NBA Finals, Game 4

Seeing the Knicks playing smoothly, Popovich immediately called a timeout, partly to disrupt the Knicks' offensive rhythm and partly to devise an offensive strategy to improve the Spurs' finishing ability.

After the timeout, the Spurs' offense showed a significant improvement.

Duncan scored on every offensive possession, demonstrating his exceptional composure.

However, it was all for naught. The Knicks were on fire, raining down three-pointers that kept going in.

Even though Duncan was very consistent and made every shot, it was still only two points in the end.

So within a few minutes, the scoreline between the two teams not only failed to narrow, but actually widened further.

In the end, the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 110-101.

The Knicks' victory in San Anthony lays a solid foundation for the rest of the series.

In the TNT broadcast room.

"As expected, the Knicks have won this game."

"Haha! Kenny, I'm still thinking about JR Smith's behavior. That kid is hilarious. I really don't know what he was thinking, actually thinking about pulling Manu Ginobili's shoelaces, hahaha! So funny."

Kenny Smith chuckled speechlessly, then said solemnly:

"Although JR Smith's behavior was laughable, it gave the Knicks a huge advantage."

This season, Manu Ginobili averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 77 regular season games.

He is an important scoring option for the Spurs, and he often steps up when the Spurs are in trouble.

Barkley nodded, then analyzed, "Manu Ginobili will probably be out for about a week, and Knicks coach Alvin Gentry will likely not let this golden opportunity slip by."

"Yes, if the Spurs don't win a game this week, they will be swept 4-0 by the Knicks," Kenny Smith analyzed.

"Haha! Popovich must be having a headache right now!" Barkley said gloatingly.

"That's for sure. Even with Ginobili on the team, the Spurs struggled to beat the Knicks, let alone now. So, it will be quite difficult for them to beat the Knicks once Manu Ginobili returns."

"Yeah! It's going to be too difficult for the Spurs to beat the Knicks right now. My idol is so consistent, even more consistent than Duncan."

Kenny Smith greatly admires this.

After a short pause, he continued, "Let's take a look at the stats of the two teams' star players."

"Duncan of the Spurs had an outstanding performance in this game. He played 38 minutes, made 12 of 25 field goals, scored 30 points, had 5 assists, 12 rebounds, and made 6 of 7 free throws."

Despite Duncan's outstanding performance with 30 points, the Spurs still couldn't escape defeat.

Parker scored 18 points, Ginobili scored 16 points.

For the Knicks, Crawford scored 18 points, Wang Zhizhi 16 points, and the rest of the players scored around 10 points.

Li Chen played 43 minutes, shooting 9-for-20, scoring 28 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, and 10 blocks, including 5-for-7 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Although Li Chen's offensive performance is not ideal right now, his defense is Iron Wall and Bronze Barrier, and this near quadruple-double is the most convincing evidence of that.

Domestic.

After watching the first game of the Knicks vs. Spurs, Li Ruping turned off her computer and continued with her work.

Knock knock knock!

Just then, there was a knock on the office door. Without looking up, Li Ruping said, "Come in."

A moment later, the sound of the lock being turned was heard, and then the solid wood door was opened.

A beautiful woman in a business suit walked in and approached Li Ruping, saying, "President Li, this is our budget report for this year."

"Okay, put it here!" Li Ruping said, bowing her head.

An hour later, Li Ruping felt a pang of heartache as she watched the money slip away like water.

Sigh! I don't know if I should try to persuade Li Chen.

She checked the time, figuring Li Chen probably wasn't resting yet, so...

When Li Chen received Li Ruping's call, he was somewhat surprised and then pulled his car over to the side of the road.

Then he said, "Sister Ping, you can make the decisions about anything."

Li Chen's trust warmed Li Ruping's heart, which strengthened her resolve to persuade Li Chen.

"Li Chen, is that basketball project really reliable? We've already invested nearly ten million."

Li Chen was slightly taken aback. So Li Ruping had called because of this. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. By the way, how's Zhang Yiming's company going?"

Hearing Li Chen's confident words, Li Ruping's previously anxious heart finally settled down.

