The gameplay stopped and the player’s left the court for their first official break. The score was 10-9, with the Blazers in the lead.

Looking at the statistics, the Clippers did not appear to be playing well. They had only made three out of their nine shots. On top of that, they scored on only half of their free throws.

The Blazers didn’t play badly. While on defense, they limited the Clippers’ field goals to 33%. They caused a terrific turnover as well. Regarding their offense, the Blazers created many chances for unblocked shots with their strategy of cooperation.

The problem was that the Blazers’ ball-handling was just average. Their shots were always just slightly off.

Looking at this score, the Blazers’ coach, Terry, was dissatisfied. His goal was to dominate the Clippers completely. He wanted to the score to be 10-0, or even 20-0. However, the Blazers were only up by one point now, which didn’t make much of a difference.

Terry couldn’t blame his own players. The players were not playing badly. They carried out Terry’s strategy well. They played in typical Blazers style. The only thing Terry could be upset about was that they missed a basket before the quarter ended.

The game has only just started, the players haven’t gotten a handle on this game yet. Once they have gotten used to it, they will naturally score more. Once we get the momentum, we’ll sweep this game. Terry looked towards the Clippers’ bench.

He saw Dai Li giving a water bottle to one of his players with a smile on his face. It looked like Dai Li was going to stick to the same strategy. The players were either sitting in their chairs, drinking water, or wiping their sweat. They had no intention of listening to their coach.

Dai Li isn’t going to say anything to his athletes? He looks like he’s their waterboy. Come to think about it, this man wouldn’t have any advice to offer anyway. Terry grinned disdainfully.

The break was about to end so the players returned to the court. Both sides kept in their starting lineup.

The Blazers’ got a better handle on the game and scored a few consecutive goals. In the face of the Blazers’ attacks, the Clippers were powerless. On the defensive end, the Blazers forced the Clippers to make mistakes.

However, it remained a one-point game. The Clippers’ inconsistent player, Naismith, scored a three-pointer and the team made a free throw after one of their players was fouled. The free throw helped the Clippers stabilized the situation.

If it weren’t for Naismith, who is extremely inconsistent, we would be winning much more decisively, Terry thought as he looked at the scoreboard indignantly.

Terry knew that when an inconsistent player started doing well, there was no stopping them. When they went crazy they could get an unreasonably high number of points. Even when there were no openings for an attack, they would be able to find an opportunity to get points.

In the blink of an eye, the first quarter of the game entered its last three minutes. The referee used a dead ball to begin the second official break.

Terry was not satisfied with the performance of his five starting players because they had not achieved a big enough lead. They didn’t even have much of a lead at all. In the first nine minutes of the game their lead had never exceeded five points, and the vast majority of their leads were two or three points.

This was what Terry wanted. He wanted a big win, not only because the Clippers were a weak team, but also because the Clippers’ head coach was a layman. If he only defeated such an inexperienced coach by three or five points, it would be embarrassing for Terry.

The substitutes should play. Our substitutes have always been better than the Clippers’. The Clippers have suffered from large-scale injuries so, if both sides put in subs, we will be better off overall. It’s up to the substitute players to do what our starting players couldn’t.

He started to replace the lineup with substitutes. He was looking forward to the substitutes increasing their lead.

…

Terry changed another two players during a free throw and, finally, the starting lineup had been completely replaced.

The Clippers scored two free throws, making them only behind by four. Terry felt powerless.

After the substitutes put in, the team still couldn’t get too far ahead. Instead, the gap stayed around five points.

Anger gradually sprouted in Terry’s heart. Against such a weak team and a weak coach, the Blazers should have a much higher score.

Terry couldn’t help but look at the Clippers’ bench and see Dai Li looking very relaxed. He was talking and laughing with his assistant coach, Cassel.

Dai Li was indeed very relaxed. When he had equipped “Evenly Matched,” he lost control over the result of the match. Dai Li decided to simply enjoy the show. From time to time, he would listen to Cassel explain their strategy.

The Clippers’ assistant coach, Cassel, became more and more confused. From his perspective, the Clippers were not playing well. The Blazers were not playing badly either, but the scores had been close the whole game. He constantly looked at the latest technical statistics. He wanted to find some clues.

Finally, the first half of the game ended. Naismith scored a two-pointer at the buzzer. The Clippers only trailed the Blazers by three points. The score was 49-52.

The Blazers were a strong team in the Western Conference. It was excellent that the Clippers were only down by three.

For the Blazers, they kept the lead the first half, which was an acceptable result.

…

In the Blazers locker room, Terry looked at his players and roared in anger.

“What the hell are you doing? We’re playing the second worst team in the Western Conference. Are you guys sleepwalking out there?!”

