Chapter 318: Two tigers fight, the fisherman benefits

Kobe slapped the table hard.

He was very angry, he completely didn't accept this voting result.

Moreover, he was very, very disappointed in Paul. Paul had always been a fighter in his heart, and he thought Paul would fight to the end like himself.

But now, Paul actually didn't stand on his side. Perhaps he had ten thousand reasons, but he didn't have a single reason to refuse to fight.

The game was a battlefield, there was never any strategic abandonment.

In Kobe's basketball philosophy, drawing a sword and going up, killing his own laziness, cowardice, fear, and killing the opponent's arrogance and domineering, was the kingly way.

But now...

"I won't obey this vote, no one can stop me from appearing tomorrow night, and no one can stop me from taking the game. Chris, Dwight, no matter how legitimate your reasons are, I hope you will fight with me tomorrow night."

"Jeanie, commercial matters belong to commerce, leave basketball matters to me."

Kobe stared at Jeanie Buss very seriously: "Whether it's tomorrow night or the upcoming playoffs, I will defeat the Clippers."

Kobe finished this resounding sentence and walked out of the conference room.

For him, giving up was shame.

Avoiding war was degeneration.

He didn't want to be a shameful and degenerate person.

But, not everyone's basketball philosophy was the same as Kobe's.

Kobe's career had already established two dynasties and won six championships. Paul and Howard had never had it. They were here to win the championship, and they all needed the championship to redeem themselves. Paul was mocked too many times for never touching the Western Conference Finals floor. As the number one point guard, he didn't want to duel with the lunatic Fan Xi in the first round. Fan Xi's whole nerves were crazy when he reached the court. Playing the first round with him, Paul didn't want to.

Dwight Howard was the same. The boos of the Orlando All-Star night repeatedly stung his heart. If he left his hometown, betrayed relatives and friends, and finally didn't win the championship, how would he handle himself? Now was his best opportunity, he really didn't want to meet Fan Xi in the first round, although the Lakers' strength was stronger than before, but Fan Xi was crazy, he was the real Fan lunatic.

Who would deliberately let their team's record fall to eighth in the West?

This lunatic was clearly aiming at the Lakers.

He just wanted to make a big news, make a black-eight for the whole world to see.

Howard didn't want to be like Kobe. Kobe was full of honors and just wanted to fight. If he fought coolly, he was cool. If he lost, he was happy. But Howard didn't want to fail.

"I will fall in the bathroom tonight, probably need to rest for two days."

Howard said to D'Antoni. "Sorry, I want to win the championship."

"I want to go back to my alma mater to get my graduation certificate." Chris Paul also expressed his attitude. His idea was exactly the same as Howard's.

The Lakers possessed three number ones in the league. Now the number one center and number one point guard both chose to avoid the Duke's edge.

Jeanie Buss breathed a sigh of relief. She would do a good job with others. She believed Kobe would understand her painstaking efforts.

After all, those who achieve great things don't need to be stuck in the gains and losses of one city or one pool, they must look at the overall trend.

This meeting ended with Jeanie Buss's will as the main.

She subsequently left D'Antoni to chat for a while. She let D'Antoni's attitude soften by stating facts and reasoning.

In this world, there are few arguments about right and wrong. They are often arguments of "right" and "right." Standing from different angles, there are different points of view, points of view will collide, and collision will have arguments.

D'Antoni was willing to accept Jeanie Buss's suggestion. After all, the difference between 67 wins and 68 wins wasn't that big. Moreover, Paul and Howard didn't play, so what was the point of persisting.

For a head coach, unity was the most important thing.

"The Spurs are hooked."

Nowitzki said to Fan Xi while drinking milk in Fan Xi's home.

In the backyard of Fan Xi's house, young players were lining up, Arenas's voice was very loud, he was organizing games... He was incompatible with old guys like Nowitzki, he was a person who liked excitement.

Yao Ming, Nash, Hill, Carter, Nowitzki, Billups, and Hamilton were quiet personalities. They were more willing to sit there, let Chairman Yao pour tea for them, and chat about philosophical topics.

Fan Xi, Nowitzki, Nash, and Hill were chatting here.

They all knew that Fan Xi and Nowitzki setting up the game wasn't to target the Lakers, but to let the Lakers and Spurs fight to both sides' loss.

