Chapter 340: Time Left for the Lakers Is Running Out

Kuaisuan suddenly got two free throws and a shot, which was an unexpected delight for Fan Xi, like finding a lottery ticket on the road and scratching a first‑prize.

Swish!

Swish!

Both free throws went in, giving Kuaisuan a three‑point lead.

Then Kuaisuan continued the inbound.

Although De An Dongni kept emphasizing defense, defense, defense from the sideline.

But Butler still easily passed the ball to Fan Xi, who, using Kuameibulang's screen, shot directly from the three‑point line… Swish!

It hit.

The gap instantly became six points.

Beep!

De An Dongni called a timeout.

He got a bit impatient.

The game was still evenly matched, and they were still thinking they could wait leisurely for Kuaisuan to slip up and crush them in one blow.

It turned out that before Kuaisuan fell, the Lakers had already collapsed.

Kobe Bryant's face turned iron‑blue; he was angry, he went back to the bench and said to Howard, "When you defend Jie Ke, why do you have to jump? You only need to block his path. Don't always try to block him and make a big headline…"

Before Kobe could finish, a hot‑tempered Howard couldn't help but retort, muttering, "If I don't jump, he'll dunk over my head. When I stretch out, the interior gets lost. Defense can't rely on me alone; at least Gasol has to work harder."

Howard often criticizes Gasol for being unenthusiastic on defense and not being able to help him.

Kobe's expression froze; he hadn't expected Howard to contradict him at such a moment.

But he restrained himself; he knew stability was needed now, and arguing was useless.

"We must attack and defend fully; we can't just pursue positional warfare, we can't keep chasing so‑called advantage points," Chris Paul said to De An Dongni at that moment, hoping to speed up the pace, let the team chase points and overtake, because little time was left for them.

Kobe still wanted to stick to his attitude, but De An Dongni made a decision, agreeing with Chris Paul's idea, issuing a brand‑new deployment: he ordered all players to move, but still limited Kobe Bryant's activity range to the first attack zone.

Kobe no longer objected.

Because in the world there has never been a debate of "right and wrong", there has always been a debate of "right and right".

A six‑point gap, three minutes left, the Lakers must go all out.

Beep, the whistle sounds.

While the Lakers made a new deployment, Kuaisuan switched to a brand‑new lineup: Fan Xi, Arenas, Butler, Nowitzki, Xiao Qiao Dan.

"Let's go do something crazy."

Fan Xi said this to his teammates before the game. Earlier, Coach Mike told them: you need to steal points, like robbers storming the Lakers' house, pry open all their safes.

Thus, Arenas and Butler, these two crazy men, were placed into the lineup.

When Chris Paul raised the tempo and crossed halfcourt, he found Arenas standing before him.

Arenas spread his arms, blocked Paul, and in his unique tone, like a street gangster, said, "Come on, buddy, let's play a big show, let me see if your asshole is black."

Arenas pounded his chest, his excitement like he had just taken some drugs.

Paul didn't tangle with Arenas; he quickly changed direction, using his favorite left‑to‑right crossover, not wanting to interact with this fallen former super‑star like a street thug.

He thought he could easily take down the now power‑lost Arenas.

But… Poof!

He had just completed the move when Arenas collided: "Some explosive power is gone, but strength remains."

Arenas' bull‑like charge knocked point‑guard Chris Paul off balance; he staggered, while Arenas lunged like a mad dog.

Chris Paul instinctively panicked, reflexively passing the ball, intending to give it to Kobe.

Kobe saw Paul being heavily contested by Arenas, he was prepared, but as he stepped forward, Fan Xi also lunged in.

Seeing the ball racing toward them, the two tangled, just as Kobe gained the upper hand.

A figure swooped in from the side, Butler, like a soccer goalkeeper, smacked the ball directly.

His body hit the ground heavily, but he immediately flung the ball far away.

Arenas was first, grabbed the ball and rushed forward.

Paul chased relentlessly, but little did he know Arenas, one meter inside the three‑point line, stopped abruptly… the frontcourt was empty.

Paul couldn't have imagined even in his dreams.

Arenas lifted his hand and shot.

Paul's face was full of disbelief.

"This is the Western Finals!"

