Chapter 319

Westbrook and Kevin Durant sat in front of the television, happily eating melon seeds.

"The Lakers are in trouble. Looking at this trend, Jack slaughtering Kobe tonight has become an inevitable outcome."

Westbrook analyzed it with a serious air: "I think they could win by 50 points."

Kevin Durant stroked his chin, his eyes filled with the light of wisdom: "60 points is possible. Jack has always been more ferocious in the second half."

Just then, the Thunder general manager called Durant. Presti told Durant over the phone: "It's bad. The Clippers' first-round target isn't the Lakers; it's us."

Hmm?

Durant hadn't quite reacted yet. He said: "They aren't playing the Lakers in the first round? They're playing us? Why would they want to fulfill our wish? Didn't they want to clash with the Lakers and pull off an upset?"

Presti was stunned for a long while on the other end of the line before he understood the team leader's train of thought. He said: "The Clippers' previous actions were to get the Spurs to take the bait, to let the Spurs fight the Lakers in the second round, so they could sit back and reap the benefits in the finals."

"Hmm? Isn't this a good thing? If we defeat the Clippers, we can easily cruise all the way to the Western Conference Finals. In that way... wouldn't we be the ones reaping the benefits?" Durant asked back.

Hmm?

It actually made a lot of sense.

Presti hurriedly said: "Then we must quickly change our battle plan. We had previously locked our opponent as the Utah Jazz; now, we have to work on the Clippers. We must not let them pull off a seventh-seed upset."

"That goes without saying."

Durant promised with great confidence.

He had never feared the Clippers. He felt that with himself, Westbrook, and the younger brothers James Harden, Ibaka, and the others: the advantage was with him.

When they finished the call, Westbrook asked Durant what had happened. Durant told Westbrook that the Clippers had adjusted their first playoff target to the Thunder.

"Great!"

Young Master Wei clapped excitedly, his joy coming from the heart: "This is the best news of the night. I can't wait to face Jack. You know, although he is my good friend, I have always longed to defeat him in a head-to-head matchup."

Durant reached out and patted Westbrook on the shoulder, saying: "I believe in you, Russell, you are the best."

They built up strong confidence and a firm belief in victory.

…

The second half on the television had also already begun.

Fan Xi led the brand-new lineup onto the court: Fan Xi, Arenas, Butler, Kwame Brown, and Yao Ming.

Correspondingly, the Lakers could only respond with their starting lineup.

They were stretched thin in terms of personnel rotation, and they had to struggle to deal with the Clippers' fierce attack. Their own strategic errors, or rather, their minds being invaded by fear, meant they now had to face such a result.

"Jack, I won't let you have your way."

Kobe faced Fan Xi and dropped a harsh threat.

In reality, Fan Xi did not have the intention of creating a record-breaking slaughter at this moment, but since Kobe had said so, it was hard for his mind not to become active because of it.

Kobe stared closely at Fan Xi, strongly blocking him on the defensive end to prevent him from easily launching fast breaks.

However, after Fan Xi reached the frontcourt with the ball, he simply passed it to Arenas.

Arenas dribbled twice and passed to Yao Ming.

Arenas was a combo guard by trade. Although his passing ability could not be considered brilliant, it was far superior to those point guards the Rockets had previously. Yao Ming caught the ball and turned to complete the attack... Swish!

Chairman Yao's high-post shot left Gasol with no way to defend.

Switching sides to fight again, it was still Kobe launching the offensive. The person defending him had also become Fan Xi.

Fan Xi was an expert at defending speed-type guards; against a master of technique like Kobe, he was actually lacking in both experience and ability.

However, Kobe's jump shot after shaking him off failed to hit the rim.

His release was a bit tight.

The rebound was snatched by Kwame Brown and passed to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi advanced steadily, and after crossing half-court, he continued to hand it to Arenas.

Although Arenas was a minimum-wage player, he had been a team leader after all, and his ability to handle the ball was not something an average player could compare to.

The Clippers' coaching staff restrained his ball-handling attack ratio; he passed the ball out and continued to hand it to Yao Ming.

Yao Ming played back-to-the-basket, and after attracting a double-team, he decisively passed to Butler. Butler went for a layup... very successful.

The Clippers now seemed to have no fixed offensive tactics, but the offense was very fluid because there were simply too many points that could initiate an attack. These people had previously been the tactical focal points of other teams; as long as they spread out, they could lead the whole team with these points.

