blogombal Chapter 16 The Game-Winning Spurs
Chapter 16 The Game-Winning Spurs
2008年11月21日，晚9:00。
San Antonio, AT&T Center.
Knicks vs. Spurs.
If there's a hell mode in basketball, it must be the nights in San Antonio, facing the Spurs, a team that operates with the cold, machine-like ruthlessness.
From the very first second of the jump ball, the game turned into a breathtaking physical battle.
"Bang! Bang!"
That's not the sound of a basketball hitting the floor, but the sound of muscles colliding.
Popovich's tactics were executed thoroughly and decisively. As soon as Li Xiangbei crossed half-court, Bruce Bowen stuck to him like a piece of chewing gum.
Hands on the waist, knees thrusting, jersey ripping… Bowen used every "art of defense (dirty tricks)" he had learned in his life.
Li Xiangbei was having an extremely difficult time.
In the first quarter, he played eight minutes and only took two shots, both of which missed under pressure. The Knicks' offense was also completely disrupted.
Score: Knicks 12 : Spurs 18
The score was so low it felt like we were back in the 90s.
"This is the Spurs' swamp," the commentator exclaimed. "Li Xiangbei seems to be stuck in it; he can barely breathe."
……
There are 5 minutes left in the second quarter.
Li Xiangbei received a pass from David Lee at the bottom corner.
This is a fleeting opening.
Without hesitation, Li Xiangbei took a direct, high jump.
Just as he jumped, Bowen, who was originally a step away from him, suddenly glided over like an ice skater.
The instant Li Xiangbei made his move, Bowen's right foot, with extreme concealment yet unparalleled precision, extended directly beneath Li Xiangbei as he was about to land.
This is a standard foot-planting maneuver, enough to ruin a professional player's career!
D'Antoni stared in horror from the sidelines, wanting to shout but it was too late.
Li Xiangbei took a shot in mid-air (a normal shot, which missed).
Then, his body began to fall.
For an ordinary person, this would definitely result in a 90-degree ankle sprain, or even a ruptured ligament.
But Li Xiangbei is no ordinary person.
[System determination: Malicious damage detected (S-level foot-planting).]
[Steel Body (Passive): Damage Reflection Mode activated.]
[Steel knee brace: locked stiffness.]
Li Xiangbei stomped down heavily with his right foot.
In that instant, his ankle seemed to have turned into an iron stake, remaining completely still.
On the contrary, it was the "cushion" below—Bowen's instep—that bore the full impact of Li Xiangbei's 85 kilograms of weight, plus the reaction force determined by the system.
"Snap!"
A sharp, teeth-grinding crack.
"ah--!!"
A piercing scream echoed throughout the AT&T Center.
Li Xiangbei landed steadily, unharmed.
Meanwhile, Bowen, known as the "defense master," was clutching his instep, writhing on the ground in pain, his face pale.
The referee was dumbfounded. What was going on? Did the person who tripped over his own feet injure themselves?
However, according to the rules, Bowen violated Li Xiangbei's cylinder.
"beep--!"
The referee blew his whistle and pointed at Bowen on the ground: Defensive foul!
The Spurs fans were about to boo when they saw the replay on the big screen showing Bowen's obvious dirty tackle, and their boos were stuck in their throats.
Li Xiangbei straightened his jersey and slowly walked over to Bowen, who was groaning in pain.
He crouched down, looking at the face contorted in pain, his voice as cold as a whisper from hell.
"Bruce".
Li Xiangbei patted Bowen on the shoulder.
"The floor is hard, but my bones are even harder. Next time you want to cripple someone, remember to wear iron shoes."
Bowen was carried off the court. The team doctor's initial diagnosis was a fracture of the dorsum of his foot.
This "killer," who struck fear into the hearts of countless superstars, ended his professional career that very night.
……
The last 1 minutes of the fourth quarter.
Bowen's departure did not cause the Spurs to collapse. On the contrary, this experienced team showed amazing resilience.
Manu Ginobili took over the game; the bald Argentine was like a slippery snake, repeatedly breaking through to score.
Inside, Tim Duncan was like a wall of sighs, repeatedly swatting away Li Xiangbei's layups as he drove into the paint.
Score: Knicks 88 : Spurs 90
Time passed second by second.
30 seconds left. Knicks on offense. Li Xiangbei's three-point attempt misses.
28 seconds left. Spurs on offense. Tony Parker runs down the clock with a mid-range floater...and it misses!
rebound!
Randolph fought his way through a bunch of big men, his massive backside pushing aside Duncan and grabbing the life-saving rebound!
At this point, only 2.5 seconds remained.
The Knicks have run out of timeouts!
"Pass the ball!!" D'Antoni roared from the sidelines.
