Chapter 261

The Dallas Mavericks were still holding back their breath.

They were the most tragic Grand Champion-level strong team of this century. They made it to the Grand Finals in 2006, and after leading 2:0, they eventually lost to Dwyane Wade's god-like performance... Wade killed it in that Grand Finals; he performed extremely well. But it must be said that he received a lot of care he shouldn't have received; the NBA's soft whistle care started from that time.

In 2007, they made a comeback, even getting the good result of first in the regular season.

However, they met the Golden State Warriors, who were their natural nemesis, in the first round, and eventually the Warriors took them out in a wave, staging the We Believe miracle.

Since then, the Dallas Mavericks were covered in a layer of tragedy, and Nowitzki was also questioned, thinking he was too soft and didn't have the temperament of a true super superstar.

Mavericks boss Mark Cuban never gave up on them; they watched over each other. Last season, they used a group of frustrated old players to kill their way into the Western Conference Finals. If it weren't for Fan Xi's sudden rise, they would very likely have entered the Grand Finals.

And once they entered the Grand Finals, the Mavericks had a more than 70% chance of taking down the Heat.

You know, the Heat couldn't even beat the Lakers who were missing Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum; what qualifications did they have to challenge the Mavericks?

This was a great regret for the people of Dallas.

This season, they made a comeback, still wanting to prove their energy; this was one of the few opportunities in their careers.

No enemy is more powerful than time.

Tonight, Khloe Kardashian came to the sidelines, wearing a Fan Xi No. 10 jersey.

It looked like she was here to cheer for Fan Xi.

But in fact, her eyes were always on Griffin.

Fan Xi would not comment on other people's feelings.

But Griffin still showed excessive enthusiasm in this game. On the first ball of the opening, he rushed into the paint and jumped up, catching the ball Fan Xi passed to DeAndre Jordan, and then forcibly dunked it.

From the result, this was no problem.

But procedurally, this was not where he should have been.

"Pay attention to positioning."

Fan Xi reminded him.

Griffin nodded quickly and said to Fan Xi: "I was just too excited, Jack. I have a premonition that I will play very well tonight."

Griffin said excitedly.

Then, he was blown out.

He was matched up against Nowitzki. The German Tank was the power forward best at face-up offense in the current league. His control over shooting was the best among the four great power forwards, and his handling methods when facing defense could even be on the same level as Kobe's, extremely brilliant.

Although Griffin also had ball-handling ability and face-up singles were not bad... but he was just a young man who could score 80 or 85 points; he possessed "infinite possibilities," not current immediate combat power.

Compared to Nowitzki, this super power forward who had been through many battles, he was far behind, and not just by a little.

Griffin was too impatient; he was eager to establish merit, eager to take Nowitzki down.

But he forgot the principle that haste makes waste.

Nowitzki was steady, and various jump shots beat him to pieces.

Under these circumstances, Griffin still demanded excessively, asking for the ball to play one-on-one in various ways.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers trailed by 3 points.

At the end of the second quarter, the Clippers trailed by 9 points.

Griffin was 5-of-15 in the first half, with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Nowitzki, who was matched up against Griffin, was firing on all cylinders, 9-of-15, with 21 points and 5 rebounds.

Returning to the locker room, Griffin continued to seek Fan Xi's support. He asked Fan Xi to give him some more opportunities in the second half, patting his chest and saying that he would definitely be able to perform very well.

Fan Xi looked at him with a smile: "Blake, actually you have already had enough opportunities."

Griffin didn't quite catch the subtext of Fan Xi's words.

But soon Mike Brown announced that Kuameibulang would start the second half.

This was the tacit understanding between Fan Xi and Mike Brown; they didn't even need verbal communication.

Mike Brown had long since stopped wanting to tolerate Griffin; he felt that Griffin's stats were all manufactured, and he didn't feel at all that Griffin could become any kind of super superstar.

This incident (removing him from the starting lineup) had a great impact on Griffin.

His mood now was like a peacock eager to open its tail; he was blinded by love. He hoped to perform well in front of Khloe; he wanted to defeat Odom; he wanted to take over.

