Chapter 321: Chapter 88: The Fate of the Championship (Part 2)

He then passed to Foster.

Foster finished with a one-handed tomahawk dunk.

Su Xi had learned that move from Kobe, but his was superior.

Kobe wasn’t as strong, and while his flexibility was a rare talent in the league, it was still a far cry from Su Xi’s own max-level flexibility.

Su Xi’s spin wasn’t to create his own shot, but to break down the defense.

The two carried a fundamental difference.

Therefore, if Su Xi’s talent continued to evolve, once he fully integrated Kobe’s super offensive talent, he would undoubtedly surpass Kobe in every aspect.

"Strictly speaking, Su Xi shouldn’t be called a point guard. He should be called a center-guard. With his physical strength, he could make a living in the paint."

"Moreover, he’s shown strong back-to-the-basket skills in this game. That spin just now was so silky smooth, you can’t help but think of Olajuwon. He and Kobe must be two of the best post-up guards in the NBA."

CCTV replayed it in slow motion, and Yao Ming was full of praise. "There’s even an element of using the opponent’s force against them. O’Neal exerted force, and Su Xi used that momentum to spin around his body. That’s a highly advanced technique. To put it in simpler terms, that was Zhang Wuji’s Great Shift of Heaven and Earth."

Yao Ming’s commentary was both brilliant and professional.

The game continued.

Gary Payton passed to O’Neal. O’Neal forcefully pushed Foster aside, but Artest rushed in from behind and swatted the ball away.

O’Neal went to the free-throw line.

He missed both.

Kobe’s face soured into a deep scowl; everyone could see how unhappy he was.

Play resumed on the other end. Su Xi stretched the defense with Gary Payton guarding him. Under Payton’s tough defense, Su Xi couldn’t find an open teammate. He created some space with a shake and took the shot... The form was beautiful.

The technique was picture-perfect.

But the finishing touch was just a little off.

CLANG!

The ball bricked off the rim.

The moment the ball clanked off the iron, Su Xi felt his ’Super Offensive Talent Index’ actually start to rise.

And in that instant, it dawned on him: ’Bricking shots under high-intensity defense helps absorb the ’Super Offensive Talent.’’

Su Xi was completely caught off guard.

Then, realization struck. ’So this is Kobe Bryant’s super talent... The index actually goes up by bricking shots.’

’The Master Bricklayer lives up to his name.’

Fortunately, the rebound was tipped out of the paint by Little O’Neal. Artest boxed out Kobe to grab the board and passed it to Reggie Miller, who had run to the corner. Miller shot the three... SWISH!

It was good.

The Pacers took the lead by 3.

This made Kobe anxious. He continued to play one-on-one against Su Xi, showcasing his incredibly high level of skill. But even with Su Xi sealing off his left, he still forced the attack. Artest rushed over to cover his right, double-teaming him, yet he still didn’t pass.

His skill truly bred an audacious confidence.

CLANG!

Another brick.

Foster got the rebound.

He passed to Su Xi, who slowly brought the ball up the court.

He was unhurried, and even had the presence of mind to listen to Kobe and O’Neal blaming each other.

Kobe was telling O’Neal to grab the damn rebounds, while O’Neal was telling Kobe to treat his teammates like actual people and stop trying to be the hero all the time.

Listening to them argue like that, Su Xi was tempted to brick another shot himself.

’What if my Super Offensive Talent Index increases again?’

However, Su Xi suppressed the strong urge. Winning was more important.

He rushed into the frontcourt. The Lakers had Gary Payton guarding him, as Kobe needed to conserve his energy for offense.

Su Xi quickly broke through Payton’s defense. At the free-throw line, he executed a brilliant stop-and-go followed by a realistic pump fake that even drew Kobe over to help. Su Xi then passed the ball out. Artest caught it, gave a pump fake of his own, and passed to Miller, who hit another 3-pointer.

The lead continued to grow.

Carlisle stood on the sideline, a strong sense of unreality washing over him. ’Are the Lakers really this easy to beat? Or have we just gotten this strong?’

The game continued.

