Chapter 224: Chapter 39: The Final Showdown

James was frustrated as he watched the TV.

This wasn’t the result he wanted.

Su Xi hadn’t even taken the court. When a furious Garnett came looking for a fight, he was nowhere to be found.

’Is this his personality now? He never used to be the type to know when to back down.’

’He’s even copying me on this!’

James was not happy.

He had hoped Su Xi would maintain his wild and untamable personality. That way, Garnett could beat him to a pulp.

But now, he actually knew when to quit while he was ahead. After the game, the media would definitely report on his brilliant performance and violent attack in the first half. He would make out like a bandit.

’So cunning!’

Su Xi’s success made James extremely uncomfortable.

Seeing that two and a half minutes had already passed in the fourth quarter and Su Xi was still nowhere in sight, James lost all hope.

At this point, the All-Star Game had become lukewarm. But with the Shark wreaking havoc in the paint and Nowitzki and Peja hitting back-to-back threes, the Western Conference Team had already taken the lead.

If things continued like this, the West would most likely win the game.

Tracy McGrady was trying hard.

But the dynamic of the strong West and weak East wasn’t so easily broken.

Just as the fans’ excitement began to wane, a figure appeared on the jumbotron overhead.

People saw Su Xi striding out of the players’ tunnel.

The camera quickly zoomed in for a close-up.

Su Xi was all smiles, his movements agile, immediately ruling out the previous speculations of an injury.

So what was the reason then?

As Su Xi looked up to greet the fans around him...

The camera clearly captured the hickey on his neck. It was so red, so prominent, so eye-catching.

A wave of laughter erupted in the Staples Center. Everyone knew what was going on, especially when they connected it to Scarlett Johansson’s simultaneous disappearance.

"So... what was Jack up to? I don’t think I need to spell it out," Charles Barkley said, spreading his hands. "The height of that red mark on Jack’s neck perfectly matches the distance of Scarlett standing on her tiptoes."

"Love is truly a wonderful thing. It will always be more important than basketball," Magic Johnson added emotionally.

Huh?

Kenny Smith frowned and asked Magic, "Your love life is probably a bit different from Little Sheep Su Xi’s, right? Though you did stop playing basketball later on..."

How offensive.

Magic Johnson fell silent.

But in front of their TVs, the audience erupted in laughter.

With Su Xi’s return, Rick Carlisle immediately called for a substitution. Su Xi suited up and took the court, along with Ron Artest.

They replaced Jason Kidd and Tracy McGrady.

Kidd and McGrady were both furious as they left the court.

These two were the only superstars giving the East an edge. They were the league’s number one point guard and the league’s number one shooting guard (debatable).

But now, at a critical moment, Carlisle was abusing his power for personal reasons by subbing them out.

Jason Kidd immediately laid into Carlisle, "This is terrible coaching. Do you think your Little Sheep Su Xi can lead the East to victory?"

He was as bossy as ever, accustomed to ordering head coaches around.

Before the game, Rick Carlisle had tolerated his criticism.

But now, Carlisle stood his ground. He asked Kidd, "Am I the head coach, or are you?"

"You..." Kidd was at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected Carlisle to be so firm. ’Wasn’t he meek and subservient before, nodding along to whatever I said?’

"Even if you are the head coach, you can’t show such favoritism to your own player. Besides, this lineup has no chance of winning. The moment Little Sheep Su Xi gets on the court, he’ll become a target! Garnett from the West will tear him apart."

Jason Kidd paused for a moment before continuing his tirade.

He was used to throwing his weight around in New Jersey.

"Before you were on the court, the team was leading. Now, the team is behind," Carlisle said to Kidd, his final words on the matter, then turned to look at the court.

He wasn’t going to waste any more breath on Kidd.

Kidd snorted angrily and returned to the bench.

’I’m just waiting to see you make fools of yourselves. After the game, I’ll definitely throw some shade your way, humiliate you.’

Kidd muttered under his breath.

Half the bench was watching him.

Ben Wallace, Baron Davis, McGrady, Martin, and the others all had expressions like they were watching a good show. With Su Xi back and playing at a crucial moment, they no longer wanted to play. They were clearly trying to embarrass Su Xi.

Who told this rookie to be so arrogant and so undeserving of his status?

They knew they couldn’t outright isolate Su Xi, because the head coach was his man.

But they could refuse to play. They could use passive-aggressive non-cooperation to ruin Su Xi’s reputation.

At that moment, the East was trailing by 3 points.

Su Xi took the court and took control of the ball. His teammates were: Reid, Artest, Paul Pierce, and Little O’Neal.

The Western Conference Team’s lineup was: Shaquille O’Neal, Nowitzki, Peja, Kobe, and Francis.

Su Xi brought the ball up to half-court.

Now, the world in his eyes was completely different from the first half. Magic Johnson’s "Super Spatial Awareness" talent gave him an astonishing ability to read the half-court situation. His teammates’ positions and movements, the opponents’ defensive setup and cuts... everything appeared like a three-dimensional image.

