Chapter 102: Jack, take me with you

Defeating the strong with the weak, breaking force with skill.

Fan Xi used his most proficient way, like pressing the flush button on a toilet, to flush Raymond Felton's defense into the sewer.

Fan Xi arrived at the front court without stopping. At the top of the three-point arc, JR Smith was still hesitating whether to help defend, but Fan Xi jumped directly, and the three-pointer was like a sharp arrow... Swish!

It mercilessly pierced the Nuggets' net.

Not even giving the Nuggets time to regret.

59:59!

Tied.

The Pepsi Center was silent.

"So cool." Kobe couldn't help but sigh on the bench, then he said to Pau Gasol beside him: "When I was a rookie, I was even cooler than this."

Gasol nodded subconsciously.

He didn't doubt Kobe.

However, Phil Jackson beside him turned his head, wondering: Didn't Kobe barely have a chance to play in his rookie season?

"Is this what you call a rookie?"

"Where did he get such arrogant confidence?"

George Karl stood on the sidelines; his bald head was a symbol of wisdom, but his bewildered eyes revealed disbelief.

In George Karl's basketball thinking, even those "Chosen Ones" rarely showed the aura Fan Xi had; he would kill as soon as he entered the court, and he would shoot a three-pointer directly after bringing the ball to the front court.

This was usually the aura that only superstars had.

And he was just an undrafted player from a humble background.

George Karl's pupils were filled with surprise.

He subconsciously looked at Phil Jackson on the Lakers' bench. Phil Jackson's expression was calm, without any fluctuation, and every whisker wrote: "Basic operation, don't be surprised."

Karl began to worry for Raymond Felton.

He genuinely doubted whether Raymond Felton's behavior of "killing Jack" tonight was rational.

Raymond Felton, however, was full of thoughts of "stepping on others to get ahead" and "being furious." The "crotch humiliation" Fan Xi gave him made him lose face, and if he didn't make Fan Xi pay a painful price, he felt he couldn't regain his dignity.

So, after he brought the ball to the front court, he immediately crashed into him aggressively.

Felton's style could be described as "heavy sword without edge"—the style was plain but very practical.

When he crashed into him solidly, Fan Xi indeed couldn't resist; the difference in strength between the two was huge.

Fan Xi was knocked back two or three steps.

Seeing this, the fans at the Pepsi Center finally made some cheers: Americans advocate confrontation because their civilization carries barbarism.

However.

When Raymond Felton knocked Fan Xi back and jumped to shoot, Fan Xi came up again.

His long arms and astonishing jumping ability instantly caused a "blocking out the sun" effect for Felton.

Bang!

Felton hit the rim.

Returned empty-handed.

His previous strength advantage was destroyed by Fan Xi's desperate, "suicide squad" style flying interference.

Failed to have the last laugh.

However, the rebound under the basket was grabbed by the Nuggets' center Nene, who slammed the ball into the rim fiercely.

Although Nene had surgery to remove a testicle, he was still an iron-man on the court.

The aging Joe Smith didn't have the foundation to confront him, just like the huge strength gap between Fan Xi and Raymond Felton.

Kobe Bryant stretched on the sidelines and asked Phil Jackson: "Don't you plan to let Pau Gasol play to help Jack?"

Jackson raised his eyebrows: "He chose it himself. He wants to exercise, so let him exercise fully."

Kobe showed an "evil" smile of "You are so bad, but I like it."

…

Raymond Felton no longer pressed Fan Xi full-court because he already understood very clearly that it was meaningless.

Except for bringing humiliation upon himself.

When Fan Xi brought the ball to the top of the three-point arc, Raymond Felton pressed up, spreading his long arms, his strong body standing in front of Fan Xi.

Having studied under Larry Brown, he seized the moment Fan Xi looked up to observe his teammates and aggressively pressed up, pinching Fan Xi again in a hidden way.

Raymond Felton inherited some of the league's "dross culture," doing whatever it took for victory.

Fan Xi was made to look clumsy by him; the passivity of his body, coupled with his inability to adapt to this "dirty" defense, meant he couldn't play with ease.

After finally breaking free from the defensive line, he found Lamar Odom in an open position and immediately passed the ball in.

Odom jumped to shoot.

Made.

Stabilized the situation.

However, in this round just now, everyone saw Fan Xi's embarrassment.

"Is this honing of Jack too harsh?" Lao Wente sat in the second row of the Lakers' bench, sticking his head out to ask Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant in the first row.

Both shook their heads. Kobe said: "It's a good thing to let him adapt to this cruel defense in advance. This isn't even playoff-level defense yet."

"Moreover, if he wants to become a superstar, he will have to face double or even triple teams in the future. Pau and I can't always be by his side to attract defense for him, providing him with perfect one-on-one or even one-on-zero situations."

Kobe said firmly.

This was agreed upon by Phil Jackson.

Both of them were now cultivating Fan Xi as the future leader of the Lakers.

Their attitude made the Lakers players beside them very envious. Being "carefully treated" by the team leader and head coach usually means: a bright future.

It seems Jack Fan is really the crown prince of the Lakers.

Mike Dunleavy felt endless frustration, and of course, some "resignation." He was clear-headed; he didn't have the ability to confront Kobe and Jackson. This game even made him realize that he couldn't even resist a quasi-elite player like Wilt Chamberlain.

