Chapter 571: Charlotte, Someone Is Sighing

The look in someone's eyes when they want to kill cannot be hidden.

Just as Fan Xi on the basketball court cannot be stopped.

Fan Xi reached the frontcourt, and in a single encounter, as their figures separated, Fan Xi used a man-and-ball separation technique to send Chalmers' defense spinning in circles.

Chalmers' defense was not the stationary-post type, but Fan Xi's offensive level was more than just a cut above his defensive level.

Fan Xi charged inside the free-throw line, drawing James over to help defend, and he passed the ball to Josh Smith, who had been left open—he was not considered a shooter.

But he fired without hesitation—swish!

Smith's basket gave the Knicks the lead again.

The significant widening of the point gap that Miami had anticipated did not arrive; instead, they were overtaken.

Their mindset grew somewhat restless.

James took a deep breath and calmed down.

He personally received the ball, pushed forward from the backcourt, launched his attack from the wing, crashed through Smith's defense, then stop-and-go jump shot… his attack was beyond reproach.

But—clang!

Iron.

The rebound was secured by Garnett.

With Wade and James missing in succession, pessimism permeated the Meihangzhongxin qiuguan.

Fan Xi's next possession became especially important; many Heat fans were praying that their team had to defend this possession well, otherwise it would be tough to play if the Knicks pulled away.

So when Fan Xi came to the top of the three-point arc and quickly formed a driving advantage, Wade rapidly came over to double-team.

His timing was excellent—he nearly locked Fan Xi down completely.

But Fan Xi still found an opening to fling the basketball out; JR Smith caught the ball, James rotated over to defend at the first opportunity, and Wade also quickly switched onto Josh Smith.

It could be said that Miami's defense on this possession was very well executed.

But JR Smith, under James' defense, did something astonishing—he actually pulled straight up and launched the shot.

James hadn't expected it at all.

James thought he would drive, or pass the basketball to Fan Xi.

His center of gravity hadn't shifted upward; by the time JR jumped and released, James was a split second too late to contest.

Swish!

JR hit this unreasonable shot.

His basket filled the Meihangzhongxin qiuguan with sighs.

Beep!

The Heat called a timeout.

They had taken the court full of confidence, intent on widening the gap to double digits. Yet unexpectedly, they were battered by the Knicks on both ends of the floor, forcibly blasted by a scoring surge.

Spoelstra was frantic with anxiety; his inner panic even showed in his actions—when he took the tactical board, his hand was trembling.

He had to find a countermeasure.

He never expected that such a promising situation would be overturned just like that; from every angle, the Knicks should not have been able to come back. The Heat hadn't committed any major errors either, yet the Knicks had somehow produced their scoring surge.

"Is there a turning point in this game?"

The TNT host asked the three basketball experts beside him—he genuinely couldn't see any hidden mystery. Nor did he want to put on an air of profundity and toss out some unique insight.

Kenny Smith said, "It seems like the same style of play as before. But why is it producing this effect? Does Jie Ke have magic?"

The sage spoke not of strange forces or chaotic spirits, but he truly could only attribute it to that.

"Perhaps because Miami was too hasty. They shouldn't have brought Chalmers in; if Wade had been defending Jie Ke the whole time, things would be a bit better." Barkley tried to explain the current phenomenon through Miami's changes.

The Magic, however, hit the nail on the head: "I think it's a chemical reaction within the Knicks. Their defense is tighter, their offense more resolute. Both Smiths hitting their shots—that has an element of luck."

"If Miami wants to win this game, they first need to stay composed and not panic. There's still plenty of time; their advantage hasn't been erased."

Magic Johnson offered his advice: "They must prepare to fight a hard battle. They can't think about a quick win or avoid the crucial showdown with Jie Ke."

Magic Johnson understood Fan Xi very well, and also understood the situation on the court very well—after all, he was the greatest point guard in NBA history.

And his thinking coincided perfectly with Le Bu Lang Zhang Si's.

Le Bu Lang Zhang Si figured it out on the way back to the bench: I was too aggressive. I was too afraid of Jie Ke's ability in clutch moments, so I hoped to build a sufficient lead before those crucial moments arrived. I should be more patient than him. I must face my inner fear directly in order to truly conquer it.

James was a person with very high basketball IQ; after years of torment from Fan Xi, his resilience had grown ever higher. He was increasingly adept at drawing lessons from experience, and increasingly adept at rising from failure.

He did a self-review on the bench, then admitted his judgment had been flawed.

He said, fortunately the deficit isn't much. If we steady ourselves, we can still fight our way back.

Then, the Heat adjusted their lineup.

Defensive player Xiaoen Badi'er took the court, replacing Chalmers. At the same time, Birdman Anderson replaced Kenyon Martin.

Miami's defense improved significantly.