After a short while, Li Ruping gave a detailed account of the current situation of Li Chen Investment Company.

Half an hour later, he put down the phone and leaned back deeply in his seat.

VX should be able to go public by the end of the year, but to Li Chen's dismay, Jack Ma's Taobao had already been developed.

Therefore, he now has to compete with Jack Ma for the user market, and to compete for the market, he needs to use Tencent and Baidu, the two internet companies with the most users in the country.

Wait a minute, I seem to have forgotten the most important point, which is mobile communication. There are also a lot of mobile communication users. Smartphones are gradually becoming popular in China. If they could help promote it, I'm sure there would be a lot of VX users.

But how could he get their help? Li Chen fell into deep thought.

A dozen minutes later, his eyes narrowed slightly. The rule of this world was nothing more than putting profit first, so Li Chen made a crazy idea.

That means distributing the shares, binding together various domestic companies to form a huge chain of interests, thus making VX invincible.

Especially state-owned enterprises, which are like towering trees, with their support, VX is sure to become a popular third-party payment software.

Then he suddenly realized why WeChat was subject to transaction limits in later generations, while Taobao was not, which was something worth pondering.

So Li Chen called again and entrusted Li Ruping with full responsibility for the matter.

Back in China, after receiving a call from Li Chen, Li Ruping couldn't help but marvel at Li Chen's generosity.

After a moment of reflection, Li Ruping got busy, first contacting the six major state-owned banks, and then negotiating with telecommunications and mobile companies.

What Li Ruping admired most about Li Chen's boldness was that he gave away 5% of the shares for free. After visiting all eight companies, he suddenly lost 40% of the shares.

Li Chen did this because he wasn't short of money; what he wanted was a big player, to seize market share and users.

Most importantly, he knew the old saying, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; you can't catch a rogue without risking your wife." How can you accomplish great things without paying a price?

After finishing her business at the bank, Li Ruping went to find Tencent Little Pony.

Little Ma was very interested in VX. He adjusted his glasses and smiled, saying, "Ms. Li, I'd like to acquire your VX chat software."

Li Ruping was taken aback at first, then gave a charming smile and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ma, this really won't work."

Hearing this, Little Ma raised an eyebrow, then smiled again and said, "I will definitely satisfy you with the acquisition price."

"Mr. Ma, this isn't about money..." Li Ruping then explained the reason to him.

Later, Pony Ma learned that several major banks and two major telecom operators had invested in VX, so he didn't hesitate to invest as well, though of course, this cost money.

In the next game, the Knicks defeated the Spurs again.

This result wasn't entirely unexpected, given how consistently Li Chen played.

Even when he's not shooting well, he can still make a huge contribution to the team with his defense.

With this, the Knicks once again took a 3-0 lead over the Spurs, pushing another team to the brink of elimination.

May 17th, Game 4 of the NBA NBA Finals.

The importance of tonight's game for the Spurs cannot be overstated.

The media still has a very high opinion of the Spurs in this game.

After all, teams often perform beyond their usual limits when they are facing a desperate situation, just like the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Madison Square Garden was packed to capacity tonight, with fans crowding even outside the stadium.

They were all hoping that the Knicks could sweep the Spurs again.

When the Spurs' starting lineup was announced, Alvin Gentry frowned deeply.

The return of Manu Ginobili, the Spurs' key player, is not good news for the Knicks.

At the same time, seeing Alvin Gentry's deeply furrowed brows, Li Chen knew that Ginobili might have returned.

So he said easily, "Coach Alvin, you have to trust us!"

Hearing Li Chen's relaxed tone, he felt a sense of relief, because he trusted Li Chen.

Before the game started, Li Chen went to the restroom. He had just finished washing his hands when Duncan walked in from outside the restroom.

Li Chen hadn't expected to run into him here, so he greeted him with a smile, "Hi! Tim, what a coincidence!"

Duncan chuckled and said, "What a coincidence." After that, Duncan said nothing more.

Li Chen was speechless. This guy really was quiet!

Seeing that Duncan remained silent, Li Chen didn't try to get close to him.

So he walked towards the door, just as Li Chen turned to leave.

Suddenly, Duncan's voice came from behind. "We'll win tonight."