He originally wanted to see Fan Xi make a fool of himself and wanted to see Raymond Felton humiliate Fan Xi. But now, he couldn't even fight back against Wilt Chamberlain's humiliation of his father.

His mood hit rock bottom, with a sense of powerlessness and defeat.

At the same time, Raymond Felton on the court used physical confrontation to crush Fan Xi's defensive line and enter the paint, then carried Fan Xi's defense to score the ball.

For the Pepsi Center, this was an exciting goal.

But for the Chinese fans on the other side of the ocean, it was an undisguised sadness.

After all, the huge gap in strength cannot be made up by skill.

Just like Chris Paul can blow up the whole league, but every time he meets Deron, he gets taught a lesson by Deron.

Fan Xi is already very amazing, isn't he?

Many Chinese fans said this in their hearts.

But in fact, it's like Mayday's song "Contentment"—it sings about contentment, but actually, it doesn't want to be content.

Changing sides to fight again, Fan Xi also encountered Raymond Felton's "excessive defense."

Although Fan Xi could maintain himself from being stolen from and could bring the ball to where he wanted to go to the maximum extent. However, his offense was restricted, and his passing was also interfered with.

He didn't play as smoothly as before.

"Jack, I'm different from other players. I know you improve very fast, and I study you every day. Tonight, what are you going to use to beat me?"

Raymond said this coldly in Fan Xi's ear when defending Fan Xi once.

He appeared particularly arrogant.

But Fan Xi didn't stop his steps, let alone show weakness.

He was still trying to deal with Raymond Felton's collision, and when Raymond Felton raised his elbows, he continued to move forward without fear.

For Fan Xi, this was a silent war.

Phil Jackson realized something was wrong and tried to sub in Kobe.

However, Kobe pressed Phil Jackson's shoulder and said: "Let this kid solve it himself. A real superstar shouldn't grow up in a greenhouse."

Phil Jackson suppressed his desire to make a substitution.

The game continued like this.

Fan Xi led the rotation lineup to confront the Nuggets' entire elite force.

Under Raymond Felton's physical confrontation, Fan Xi played very hard; the ease of the past didn't appear, as if rolling in a quagmire, with embarrassment everywhere.

However, even though Fan Xi was so embarrassed, the Lakers' score wasn't really pulled away, and the Nuggets, with all their elites out, only led by about 6 points.

The third quarter ended.

The Nuggets only led 85:79.

George Karl was secretly shocked.

He wasn't as excited as Raymond Felton; his observation was very detailed. He realized that as time passed, Fan Xi was slowly adapting to Raymond Felton's offense and defense, and he was consciously transferring the ball, constantly letting Lamar Odom and Luke Walton transfer the ball on the wings.

Following this trend, the Lakers might not lose.

Most importantly, this was formed without the three main players. Bynum was out with an injury, and Kobe and Gasol were watching from the sidelines.

So, when Raymond walked off the court, full of pride and excitement, George Karl didn't show too much joy.

Although Raymond seemed to have won a comprehensive victory in the confrontation in the third quarter, except for the first ball being mercilessly nutmegged by Fan Xi.

"This guy is like a soft piece of cotton, thinking he's full of resilience, but he's being manipulated by me at will."

Raymond Felton said proudly on the bench: "I've studied him for a long time. He really is a bubble blown up by the Los Angeles media. In the face of real strength, he is vulnerable."

Felton now had 25 points and 12 assists; his stats were very excellent.

He thought breaking his career record was a sure thing.

Raymond Felton's career single-game scoring record was 35 points, and his single-game assist record was 19.

He was only 10 points away from his highest score and 7 assists away from his highest.

"As long as the Lakers continue to use Jack Fan to defend me in the fourth quarter, tonight will be my night of fame."

Raymond Felton said arrogantly.

His teammates looked at the proud Felton, thinking he really hit a good opportunity, actually running into the famous but weak Jack Fan.

At the same time, Fan Xi returned to the bench.

The Lakers' teammates were all encouraging him.

Fan Xi, however, smiled indifferently.

At this time, Phil Jackson walked up and asked Fan Xi: "Jack, do you think your sword still needs honing?"

"Of course!" Fan Xi looked arrogant.

Seeing this, Phil Jackson laughed, then turned to Kobe and Gasol and said: "Alright, since your little brother is so confident, you two can get off work early tonight."

As soon as Jackson said this, Kobe took off his shoes immediately. This battle-crazed man showed a posture different from usual and said to Fan Xi: "Jack, don't count on me to help you on the court."

Fan Xi said firmly: "Just sit and watch."

The conversation between the two left other players puzzled. Lamar Odom was very worried about Fan Xi, and so was Matt Barnes.

"Jack, don't you know Raymond is waiting to 'kill you' to become famous? Don't be willful at this time."

Matt Barnes lowered his voice to persuade Fan Xi.

Fan Xi, however, straightened his back, not worried about the situation in the third quarter at all, but instead said heroically: "I heard that a real man returns tooth for tooth and eye for eye; grudges should be settled on the spot. I don't want to be talked about after the game. Since Raymond wants to kill me, I can only kill him on the spot to avoid others gossiping."

Fan Xi was passionate.

Very much like a real man.

His words didn't convince everyone.

Everyone still felt that his duel with Raymond would fall behind.

However, Dunleavy was deeply touched.

He stood out and said to Fan Xi: "Jack, take me with you. I don't want to hide on the bench anymore."

… ===== CHAPTER 103 =====