Meanwhile, Fan Xi made a new assessment on the bench. He said, "Miami will definitely shrink strategically—they'll definitely strengthen their defense. We can attack freely now. But we need to clamp down on James and Wade's wing attacks."

Larry Brown made personnel adjustments based on Fan Xi's prediction.

Fan Xi, JR Smith, Bargnani, Josh Smith, and Stoudemire got the opportunity to take the court.

This was a run-and-gun lineup.

Pure offense.

Beep!

When the whistle sounded, players from both teams walked onto the court.

The TNT commentary booth was startled first. Magic Johnson said, "My goodness, I originally thought Jie Ke would stay very low-key this entire game—who knew he'd make such a crazy move at this moment."

"Why wouldn't Jie Ke stick with the previous lineup? Winners need not make changes—that's the simplest truth on the court." Kenny Smith couldn't understand it either.

Meanwhile, the two teams on the court also had completely different thoughts.

When James saw the Knicks' brand-new lineup, he felt a slight stir of excitement inside, but quickly calmed down. He turned around and told his teammates: "As long as we withstand the Knicks' fierce onslaught, we will win without a doubt. They can't hold back anymore; they have no patience."

James had finally waited until Fan Xi took the initiative to attack.

Meanwhile, the Knicks players looked at Fan Xi with even greater admiration. Miami's personnel adjustments proved that Fan Xi's judgment was correct—they were indeed contracting their defensive line.

Now, it had become a duel between attack and defense.

Everyone wants to have the last laugh, but who can actually have the last laugh?

James inbounded the ball to Wade.

Fan Xi went to defend, but JR Smith volunteered himself to handle Wade. Fan Xi then walked toward Le Bu Lang Zhang Si, while Xiaoen Badi'er was left to Bargnani.

When Fan Xi stood beside James, the viewers in front of their televisions immediately grew excited.

They were anticipating the peak showdown between James and Fan Xi.

But James did not let everyone get their wish this possession. He moved swiftly. He had improved his off-ball ability this season—he had been striving to emulate Fan Xi, hoping to possess "gravity" like Fan Xi and command off-ball dominance.

After wrestling with JR Smith for several seconds, Wade spun past him with his back, drove into the paint. His emotions were running high; he did not wait for the best timing but went straight to challenge the restricted zone guarded by Stoudemire. He leapt up explosively and crashed into him.

Just as he had expected, Stoudemire was defending with his body turned sideways. Stoudemire's defensive instincts had always been terrible.

But just as Wade attempted a one-handed slam dunk, a black shadow flew in from behind… Smack!

He felt his left hand holding the ball go numb.

Then his palm lost control of the basketball.

By the time he landed and turned around, he found the basketball in Bargnani's hands, with Josh Smith standing behind him.

Josh Smith had tremendous athletic ability. Although he had a tendency to lose focus during his time with the Hawks, he had cured that in New York.

This block was his masterpiece.

The television broadcast was replaying his sharp catching ability—he was like an eagle snatching prey in midair.

Wade had exposed the basketball far too obviously.

Bargnani handed the basketball to Fan Xi, who steadily pushed the ball forward.

Reaching the frontcourt, it was James himself who guarded him.

He made three probing crossovers at the top of the arc, then casually passed the basketball to Stoudemire at the free-throw line.

Facing the aggressive defense of Birdman Andersen, Stoudemire made a convincing drive fake. The moment Andersen's weight shifted backward, he rose and shot directly… he punished the Birdman.

Andersen was a white blue-collar forward covered in tattoos. In his prime, he was a decent defender, but he was not tall. Stoudemire was now exploiting his height and his declining athletic ability.

The Heat's deployment like this was absolutely not a wise move.

Therefore, Fan Xi would let Stoudemire force the feed inside.

Never underestimate Stoudemire's face-up isolation scoring ability.

At least seventy percent of his scoring title was well-deserved.

Dealing with Andersen was more than enough.

The point difference widened further.

Miami grew even more anxious.

Even Pat Riley, sitting on the bench, did not have a good look on his face at this moment.

He was very worried—if they lost the first road game, then what about the second road game?

Miami had a severe "Fan Xi Syndrome." Facing Fan Xi, especially when trailing in crucial moments, their courage would decrease rather than increase.

"Could the Knicks actually walk away with this victory?"

At this moment, Barkley raised a question he had never thought of before.

Kenny Smith hastily said with conviction: "Why say that? Could the Knicks really not beat the Heat? They have Jie Ke, the God of Basketball!"

Magic Johnson sighed and said: "If Jie Ke defeats the Heat in this series and then wins this year's championship MVP, he truly is the God of Basketball. At least in my book, he is."

Magic's sigh set many fans in front of their televisions thinking.

If Fan Xi truly won four consecutive championships, would he then be the God of Basketball?

Sigh!

Someone in the Charlotte area was sighing.

…