Chapter 317: Victory if black-eight

Nowitzki and Fan Xi stayed in Los Angeles to polish their shooting, and Fan Xi communicated with him about the matters of two-person cooperation instantly. They were both players with high basketball IQ. After communication, they immediately had a feeling of mutual understanding.

Moreover, when Nowitzki was shooting, Fan Xi had been silently standing there feeding him the ball.

Fan Xi's passing was very comfortable, and Nowitzki's shooting percentage rose in a straight line.

"I originally thought we would at least have to wait until next season to impact the championship, but now, I am full of confidence. Maybe I can take two championship trophies back to Dallas."

Nowitzki returned to the sidelines after 2 hours of training, and he said to Fan Xi very happily.

His confidence came from the improvement of his tacit understanding with Fan Xi, and the passing feeling Fan Xi gave him was really too good. He believed their two-person combination would catch opponents off guard.

Moreover, now the Clippers' newcomers were also making obvious progress. Butler and Leonard's season average scoring had broken through the 12-point mark, and Kwame Brown and DeAndre Jordan were also continuing to improve.

The veterans were also as steady as ever. The states of former superstars who had suffered major injuries like Yao Ming, Hill, Carter, Nowitzki, Billups, and Hamilton were also recovering rapidly.

So, the Clippers were really terrifying.

No wonder Popovich emphasized it repeatedly.

What made Popovich happy was that the Clippers soon released the wind: "The Thunder are just an ordinary youth army. We won't pay attention to their provocation. Our first-round goal is the Lakers. We want to black-eight! We want to fight with all our strength! Los Angeles can only have one legend."

This was the words Kupchak found someone to release.

It soon set off a wave.

The Clippers wanted to fight the Lakers to the death.

This sounded quite exciting. In the past regular season, they played three games, and the Clippers won two and lost one.

Among them, the two games the Clippers won were all focus battles that attracted much attention.

If the Clippers played a ruthless wave this season and succeeded in black-eight.

Then... the Clippers could really be on par with the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Therefore, the Clippers made such a decisive choice, which sounded very reasonable.

The public opinion in the basketball circle was turned upside down by the Clippers' voice.

San Antonio was naturally overjoyed. In Popovich's heart, the two biggest competitors in the West were the Lakers and the Clippers. They wanted to decide the winner, then they would benefit as the fisherman.

In this way, they could compete with an advantage against any winner between them in the second round.

Popovich's wishful thinking was very loud.

The Lakers were shocked.

"How? How? How could this be... The Clippers are actually so vicious!!" Jeanie Buss sat in the office, her lips trembling. Although the Lakers were now strong, with many guns and many superstars. However, fighting the Clippers in the first round, this... was too risky.

Sitting opposite her was Magic Johnson. Magic was the Lakers' general manager, and he also had a headache: "Jack is here for revenge. He is determined to fight us to the death. We can't hide."

Jeanie Buss sighed.

Although she had never said she regretted it, she finally realized what it meant to raise a tiger and invite trouble.

Because Time Warner stopped the negotiation of their ground broadcast rights, the original 20-year 5 billion US dollar contract was shelved. Jeanie Buss tried to find them. But the person in charge at Time Warner said the person in charge had changed.

Moreover, they also found out that Time Warner was actively contacting the Clippers, but the Clippers offered a sky-high price, and they were still hesitating. They hoped to make a decision after the playoffs.

Clearly, the Clippers did this to completely suppress the Lakers and make a lot of money.

If the Clippers got Time Warner's broadcast resources, the Clippers would not only make a lot of money, but also expand their influence through the TV station's dissemination. In the end, they might not only stand firm in California and be on par with the Lakers, but also likely surpass the Lakers.

The Clippers' revenue this season was already very close to the Lakers'. Although their regular season average ticket price was still 30% lower than the Lakers', their number of commercial sponsorships exceeded the Lakers', only the average amount was slightly lower.

"Can we avoid them, can we take second?"

After Jeanie Buss let out a long sigh, she finally didn't have the previous murderous aura and learned to retreat to the second best.

However, Magic Johnson shook his head. He said: "Kevin Durant accepted an interview an hour ago. He said: 'I also really want to see the Lakers vs. Clippers. So, I won't mind what they say about youth army or something. I can't wait for the playoffs to start. This must be the best showdown in the first round of the playoffs.'"

Durant's words undoubtedly blocked the Lakers' retreat.

"We have so many superstars, and the Clippers have called out again. We can't be cowardly."

