Chapter 553: Can the Clippers Make It to the Finals?

Michael Jordan lay in bed and was shot.

A remark—"Not wanting to be a four-peat Finals MVP makes a three-peat Finals MVP no good"—sent Jordan to the top of trending searches, though he had been enjoying a peaceful, happy vacation.

Besides Jordan's trending topic, Fan Xi's ambition was also being discussed by basketball fans worldwide.

Jieke Fan wants another championship? Then would his historical status surpass Jordan's? The first player in history to win the championship and Finals MVP in each of his first four seasons! The first player in history to win four straight Finals MVPs with three different teams!

Oh! Heavens!

Just piling up these titles alone makes people feel reverent.

This is Fan Xi's first time revealing his season-long goal.

Before this, few discussed whether the Knicks would win a championship, because they didn't look like a roster or team capable of winning one.

But when Fan Xi said that, everything changed. People quickly raised their expectations for the Knicks, which showed directly as the Knicks' championship odds on betting sites plummeted in a straight line.

"Why not? Why would anyone doubt the authority of a three-peat Finals MVP's statement?"

Larry Brown sat calmly at the post-game press conference, explaining Fan Xi's remarks in a calm tone, saying: "If the Knicks' goal isn't the championship, why did they hire me? Why build such a strong roster?"

If he had a thermos, Larry Brown would gently blow a puff, tilt his head back, take a small sip, then spit out a bit of tea leaves.

He has that demeanor.

Such calm composure is already championship-level.

Larry Brown even didn't want to talk about the game against the Nets, saying: "I have nothing to say about tonight's game. For similar questions, you should ask the Brooklyn coaching staff—they'll have plenty to say."

Larry Brown used not to be known for showing off, but now his pretense is even more effortlessly aloof than Phil Jackson's, and of a very high caliber.

Sitting beside him, JR Smith, unwilling to be outdone, also put on an act: "We're already considering our next opponent."

This seems a bit forced, and the tone has dropped.

When putting on an act, one should still strive for naturalness, leaving no trace.

JR Smith's pretentious remarks indeed became a key tool for reporters to provoke the Nets; their head coach Hollins exploded in anger, saying: "What gives JR Smith the right to say such things? He'll pay for his arrogance."

Sitting nearby, Lopez was also furious, saying they lost tonight because they failed to control the pace at the start; if they had firmly chosen to attack the paint from the beginning, they might not have lost to the Knicks.

Lopez is very tough.

He firmly believes the Nets will end up laughing last.

The opening loss is just a small hiccup on the road forward; it can be cleared up right away.

Brook Lopez has a romantic disposition.

The Knicks, however, do not presume the outcome of this series.

Because outside, nobody regards the Nets as their opponent anymore.

James Dolan showed little reaction to all this; when asked about the Knicks' victory at a business event the next day, he said: "I didn't watch the game last night, I have no interest in the April-May games, and I'll turn on the TV when June arrives."

"Of course, I don't want the Knicks to win the championship this year."

James Dolan, in front of the TV, uttered a statement that caused an uproar among New Yorkers.

Then, amid the reporters' astonished expressions, he slowly said: "Because Jake told me that if the Knicks don't win the championship, he won't return to Los Angeles. Although the championship is important, I hope Jake stays in New York."

James Dolan's remark explained the reporters' doubts, but it left them even more shocked.

As it turned out, Jake had privately promised James Dolan such a commitment. He actually pledged to bring the Knicks a championship, rather than just play one year for them and leave.

So… the Nets aren't they losing big?

Their original reason for trading Fan Xi's draft rights was to build a long-term plan and win a championship. But who knew Jieke Fan would actually promise to deliver a championship?

For a moment, media opinions diverged, with everyone mocking the Nets' short-sightedness and congratulating the Knicks on securing a championship guarantee.

Even James Dolan's remarks led many Knicks fans to agree.

They all became unworried.

Since Jieke Fan promised to bring the Knicks a championship, why do we need to win this season? We could totally wait two more seasons, letting Jake play three or four years here.

Wouldn't that be enjoyable for longer?