Nowitzki's injury had completely recovered. Yesterday he even played a post-up dunk in the training gym... although there was no screen sense, it also proved his complete control over his body.

"Do you want to fight the Lakers tomorrow night?" Nash asked Fan Xi on the side.

Nowitzki also said very concernedly: "Do you want me to return tomorrow night?"

Fan Xi shook his head and said: "The Lakers are not of one mind. They see it very clearly now. If we win this game, it is very likely to lock in seventh. So, some players definitely don't want to meet us in the first round, and Jeanie Buss won't continue to take risks..."

"Do you mean the Lakers will likely tank?" Hill said incredulously: "Then Kobe? Will Kobe agree?"

"Kobe?"

Fan Xi raised his eyebrows and said: "I will let Kobe know that even if the Lakers go all out, they can't stop the Clippers' pace."

Fan Xi was very confident.

Just like the bright moon overhead, unscrupulously radiating light.

Stars are always shining in the night sky, but when the moon comes out, everything is a foil.

April 23.

The last showdown between the Lakers and Clippers this season arrived.

Staples Center was crowded. Although over the past period, the Clippers always tanked, while the Lakers were ahead of the pack, sweeping thousands of troops.

But people were still looking forward to the showdown between these city rivals.

And even more looking forward to the upcoming playoffs. If the Lakers and Clippers clashed in the first round, its heat would directly exceed all other first-round duels.

"Tonight is mostly a boring game. Jack Fan symbolically plays for a few minutes, then the Lakers easily take away the victory and get their 66th victory of the season."

The ESPN commentator said very boringly on TV.

Tonight, even the fans on the sidelines were very calm, everyone guessed what kind of solution it would be.

Beep!

When the whistle blew.

The Lakers sent out a starting lineup of Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill, Matt Barnes, Kobe Bryant, and Sessions.

Sessions and Jordan Hill were players who joined the Lakers in the middle of the season. They both possessed quasi-elite strength. Their integration into the Lakers' reaction was very successful, which was why the Lakers were the number one championship seed.

Their trade on All-Star night was considered a stroke of genius, strengthened in all aspects.

The Clippers sent out a starting lineup of Fan Xi, Hamilton, Leonard, Kwame Brown, and DeAndre Jordan.

Slap!

When DeAndre Jordan jumped for the ball, he easily defeated the guy named Jordan Hill on the opposite side.

The name Jordan Hill sounded like a superstar, but in fact, he was a blue-collar worker.

Sessions was a point guard who made a name for himself in the Bucks, and he once created a single-game double-twenty rookie record. He was a starting-level point guard in the league.

However, his defensive ability was relatively ordinary.

His rank was a long distance from Fan Xi.

Fan Xi passed his defense almost effortlessly. He couldn't bring too many obstacles to Fan Xi, even if Fan Xi didn't call for a screen.

Passing him was like passing a road in the early morning.

Kobe helped defend over, Fan Xi quickly passed the ball out, Hamilton caught and shot... Swish!

Hit 2 points calmly.

The Clippers' chemistry also reached an astonishing height.

Turning back, Leonard went to defend Kobe.

He had played against Kobe four times, and every time, he would have new progress.

Kobe had to admit that rookie Leonard was already one of the best players defending him in the league today.

Kobe still scored very easily. He used a probing step to deceive Leonard's center of gravity, then cut the mess with a sharp knife, and jumped up to shoot... Swish!

Top-tier scorers are like this.

Scoring doesn't need to be a big deal. Perhaps just a look is enough to make the defender eat a fake, only need a moment, he can capture the opportunity and score.

Kobe just scored, Fan Xi launched a fast break. He killed into the paint like lightning, taking advantage of the Lakers' inside line not standing firm, and directly came with a dunk.

Fan Xi's dunk.

Earth-shattering.

The scene was stunned.

D'Antoni originally told the players to play loosely, tank the Clippers, and make them win even if they didn't want to.

But now, looking at Jack's situation... did they not intend to lose?

Many people's minds popped up with such thoughts.

However, Jeanie Buss behind the bench soon stabilized her mentality, believing that this must be Fan Xi deliberately dunking to save face.

Definitely will tank next.

Jeanie Buss thought so.