However, now the team had become his resistance.

Khloe told him: You want to be the master of the team; you don't want to be a timid second-in-command.

These words were already circling in his mind. When Mike Brown made this decision without even consulting him, he felt it was time for him to leave.

He wanted to go to a team where he could make his own decisions.

He wanted to take Khloe Kardashian and fly away.

Far away from Los Angeles, far away from Lamar Odom of the Lakers.

Griffin did not step onto the court.

The Clippers' second half didn't become worse. Although Kuameibulang had no way to cover the defense, DeAndre Jordan was still very agile. He switched to Nowitzki; although his single defense was not as good as his help defense, it was still much better than Griffin's eye defense.

At the same time, Fan Xi started competing with Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion on the perimeter. They double-teamed Fan Xi four times, and Fan Xi made 3 of them.

The only time he didn't make it was because Marion's help defense was a bit slow and didn't bring strong defensive pressure to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi's current ball-handling offense was just like this: if you don't add some difficulty, you really can't control the feel.

Fan Xi's consecutive hits opened up the situation.

Hamilton and Mike Dunleavy took off as a result, and they got plenty of opportunities.

Leonard and Butler also benefited a lot after coming on.

The 9-point gap was caught up before the end of the third quarter.

Entering the fourth quarter, the young and strong Clippers with lineup advantages made a concerted effort to completely suppress the Mavericks' counterattack power.

Mavericks boss Mark Cuban sat on the sidelines, his eyes full of regret, and also a different kind of sentiment.

He had a deep friendship with Nowitzki; his feelings for Nowitzki could be described as genuine. Perhaps Cuban didn't have that much human touch for other players, but for Nowitzki, it even transcended the relationship between boss and player.

So, when he saw the Mavericks being destroyed by the Clippers in one go, he really started to think about a question: Perhaps, Nowitzki's championship dream could only be realized elsewhere. Jack is a good kid....

Cuban started to consider the possibility of this matter.

The game ended quickly.

Although the Mavericks didn't announce garbage time, there wasn't much resistance in the end.

The Clippers eventually defeated the Mavericks 123:111, defending their home court.

Ending the team's losing streak.

Next, the Clippers would embark on a new road trip.

They would return to their home court again in 11 days for the Christmas Day battle.

This city had already started to build momentum for the upcoming Christmas Day battle.

"Jack. If I agree to let Nowitzki join the Clippers, are you willing to give me a promise?"

Mark Cuban suddenly found Fan Xi after the game ended, and they talked alone for a while.

Fan Xi was stunned.

Sterling's previous answer had made him cold-hearted, but now Cuban had reignited his cold stove.

Fan Xi knew too well how good Nowitzki was; they created a miracle the first time they teamed up in the All-Star game. Moreover, the Clippers currently lacked one-on-one power, which was why the Clippers recruited Yao Ming.

However, Yao Ming's injury was a hidden danger after all.

If Nowitzki joined, then... the Clippers' only shortcoming would be made up. The Clippers would truly enter the Grand Champion-level team list.

"What promise?" Fan Xi asked Mark Cuban.

"If you leave the Clippers in the future, you must join our Dallas, even if it's just for one season." Mark Cuban said to Fan Xi: "This is entirely a promise between men, it won't be written into any contract, can you agree?"

Fan Xi thought about it; in many cases, this was indeed just a word. But Fan Xi was a person who valued promises. After thinking for a long time, he said: "Okay, if I leave the Clippers in the future, I will join the Mavericks for one season."

It's just that when he said this, he suddenly frowned; he associated it with another thing.

"Jack, I believe you. You are a man of your word. You can go talk to your boss about this, we need Griffin, and another perimeter shooter...." Mark Cuban said straightforwardly.

This trade wasn't too much of a loss for the Mavericks; Nowitzki for Griffin, an immediate-combat super-giant for a potential superstar with box-office appeal.

Fan Xi nodded.

But in his mind, he was thinking about another thing: his gentleman's agreement with Sterling.

Damn!

As Mark Cuban left with a smile, Fan Xi clapped his hands, realizing something was very wrong.

