Inside the TNT broadcast room.
"Oh! My God, Stockton's probably questioning his whole life after Chen stole the ball from him," Barkley said sympathetically.
Kenny Smith nodded helplessly. "Yeah! Charles, as a point guard, that really doesn't feel good. I can really understand how Stockton must be feeling right now."
"Oh? How so?" Barkley prompted.
"That Eastern Kid, Chen, has Stockton completely figured out. If you were in his shoes, how would you feel?"
Barkley thought it over, then answered seriously, "Well... I'd beat him up."
Kenny Smith froze for a moment and glanced at Barkley. Then the two burst out laughing.
After laughing for a while, Smith continued his analysis. "Jazz coach Sloan will probably take Stockton out and give him a chance to reset."
Barkley nodded in agreement, then continued, "If they don't take Stockton out, he'll only make more mistakes in his current state of mind. The Jazz are bound to fall apart because of him."
When the timeout ended, the Jazz did just as Kenny Smith and Barkley had predicted. Coach Sloan temporarily took Stockton out, and Karl Malone returned to the game.
Karl Malone was worthy of being someone who had once gone toe-to-toe with Basketball God Jordan. Though he was old now, he still had plenty left in the tank.
Even with Stockton off the floor, Malone remained the Jazz's undisputed scoring threat.
For the rest of the second quarter, those powerful elbows kept swinging, leaving Elton Brand questioning his whole life.
At the end of the second quarter, the Utah Jazz had actually taken a two-point lead over the Clippers, 50–48.
On the Clippers' bench, Coach Alvin Gentry's brow furrowed deeply.
Elton Brand simply couldn't guard Karl Malone. He'd become a black hole for the team, and that left Gentry feeling helpless.
Should he put Odom in to guard Malone in the second half?
But then he shook his head. Elton Brand and Odom were about equally capable on defense. Even if Odom took over, there wouldn't be any major difference.
Meanwhile, Elton Brand was still rubbing his chest. Those elbows had really hurt!
Just as Alvin Gentry was torn over what to do, a voice rang out in halting English.
"Coach, let me guard Karl Malone."
At those words, both the coach and the players turned to look at Li Chen.
Everyone knew Li Chen was famous for his terrible defense on the Clippers. That was pretty much an undisputed fact.
Now he wanted to guard Karl Malone? Wasn't he just asking for trouble?
Wang Zhizhi, who knew Li Chen's defensive ability better than anyone, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he stayed quiet.
Elton Brand was touched. He knew Li Chen was trying to help him.
"Chen, don't worry about it. I can keep going."
Li Chen ignored Elton Brand, grumbling to himself, If I guard him, I can still draw a foul. If you do it, it's just selfless sacrifice.
At the thought, Li Chen felt a little frustrated. His "flop" skill hadn't yet had the chance to show what it could do in this game.
My luck's been pretty lousy today! The thought left him feeling downright irritated.
Coming back to the moment, Li Chen saw that Alvin Gentry hadn't responded, so he continued, "Coach, we don't have any other options. Why not let me give it a try?"
"Well..."
"Hmph! With that tissue-paper defense of yours, you think you can guard Karl Malone? This is an NBA game, not an open-mic comedy show."
Odom seized the opportunity to sneer at him.
Nobody said anything. Odom's words were a bit harsh, but he had a point. No one could deny that Li Chen could score; they had to give him credit for that. But his defense really left a lot to be desired.
Li Chen shot Odom a bemused look.
Odom responded with a cold sneer.
After pondering for a moment, Alvin Gentry nodded. He decided to let Li Chen give it a try.
After all, this player had never let him down.
Fuck, this is so frustrating! Odom roared inwardly.
After halftime ended, the whistle blew to start the third quarter.
Andre Miller dribbled across half court, then passed the ball to Li Chen.
Michael Olowokandi moved over to set a screen for Li Chen and then cut to the basket. But Li Chen waved him off.
Michael Olowokandi was left completely baffled, with no idea what Li Chen was up to.
At the same time, Li Chen suddenly burst forward, charging toward Karl Malone, who was standing not far from the free-throw line.
The move left the two famous Chinese commentators puzzled.
Sun Zhengping furrowed his brow and said, "Chen's move doesn't make much sense!"
Zhang Weiping thought the same, of course, but he couldn't say that on air, so he forced an explanation. "Chen's going for the and-one. That's a very smart play."
Sun Zhengping: "..."
Li Chen's move also surprised Karl Malone. It was obvious that the Eastern player was coming straight for him.
Malone sneered to himself. This is Utah, Salt Lake City. The refs are going to favor the home team, you rookie.
So he charged straight at Li Chen.
Li Chen turned halfway and pulled off a Dream Shake.
Karl Malone hadn't expected Li Chen to have a move like that. Caught off guard, he got beaten, and Li Chen leaped high into the air.
Karl Malone was an excellent defender. How could a player like him not be skilled at exploiting the refs' blind spots? As the saying went, if the ref didn't see it, it was good defense.
So he blocked the referee's view with his body, then discreetly gave Li Chen a light tug.
Just as expected, Li Chen missed the shot.
When Li Chen landed, Karl Malone expected him to glare angrily and complain to the referee, claiming Malone had pulled him and committed a foul.
But Li Chen did something completely unexpected: he flashed a big grin.
The grin left Karl Malone baffled.
Just then, the referee blew the whistle, calling a foul on Karl Malone for pulling Li Chen.
Karl Malone was dumbfounded. What was going on? There was no way the referee could've seen that sneaky little move!
Meanwhile, in the Chinese broadcast room, Coach Zhang nodded repeatedly and said calmly, "Chen did a great job on that play. He didn't get the and-one, but it was a very smart move."
Inside the TNT broadcast room.
"Wait, did Karl Malone actually foul him?" Barkley asked, looking at his old partner, Kenny Smith.
"From the referee's angle, Karl Malone blocked his entire view. That call's really hard to judge."
Karl Malone was confident the referee couldn't have seen him foul Li Chen.
So he went over to argue with the referee, insisting he hadn't committed a foul.
But the referee was in a foul mood today. As soon as he heard that, he gave Karl Malone a technical foul without a second thought.
Malone, who'd been playing basketball for most of his life, was left completely bewildered. What... is this still a home game in Salt Lake City?
At the same time, one of the slow-motion camera angles appeared on the big screen.
When the fans saw it, they were stunned. Barkley and the others were stunned too.
They all thought the same thing: What the hell?! What's going on? Have you got radar in your eyes? How did you spot such a subtle little move?
At that moment, veteran Karl Malone was left questioning his whole life after being outdone by the referee.
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