Therefore, the Lakers on the court didn't get nervous either. After all, their task tonight was to lose.

Except for Kobe playing seriously, other players didn't intend to go all out.

You know Chris Paul and Dwight Howard didn't even come to the court tonight.

Except for Kobe, who really wanted to meet the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs?

Therefore, the game soon presented a one-sided trend.

Kobe Bryant played for 6 minutes and was subbed off by D'Antoni.

At the same time, the Clippers subbed in Arenas, and Butler.

Arenas came up and hit a 3-pointer from Fan Xi's assist, expanding the point difference to 11 points.

Afterwards, the Clippers played more and more fiercely, more and more excitedly.

The point difference kept expanding.

After the first quarter, the Clippers led by 16 points, 39:23.

"That's not right!"

Dwight Howard sat at the bar of a basketball bar and said to Chris Paul: "Did the Clippers not intend to lose tonight? They don't intend to meet us in the first round of the playoffs? Could it be that everything is fake news?"

Howard frowned, feeling he had been deceived.

Chris Paul couldn't guess Fan Xi's thoughts for a while, but he could be sure that the Clippers wouldn't lose this game.

Their goal was achieved.

However, what could Fan Xi be calculating?

Paul couldn't think of it.

The second quarter continued.

Fan Xi didn't even play.

But the point difference was expanding. Stephen Nash led a group of veterans to fire wildly at the Lakers. The Lakers were still tanking, but they really rotted while tanking.

At the end of the first half, the Lakers trailed by 32 points.

The Lakers players returned to the locker room, and they finally realized a terrible thing: Fan Xi was going to create a single-game slaughter record.

We were still stupidly tanking here. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard were both asking for leave.

Heavens!

Jeanie Buss realized the horror of this matter.

Kobe Bryant sat in his seat with a blue face. Jeanie Buss was frantically saying to Magic Johnson outside the locker room: "How could this be? How could this be? Jack Fan is simply too cunning. He is going to slaughter us, he is going to create a point difference more amazing than the preseason, he is trying to prove his strength with such a victory?"

"We've been tricked!!!"

Jeanie Buss was hysterical, she felt her IQ was being rubbed on the ground.

Kobe walked out afterwards and told Jeanie Buss: "Jack doesn't just want to create the biggest point difference slaughter, his biggest purpose is to let the Spurs take the bait. The Spurs are now behind the Grizzlies by 1.5 wins, they are sitting in fourth place, Western Conference Semifinals, Spurs vs. Lakers. The fisherman benefits is the Clippers!!"

What?

Jeanie Buss only felt a roar in her brain.

Before, she was the one doing bad things, and was benefited by Fan Xi. Now, she didn't do anything, and fell into Fan Xi's trap.

Most importantly, Fan Xi didn't calculate her at all.

It was her own suspicion, being a bird of prey, who actively jumped into the trap.

At this time, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard sitting at the bar were both confused. They also realized their IQ was being rubbed.

Chris Paul made a cross on his chest, he prayed constantly, praying for Kobe to lead the team to hold on.

If they really created the biggest point difference, they couldn't shirk the responsibility.

Bang!

In the San Antonio Spurs general manager's office, Gregg Popovich threw a red wine glass hard. He was originally holding red wine to watch this Los Angeles tanking competition.

Before the game, he estimated the Lakers' cunning personality, they would definitely tank.

However, he didn't expect... the Clippers actually didn't tank anymore.

The Clippers led by so much in the first half.

It meant a very clear fact: the Clippers didn't want to meet the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.

Then, who did they want to meet? Or rather, what did they want to avoid?

Popovich soon associated it with the Spurs' ranking. At that time, he was angry and smashed the red wine glass directly.

He is an old schemer in the NBA; he has spent most of his life calculating against others, and he believed this time his plans were foolproof.

The Clippers and the Lakers were set to stage a battle between the snipe and the clam, with him as the fisherman reaping the benefits.

However, who would have thought that Fan Xi was so cunning? He had actually set up such a massive trap. The Spurs watched helplessly as they maneuvered themselves into fourth place.

Now, look at this.

The Spurs originally wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

Now, he has been turned around and locked in a cage by Fan Xi; they have to go and fight the Lakers.

The fisherman who will reap the benefits will be Fan Xi and his Clippers.

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