Although his voice wasn't loud, it was filled with determination.

At this moment, Li Chen paused slightly in his forward steps, then turned around to look at Duncan.

At the same time, Duncan also looked at Li Chen. The four calm gazes met, without any sparks flying or any confrontation. The two simply stared at each other calmly.

A few seconds later.

Li Chen suddenly grinned and challenged, "How about we make a bet?"

Duncan looked at Li Chen calmly, without saying a word, but Li Chen saw a different emotion in Duncan's calm eyes.

It was as if he was saying, "Hey, hey, hey! You're so boring!"

Li Chen ignored Duncan's gaze and continued speaking to himself:

"We're betting that if the Spurs win this game, I'll withdraw from the championship race. If the Spurs lose, you leave the Spurs. What do you say, Tim?"

Duncan opened his mouth, wanting to say something sarcastic, but in the end he didn't say anything and silently turned away.

Li Chen shrugged, thinking that educated people are not easy to fool. With that thought, he turned around and went in the opposite direction from Duncan.

The match begins.

The Spurs remains unchanged except for Manu Ginobili.

The Knicks did not make any changes to their roster, keeping the same lineup as in the previous three games.

Li Chen's random S-rank Skill in this match is [Clutch Shot].

This skill is a powerful tool when the game reaches a stalemate.

He then added captions like "[Miracle Shot][Assist Master]", "[Pull-up Jumper]", "[Fancy][Divine Shooter]".

This setup can make his individual offense even more powerful.

Once the game started, the Spurs maintained control as always.

The Spurs displayed an unwavering belief in victory from the very first quarter, launching their first offensive play of the game with the conviction that every basket would go in.

Parker used Duncan's screen to break through Li Chen's defense with a crossover.

However, Li Chen's ability as a two-time NBA All-Star defensive specialist is undeniable.

With the help of the [Fancy] skill that increases coordination, he skillfully bypassed Duncan and then, just as Parker was about to make a layup, delivered a chase-down block.

The moment Li Chen appeared next to Parker, Parker was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't understand why Li Chen, whom he had clearly shaken off, was now standing beside him.

Although Li Chen blocked the shot, the ball didn't go out of bounds and was collected by Ginobili, who had recovered from his injury.

JR Smith once again playing close defense.

When he faced off against JR Smith again, Ginobili had an urge to take him down and beat the ball up; he was so angry!

Manu Ginobili attempted a feint to shake off JR Smith, but JR Smith didn't fall for it, which surprised Ginobili.

What's going on? This kid's defense was terrible seven days ago, wasn't it? Can anyone tell me what happened in those seven days?

It turns out that after the shoelace-twisting incident, Li Chen caught JR Smith and taught him defensive techniques every day. It has to be said that JR Smith is a real genius; under Li Chen's pressure, he quickly mastered the defensive techniques.

That's only possible because of Li Chen; anyone else, like JR Smith, would have already lost their temper.

Ginobili initially thought crossing JR Smith would be as easy as crossing a street in the early morning, but he was wrong, which forced him to take JR Smith seriously.

Finally, he managed to shake off JR Smith and create space for a shot, but because he had just returned from injury, his shooting wasn't as consistent as before, and the shot missed.

However, Duncan held an absolute advantage in the paint, and despite Wang Zhizhi's best efforts to grab the defensive rebound, he was still unable to stop Duncan from getting the offensive rebound.

Duncan had just grabbed the rebound when he was immediately double-teamed by Li Chen, Wang Zhizhi, Allan Houston.

No matter how strong Duncan is, he can't score when he's surrounded by three defenders, and he might not even have a chance to shoot.

It's worth noting that this team includes Li Chen, an All-Star Defensive Player of the Year, and Allan Houston, as a seasoned veteran, whose defense, while not at the All-Star level, is still formidable.

Smart players always assess the situation carefully when playing ball; they don't act recklessly or gamble on a minuscule chance.

Duncan was clearly that kind of player, so he didn't hesitate much and chose to pass the ball.

The passing spot he chose was precisely the direction from which Wang Zhizhi's defense was relatively weak.

However... something unbelievable happened.