Before, he didn't think about the bad side, but now that Mark Cuban pointed it out. Sterling could completely choose not to sell the team's shares, right? Why would he sell the team's shares? If he doesn't sell, isn't the agreement in my hand just a piece of waste paper?

Tricked! Tricked!

Fan Xi felt empty inside.

"Make a big deal out of it, make a big deal out of tonight's game. Remember? We took down the Lakers; this is a very important battle."

Sterling was waving his arms in the office, saying to the general manager and public relations manager: "From now on, find media to write press releases, vigorously praise us for taking down the Western Conference Finals team Dallas Mavericks tonight, and also report extensively on our taking down the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, let the whole City of Angels know that the Clippers have risen."

"By the way, don't forget to tell everyone that the Lakers lost to these three teams this year."

"We should let more people know that the basketball team representing Los Angeles and the City of Angels is not just the Lakers."

"......"

This victory injected a stimulant into Sterling.

He couldn't wait to use this game to build the final momentum before Christmas; he wanted the whole world to know that the Clippers had risen.

He couldn't wait to see the Clippers take down the Lakers; as long as the Clippers win, the Clippers' base in Los Angeles will increase by a portion.

And in this way, the day the Clippers' market value skyrockets is not far away.

You know, even now, the Clippers' market value is still less than half of the Lakers', and the Lakers are still deeply rooted and powerful. This is still the result of the huge increase brought about after Fan Xi joined.

Sterling couldn't wait to make the cake bigger.

The next day, many media in Los Angeles and many websites on the Internet were reporting on the Clippers' victory. This victory, which was originally very ordinary, became widely known under Sterling's propaganda, and the heat of the Christmas Day battle was also driven up.

The Clippers' actions were very active.

In contrast, the Lakers seemed relatively silent.

The media once questioned: Are the Lakers feeling guilty?

After all, the Lakers have had a lot of messy news recently: Ron Artest and his rapper girlfriend got into a street fight, Lamar Odom was drunk in a bar, and the conflict between Little Shark Bynum and Saint Paul CP3 further expanded.

Kobe Bryant's decline was a foregone conclusion, and there was also Matt Barnes; he and Derek Fisher were already irreconcilable because Fisher went to his ex-wife's room.

Some critics always said last season that Fan Xi corrupted the Los Angeles locker room, but now after Fan Xi left, the "drama" in their locker room not only didn't decrease, but greatly increased.

"Hahahaha, Sterling finally showed his true colors."

Jeanie Buss sat triumphantly in her office chair, her legs crossed on the desk. "He must be very excited now, must think he controls everything, and even shouts excitedly every night: Take down the Lakers, on Christmas Day."

"This old man must be confidently thinking that he has reached the second spring of his life."

Jeanie Buss speculated with a wicked sense of humor.

Magic Johnson, sitting in front of her, raised his eyebrows. Although he didn't echo, he agreed with Jeanie Buss's speculation.

He felt it was very possible.

"So now, what should we do?" Magic Johnson asked Jeanie Buss.

Jeanie Buss picked up her phone and looked at the date.

There were 11 days left until Christmas.

Subsequently, she said: "It's time. This period of time is enough for a matter to ferment."

"Sterling will lose his team before Christmas, and everything he is planning now will become a delicious cake in someone else's mouth. I heard that many world-class richest people are eyeing the Clippers."

"The Clippers will fall into chaos because of this. I don't believe their players will still work for a boss who discriminates against and humiliates their skin color."

"Even if Jack Fan is powerful, he won't be able to control the locker room. Just wait and see, the Clippers will become the laughingstock of the entire league."

"Want to challenge our leading position in Los Angeles? Hehe, dream on!"

"Scraps will always be just scraps; even if you embed them with gems, they are just slightly shinier scraps."

Jeanie Buss became more excited as she spoke, as if a beautiful picture was slowly unfolding before her eyes.

She saw Sterling being kicked out of the league, the Clippers in internal chaos, the players' morale completely gone, and the Lakers massacring them in the Christmas Day battle....

Hehehehe.

She couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After trading Fan Xi, she was finally going to win for once.