Chapter 103

With 33 seconds left in the third quarter, the Suns were temporarily trailing the Pistons by 13 points, 97-84.
Ervin Johnson appeared very relaxed—the toughest part had passed.
“Everyone did a great job just now, but the real test has only just begun. There’s less than four minutes left in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter is about to start. We’re still 13 points behind. If we can turn the game around, our morale will be sky-high,” said Ervin Johnson with hope.
“With a little over three minutes left in the third quarter, Steve Nash finally returned to the court. He had been resting for nearly nine minutes off the court, plus the halftime break, so his stamina should be almost restored. But with a 13-point deficit, just relying on offense won’t be enough to catch up quickly—they need to improve their defense as well. Steve Nash, who has always been the core of the Suns’ offense, might instead become the biggest weakness in their defense under these circumstances.” Yu Jia’s commentary on Nash’s return was fairly balanced—indeed, the Suns’ chances of winning were slim at the moment.
Chapter 287: The Suns Fighting Hard
The moment Steve Nash passed by Zhou Yi, he whispered to him, “Zhou, be careful. The real game has just begun.”
Zhou Yi simply smiled. He greatly admired Steve Nash’s competitive attitude. But given his current physical condition and the 13-point lead of the Pistons, the Suns’ chances of turning things around weren’t very high. Moreover, after a slow start to the third quarter, the Pistons were in good form now.
However, Ervin Johnson kept Goran Dragic on the court. First, among the other players, his organizational skills were the best, and Steve Nash needed him to share the responsibility of coordinating the offense. With a little over three minutes left in the third quarter, Steve Nash focused more on offense.
Vince Carter’s previous jump shot had also resulted in a foul on McGrady, so he made both free throws.
On the Pistons’ offense, Zhou Yi carried the ball across half-court before passing it to McGrady. McGrady drove past Vince Carter’s defense and scored with a quick stop-and-jump shot.

Goran Dragic quickly brought the ball across half-court. His first pass was naturally aimed at Steve Nash, but since he returned to the game, Zhou Yi had been closely following him. Among the Pistons’ current roster, aside from the aging Ben Wallace, Zhou Yi is the best defender. He is also skilled at drawing offensive fouls, and at this critical moment, John Kuester naturally entrusted him with the defensive responsibility, with other Pistons players ready to help out.

Although Steve Nash no longer has his previous speed and the team’s playmaking burden is no longer on him, the impact of his return to the game is evident—there are always at least two Pistons players focusing on him, and with Vince Carter also needing to help defend, the Pistons’ zone defense strategy still has some issues.

Dragic quickly passed the ball to Channing Frye. The Pistons didn’t assign anyone specifically to guard Frye, and they didn’t expect him to receive the ball on his first shot after Nash returned. They could only watch helplessly as he scored with a mid-range shot.

Frye’s shot was crucial. After Nash returned, the Pistons’ main defensive focus had been on him, but with this shot, they had to pay attention to other Suns players as well, reducing the pressure on Nash.

Charlie Villanueva’s mid-range shot missed, and the ball went back to the Suns. Dragic scored from beyond the three-point line, and the Suns scored 5 points in less than half a minute, narrowing the score gap to 9 points.

John Kuester immediately called a timeout. The sudden surge from the two Suns players completely disrupted his tactical plans. With Nash not yet fully involved, the Suns had already closed the gap by 5 points—this situation demanded caution.

“The game has reached a critical moment, so John Kuester decisively called a timeout. Any change now could alter the final outcome of the game. It’s normal for the two role players of the Suns to score consecutively. With both Nash and Carter on the court, the Pistons have to use double-team tactics on them, which creates opportunities for the other players,” explained Yu Jia.

Andre Iguodala’s shooting accuracy was not high today; as of now, he has 5 out of 12 attempts. However, his performance from beyond the three-point line is impressive, with 3 out of 4 attempts successful so far. After the timeout, Iguodala continued his strong form and hit a three-point shot from the baseline after a simple screen with Zhou Yi. Goran Dragic drove past half-court without holding the ball for too long and quickly passed it to Steve Nash. At that moment, only Zhou Yi was around Nash, although other Pistons players were lurking nearby. Still, the situation was much better compared to the previous double-team. With a step back, Nash created distance between him and Zhou Yi, then threw up a high arc shot; the ball quickly passed over Zhou Yi’s head, and Grant Hill caught it and made a layup.