At 7 p.m., the game began.
Both sides put away their pre-game friendliness and launched into fierce combat from the start.
This evening, Bickerstaff fielded Okafor and Perkins, a twin tower strategy, to counter O'Neal.
The perimeter was defended by Felton, Keith Bogans, and Gerald Wallace, the three players with the best physical condition and toughest defense, against Wade's outside team.
In the first few rounds, O'Neal initiated the attack, proving unstoppable, and the Miami Heat scored an 8-4 start.
Yet, the players from the Bucks held strong, managing a 7-5 run in the subsequent plays and, by the official timeout, they had narrowed the score to 11-13, reducing the deficit to just two points!
Zhang Yang was called by the head coach, took off his warm-up suit, and prepared to enter the game.
Having watched half a quarter, he felt the merciless passage of time and the strategic calculations at play.
