Beep.
The timer on the court sounded, the All-Star Game officially started, and the starting lineups of both teams took to the court.
In the East, the starting five are Kyrie Irving, Zhao Feiyang, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
In the West, the starting five are Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Paul George.
Amid cheers from the audience, the referee walked to the middle of the court.
Snapped.
He threw the basketball high, and the Western Conference took the lead in taking the basketball away. The ball fell into Curry's hands, and he held the ball across half court.
After all, the All-Star Game is a performance game, so the players' defense was relatively lax at the beginning. Irving didn't even bother to put on a defensive posture when facing Curry's offense.
Curry didn't force himself. After reaching the top of the arc, he passed the ball to Durant on the wing. Durant raised the basketball and shot a three-pointer.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
The rebound was grabbed by Antetokounmpo Giannis.
Instead of passing the ball to the defender, he took the ball across half court himself. Antetokounmpo was very fast and carried the ball across the half court in the blink of an eye. However, he didn't expect that LeBron and Durant would suddenly double-team him at the half court and block his offensive path, causing the basketball in Antetokounmpo's hand to suddenly drop. Fall out.
call out.
The basketball rolled out of bounds, the referee's whistle sounded, and then the ball was awarded to the Western side.
It was at this time that Harden, who was standing on the court, took the initiative to come to Zhao Feiyang.
At first, he planned to discuss it with Zhao Feiyang, but then he thought that he was the one who almost won the MVP, and he was no worse than Zhao Feiyang. His proud self-esteem made Harden give up the idea of discussing, and instead just Put all your energy into Zhao Feiyang.
West gets the ball out.
Before halftime, Curry dribbled the ball to the other side of the court and made a long pass. The basketball was given to George, who rushed into the basket and dunked it.
boom.
The Western Conference All-Stars scored the first two points of the opening game.
It was the Eastern All-Stars' turn to continue serving.
Irving advanced with the ball, but was stopped by Curry before halftime. It seemed that he was not in the mood to fight at this time, so he gave the ball to Zhao Feiyang.
As soon as Zhao Feiyang grabbed the basketball, Harden immediately came over to interfere.
Different from the past, this time Harden was so excited that he stretched out his hand to constantly harass Zhao Feiyang's dribbling. His defensive attitude has completely changed by 180 degrees. If he was just perfunctory before, then Harden's defensive performance in this game was almost the same as when he first entered the league.
Seeing Harden being so serious, Zhao Feiyang, who was dribbling the ball over, was somewhat surprised.
He didn't know why the other party was so excited, but he began to deal with it seriously. The two met each other, and Zhao Feiyang suddenly accelerated and changed direction and rushed out with the ball. Harden was thrown away by Zhao Feiyang before he could fully react, and Zhao Feiyang also took advantage of the situation and rushed all the way to the basket.
When he entered the two zones, LeBron and George came up to block him. Without any hesitation, Zhao Feiyang raised the basketball and pulled a lever in front of the two of them.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang successfully threw the ball, hit the backboard and bounced into the basket.
The ball went in.
Harden failed to mark Zhao Feiyang for the first time.
After Zhao Feiyang scored this goal, Harden was somewhat discouraged when he failed to guard him. He happened to subconsciously turn around and glance at Elizabeth, who shook her head at him with an unhappy expression, seemingly dissatisfied with his performance.
"Damn it!"
"I must kill this guy! For my happiness in the second half..."
The game goes on.
A few minutes later, the Western Conference All-Stars attacked, and Harden successfully got the ball this time. He could have passed the ball to other teammates in better positions, but instead of doing so, he held the ball alone and beat Zhao Feiyang alone.
Harden faced Zhao Feiyang and kept making tentative movements of dribbling under his hips, and Zhao Feiyang always maintained a defensive posture. Suddenly, Harden shook his shoulders vigorously and suddenly pulled the ball from left to right. Before Zhao Feiyang could react, Harden took the ball and rushed out to the right in the next second.
After passing Zhao Feiyang, Harden rushed directly towards the basket.
At this time, he didn't think much at all and completely forgot about Zhao Feiyang, just hoping to score the goal successfully. However, just as he was about to reach the penalty area, Zhao Feiyang suddenly swooped up from behind. Harden was surprised by such a swift defense.
By the time he reacted, Zhao Feiyang's hand had already reached out to his basketball.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang made a chasing block and slapped Harden's ball down.
The whole place was in an uproar.
Harden himself looked horrified.
"Damn it!"
"I was fooled by this guy... It's so embarrassing..."
The basketball fell out, and Zhao Feiyang grabbed it immediately. After getting the ball, he directly counterattacked with the ball. Harden didn't want to be blocked like this. Desperate to regain the court, he chased Zhao Feiyang as quickly as possible.
The two reached the basket one after the other.
Harden originally planned to retaliate with a big shot, but Zhao Feiyang did not give him such a chance at all. Zhao Feiyang rushed to the basket without any pause, jumped up and dunked the ball hard into the basket.
boom.
His two-handed dunk woke Harden up instantly.
It was also at this time that Harden remembered that the Chinese player in front of him had won the MVP of the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.
The ball went in.
Harden stood helplessly under the basket and served.
He gave the ball to Curry, who was catching up, and then took the ball from Curry. He was still unwilling to get the ball and quickly rushed across the half court looking for a shooting opportunity.
Zhao Feiyang did not defend desperately and took the initiative to let Harden pass half court. Harden reached the three-point line at the top of the arc first. Without any hesitation, he raised the basketball and threw the ball decisively.
Uh-huh.
A three-pointer hit the basket steadily.
There was a round of applause outside the court.
Harden's face looked much better now, and at the same time, he also set his sights on Elizabeth in the VIP seats on the sidelines. The latter's face was still not pretty. When their eyes met, Elizabeth just curled her lips and shook her head at Harden.
"Depend on!"
Harden cursed inwardly.
At this time, he finally decided to give up the idea of forcing it, and took the initiative to walk to Zhao Feiyang to communicate with him.
"Zhao, I have something to discuss with you!"
"Um?"
"Can you let me score a few more goals? What I mean is to relax a little more defensively and cooperate with me to score a few more goals... I need to score more goals from you... If you are willing If so, I can give you one hundred thousand dollars after the game... no, two hundred thousand dollars..."
"Please! Man! Please help me! I really need your help!"
Zhao Feiyang saw Harden looking so eager, and for a moment he really didn't know what to say.
"James, I'm not short of money!"
"And it's not about money... You should not insult your career, but rather respect your opponents..."