Therefore, it was very difficult for ordinary teams to study the Clippers' style of play.

The Lakers fell into a scoring drought.

The Clippers continued to expand the score.

Yao Ming played for 6 minutes and, in coordination with Arenas, Fan Xi, and Butler, scored 11 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.

Extremely efficient.

And the point difference between the two teams had already expanded to 42 points with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

Many Lakers fans inside Staples Center had already left. The team was left with only Kobe struggling to support it alone; Gasol could not provide much help to Kobe.

Their new additions had performed very well in the previous regular season; they were harmonious, and the chemistry was very prominent.

But tonight, they were struggling, confused, lost, and at a loss for what to do.

And the Clippers had only revealed half of their fangs.

D'Antoni held his forehead; he really wanted to curse Jean Bas out. If Paul and Howard were still on the court, he would have sufficient reason to block or even stifle the Clippers.

But now, he really, really did not know how to operate.

Kobe, the initiator, was directly imprisoned by Leonard, Butler, Fan Xi, Hamilton... these guards with different styles of play. Kobe's touch tonight was also not very good.

Gasol had declined very quickly this year; he did not play to his advantages when matching up against DeAndre Jordan and Kwame Brown. Moreover, he had not been valued by D'Antoni on the tactical end previously, so when he was suddenly tasked with heavy responsibilities, he was at a loss.

The point difference continued to expand.

The Lakers were in a situation of total collapse.

Before the season started, the Clippers had slaughtered the Lakers once. At that time, the Lakers said the Clippers lacked sportsmanship by going on a killing spree in the preseason.

But now, tonight, what would their excuse be?

Would it be that Paul and Howard were absent for some reason?

Then... the Clippers were still missing a Nowitzki.

The ESPN broadcast room was gloomy; their mood was more uncomfortable than visiting a grave. Their stance had always leaned toward the Lakers; they could be called the Lakers' number one sycophants. But now, Fan Xi was dragging their "daddy" and beating him to death.

…

"If Chris and Dwight were still on the court, it would be impossible to suffer such humiliation."

In a basketball bar, an angry fan smashed a beer bottle into pieces. As a die-hard Lakers fan, he had always possessed an arrogant sense of superiority over the Clippers. But this season, his arrogance was eroded; he discovered that the "mud-legged" team he originally looked down upon was constantly catching up, and tonight, they even gave him a sound beating.

He was too uncomfortable.

He smashed the bottle.

He did what every Lakers fan in the bar wanted to do.

But not everyone looked as fierce and menacing as him, like a Viking pirate with a full beard; he wouldn't even need makeup to play a thug.

The big, burly man walked outside angrily, and no one dared to stop him.

Everyone knew how terrifying basketball hooligans could be when they went crazy.

But he quickly stopped in his tracks; he had bumped into a tall customer sitting at the bar with his head down, drinking.

At that moment, he shouted angrily: "Do you want to die? Asshole."

Then, he pushed this person away.

After this customer stood up, he revealed his massive height.

Soon, people recognized him; he was a center who should have been on the court fighting for his life for the Lakers.

"Dwight Howard!! How is he here!"

Someone screamed, their tone full of disbelief.

Moreover, someone immediately recognized his companion. "Hey, Chris is here too. What the hell is the club doing? Didn't they say they had things to do? These two guys are just sitting here watching the team get slaughtered?"

"Are they still Lakers?"

A cacophony of voices rose up; they were all questioning Howard and Paul.

The fuse was the total collapse on the television.

That Viking-like burly man suddenly grabbed Howard: "You'd better fight like a man, don't hide in a bar drinking during a critical battle. This is a disgrace as a Lakers player. The Lakers' glorious history is not made up of cowards like you. Look at Jack Fan, who is wearing a Clippers jersey now; that damn bastard is the goal you should be learning from."

"When you put on the Lakers jersey, you should be worthy of the Lakers' historical glory."

"Don't let the Lakers be ruined in your hands. You should treat yourselves as the masters of the team, not as passersby who came to sponge off a championship."

This Viking pirate had a very loud voice, and he shouted loudly.

His questioning was recorded by many mobile phones.

This is the internet age.

These voices would soon be uploaded to the internet.

Howard and Paul were both very regretful; they regretted why they had come to this bar to watch the game when they could have clearly watched it at home.

