Chapter 119: There's a Good Show Tonight

Plop!

The falling Fan Xi slid all the way under the huge inertia until he hit Kendall Jenner's chair and stopped. He felt his back of the head bone hurt severely.

He was very angry.

He didn't expect Chris Paul to use such a dirty way to deal with him. He was about to climb up and protest to the head referee.

The Kardashian family had already run over in a panic. They surrounded Fan Xi and asked if Fan Xi had fallen.

Lamar Odom's wife even scolded Chris Paul: "You ugly guy, you pushed Jack."

Fan Xi stood up with the help of the chaotic crowd. He looked at the "eager" Kendall Jenner, showed a smile, and said: "I'm fine."

Then, he was about to walk to the court.

Who knew at this time, he heard Chris Paul's sarcasm. He used an extremely ironic tone and said: "This is the so-called Miracle Child? Only dare to hide behind women and cry secretly?"

Fan Xi's hot blood surged. He walked straight forward, topped Chris Paul's forehead, and shouted at him: "Like you, a despicable villain who only dares to hide in the dark and hurt people, what qualification do you have to talk about me? You will never get real respect, do you deserve to be the League's number one point guard?"

"Pah!"

Fan Xi showed disdain for Paul in terms of personality. He looked down on this despicable villain from a moral high ground.

You can beautify your dirty behavior, you can say you are doing everything for the sake of victory, you can label yourself as having a tenacious fighting attitude...

However, dirty is dirty.

Dirty people are always dirty people.

Soul stained with black, and still want to stand on the altar?

Fan Xi's disdain was righteous.

The head referee looked at the replay amidst the boos of the home fans, and then gave Chris Paul a foul, and the ball possession returned to the Lakers.

"Jack..."

Kendall Jenner on the sidelines reminded Fan Xi not to contact Chris Paul again; she was worried that Paul would continue to use dirty tricks.

However, Fan Xi didn't dodge.

Chris Paul's dirtiness couldn't carve a shadow in his heart... although he thought so.

But for Fan Xi, if justice fears the villain's despicableness, then... can justice still be called justice?

Fan Xi didn't dodge, but instead faced Paul directly.

He rushed toward Paul with a frank posture, upright and aboveboard.

At this moment, his demeanor was far more like the League's number one point guard today than Paul.

Phil Jackson on the sidelines felt infinitely emotional.

Fans in front of the TV felt heartfelt respect.

"Jack Fan is really a tough person."

Kenny Smith said approvingly.

Charles Barkley had no opinion this time.

Chris Paul actually had some slight panic under Fan Xi's upright frontal attack.

Darkness always lacks confidence in front of light.

Fan Xi changed direction with a sudden start and passed Chris Paul. He killed into the paint, jumped up, and faced Carl Landry's defense. He didn't choose the riding-and-shooting jump shot, but turned his body to avoid Landry's frontal defense and picked the ball into the basket with his left hand.

This showed an elegant aerial posture and also highlighted Fan Xi's ability to control his body.

After the ball went in, the Staples Center was filled with cheers.

What Lakers fans like most about Fan Xi is his teenage heroism.

He takes revenge when he has a grudge, goes straight, and never wrongs himself.

A second ago, Carl Landry and Chris Paul used dirty tricks to knock him down, and the next second he passed Paul head-on and put the ball straight into the basket under Carl Landry's defense.

"Jack could actually solve this ball in a simpler way," Kenny Smith said.

He was referring to the riding-and-shooting jump shot.

This is a very basic attacking means for a point guard.

Charles Barkley on the side said sourly: "Is there a possibility that Jack Fan doesn't know how to?"

Kenny didn't pay attention to Barkley; he felt Barkley was slandering.

Jack Fan's perimeter shooting ability is so strong, how could he not even know this?

Chris Paul organized the Hornets' last offensive in the first half. Although he was killed head-on by Fan Xi in the previous round.

But after all, he is experienced. He maturely completed a beautiful assist, letting Belinelli run back directly and make an empty layup.

The Lakers' defense was played in the palm of his hand.