It's like choosing between a one-minute sprint and a fifteen-minute sprint—who would pick the former over the latter?

Nobody is in a hurry either.

Before the second game began, the media specifically asked Fan Xi about this. Fan Xi said the promise does exist, but he still hopes to achieve a four-peat Finals MVP himself, rather than waiting two years and then getting a three-peat.

Fan Xi's answer was very straightforward.

To surpass Jordan, he must do something Jordan never did.

This makes Jordan anxious; he truly worries that Fan Xi will get a four-peat Finals MVP.

Once Fan Xi unlocks this goal, he will then have a hard metric surpassing Jordan. Previously, it was just personal records like scoring 101 points in a game or a quintuple-double.

Fan Xi's "ambition" is obvious, to the point that Jordan even liked James's tweet and commented: "Come on, James!"

At the same time, he appeared in Chicago, watching the Bulls' game.

After the game, news spread that he encouraged the Bulls to keep improving.

Jordan can't play now, so he can only place these hopes on the Bulls and the Heat.

These are two natural hurdles; the Bulls are strong, the Heat are strong. Theoretically, Fan Xi and his Knicks would find it hard to get past these two obstacles.

…

The Nets were easily defeated.

Although Brook Lopez let out a wolf-king-like roar before entering the game, his first possession was turned into a traveling violation by Tyson Chandler and Kevin Garnett.

In this game, the Nets treated a dead horse as a living one, stubbornly executing the strategy of attacking the paint.

But Lopez traveled on his first offensive possession, his second attempt was blocked from behind by Fan Xi, his third was stripped by Garnett… three straight possessions yielded nothing, while the Knicks built a three-and-0 run, opening with a 7–0 burst and prematurely playing the song "Cool Cool" for the Nets.

The Nets then changed strategy, letting Carmelo Anthony go one-on-one.

They brought Pierce into the rotation, and had Deron Williams set screens.

They used every means they could.

【69】

Translate: "But the gap between the two teams was huge; although they once played excellently to narrow the score, and even had a possibility to overturn the score."

We need to keep meaning, not add. Let's produce concise: "But the gap between the two teams was huge; although they once played outstandingly to narrow the score, they even had a chance to overturn it."

Check: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "However, the Knicks had too many cards in hand, and they could do even more."

Better: "However, the Knicks had many advantages, and they could do even more."

But we must keep meaning: "..."

【81】

Translate: "This Nets team, lacking defensive depth and with no coherent system, a bunch of isolation players simply cannot withstand the impact."

We need to keep meaning: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "The outcome was decided after three quarters."

【87】

Translate: "Then in the fourth quarter, they pretended to resist a bit, and then they simply raised their hands in surrender."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "ESPN broadcast the game; during the fourth quarter, they pointed the camera at the Nets' bench."

【93】

Translate: "Their superstars' mental state looked much better than in the previous game; they were no longer so confused, nor so gloomy… they even seemed somewhat relieved."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Perhaps this is just letting go after seeing the truth of the world."

【99】

Translate: "Perhaps, for them, ending this nightmare-like season sooner is more important."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "The huge gap in ability makes one clear-headed."

【105】

Translate: "After this game, the Knicks will return to their home court. Of course, this game was actually already the Knicks' home court; although this is Brooklyn, the cheers for the Knicks far outweighed those for the Nets."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Fan Xi even earned MVP chants from the entire crowd from the start."

【113】

Translate: "For the Russian owner Prokhorov, this was a devastating blow."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "He could have made those MVP chants legitimate. With the Nets' roster at the time, if they had signed Fan Xi, the Nets might have gone further. But they insisted on making a trade… He probably thought that Fan Xi's one-year draft pick was far inferior to Anthony's long-term contract."

We need to keep "mvp" as is. Also "..."

【121】

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "If Prokhorov knew this, even if beaten to death he wouldn't make the trade."

【129】

Translate: "After all, even if he signed a ten-year contract with Anthony, he might not bring a championship. He played for nearly ten years with the Denver Nuggets and still came up empty-handed."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "The Russians regretted it too much."

【138】

Translate: "But regret is useless."

"…"

Translate: "…" (ellipsis). Keep as is.