Without a moment to think, Randolph turned around and, like throwing a shot put, hurled the ball powerfully towards the frontcourt.
There, Li Xiangbei, who had just crossed the middle circle, had already started sprinting.
[Guaranteed winning amount: 1/5]
(Li Xiangbei had already used four attempts in the first three quarters to keep the score close. This was the last one.)
Li Xiangbei receives the ball.
There were still two meters to go before the three-point line in the frontcourt.
But he no longer had time to adjust, nor time to take another step forward.
Because a huge black shadow had already loomed over him.
Tim Duncan!
This power forward, standing at 2.11 meters tall with a 2.30-meter wingspan—the greatest in history—displayed an absurd defensive coverage area after switching onto a defender. His long arms virtually shut down all shooting space above Li Xiangbei's head.
Time: 0.8 seconds.
There was no other choice.
Li Xiangbei looked at the enormous hand that blotted out the sky and jumped up suddenly.
To avoid being blocked, he made an extremely exaggerated backward leaning motion in the air.
The upper body is almost parallel to the floor, and the legs kick forward to maintain balance.
This pose is just like that man wearing the number 24 purple and gold jersey, but it's more difficult and the distance is greater!
[System locked: Guaranteed win.]
[Interference Ignore Level: MAX.]
In Li Xiangbei's eyes, there was only that orange circle. All the surrounding sounds disappeared, and Duncan's large hand seemed to have turned into transparent air.
"Get in!"
He roared inwardly.
With a flick of the wrist, the fingertips flick out.
The instant the basketball flew away from my fingertips.
"Buzz—!"
The red light comes on. The final whistle blows.
Everyone's eyes followed the parabola that the orange ball drew in the air.
It was an extremely high arc, like a comet streaking across the night.
Popovich stood on the sidelines, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the ball.
After landing, Duncan turned around, and for the first time, a hint of confusion appeared on his expressionless face.
It has to be off-center...
"brush!!!"
That was the most beautiful popping sound of a basketball swishing through the net and rubbing against it.
Like a gunshot, it ended the night in San Antonio.
91:90.
Lore!
The entire AT&T Center fell into an eerie silence for a moment, and then dozens of Knicks fans in the corner erupted in a frenzy of screams.
Popovich on the sidelines paused for a second.
Then, "smack!"
He slammed the tactical board in his hand to the ground, shattering it to pieces! His usually indifferent face was now flushed red.
He calculated everything – the defense, the timing – but he didn't foresee that damn fadeaway, that unreasonable sure-fire shot!
On the field.
Duncan stared blankly at the still-swaying net, then made that classic move—he raised his hand, scratched his head, and stared blankly, as if questioning the meaning of life.
And Li Xiangbei.
He fell to the floor and before he could get up, Randolph, David Lee, and Gallinari rushed up and pinned him down.
"We won!! We won!!"
"Li! You are a god!!"
Li Xiangbei laboriously peeked out from the crowd, facing the camera lens that was pointed directly at him.
He stretched out his right hand and slashed his neck hard.
Throat-slitting ceremony!
That's a move Reggie Miller made at Madison Square Garden. Tonight, he brought it to San Antonio and gave it to Popovich.
……
The post-match commentary booth.
Charles Barkley, his face flushed with excitement, slammed his fist on the table and shouted:
"That's why he's the King of New York!!"
"He was smothered by the Spurs like a leech the entire game! His shooting percentage was less than 30% in the first three quarters! He even almost ruined his ankle!"
"But that's what a superstar is! He only needs that one second! He only needs that one chance!"
"He hit an impossible fadeaway three-pointer over Tim Duncan! He killed the game! He killed the Spurs!"
"I think Coach Popovich might need two bottles of red wine to fall asleep tonight!"
……
In the locker room.
Li Xiangbei sat in front of the cabinet, his whole body aching as if it had fallen apart. That was the price of 48 minutes of physical battles with the Spurs' muscular physique.
But when he looked at the text message Scarlett had sent him on his phone, which was full of exclamation marks and hearts, he laughed.
"Rookie Wall?"
Li Xiangbei threw the towel he used to wipe his sweat into the laundry basket.
"It seems this wall isn't so sturdy after all."
After the game.
Popovich refused all interviews and boarded the bus with a dark expression.
But before leaving, he said something to the teaching assistant beside him:
"Go check that kid's draft report. Why would someone like that fall to the second round? Are the Knicks' scouts superhuman, or are the other 29 teams blind?"
at the same time.
Li Xiangbei received a mysterious phone call from the East.
"Hello, Li Xiangbei. I'm from the Chinese Basketball Association..."
Li Xiangbei's eyes narrowed.
The 08 Olympics just ended, could it be... because of that?