"Can you justify fighting so hard for your teammates?"

"Just shoot like that?"

"Aren't you afraid of being scolded by the coaching staff?"

"Don't you need to organize?"

Questions kept popping up in Chris Paul's mind.

He was still too young; when he first entered the league, Arenas' nickname was "Great General".

"What ball wouldn't he dare to shoot?"

Swish!

The ball precisely fell through the net.

9 points!

In an instant, Kuaisuan led by 9 points.

Two crazy men plus Fan Xi, a normal person, destroyed the Lakers' morale with one shot.

The whole Staples Center fell into astonishment, and the fans were taken completely by surprise; they had thought Fan Xi was already at the limit of madness, yet they didn't expect that a tiny Kuaisuan could still have such a peerless pair of hidden dragons and phoenix chicks.

One is a brain glitch, the other is reckless.

"Hold steady! Hold steady!"

After Paul drove the ball forward, Kobe reminded him. Even though they were down nine points, he still wanted to develop a sneaky surge, base himself on defense, play steadily, because in Kobe's basketball philosophy, defense wins the championship.

But for Paul, time waits for no one.

Saint Paul barely accepted being beaten by Fan Xi, but he would not tolerate Kuaisuan's old, weak, sick, brain‑dead players swaggering over his head one by one.

Howard shared the same view.

Howard moved up to screen for Paul, then the two made a fast double break; their double break was extremely lethal, Paul's path was full of variations, and Howard's momentum was like a dragon, unstoppable.

Arenas was still defending Paul, chasing him from behind and giving him no chance to complete a sudden stop.

Howard sprinted down another lane; he was like a wild horse untethered. Little Jordan, a very athletic center, was still outrun by his acceleration.

Seeing that he couldn't solve it himself, Paul quickly passed the ball to the sprinting Howard on the other side. Howard received the ball, his legs drove again, and he was about to finish with a powerful slam dunk.

But he saw a figure standing upright directly in front of him… Poof!

He inevitably collided with it.

Jimmy Barrett, like a kite whose line had snapped, flew straight out… Howard's impact was comparable to that of a rugby player.

Beep!

The head referee blew the whistle.

Even though the ball was very unfavorable to the Lakers.

But it was indisputable.

It was an offensive foul.

Video replay showed Barrett standing motionless before the legal collision zone, like a pine clinging to a green mountain; one second before the head‑on impact, his expression was calm and his eyes clear.

There was no hint of evasion.

"Real gangster! So ruthless, so fierce," Charles Barkley gave unprecedented respect on the TV station.

In fact, it wasn't just Barkley; everyone watching TV was infected by Butler's tenacious spirit.

Defending against Howard's high‑speed charge wasn't something that could be done with a little courage, let alone standing upright there waiting for the collision.

Howard helplessly slapped the basketball heavily onto the floor.

At that moment, he saw Butler struggling to rise from the ground; the guy hadn't been pulled up by Fan Xi or Arenas—he got up on his own.

After rubbing his sore chest, Butler calmly looked at Howard, flashing a smile that made Howard feel a chill: "Dwight, you still dare to try again?"

Butler's expression was very serious; he wasn't just putting on a show, he was clearly telling Howard: if you come again, I will still be waiting at the same spot.

If others said that, Howard might think it was mere posturing, but coming from Butler, Howard absolutely believed it was genuine.

Kuaisuan's two drafted rookies—one with defensive talent unrivaled in the league, the other with an incomparable fighting spirit.

What a find.

The Lakers lost possession.

"Their momentum is gone."

Kenny Smith bluntly judged: "This is the Western Finals; if you miss even one round, it triggers a domino effect and you fall like a mountain collapsing."

"If the same thing happens to Kuaisuan, the result will be the same. Their strength is already a fifty‑fifty split."

Kenny Smith said.

The game continued.

Fan Xi controlled the clock.

He was neither hurried nor slow.

The Lakers kept pressuring him to attack early, but Fan Xi was as steady as a rock. In the end, through a pick‑and‑roll with Nowitzki, he entered the paint, and amid restless defense, finished the play with a buzzer‑beating floater.

Kuaisuan extended its lead to 11 points, leaving the Lakers little time left.

…