Magic Johnson said helplessly.

He was now like an ant thrown into a hot pot.

"However, we don't need to worry about anything. After Webster and Sessions joined, our strength has been greatly improved. Nowitzki of the Clippers will only return before the playoffs. Playing them in the first round of the playoffs, we have an advantage."

Magic Johnson regained some confidence.

From all aspects of the formation, the Lakers were simply steady winners.

The Lakers had been sweeping away the fallen leaves during this period, and there was no opponent at all.

After all, the Lakers' lineup was really, really too strong, historically rare. The starting three were number one in the league, plus a bunch of elite soldiers.

Jeanie Buss took a deep breath. She realized that she didn't seem to need to worry too much.

It's just that she was indeed left with some shadows by those two games.

Moreover, she was very worried that if the Clippers won the series, the Lakers would lose their dominant position in Los Angeles. She didn't want to be on par with the Clippers, and even less wanted the Lakers to have greater resources.

When Magic Johnson left, she lay in the huge boss chair, and she looked exceptionally weak.

During this period, she repeatedly had a dream. She dreamed that time returned to last summer. God asked her: "Do you still want to trade Jack Fan?"

Her head shook faster than a rattle!

When there were 10 games left in the regular season, Fan Xi returned to the team.

Because the Clippers were at a very critical moment at this time. At this time, the Clippers were only half a game ahead of the eighth-ranked Utah Jazz.

As long as they lost one more game than the Jazz, they could successfully fall to eighth.

However, there was an awkward thing now... when the Clippers lost the game and fell in rank, the Jazz were also very unpromising. Their schedule was too demonic, and the second half was all against teams in the upper half of the East and West. Therefore, the ninth-ranked Houston Rockets originally had no chance at all.

Now, they were also only 1 game behind eighth place.

That is to say, if the Clippers didn't play well, it would be very easy to mess up and fall out of the top eight. If they didn't even make the playoffs in the end... it would become a joke.

In addition, the Spurs were now stuck in third place and didn't go down. They tanked, but they couldn't stand the opponents being too weak, and they had a 2-game advantage over the fourth-ranked Grizzlies.

This was very damn!

This wave could be considered playing the intelligence game to the extreme.

Fan Xi couldn't not go up.

So, Fan Xi returned to the lineup in the home game against the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets were originally aiming to tank, but when they saw they could make the playoffs, the Rockets boss's miserly personality immediately became active, chasing behind to give the players chicken blood.

Who knew, coming to Los Angeles, they met Fan Xi's fire-line return.

Playing the Rockets, Fan Xi was extra angry. He held the posture of taking revenge for Chairman Yao and ruthlessly slaughtered the Rockets by 38 points.

After Fan Xi returned to the Clippers, it was like a tank with a perfect chassis possessing a super-strong engine.

Quickly speeding up.

Fan Xi could play fast breaks at any time, could play set positions, and most importantly, after Leonard's separate training during this period, he had formed a set of singles logic in mid-range.

Fan Xi pulled him and Nash to play a wave of smooth triangle offense, which made Lakers fans stunned.

The Lakers didn't play triangle offense anymore, but the Clippers picked up this weapon, so who was the authentic Los Angeles?

After defeating the Rockets at home.

The Clippers' seventh place was more stable.

However, the Jazz were unpromising and actually lost the game.

This was very anxious, they couldn't even act anymore.

Fan Xi didn't want to lose the whole game with one wrong move.

He now wanted to let the old fox Popovich drill into the trap, so it must be realistic.

So, in the second home game, he lost to the Trail Blazers.

He played for 3 minutes and went off the court. At the same time, whoever played well on the court was subbed off, just like a revolving lantern.

In this situation, the Trail Blazers played until the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter to gain the lead.

Popovich and the Lakers watched with horror; the Clippers were already strong enough to play so hard even when releasing water.

Fan Xi carefully controlled the outcome.

Until there were 3 games left in the regular season, the Spurs finally drilled into the trap. Popovich used a more shameless "rotation tactic" to successfully make himself fourth.

Popovich directly DNP'd the GDP three-horse carriage.

A seven-game losing streak made people see their determination to tank.

In the matter of tanking, few people were more professional than the Spurs.

Fan Xi's Clippers just looked very close.

And at this time, the fourth showdown between the Clippers and the Lakers this season finally arrived.

At this time, the Clippers were 1 game ahead of the Jazz, and the Jazz were half a game ahead of the Rockets.

