Chapter 487

Fan Xi powered through a three‑man trap with a delicate finger‑roll layup, and James nailed a clean step‑back three.

The two supercores' opening two shots lifted the game straight to the true pinnacle.

This is enough to make the seasoned historical superstars on the bench, a lineup of the top‑ten all‑time greats, gasp in awe.

The game continued to unfold at an extremely high level.

LeBron James still couldn't stop Fan Xi, who has become an unstoppable blade.

But after three minutes into the game, the Heat displayed strong finishing power.

Because, it wasn't just LeBron James stepping up; Dwyane Wade, who had been lying low all season, sparked a relay. Although many said this season that Flash's peak was past and injuries had robbed him of his flash,

But before taking the court tonight, he shot his sore knee with a blocking injection.

Wade has also gone all‑out.

His attack brought a huge threat to the Clippers' defense and also sapped much of Fan Xi's energy.

This kept Fan Xi from putting all his energy into offense.

Moreover, the Clippers' starting lineup tonight was off—Jimmy Butler's touch was ice‑cold; he took three consecutive shots and missed all.

Mili Xiqi and little Jordan also failed to find good opportunities in the paint, while the Heat turned up their defensive intensity to an unprecedented level.

They were intent on forcing a Game 7.

This is ideal for the league, advertisers, sponsors, and TV stations.

But for the Clippers it's not a good thing; they don't want to drag the suspense out another three days.

Fan Xi ramped up his personal offense, exerting himself to the limit to barely maintain a roughly five‑point lead, preventing the Heat from extending it.

But throughout this process Fan Xi never altered his lineup.

On one hand he wanted his teammates to gradually regain their touch; on the other he wanted to keep the team's resilience in adversity.

Not until two minutes remained in the first quarter did Fan Xi make a substitution—Huaiti Seda, who works wonders against James, came in, along with the extremely sharp‑shooting Hamilton and Leonard.

But once they entered the game, their touch went ice‑cold too—Hamilton, under Ray Allen's tight defense, actually threw up three bricks.

"The Clippers are a bit dangerous."

Shaquille O'Neal said during a TNT TV timeout: "Although everyone says this year's Finals are Fan Xi versus the Three Giants, if he loses his teammates' help, Jieke alone could never defeat the Heat—not even God could do that."

The occasion for O'Neal's remark was Wade stealing Leonard's pass with six seconds left in the first quarter, racing downcourt, and hitting an extremely difficult buzzer‑beating three, giving the Heat a 32‑25 lead, up by seven.

Fan Xi tallied 15 points in the first quarter, the game‑high.

On the Heat side, Wade had 14 points, James 8, Bosh 5, Allen 5—four players sharing the scoring evenly.

If we say in the previous game, the Clippers left everything on the floor, united as one, and beat the Heat.

Tonight, however, the Heat turned the tables.

Could Fan Xi tonight be destined to repeat James' tragic Pivotal Game—where James posted a 50+ triple‑double yet still lost?

The TV cameras kept sweeping back and forth between the two benches, while they also hoped to catch some special expressions from the luxurious courtside entourage of top‑ten historical stars.

Jordan was then discussing with Kobe and Magic Johnson: "Do you think individual heroism matters more, or team spirit?"

Johnson certainly endorsed teamwork; although he had a forward's build, he was history's first point guard…Going forward, if Fan Xi isn't positioned as a point guard, hardly anyone could take his historical stature.

But Kobe had a different view: "If personal scoring efficiency is high enough and the ability to shred defenses is strong enough, why deliberately pursue teamwork? I oppose the current trend that says you aren't a superstar without assists. Who can't pass? I can toss the ball into the hoop, but I won't throw it to someone who can catch it."

"Passing itself is meant to improve offense, but the act of passing raises turnover risk. Wouldn't putting a few more players in the paint to rebound give the same advantage?"

Kobe's theory permeates his playing style.

Kobe and Magic, the two greatest guards in Lakers history, were deadlocked; they looked to Jordan, the final arbiter, who holds that stature in the world.

Jordan first said: "Padding assists isn't hard—just having hands is enough."

He then said: "The hard part is getting teammates into a smoother offensive rhythm."

"But if teammates can't find their touch, the player should shift into takeover mode."

"Jieke Fan needs a game where his personal offensive power can blast through the defense. Does he have a chance in this game?"

Jordan asked.

Magic shook his head, saying there's no chance, because James isn't that easy to destroy, and besides the Miami Heat Big Three are all playing superbly tonight.

Kobe wasn't sure either. Deep down he certainly wished Fan Xi would go on a rampage, but given his knowledge of Fan Xi he felt Fan Xi would never do that, even though he knew Fan Xi would surely take over in the clutch.

He said: "Jieke is someone who trusts his teammates; he won't pour all his energy into offense. He will surely keep adjusting the lineup until the game shifts into Clippers mode, which they're good at."