Perhaps the past schedule had been too exhausting.

Or perhaps, they thought this was an insignificant "race to the bottom," and appearing here was understandable.

But who could have thought that Fan Xi would suddenly tear off his mask and go on a killing spree?

Howard and Paul didn't speak; they were in the wrong now.

They had the image of deserters.

They quickly continued to escape; they lowered their heads, without a single word of response, and quickened their pace to leave the bar.

This made many fans in the bar feel depressed.

Suddenly, a voice in the corner sighed softly: "Sigh! If only Jack were still a Laker, how good that would be."

This sentence was like a hammer gently breaking the glass at the bottom of people's hearts, and all the memories inside came pouring out.

Yeah.

If Jack were still on the Lakers, how good that would be; he was the true Laker. He fought alone in the finals, playing until he was the only rookie ball-handling core left, and he didn't retreat; his ligament snapped, yet he still fiercely faced the Miami Big Three, using a three-pointer he couldn't even jump for to deliver a buzzer-beater against the Chosen One... what kind of heroism was that.

Not like these two "number ones in the league" now, hiding here drinking at a critical moment.

Sigh!

Sighs rose one after another in the bar.

This was a painful night for Lakers fans.

…

In the fourth quarter, Kobe stepped up his assaults. With his age increasing, he rarely charged toward the basket like he was carrying a bag of explosives anymore.

However, the current situation forced him to do so.

He created damage time and time again, trying hard to claw back the score bit by bit; he didn't want the Lakers to suffer the biggest point difference in history under his watch.

He didn't want the shameful record at Staples Center to be recorded under his name.

Although no Lakers fan would ever blame him.

His arrogance supported him as he moved forward.

He was like a lone warrior.

After a few assaults, his touch was also recovering.

The point difference was once clawed back to 39 points.

However, with Steve Nash coming on, Fan Xi moved to the shooting guard position, and Vince Carter, Grant Hill, and DeAndre Jordan also came on.

Kobe's efforts turned into bubbles.

This fast-paced lineup, used for the first time, showed astonishing lethality in the very first round.

Steve Nash hit a 3-pointer at the arc.

Fan Xi hit a 3-pointer from the corner.

Vince Carter succeeded in a driving layup.

Grant Hill hit a wing 3-pointer.

The basketballs shot by the Clippers were like weapons with precision navigation, all hitting the bullseye one by one.

Within 3 minutes, their shooting percentage reached 100%.

This was heaven wanting to destroy the Lakers.

Such a terrifying shooting percentage directly produced a 19:4 run.

The point difference crossed the 50-point mark in one fell swoop.

And it was still increasing fiercely.

All the prestige the Lakers had accumulated this season was exhausted on this night; they had spent a whole year building up the dignity and status of being number one in the league, and they were invincible in every other arena in the league.

Only at Staples, the place where they should have won the most, were they repeatedly rubbed into the dirt by Fan Xi.

Tonight, they were about to create the biggest slaughter in history.

Kobe's face was livid; it could be seen that every nerve in him was filled with resistance and anger.

This was not what he wanted.

This was the humiliation Jean Bas brought upon herself.

Fan Xi never looked at Jean Bas once throughout the whole game, even though she was sitting conspicuously behind the Lakers' bench in a beautiful evening gown.

Because, for Fan Xi, ever since he stepped on that damn basketball after the first game and told the whole world that their relationship was severed, and slapped Jean Bas hard in the face, Jean Bas was nothing more than a dead person in his heart.

Tonight, destroying the Lakers and slaughtering the Lakers had nothing to do with her.

When there were 2 minutes left in the game, the point difference expanded to 57 points.

D'Antoni requested a timeout; he should have requested it long ago. He subbed Kobe Bryant off the court; Kobe had been fighting the whole time, always wanting to narrow the score.

But, luck was not on their side.

He was a veteran.

Whether he admitted it or not.

Moreover, the help around him was far less than Fan Xi's.

The most important thing was that in the absence of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, their pride-and-joy chemistry had turned into a pool of stagnant water.

In a sense, the Lakers were no longer Kobe Bryant's Lakers.

The Lakers era belonging to Kobe Bryant ended in the 2010-2011 season finals, when Fan Xi raised a new flag.

But the complete termination happened tonight, as Fan Xi extinguished his last hope.

…