Full-Court Defense

Li Chen watched the countdown to the end of the third quarter.

26 seconds left.

"Chen, that was a beautiful pass."

"Yes! Yes! That was so close!"

The chatter of his teammates interrupted Li Chen's thoughts.

After a short while, he smiled and said, "This attack was all thanks to Lamar; he deserves credit."

Upon hearing this, Odom couldn't help but smugly reply, "Actually, you should have passed the ball to me; I'm confident I could make a three-pointer."

Upon hearing this, Li Chen and his teammates ran towards their own backcourt in perfect unison.

Odom was stunned for a moment, then angrily retorted, "Fuck! You guys don't believe your old man Odom? That's outrageous!"

The shift from offense to defense.

Mavericks on offense.

Li Chen remained in the defensive core position because of his quick reflexes, fast help defense, and strong overall awareness, making him the rightful candidate for this role.

At that moment, Nash, who had the ball, suddenly started moving and broke through Corey Maggette's defense.

Li Chen quickly covered the area, blocking the opponent's path to break through.

Nash darted left and right, constantly trying to break through Li Chen's defense.

However, Li Chen moved to the side extremely quickly, maintaining a tight defensive position at all times.

Ultimately, Nash couldn't find an opportunity to break through and was forced to pass the ball to Van Exel.

However, Nash's decision to pass the ball to Van Exel, nicknamed "Madman Van," was a mistake.

After receiving the ball, he dribbled around for a while, then shot over Elton Brand.

Bang! Van Exel missed the shot; the basketball bounced off the rim and then soared high into the air.

The Mavericks used 10 seconds on this offensive possession. There were 16 seconds left in the third quarter.

Under the basket, Nowitzki of the Mavericks grabbed the rebound.

As soon as Nowitzki got the ball, he was forced out of the paint by Odom and Michael Olowokandi.

Li Chen had a feeling that he couldn't let Nowitzki get the ball comfortably, so he immediately moved close and adopted a close marking strategy, using physical confrontation to constantly disrupt Nowitzki's rhythm.

Li Chen's defense made Nowitzki very uncomfortable; he really disliked this close-marking defense.

Especially against a player like Li Chen, even though Li Chen is shorter and lighter than him, Nowitzki doesn't dare to underestimate Li Chen at all.

Nowitzki dribbled the ball with his back to the basket, slowly advancing towards the center. However, Li Chen possessed strong core strength and a stable lower body, making Nowitzki's strategy largely ineffective. Left with no other option, Nowitzki resorted to Golden Rooster Independence jumper.

At this moment, Li Chen's thoughts were somewhat complicated. He thought to himself that he had also experienced the Golden Rooster Independence today.

Lost in thought, Li Chen leaped high into the air, his large hand swatting the basketball that Nowitzki had just released from his grasp, sending it flying out of bounds.

Nowitzki's pupils suddenly contracted; Li Chen's explosive power and jumping ability had greatly exceeded his expectations, putting him at a disadvantage.

At that moment, the referee's whistle blew.

The Dallas Mavericks throw the ball in from the sideline.

Nash passed the ball to Van Exel had made a successful cut.

Van Exel quickly received the ball and was about to shoot when Li Chen quickly filled in, raising his hands high to deny him the opportunity to shoot.

Just then, Nowitzki managed to shake off Odom's entanglement and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

This scene alerted Li Chen.

Just then, Van Exel made a passing motion.

Li Chen hesitated for a moment.

In that split second of hesitation, Van Exel made another shooting motion.

Li Chen knew he was in trouble and instinctively jumped up, reaching out to block the shot.

But just then, Van Exel's lips curled into a smile. "Eastern Kid, you've been tricked!" Van Exel felt extremely pleased at that moment. He had finally won once. It wasn't easy!

At this moment, he truly felt that it was incredibly difficult to deceive Li Chen. He knew that if Nowitzki hadn't suddenly broken free of his defense, making the Eastern Kid wary, he would have had a very difficult time succeeding this time.

In a flash, he leaped high into the air, ready to toss the basketball forward.

Just then, Van Exel felt a large hand suddenly appear and swat the basketball away from his grasp.

This scene felt so familiar; he was once again blocked by Li Chen in the same way.

Meanwhile, cheers erupted from the fans at the Staples Center.

Li Chen's strength excited them; it was the kind of performance that made them think, "So what if you shake me off my feet? You still can't escape being blocked."

This feeling of having their opponents helpless sends their adrenaline soaring.

They shouted, "MVP... MVP... MVP..."

At this moment, Van Exel looked at Li Chen with a complicated expression.

Li Chen shrugged, somewhat regretfully saying, "Nick, you did a fantastic job. You were so close, so very close, to succeeding."

As he spoke, Li Chen gestured with his thumb and forefinger to indicate an extremely small distance.

Van Exel "...

Fuck, that bastard is still so annoying.

With 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Mavericks had their final possession, but Mavericks coach Nelson didn't call a timeout to set up a play.

Because the Mavericks had used up their timeouts in the third quarter, he hadn't expected the last minute and a half of the game to be so exciting.

This was an outcome he never expected. However, even if this attack failed, they didn't need to worry. After all, the Mavericks were in the lead. As long as they maintained their strong offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks still had a 70% chance of taking a victory from the Staples Center.

Van Exel inbounds the ball from the baseline, raising the basketball in his hand while constantly glancing at his teammates' positions.

Just then, Finley successfully made a run back.

Without hesitation, he passed the basketball directly to Finley.

After Finley received the pass, Corey Maggette used pressure defense to try to force him into a mistake.

But Finley was a seasoned veteran; he was steady and methodical as he approached the basket.

Without hesitation, Li Chen chose to team up with Corey Maggette to attack Finley.

The two players double-teamed Finley, blocking all of his offensive routes.

Finley attempted to shake off Li Chen by changing direction, but Li Chen keenly anticipated Finley's movement and quickly moved his body sideways to block his opponent's path, causing Finley's breakthrough to fail.

"Mike, over here," Nash called out.

Nash's assist was a timely help, which greatly relieved Finley.

But in that instant, Li Chen's eyes flashed, and he seized the opportunity to reach for Finley's grasp.

Thud! The basketball was poked out of bounds.

However, Finley reacted quickly, trying to regain possession of the ball, but in his haste, he accidentally knocked the basketball out of bounds.

Li Chen's steal put the ball back in the Clippers' hands.

But they didn't have much time left; only two seconds remained.

In the TNT broadcast room.

"Chen's timing for the steal just now was perfect."

"Oh? Kenny, why do you say that?" Barkley asked, feigning surprise.

"Because his steal timing was perfect, chosen precisely when Finley heard Nash was receiving the team's pass."

"Is there a problem with that?" Barkley continued to ask.

The two men's back-and-forth banter piqued the curiosity of fans watching on television, all eagerly awaiting Kenny Smith's next the Answer.