O’Neal finally broke the Lakers’ scoring drought. After a missed floater from Gary Payton, he grabbed the offensive rebound and finished with a put-back dunk.

After the basket, he pounded his chest and let out a roar.

His roar resonated powerfully throughout the Staples Center, as all the fans hoped this was the beginning of a ferocious Lakers comeback.

The Lakers did indeed organize a strong offensive push afterward, with both Kobe and O’Neal playing exceptionally well.

However, the Pacers were incredibly resilient, consistently maintaining a six-to-eight-point lead.

「Time flew by, and soon it was the eleventh minute of the fourth quarter.」

There was exactly one minute left in the game.

The Lakers were trailing 96 to 103, down by 7 points.

Kobe Bryant had the ball.

He brought the ball into the frontcourt and didn’t hesitate for a second. Facing Su Xi’s tight, smothering defense, he decisively drove forward and suddenly jumped from a meter behind the three-point line. Su Xi leaped with him to attempt a block.

Kobe’s takeoff was abrupt, and his body twisted in mid-air, but his release was as steady as ever.

Because of the difference in their vertical leap, Su Xi couldn’t block the shot, despite his perfectly accurate read.

The ball flew over Su Xi’s head, tracing a beautiful arc through the air.

Su Xi’s defense on that play was perfect. In that moment, he felt he understood the logic of how Kobe generated force under extreme pressure... This finally raised his ’Super Offensive Talent’ index to 72.

SWISH!

The accompanying sound of the ball ripping through the net extinguished the flicker of joy that had just sparked in Su Xi’s heart.

"Defense!" Kobe shouted.

seconds left.

The Lakers were still down by 4.

Theoretically, they still had a chance to win.

Su Xi took the ball from Artest, his expression calm. He steadily brought the ball up and then stopped at the top of the three-point arc to burn the clock.

Gary Payton was constantly harassing him, trying to disrupt his rhythm.

But Su Xi remained composed. The ball was obedient in his hands, refusing to be knocked off course.

Su Xi let the shot clock wind down to seven seconds before suddenly making his move.

He quickly drove inside the free-throw line, then came to a sudden stop and spun around, passing the ball as planned to Reggie Miller, who had cut to the corner.

Who would have known that just after the ball left his hands, Kobe, who had been next to Artest, suddenly shot out. He had predicted Reggie Miller’s route.

He dove with reckless abandon, tipping the ball back at the cost of a hard fall. Luke Walton caught the ball and secured it.

Kobe scrambled to his feet, grabbed the ball, and charged down the court.

Su Xi was in hot pursuit. This time, Kobe powerfully attacked the paint. Su Xi kept pace, constantly shadowing Kobe’s shooting space.

But as Kobe drove deep into the paint, Foster instinctively turned his body to help.

The moment Foster turned, Kobe made a decision nobody expected. He bounced the ball to O’Neal, who caught it and exploded upwards. Little O’Neal rushed over to block but was a step too slow. Although he grabbed O’Neal’s right arm, he couldn’t stop him from slamming the ball into the hoop.

BOOM!

O’Neal completed the violent dunk.

And the referee blew his whistle, calling a foul on Little O’Neal.

Shaquille O’Neal had an and-one.

seconds remained on the clock.

The Lakers had a chance for a free throw.

The Staples Center erupted.

They had seized the momentum.

But just then, Su Xi stopped Carlisle from calling a timeout.

He didn’t want to give the Lakers a chance to regroup.

O’Neal walked to the free-throw line.

At this moment, O’Neal had two choices: try his best to make it, or intentionally miss it.

Su Xi and Kobe both walked to the line.

This shot was crucial; it could decide the fate of this year’s championship.

Every fan’s heart was in their throat.

Even the usually talkative Yao Ming silenced the other two commentators. "Shh! Let’s see how they handle this."

O’Neal stood at the line, breathing carefully. The close-up shot showed he was a little nervous. Despite having already won three championships and three Finals MVPs, he couldn’t hide his tension at such a critical moment.

He took two deep breaths, then aimed at the basket and pushed the ball forward with his ’standard form’.

...