"No." Jordan shook his head: "Tonight's Heat won't give them a chance to adjust; they'll keep pressing the Clippers. If the Clippers players can't suddenly regain their touch, then Jieke must use his own offense to maintain the margin. That would reduce the corrective opportunities his teammates get."

"This will create a 'vicious cycle'. Jieke Fan needs a game like this; only such an aggressive, pressing game will 'wake him up'."

Jordan said.

"To become a dominant‑level superstar one must endure a desperate, isolated moment and also possess the strength and tenacity to emerge from it."

"Everyone must admit that Jieke Fan's two past championships had a luck component. He could always hide his true ability, but now that he's reached this height he has little room left to conceal it—and that is often the most dangerous moment."

Jordan, speaking from experience, said: "My personal ability had actually peaked before my first three‑peat; I just didn't have Jieke's luck back then. But why did I go on to win two more three‑peats? Despair—I went through despair, I forged an absolute killer instinct: as long as I step onto the Finals stage, nobody can stop me."

Jordan finished saying that.

Kobe sucked in a breath of cold air, seriously asking Jordan: "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Huh?"

Jordan was puzzled. He told Kobe: "I thought you already knew—you grabbed the shot‑creation rights as a rookie, drove O'Neal away after the three‑peat, then trained alone…and finally won the three‑peat."

Kobe stared blankly for a while before realizing: "It seems there is indeed some sense of different roads leading to the same destination."

However, he had indeed experienced despair, but not to Jordan's extent. In 2007, at his low point he requested a trade from the Lakers, wanting to go to the Chicago Bulls.

But the deal fell through because of Luol Deng, after which the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, added the growth of Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom's focus, and after suffering the 2008 loss they went on to a three‑peat dynasty…the third championship mainly came from Fan Xi's effort.

The difference between Kobe and Jordan is that Jordan truly went through despair, he overturned the Detroit Pistons that had brought him despair, and in that process he refined his roster.

He far surpasses Kobe in managing and motivating a team; Kobe, although also strict, only learned the outward form.

This is why Kobe has always lived in Jordan's shadow.

Now, a choice was pushed before Fan Xi.

Qiao Dan raised his head to look at the big screen; the screen was showing Fan Xi on the bench, standing beside Mai Ke Bu Lang, and he and Bilupusi were arranging tactics for the teammates… Mai Ke Bu Lang was more like a ball boy holding a tactic board.

The home fans had long been accustomed to Fan Xi calling the shots; many subconsciously regarded Fan Xi as a member of the coaching staff.

Qiao Dan, however, always felt this unnecessary; he believed players just needed to focus on their own court, at most giving the coaching staff some experience, no need to do everything personally—although it could show his all-around ability, it would also consume a lot.

"Looks like Jie Ke still intends to find chemistry through lineup adjustments; they have already established wonderful chemistry in the regular season." Ke Bi said.

"Compared to the regular season, they are missing an important chemistry reactor… Nowitzki. Nowitzki is a player who can ignore defense to launch an attack and excellently finish the attack." Jordan still believes Fan Xi must face the despair brought by the Heat's Three Giants alone.

Beep!

The whistle blew.

The Heat made personnel adjustments: Qian Mo Si finally entered the game, Lei A Lun left to rest, but the Three Giants remained; the center switched from Ken Yang Ma Ding to Ma Ku Si Kan Bi, with no essential difference. Nene's offense was even somewhat better than Martin's.

The Kuaisuan's adjusted lineup is: Fan Xi, Arenas, Lun Na De, La Shade Liu Yi Si, Huaiti Seda.

This lineup verified Ke Bi's idea.

Fan Xi still hopes to reignite chemistry through lineup adjustments; this is a lineup with extremely strong offensive firepower.

For this, they at least sacrificed defense at two positions.

"Jie Ke is very smart, very good at adapting; he can come up with over ten lineups each game and make them work perfectly. But the game doesn't need smartness; being too smart in top-tier games isn't very meaningful."

"If Jie Ke lived in our era, in that extreme offense-defense, he would understand this principle sooner." Qiao Dan evaluated from the highest tier.

Qiao Dan always believed that the simpler basketball is at the end, the better; that's why during his three-peat he always got the ball with his back turned on the strong side, then used this simple move to crush all the strong opponents.

Beep!

The whistle blew.

The Heat quickly inbounded the ball and launched a swift, all-out offensive; James passed the ball to Wei De, Wei De dribbled into the paint, under Fan Xi's defense he went straight for the basket, but just as everyone thought he would complete a dunk, he slammed the ball hard toward the rim.

Fan Xi reacted, but James had already soared in from the other side, he grabbed the ball and, over Huaiti Seda, slammed it into the basket.

Boom!

The James-Wei De connection was clean and neat, the ultimate violent aesthetics.

Kuaisuan paid the price for their lax defense.

After Wei De scored, he vigorously waved his fist.

He also shouted: "Jie Ke, the real showdown has just begun. You Zhongguo people always say, the first to win are paper; I really appreciate this saying, I'll give it to you."

…