The Blazers’ players faced each other. Some of them didn’t understand why the head coach was so angry.

“Coach, we have been playing very seriously and we never lost the lead. Overall, we have been suppressing the Clippers,” a player explained.

“So why are we only leading by three points?” Terry said with contempt. “There were several missed opportunities to score that even a middle schooler would know to take. We made too many rookie mistakes, like stepping on the line in the second quarter!”

Terry began to go into detail about the performance of the Blazers in the first half. He talked about every single thing he was unsatisfied with. He was like a stingy businessman, arguing over the smallest little details.

…

At the start of the second half, the Blazers were able to score 11 and the Clippers only scored two. This may have been because of Terry’s outburst during halftime.

“Coach, we should call a timeout,” Cassel said.

Under normal circumstances, when the opponent was on a roll, the head coach on the losing end immediately called a timeout. This was to adjust strategy, let players calm down, and interrupt the opponent’s momentum.

When the Clippers were being outscored by the Blazers 11-2, Cassel immediately suggested a timeout.

Dai Li looked at the timer and shook his head. “It’s almost time for the official break. We should just hold on a bit longer.”

From Dai Li’s point of view, calling a timeout wouldn’t make much of a difference. The two sides were currently under the influence of “Evenly Matched.” As long as the game was not over, they would be able to catch up.

Cassel, however, looked anxious. “Coach, I am afraid that they won’t last until the official break. The Blazers are on a roll. If we don’t call a timeout soon, they will lead by even more. ”

“They won’t. You can rest assured that our players will catch up.” Dai Li said with a smile.

…

“The Blazers played an impressive start to the half. Now they have a 12-point lead. The Clippers should be calling a timeout soon,” the commentator said. He then looked towards to the referee.

The referee subconsciously looked at the Clippers’ bench and looked at Dai Li, only to find that Dai Li had no plans to call a timeout.

The Clippers’ player looked at their bench and saw that Dai Li did not call a timeout, so they served the ball. The defense dribbled the ball halfway down the court and looked at Dai Li as if asking him to call a timeout.

The Blazers’ players across the court were thinking the same thing. They thought the Clippers would call a timeout, so they ran back to their own half of the court and waited for the referee to sound his whistle.

The Blazers’ coaching staff even picked up their boards and prepared for the timeout.

It wasn’t until the Clippers’ defense passed the ball to the other half of the court that they realized Dai Li would not be calling a timeout.

The Clippers’ players were somewhat frustrated with this. The Blazers were able to put up a 24-second defense on the Clippers’ attack. This affected the morale of the Clippers.

Why don’t the Clippers call a timeout? They have enough. Do they want to keep playing and try their chances? Terry thought, frowning.

It was the Blazers turn to make a play. They scored another three-pointer and widened the gap to 15 points.

A difference of 15 points. Surely you call a timeout now! Terry looked at Dai Li.

…

“Coach, let’s call a timeout! Now that the situation has worsened, if we wait until the official break, we might be behind by more than twenty points,” Cassel said anxiously.

“Hold your horses. It’s only the third quarter. The end is still far off.” Dai Li waved his hands. He still firmly believed that “Equally Matched” would narrow the difference between the two teams as soon as possible.

At this time, both the players and the referee turned their attention to Dai Li. They were waiting for Dai Li to call a timeout.

However, Dai Li was still indifferent.

As soon as the Clippers handed the ball to the team’s key player, Ronny, organized an offense.

Ronny and his teammates made a breakthrough and scored a two-pointer with a pull-up jumper. The lead narrowed to 13 points. This score was due to a hole in the Blazers’ defense. The defensive players were not able to get into their positions in time, giving the Clippers a shot from a middle-ranged distance.

The 14-2 run that the Blazers achieved had obviously made them more relaxed.

As the Blazers attacked, the players took advantage of their confidence. They dribbled to the three-point line and threw a three-pointer. The ball bounced out of the basket.

The Clippers grabbed the rebound and, before the Blazers had time to get into position, they changed from defense into offense. They made a three-point play. The difference between the two sides became 10 points.

The Blazers broke through the Clippers’ defense and immediately committed a foul. The ball was back in the hands of the Clippers. The Clippers attempted a three-pointer but missed, but the forward players attempted a rebound. The Blazers committed another foul and the Clippers gained two points of the free throws. The gap narrowed to eight points.

Neither side scored over the next two plays. On a third play, a lay-up by the Blazers was disrupted by the Clippers. The Clippers switched to offense and managed to get two more free throws and narrow the gap to six points.

The Blazers finally recovered and cast a two-pointer while stepping on the three-point line, returning their lead to eight. The Clippers immediately retaliated with a real three-pointer and narrowed the lead to five points.