He was no longer limited to a single point or plane.

Moreover, he discovered that this "Super Spatial Awareness" talent wasn’t just good for his passing and playmaking; it also functioned like a ’GPS navigator’ for his drives.

Su Xi executed a quick crossover in front of Francis. Francis wasn’t a good defender, but this time he guessed correctly.

Unfortunately, guessing correctly was useless.

Su Xi powered right past him, using his strength to knock Francis aside as he charged into the paint.

Previously, when he was on the move, his vision was limited to his immediate surroundings.

But now, he felt like he could see the entire court.

His brain processed rapidly: ’Which area of the defense is weak? Can my passing technique get the ball there quickly?’

In the blink of an eye, Su Xi drove to the basket.

O’Neal and Nowitzki came over to help on defense.

Su Xi quickly faked a pass to Little O’Neal, causing the defense to collapse further. But then Su Xi suddenly whipped the ball... it flew behind Nowitzki to the corner... and Pierce caught it.

When Pierce caught the ball, he too was a little surprised. ’How did this kid do that? How did he know I was here?’

The wide-open Pierce jumped and shot... SWISH!

The ball dropped through the net.

A three-pointer.

Tie game.

TWEET!

The whistle blew.

Western Conference Team head coach Sanders called a timeout.

He needed to make substitutions, reset his strategy, and surround Su Xi. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

When Su Xi had returned to the court, Garnett had clenched his fists. His anger hadn’t diminished with time. He now just wanted to furiously humiliate Su Xi. Only that... could vent the rage in his heart and the humiliation he’d suffered.

"The real showdown has arrived. Regardless of whether Jack went on a date with Scarlett earlier, he now has to face the full-blown assault from Garnett and the Western Conference Team. As a rookie, a so-called ’vote king’ who got voted into the All-Star starting lineup by his female fans, he should have kept a low profile."

Kenny Smith said excitedly on TV, "But he just had to stir up trouble. Does he think the Western Conference All-Stars are made of plastic? Does he think the Wolf King Garnett is some pushover who will just turn the other cheek? Just you wait. There’s no escaping it now."

Smith blamed all his humiliation on Su Xi: If Su Xi hadn’t played so well, he wouldn’t have had to suffer the shame of having his face licked by a donkey’s tongue and kissing a donkey’s ass.

Therefore, in the TNT broadcast booth, he was the one who most wanted to see Su Xi humiliated.

He’d been annoyed with Su Xi for a long time.

Just as he finished speaking, Scarlett returned to her courtside seat.

When the camera focused on her, all the viewers at home tried to find any tell-tale signs on her.

Charles Barkley, observant down to the smallest detail, suddenly clapped his hands and shouted, "The hair! It’s the hairstyle!"

"I kept thinking Scarlett looked a bit odd, and now I know why. Scarlett changed her hairstyle. She didn’t have this style before. She tied all her hair up in a ponytail. Before, her hair and makeup were done up beautifully."

"So what could have caused her to change her hairstyle?"

Barkley was puzzled.

Then, he turned his head to ask Magic Johnson, "Magic, this is your area of expertise. Come on, bring out your professional knowledge and give us an analysis."

"Generally speaking, a ponytail is helpful for many... positions. But it’s a pity. Why not pigtails..." Magic Johnson analyzed from a professional standpoint. Truly worthy of being the number one player to leave the court for ’love’.

While Magic Johnson was analyzing the ponytail...

A bizarre scene unfolded on the Eastern Conference Team’s bench.

As Su Xi and the others came off the court for the timeout, Davis, Wallace, McGrady, Kidd, and Martin—five All-Stars—all sat down in the corner together, their expressions screaming ’stay away from us’.

Their refusal to go back in the game was crystal clear.

Carlisle and Su Xi had long been aware of their little schemes. At this moment, Carlisle was full of admiration for Su Xi. ’Su Xi truly has strategic patience and wisdom.’

’It’s like he calculated that these guys would sandbag.’

He deliberately went to rest for a while, letting them play for the MVP for a bit.

That way, they unwittingly did all the hard work for Su Xi. Su Xi got his rest, recovered his stamina, and could now launch his final assault.

Kidd and the others didn’t believe Su Xi could beat the West. The biggest reason they were doing this was to watch Su Xi make a fool of himself.

"Su, I’ll help you."

Just then, Pierce suddenly spoke to Su Xi.

Su Xi looked at Pierce.

"Don’t thank me. I’m not helping you for your sake. I’m doing it because of Tony. Tony saved my life, and he told me to look out for you," Pierce said.

For him to step up and support Su Xi at this moment, the significance was self-evident.

He and Tony Battie truly had a life-and-death friendship.

Battie, as Su Xi’s Chief Protector, had once genuinely saved Pierce’s life.

Back when Pierce was stabbed more than a dozen times, if it wasn’t for Battie carrying him to the hospital, even if he hadn’t died, he would never have recovered so well.

So, it was perfectly reasonable for him to be repaying that favor now.

It’s just that now, Su Xi owed Battie another favor.