, and it would be impossible for him to achieve perfection again in the finals...
Seeing Wade's "perfect" performance, Michael Jordan, who was watching from the sidelines, immediately stood up and applauded the young player.
"Xi Meng, you're under a lot of pressure!"
To win his second bet, Jordan did not hesitate to put pressure on He Xi Meng.
This was because only O'Neal and Wade himself had bet on Wade to win this round.
In contrast, twelve people had bet on He Xi Meng to win...
"It's alright! If I play normally, I shouldn't lose!" He Xi Meng stretched his wrists and ankles while bantering with the "enthusiastic" Jordan.
"Then I hope you don't play normally!"
"Won't you miss the opportunity to increase the team's influence?"
Jordan chuckled, "As long as you appear in a Celtics jersey, the goal of increasing the team's influence will be achieved! Winning the championship or not doesn't make much of a difference!"
He Xi Meng gave Jordan a thumbs-up, "You're ruthless!"
As they were talking, Wade, having finished his competition, came down to hand over to He Xi Meng.
"It's your turn, Xi Meng! Don't disappoint me!"
Wade said this sincerely, but to He Xi Meng's ears, it sounded somewhat challenging.
He Xi Meng took a deep breath and said earnestly, "I won't disappoint you!"
Doing as he said was He Xi Meng's most outstanding quality!
Upon entering the court, He Xi Meng had no problems with the passing segment, and the long-range shot was also made on the first attempt, just as fluid as in the preliminary round!
For the final layup, the fans in the arena eagerly expected He Xi Meng to finish with a flying one-handed dunk, just like James and Wade...
But He Xi Meng did not fulfill the fans' expectations. He, as usual, finished the competition with a simple layup, ending it somewhat anticlimactically.
Just as the fans were feeling a bit disappointed, the announcer suddenly roared, "25.5 seconds!"
25.5 seconds? Xi Meng's final score? What happened?
The fans in the arena hadn't quite registered what was happening and were bewildered.
The announcer continued, "Oh, my god! Xi Meng has set a new record! He has broken Steve Nash's record of 25.6 seconds from last year's Skills Challenge..."
Yes, compared to last year, He Xi Meng had improved his score by 0.2 seconds! He was 0.1 seconds faster than Nash's winning time last year.
Don't underestimate this small 0.1 second. It not only requires the player to make no mistakes in any segment but also demands a very high frequency of dribbling, with no room for slowness.
Why did He Xi Meng not imitate Wade with a flying dunk at the last moment?
Was he worried about losing? Of course not. Even if He Xi Meng had used a dunk instead of a layup, it would not have prevented him from winning the championship trophy of this Skills Challenge. However, in that case, he would not have been able to improve his score and break Nash's record.
Compared to arguing with Wade about whose last shot was more visually appealing, He Xi Meng clearly cared more about whether he could perform better this year than he had last year!
Fortunately, he succeeded!
After the announcer's explanation, the fans, after gasping in amazement, all stood up and gave He Xi Meng their warmest applause to congratulate him!
From the player's bench, all the All-Stars also stood up and applauded, showing He Xi Meng their highest respect.
Seeing He Xi Meng win the championship again, Pierce looked displeased. He originally didn't want to stand or applaud. However, seeing that the cameras were already focused on their section, he had no choice but to stand up and follow the crowd, even if he was inwardly unhappy, to avoid giving the relentless media an opportunity to write negatively about him...
Although Jordan had really hoped He Xi Meng would lose to Wade, which would have allowed him to make a small profit.
However, when He Xi Meng won this year's Skills Challenge by breaking the record, Jordan magnanimously offered He Xi Meng applause and cheers!
When it came to sportsmanship, Jordan was top-notch!
"Sorry for taking your championship!"
Back on the player's bench, He Xi Meng sincerely apologized to Wade and James.
Wade and James, however, thought He Xi Meng was joking.
Wade laughed and said, "I won't give up! I'll challenge you again next year!"
James laughed and said, "It's really tough in the point guard world. I might consider the Dunk Contest next year!"
He Xi Meng then encouraged them with Duncan's words: "The future of the league belongs to you young people, keep it up..."
Having successfully dominated the competition, He Xi Meng let out a long sigh and made his graceful exit.
Next, it was Carter's turn to perform!
As the defending champion of last year's Three-Point Contest, Carter would face challenges from Arenas, Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Billups, and Quentin Richardson, five other players.
Jordan, having lost bets repeatedly, did not get discouraged. Instead, he gathered the other All-Stars to place bets on the third round!