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "The Nets' two losses at Madison Square Garden were expected, with no suspense."

Note: "..."

【148】

Translate: "These two games were relatively calm, with a preseason atmosphere; the Knicks frantically drilled, the Nets struggled to cope, like an old couple paying grain tax… there wasn't much mental interaction or pleasure; just as a little vigor emerged and they were about to try something new, Fan Xi snuffed out the spark of enthusiasm."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "So they just gave up."

【154】

Translate: "The fans who came to Madison Square Garden to watch the game were also happy; they liked this one-sided slaughter."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "They turned the arena into a huge party; it's rare for a game to have a full-venue sing-along midway, but the Knicks fans did it. They sang Taylor Swift's song twice."

Note: "..."

【163】

Translate: "The bedside table goddess is extremely famous in New York."

Note: "..."

【167】

Translate: "After a 4-0 sweep of the Nets, the Knicks became the first team to advance."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "This is also the only black-seven-miracle team in NBA history to advance via a sweep."

【172】

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "But no media gave it much coverage, because everyone took it for granted, thinking Fan Xi doing such things was no big deal. Everyone's psychological threshold had been raised high by Fan Xi; if James or other superstars accomplished this, perhaps it would be reported as legendary."

Note: "..."

【180】

Translate: "But Fan Xi has countless legendary stories, so this is nothing."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "So the Nets also didn't suffer much mental humiliation. They were like ice cubes melting in water; the Eastern Conference's second-place team just quietly ended their season, and they could happily go fishing."

Note: "..."

【188】

Translate: "At the same time, they began praying for the Knicks."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "They prayed that the Knicks would quickly win the championship, so they wouldn't have to face Fan Xi again next season."

【194】

Translate: "If Fan Xi doesn't leave, New York will never have their day in the sun."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Only if Fan Xi wins the championship and leaves satisfied will they have a chance to rise."

【199】 (but note: 【199】 is a note about translation? Actually 【199】 is "We need to translate names:..." That's a note, not Chinese. So we skip 【199】 as it's not Chinese line. The Chinese line for 【197】 is the long sentence. After that, there is a note about names. So we should not output 【199】 as a separate item. However the numbering may be off; but we need to follow the given numbers. The user gave numbers for each line, including notes. So we must output for each number that appears,

Thus:

【204】

Charles Barkley

【207】

Now the line: "..."

Now produce translation.

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Thinking this way, the heavens and earth suddenly felt vast."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Broad-mindedness is an important quality, and the Nets possess it."

"…"

Translate: "…"

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "After the Knicks swept the Nets without losing a single game, many basketball analysts analyzed the Knicks' tactics."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

【231】

complex and changeable

【233】

performance style

【235】

in essence

【237】

The Knicks are offense-oriented

【239】

but their defensive talent is terrible

【242】

Tyson Chandler, Garnett, and Fan Xi

Thus we need to decide: Should we output pinyin for Tyson Chandler and Garnett? Let's compute:

【248】

Kevin Garnett (Jian Nei Te)

Thus we will output: "Taisen Qian De Le", "0.7 Jian Nei Te", and "Fan Xi".

【254】

defensive sieve

Now produce translation.

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "With such a player roster, wanting to go far in the playoffs, basketball analysts are cautiously optimistic."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "But they have learned their lesson now, no longer speaking so confidently. Because the Knicks have Fan Xi, having Fan Xi means there is a turning point; Fan Xi himself is another synonym for miracle."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Since the Knicks were the first team to advance, Fan Xi took a flight to Los Angeles that very night of their advancement."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "He went to see Si Jia Li; Si Jia Li was pregnant with his child, so he wanted to check on her and accompany her for a prenatal checkup."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Los Angeles has many highly professional private hospitals, so this trip wasn't exposed, and they also protect personal privacy very well. Therefore, no such news appeared in the media the next day."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "This made Fan Xi wonder how Jennifer Aniston was secretly photographed back then."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "But that's all in the past."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "A woman having a little scheming is nothing."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "The point is, Troy and his relationship are very good."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "This often makes Fan Xi grateful for his luck: Troy happened to be born, then he happened to acquire the signing rights from the Nets, and then the Knicks acquired him at any cost."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "This is the best arrangement of fate."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Although Troy now loves football."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "But football is also good; Fan Xi hopes Troy will become a superstar on the football field, and if he can help the national team reach the World Cup, he will become an Asian hero like himself."