The reason Chris Paul is powerful is because he has established a top-level "pass, break, shoot" trinity ability.

His passing is a unique skill in the League, and his breakthrough allows his footsteps to reach any place on the court. His mid-range shooting is even more steady to the point of suffocation.

The top-level trinity ability makes him dangerous in any position inside the three-point line, and he must be strictly guarded by opponents.

Fan Xi's strength has already entered the hall, and he can show the superstar energy of a final word in some games.

However, he will also be limited to mediocrity in some games.

The answer is actually clear.

Fan Xi has not established a top-level "pass, break, shoot" ability.

Fan Xi has top-level perimeter shooting, but his ball-handling shooting ability is very ordinary, even terrible.

Thanks to top-level explosive power, speed, body control ability, and the Smiling Assassin's breakthrough skills and low center of gravity, Fan Xi's breakthrough level is very high, but his finishing means and finishing experience after entering the paint are very mediocre.

This makes Fan Xi's individual aggression not fully released.

In addition, Fan Xi's passing level is not top-level either. His passing is very ordinary. Based on the four evaluation standards of fast, accurate, ruthless, and spiritual, Fan Xi's passing belongs to being able to accurately find open teammates and pass the ball quickly in an ordinary way.

In summary, it is no ball-sticking, top-level breakthrough, and top-level perimeter off-ball shooting.

This is also the trinity ability of "pass, break, shoot," but it is not top-level, so Fan Xi's strength can only be anchored at the All-Star level now.

Fan Xi held the ball and came to the top of the arc at the three-point line again.

Chris Paul stared at him again.

He raised his vigilance; he realized that Fan Xi's breakthrough level is growing rapidly in actual combat.

However, Fan Xi still passed him.

Fan Xi passed Chris Paul by half a step with a sudden sprint, then he stopped suddenly.

When he realized that Chris Paul might repeat the same trick and push him, he quickly turned around... Sure enough, the dirty Paul made a secret pushing action at that time.

Fan Xi's turn made his insidious behavior exposed completely.

And his center of gravity was therefore deceived to the other side.

Fan Xi stopped suddenly and shot the ball quickly... Swish!

Hit.

Fan Xi hit a shot under Paul's defense.

Achieved a one-on-one victory.

The fans at the scene were excited.

In many years past, the Lakers' 1-guard position had never had such a player who hunted opponents one-on-one.

Fan Xi filled the "strong attack" gap when Kobe Bryant was not on the court.

The Hornets launched a long-distance shot across the half-court in the last 3 seconds of the first half, but it failed to hit, and the game entered halftime.

The first half ended.

The Lakers lead by 3 points.

However, Chris Paul got 18 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Fan Xi only had 13 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.

According to the bet between Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, Chris Paul already has an 8-point advantage.

If viewed from the game level, Fan Xi's performance tonight is commendable; he was not beaten down by Paul, on the contrary, he organized a strong counterattack, and he helped the team lead in the first half when Kobe was not on the court.

However, because of the existence of that bet, Fan Xi must achieve a one-on-one victory to be considered a complete victory.

Fan Xi walked into the locker room with his head down.

The competition with Paul gave him a brand-new understanding of the game and gave him a higher understanding of the interpretation of the game.

Tough opponents will promote Fan Xi's progress.

Before Fan Xi entered the locker room, Phil Jackson said to him: "Jack, you performed very well tonight. A superstar like Chris Paul couldn't affect your performance."

He praised Fan Xi from the bottom of his heart.

For Phil Jackson, Fan Xi's progress tonight is visible to the naked eye, and can even be described as terrifying, especially the breakthrough. Fan Xi was almost two different people in the first and second quarters.

He didn't know that Fan Xi's progress stemmed from the accelerated fusion of Isiah Thomas's technical experience under Chris Paul's extreme pressure.

But he was very guilty; he felt that if he had given Fan Xi this kind of opportunity earlier, Fan Xi's progress would definitely have been faster.

He even wanted to call Kobe now: You focus on dealing with the divorce, let Jack evolve a bit more.

However, in the face of reason, he couldn't make this call.