“Hwee!” The referee sounded his whistle. Terry had called for a timeout.

The Clippers caught up from the 15-point lead. They did it without calling for a timeout, a substitution, or any tactical change. This meant the problem was with the Blazers’ own players. Terry couldn’t wait any longer and told the referee to call a timeout.

The Blazers’ walked back to their bench in frustration, but the Clippers were very excited. They reduced the lead by 10 points. However, they didn’t even know how they had done it.

Cassel looked at Dai Li and couldn’t help but scream internally. No timeout, no substitution, and no adjustments to the strategy. He just allowed the players to continue playing. Coach Li is really lucky!

…

The game went into the last quarter and the score stayed close. The Blazers were always leading, but the lead was always by three or four points.

As the game got closer to the end, the Blazers’ players started to feel the pressure.

A difference of three or four points was not a secure advantage. A four-point lead was almost acceptable because the opponent would need two plays to catch up. If the lead was three points, the opponent only needed a three-pointer to tie it up.

Terry’s face became uglier and uglier. He didn’t think that a weak team like the Clippers would be so troublesome.

After the last official break, the game entered its final decisive moment. Now it was a two-point game and each attack was very important.

The game entered its final two minutes, and the Blazers’ key player scored a crucial three-pointer, widening the gap to five points.

“Coach. We should call a timeout,” Cassel advised.

“No!” Dai Li shook his head.

Just as Dai Li’s voice faded away, Naismith scored another three-pointer.

With about a minute left in the game, the Blazers had a two-point lead and the ball was in their hands.

The Blazers’ point guard began to apply some pressure and tried to exhaust the 24 seconds of attack time.

It wasn’t until the timer had five seconds left that he started to attack. As a result, when the player started to move, the 24 seconds were up. The Blazers had wasted this attack.

However, the Blazers also successfully wasted 24 seconds, leaving about 50 seconds left in the game.

“Coach, call a timeout so we can plan the next attack,” Cassel advised.

The Clippers were two points behind with about fifty seconds left on the clock. In theory, the Clippers had two opportunities to attack and the Blazers had one. If the Clippers scored and then stopped the Blazers’ attack, the Clippers would have the initiative.

Dai Li thought for a moment but shook his head. “Let the players play how they will.”

The ball was in Ronny’s hands. Ronny looked at the Blazers’ defense and lost his confidence. He thought about how he had scored 23 points today, which exceeded his average. He had finished what he needed to do today, so he passed the ball to Naismith.

The inconsistent Naismith did not care about such things, he took the ball and attacked. His style of play was unconventional. His shot was blocked by the Blazers’ defense.

However, Naismith won two free throws and he scored both.

The Blazers were uneasy and Terry immediately called a timeout.

Terry arranged an attack which succeeded. After the jump ball in the middle of the court, the Blazers quickly rushed underneath the rim, took a shot, and scored. The offensive only took 7 seconds and there were 32 seconds left.

From this calculation, the two teams would each have one more opportunity, and the last attack would be the Blazers’.

“Coach, call a timeout. This is our last attack,” Cassel immediately advised.

“No timeout.” Dai Li shook his head.

“Coach, we should really call a timeout this time,” Cassel urged.

“There is no need,” Dai Li shook his head again. It seemed he wouldn’t call a timeout even if he were beaten to death.

The referee once again looked at Dai Li. The players on the court also looked at Dai Li. Even the camera lens zoomed in on Dai Li to give him a close-up. They wanted to capture the scene where he called for a timeout. The Blazers’ coach took out his tactics board.

Dai Li was still sitting there, completely indifferent.

“Why don’t the Clippers call a timeout?”

“Are they out of timeouts? No. The Clippers have not called a single timeout for the entirety of the second half, right?”

“What is the Clippers head coach thinking? Surely he’ll make a plan for the last attack? If they can’t mount a successful attack, they would need to create a foul immediately. Who will be committing the foul? How would he foul? All these require proper tactical planning.”

The audience was doubtful. The professional commentators did not understand what Dai Li wanted to do.

The Clippers players did not hear the timeout whistle, so they served the ball. They then transported the ball to the front of the court. They began to run into their positions. The ball was passed twice, and it landed in the hands of the inconsistent Naismith. Without regard for what was around him, he took the ball, took two steps, and did a jump shot. The ball actually went in.

The score was tied again. There were only 13 seconds left for the Blazers.

The Blazers used the last timeout and laid out their last play. However, in their lay-up, the ball slipped. The Clippers prevented a rebound. The game ended at this time.

The commentator on-site took a breath. “105 to 105. This game is going into overtime. I really didn’t expect the Blazers, a strong team in the Western Conference, and the Clippers to give us such a close match.”