Chinese: "..."

Note: "..."

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Si Jia Li and Fan Xi discussed the child's gender and name; Si Jia Li was responsible for giving the child an English name, and Fan Xi was responsible for giving the child a Chinese name."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "But he is still considering it; choosing a name is a serious matter."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Fan Xi went to Staples at night; he and Si Jia Li sat together, causing no controversy. Now the media seems to have accepted this scene of Fan Xi appearing with various Fan girls, since the other Fan girls have no objections, what else could they say?"

Note: "..."

Chinese: "..."

Translate: "Unlike the easy slaughter in the Eastern Conference that allowed Fan Xi to advance to the second round..."

Chinese: "..."

The game between the Kuaisuan and the Lakers was very tense.

Currently, the Kuaisuan are leading 2:1, having won two home games, and now it is the Lakers' second home game.

If the Lakers eventually win, they will advance to the Heaven King Mountain showdown.

Before the game, Fan Xi did not enter the Kuaisuan locker room; he was not there to inspect work as an owner. He was just an ordinary fan, with no intention of participating in the game. In fact, he didn't care much about the outcome.

This is something Leonard and Maikelbang should worry about.

Before the game started, Fan Xi and Ke Bi chatted for a while; Ke Bi complained about Yang Ni Si's unreasonable defense against him, saying Yang Ni Si was very dirty.

Fan Xi smiled, "Isn't this the defensive aggressiveness you taught?"

Ke Bi refused to admit, saying he only taught him to be tough.

This is an unconventional master-disciple showdown; in fact, Leonard and Ke Bi can also be considered a master-disciple showdown. Strictly speaking, Fan Xi and Ke Bi can also be called both teacher and friend.

From these three relationships, one can see how old Ke Bi is.

Ke Bi performed extremely well in the regular season, and in the three playoff games he also averaged 31.3 points per game; at his age, having such output is truly rare, although there are still people criticizing his shooting percentage and court efficiency.

But this old-school super scorer cannot gain an advantage under this trendy advanced statistical data.

Many things cannot be discerned through data.

After the game started, Fan Xi up close felt the Clippers' sticky defense; the Clippers' forces pressing forward really gave a feeling of suffocation.

They are just like an iron curtain.

Ke Bi is the one who, holding a hammer, clangs and breaks open the iron curtain.

In terms of tactics and technique, both sides have a very high level of positional offense and defense.

However, for ordinary fans, they indeed feel drowsy watching.

There is no aesthetic appeal.

Both sides engage in high-intensity muscle-to-muscle combat, where every strike lands; attacks are made in the gaps, constant missed shots, fast breaks basically nonexistent, and counterattacks cannot increase speed.

So much so that Fan Xi saw the spectators in the back rows yawning.

"Jie Ke, if you were on the court, the game would be much more fun." Famous Black actor Dan Ze Er Hua Sheng Dun sat beside Fan Xi, asking him: "Do you really think you can lead the Knicks to the championship this year?"

"Do you think the chances are big?" Fan Xi countered this Oscar-winning actor.

Hua Sheng Dun thought for a moment and said: "I think there's a fifty percent chance, a fifty percent chance to get it, and a fifty percent chance not to."

This is a rigorous piece of nonsense.

Fan Xi laughed loudly; he liked Dan Ze Er's humor. He found Dan Ze Er far more entertaining than the role he played in American Gangster.

"I think the Kuaisuan can make it to the finals." Dan Ze Er continued.

He used his forward-looking vision to analyze the problem: "In the West, nobody has stronger offensive power than Ke Bi; they can make Ke Bi suffer so much, and they are also young, improving in every series. I think the Thunder and Rockets can't handle this bunch of youngsters."

Huh?

Fan Xi had never even thought about this problem.

Can the Kuaisuan make it to the finals??

…