The Lakers want to win the championship, they still have to rely on Kobe Bryant; Kobe Bryant is the League's number one big killer. No one can make up for the fact that he has been away from the team for too long and his chemical reaction with the team is unfamiliar.

This is probably the common problem of strong teams; newcomers are destined to be very difficult to get comprehensive cultivation.

Therefore, Phil Jackson said to Fan Xi next: "Jack, play however you want in the second half? Just be happy."

This is Phil Jackson's indulgence and favoritism toward Fan Xi.

The CCTV camera recorded this scene truthfully.

The reporters and staff following behind were very surprised. A Chinese guard had played for the Lakers before, but in that player's mouth, Phil Jackson was a completely heartless person who didn't give newcomers any chance at all.

That Chinese guard mixed in the Lakers for 1 season, got a championship ring, and then went home.

Talking about the NBA, he said it was too cruel.

But now, it's the same Lakers, the same coach Phil Jackson, but what Fan Xi gets is unscrupulous pampering.

People and people really have gaps.

Fan Xi sat in the locker room, thinking about his next actions in the second half. He was determined to integrate Isiah Thomas's breakthrough techniques completely through tonight's game, so that his breakthrough ability would go up another level, reaching the League's top 10 level.

Standing in the same sequence as Derrick Rose, Westbrook, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, John Wall... these guys.

However, at this time, his phone rang.

He received a call from Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan said to Fan Xi anxiously on the phone: "Jack, there is a very complex piece of news to tell you now."

Fan Xi was stunned.

The agent called during halftime, it must be very important.

"Go ahead," Fan Xi said in a very calm tone.

"I don't know if you are clear about it. Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith bet again. They are betting on Chris Paul's stats and your stats."

"This itself has nothing to do with you. But it relates to your 'Miracle Child' identity. You have to know that many collaborations in the US now are based on you constantly creating miracles; they need this gimmick. If your miracle ends in front of Chris Paul tonight, some commercial collaborations will be difficult."

"However, if you continue to create miracles. Your commercial value will increase greatly; Chris Paul is the League's number one point guard."

"And, Ma Chen told me that CCTV has been tracking and filming you. If you defeat Paul under CCTV's lens, your market value in the country will reach an incredible level."

Lu Yuan was concise and to the point; he explained the pros and cons very clearly.

"You can pad your stats. The team's victory is actually not that important."

Lu Yuan even put forward a selfish idea: "As long as the sum of your points, assists, and steals exceeds Paul's, it's fine."

"I know."

Fan Xi answered him in a calm voice. Moreover, he emphasized it again: "Don't talk about padding stats in the future, don't say victory is not that important."

"I don't like it."

Fan Xi told Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone. Since he established a working relationship with Fan Xi, he has always understood what kind of person Fan Xi is. Fan Xi's principles are very strong, and he is definitely a person who takes victory as the first priority.

"I know, I won't do it again in the future," Lu Yuan admitted his mistake.

Then, he said: "Then about the bet with Paul..."

"I will handle it well," Fan Xi said calmly and firmly.

Subsequently, he hung up the phone.

Fan Xi looked up and took a deep breath.

At this time, Matt Barnes walked over anxiously and said to Fan Xi: "Jack, do you know? Barkley and Smith bet again. This time, they are betting on your and Paul's points, assists, and steals stats."

"Paul is the League's number one point guard after all," Lamar Odom was very surprised.

Then, Mike Dunleavy looked at the stat sheet: "Jack, you are 8 points behind Paul now."

Fan Xi nodded, saying he knew.

At this time, Andrew Bynum said sourly again: "What does this have to do with anything? Some people just need to pad their stats, what's the difference if the team loses, as long as they maintain their Miracle Child identity..."

"Shut up!"

Fan Xi turned his head and glared at Bynum: "There is no need for you to show your shallowness here."

"Don't treat me as someone like you."

Fan Xi refuted him fiercely.

Bynum retorted: "Oh, then I have to see how our Miracle Child maintains his stats and defeats the Hornets."

Bynum had a villainous expression of success.

He felt there was a good show to watch tonight.

... ===== CHAPTER 120 =====