The Clippers lost two games and won one more game, and could stably take eighth place. No matter whether it was the Rockets or the Jazz who came to seventh.

It could be said that Fan Xi's wave of operations was superb.

The Lakers had already won 65 games this season. As long as they took the next three victories, they could get the second-best record in history, 68 wins and 14 losses.

The Lakers' 69-win record had to be traced back to 1983. That team was also star-studded, with a main lineup of Goodrich, West, Chamberlain, McMillan, and Hairston.

This had a terrifying sign of dynasty revival for the Lakers, and they had no reason not to pursue it.

Therefore, the media's prediction was: the Lakers would win one-sidedly, and the Clippers wouldn't resist at all.

In the end, the two Los Angeles teams tied with a 2:2 winning percentage in the regular season.

This could be seen from many signs, Fan Xi even participated in Disney's commercial performance.

Over the past period, for Fan Xi, an interesting thing was... because Selena was operating crazily and made a lot of money, the relationship between Disney and Fan Xi was repaired.

They even agreed to let Selena and Fan Xi sing a song together and put it into her new album.

Fan Xi appeared at Selena's new album launch. Selena had been very popular recently, and she became the second American sweetheart after Britney.

She was the most popular female singer and actress among American high school students, and her album pre-sale numbers exceeded the brokerage company's imagination.

She was becoming the only new-generation film, television, and song idol who could be on par with Swift commercially.

Disney was of course very happy, and their relationship with Fan Xi was efficiently repaired. They even proposed that they could cooperate with Fan Xi's team, and do some co-branding with Fan Xi's sneaker brand.

There was no need to affect more benefits because of a small misunderstanding in the past.

After all, people now also forgot the Jonas Brothers' previous embarrassment. They started to come out for activities now and held many concerts in a row.

Fan Xi appeared at entertainment events, which was considered to be the Clippers continuing to tank.

The Lakers held an emergency meeting.

Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and D'Antoni attended.

The content of this meeting, Jeanie Buss said directly: "How should we handle this game?"

Kobe Bryant was very tough: "We need a 68-win season. We have no reason to miss this opportunity."

Kobe was old, and he hoped his regrets would be fewer. And as a fighting fanatic, he always pursued victory.

However, Jeanie Buss hoped the team's pace would stop for a while.

After Kobe, she started to speak. She talked about many things in the Lakers' commercial operations, including Time Warner's ground broadcast rights... She talked about the challenges the Lakers were facing now, and she believed the Clippers' decision to duel with the Lakers in the first round was entirely based on commercial reasons.

"... They need an opportunity, or a miracle. If they succeed in black-eight, they can get everything they want. Jack has always been a crazy gambler, we shouldn't give him a chance to get on the card table."

Jeanie Buss said.

Jeanie Buss said this, and it was very clear.

Magic Johnson's attitude was very vague.

D'Antoni stood completely on Kobe's side. He believed that they should take three consecutive victories, because he also wanted to be famous in history. Which coach didn't want his winning percentage to be higher?

This was a victory with a winning percentage close to 84%.

And just when it was swaying, Dwight Howard expressed his position, saying: "68 wins and 67 wins don't seem to have much difference. We have to consider the overall trend of the playoffs. Meeting such a strong opponent in the first round, and playing in Staples... the distinction between home and away is small... it's an advantage for the eighth-ranked Clippers."

Howard's statement came out.

Equivalent to standing on Jeanie Buss's side.

Then, Jeanie Buss said: "Let's vote by show of hands. Those who agree to take down the Clippers, raise your right hand, those who agree to give up this game, raise your left hand."

Jeanie Buss and Howard raised their left hands for the first time.

Kobe and D'Antoni firmly raised their right hands.

Then, Jeanie Buss looked at Magic Johnson; he needed the swaying Johnson to support himself.

Magic was a strong player, but now as an administrator, he had to weigh it. He thought about it and finally raised his left hand.

At this time, Kobe's eyes stared tightly at Chris Paul.

Paul was a player with a strong desire to win, and Paul had a great hatred for Fan Xi. Kobe thought at least it could be a 3:3 tie.

However, just at this time, Paul's left hand was raised.

Kobe's face collapsed instantly, he was caught off guard.

He didn't expect Chris Paul to be soft at this time, actually standing on Jeanie Buss's side. Are you still the number one point guard?

Where did your toughness go?

You are surrendering!!!

Kobe was very angry.

Paul spoke at this time: "68 wins if black-eight, it will be even uglier..."

Slap!! ===== CHAPTER 318 =====