Chapter 100: Kid, you have offended me

59:56.

The Denver Nuggets were only leading by 3 points.

Ty Lawson arrived at the front court aggressively; he felt a sense of being humiliated.

Eager to regain his dignity, he attacked Fan Xi's left side. Fan Xi retreated quickly, giving him a step of space to defend.

Ty Lawson couldn't quickly shake off Fan Xi's entanglement and saw Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom returning to their positions in the paint.

He hurriedly stopped at the free-throw line and jumped to shoot.

The moment he released the ball, Fan Xi extended his arms and flew over, creating a "blocking out the sun" effect. In his fear, Ty Lawson's shooting form deformed... Bang!

The ball hit the rim, and Pau Gasol grabbed the rebound.

Phil Jackson was very proud on the bench.

He regarded Fan Xi as the final "proud product" of his coaching career. Unlike other famous coaches, the Zen Master was good at cultivating superstars. Now, he saw a strong light in Fan Xi.

Gasol quickly passed the ball to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi sprinted toward the front court with the ball, and the Lakers players unconsciously picked up their pace.

Ty Lawson pursued relentlessly, but when he chased to the three-point line, Fan Xi suddenly passed the ball to Kobe.

Ty Lawson was caught off guard.

In the blink of an eye, Fan Xi had already dived inside the free-throw line and, amidst the chaos, ran toward the left corner. Ty Lawson looked back and lost track of Fan Xi.

Kobe, with a tacit understanding, passed the ball to the corner.

Fan Xi received the ball and shot quickly... Swish!

Three-pointer made.

59:59.

The two teams were tied.

There were only 17 seconds left in the first half.

Fan Xi had been on the court for one minute and directly sparked an 8-0 run, with every attack involving him.

Nuggets head coach George Karl was very surprised; he was also a well-traveled head coach. He had made a name for himself in the 80s and 90s and had once led Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp to face Michael Jordan in the Finals.

He had seen plenty of storms and waves.

However, an undrafted player like Fan Xi who appeared out of nowhere was something he had only seen once in his life.

At first, he thought Fan Xi was a product of hype... In his impression, Los Angeles was close to Hollywood, and the media there loved to create gods.

Now, however, he couldn't help but worry for Raymond Felton, thinking Felton might not be able to handle Fan Xi.

Most importantly, he couldn't stop thinking: How great would it be if this guy were on the Nuggets? I would definitely make him the leader.

A salivating expression appeared on George Karl's face.

Beside him, Raymond Felton was quite angry. Fan Xi's performance made him impatient; he stood up and shouted at Ty Lawson: Focus, use your body to crush him.

He was trying to impart experience to Ty Lawson.

Ty Lawson was full of complaints, thinking to himself: If you're so capable, you go up there.

This Chinaman is too cunning.

Ty Lawson arrived at the front court with the ball again. Kobe took the initiative to switch defense; he didn't want to give the Nuggets a chance for a final strike.

Who knew that when Fan Xi switched to JR Smith,

JR Smith quickly boxed out Fan Xi and reached out for the ball.

Ty Lawson passed the ball without thinking.

JR Smith received the ball, turned around, and faced Fan Xi head-on.

JR Smith was a standard shooting guard; his build and stature were larger than Fan Xi's. Moreover, his physical fitness was astonishing, and he was still in a "hot hand" state tonight.

Fan Xi dealt with him cautiously, not daring to slack off for a second. He had already observed JR Smith's hot hand from the sidelines earlier.

JR Smith bent down and dribbled slowly, killing time, hoping to hit a buzzer-beater.

Fan Xi stared at JR Smith's movements from a meter away.

When there were only 6 seconds left on the shot clock and JR Smith was about to take action, Fan Xi suddenly lunged forward, reaching out to rob the ball from JR Smith's hands.

JR Smith was caught off guard, his rhythm disrupted.

He quickly turned to the side, made an adjustment, and continued to drive inside.

Who knew that as he drove inside, Fan Xi wrapped around from his side... Fan Xi's physical confrontation wasn't great, but his coordination talent was incredible.

Ever since gaining the coordination talent of prime Jordan, Fan Xi's wrapping defense had reached a new level.

JR Smith was annoyed and had to use force to break through. He stopped suddenly and slammed into Fan Xi, hoping to create shooting space that way.

Who knew that this move was anticipated by Fan Xi.

As JR Smith stopped, sought physical contact, and leaned his shoulder in, Fan Xi dodged backward... JR Smith fell right into the trap. He immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to adjust his center of gravity, but Fan Xi's arm poked through at lightning speed... Pop!

The ball was swatted away by Fan Xi.

Classic wrapping defense.

JR Smith scrambled to grab the ball, but just as he pushed Fan Xi aside and grabbed it... Beep! The buzzer for the end of the first half sounded.

Time was up.

Fan Xi's defense was perfectly executed.

Kobe walked over and high-fived Fan Xi.

"Textbook defense." The Black Mamba praised Fan Xi and reached out to put his arm around Fan Xi's neck: "Maybe you should give yourself a loud nickname too; all superstars have nicknames."

Fan Xi smiled and joked: "Isn't 'a handsome man' enough to describe me?"

Kobe laughed heartily and called out to Luke Walton in front: "Hey, Luke. Do you admit that Jack is the most handsome man on our team?"

Luke Walton was Bill Walton's son; he was very handsome, and the players often teased him, saying he could rely on his face to find Lakers retiree Rick Fox for a free meal... Rick Fox was an important perimeter player during the Lakers' three-peat era. He was handsome and often made guest appearances in Hollywood movies while playing; after retiring, he even entered the adult film industry, making a vigorous contribution to the Western film industry.

"Of course. Jack is certainly a handsome man. You know, I'm the player who welcomes him the most on the team. Before him, I was the one supporting the team's looks all by myself. Now that he's sharing the load, I'm much more relaxed."

Luke Walton said "shamelessly."

He was quickly put in a headlock by Lamar Odom.

The players were joking around.

The Lakers were in a very good mood.

Thanks to the 8-0 run led by Fan Xi.

Phil Jackson and Lao Wente habitually walked at the back of the team, and they were also very happy. Fan Xi's performance made them feel genuinely proud.

However, Lao Wente began to think about a very serious and distant question: "Now that our team's chemistry is so good, will it seem abrupt when Andrew returns?"

When Lao Wente mentioned Bynum's name, Phil Jackson finally remembered the person.

If it were before, when Bynum was injured, Phil Jackson would have wanted to check his injury recovery report every week, urging him to return as soon as possible. But now, he felt it didn't matter much whether this person existed or not.

Uh!

Jackson was stunned for a long while before saying: "Let's talk about it after he recovers from his injury."

Lao Wente nodded, then added: "In the second half, Raymond Felton will definitely launch a fierce attack on Jack. Jack's second half won't be easy."

Heh heh.

Phil Jackson laughed.

He said: "Didn't Jack say that a sharp sword is honed from the grindstone? Let him grind his sword edge well tonight. I want to see how this kid uses the chubby Raymond as a whetstone."

The Zen Master's tone was very relaxed.

Lao Wente laughed along.

Not far behind them followed the Nuggets' Raymond Felton, and every word fell into his ears.

His face immediately became very, very ugly.

You want to use me as a whetstone?

Kid.

You have offended me.

You will definitely regret being so arrogant.

… ===== CHAPTER 101 =====