The game shifted from defense to offense.
Marbury certainly wasn't afraid of Li Chen.
Near the three-point line, Marbury raised his arms and blocked Li Chen's path. "Kid, let's see you try to shake me to the floor."
Li Chen kept a blank expression and didn't bother trading trash talk with Marbury.
He lowered his center of gravity, dribbled back and forth between his hands, and moved his feet in rhythm.
Marbury stayed with him steadily, showing no sign of losing his position.
Suddenly, Li Chen leaned to the right, but his feet moved to the left.
At that moment, Marbury's ankles gave way. His feet slid backward until, with a thump, he landed hard on his backside.
He lifted his head and stared at Li Chen in shock. He really had been faked out and sent to the floor. It didn't seem real.
Looking down at him, Li Chen said calmly, "Still not convinced? I'll take you on whenever you want, until you are."
As he spoke, he scored while Marbury looked up at him.
The score was tied again at 72–72.
Cheers once again rang through Staples Center.
The cheers were like steel needles stabbing into Marbury's heart, driving him almost to madness.
Damn it! No, I have to get even, or how am I supposed to make a living in the NBA?
Marbury dribbled the ball up the court again.
At that moment, Li Chen felt something strange.
It was somewhat like the state he'd accidentally entered while practicing before.
But it was also different, because he didn't feel as if he could control the entire court.
That strange state was like a door bound shut by countless chains.
He knew that if he could break every one of those chains, he'd enter that fascinating state again.
Even without opening that door, though, his abilities had improved tremendously. His speed and agility had reached a terrifying level.
If the human limit was 100, Li Chen was now at 99.
Although 99 and 100 were separated by only one point and seemed close, the gap was actually enormous.
Marbury tried to shake Li Chen with a crossover again.
Li Chen felt as if Marbury's movements had slowed to a crawl. All he had to do was reach out and he'd steal the ball.
With that thought, Li Chen swiftly reached for the basketball.
Smack! Li Chen's fingers seemed to have radar, swatting the ball out of Marbury's hands with pinpoint accuracy.
Marbury was startled. In desperation, he exceeded his usual level and managed to save the ball.
But his grip on it was unsteady.
Right then, Li Chen snatched the ball away from him.
The fans burst out laughing. Marbury had gone to all that trouble to save the ball, only to hand it right to someone else. At that moment, he was a complete clown.
Li Chen stole the ball and sprinted all the way down the court, finishing with a thunderous dunk beneath the basket.
74–72. The Clippers took the lead.
An overwhelming roar rose through Staples Center once again.
That Eastern man was playing with so much heart tonight. They loved him.
The Suns went on offense.
Li Chen stood in front of Marbury again. "You give up yet? If not, we can keep going."
Li Chen's calm voice made Marbury feel as though he were facing an insurmountable mountain, much like when he'd once faced Michael Jordan after Jordan had been provoked.
Even so, he didn't want to submit to this Eastern man's tyranny. He wanted to say, "I'm not giving in! I'm not giving in! I'll never give in!"
But he knew he was no match for the man he'd just provoked. His rational side told him to give up. Struggling would be useless and only make things more humiliating. That was all. Right now, he truly felt powerless.
He even regretted it now. All he'd wanted was to vent the resentment pent up inside him.
But he'd never imagined that this Eastern kid would hold such a grudge.
Besides, Wang wasn't even your fellow countryman, just a teammate. Did you really have to take things this far?
As his thoughts raced, Marbury passed the ball to Stoudemire on the baseline.
Marbury had backed down. He'd lost his nerve and given up.
After Stoudemire got the ball, he charged toward the basket like a heavy truck.
Wang Zhizhi stood in his way. Stoudemire had originally planned to dunk over him.
After all, Stoudemire had never accepted Yao Ming as the top pick. So he didn't think much of Easterners.
But just then, for some reason, he pictured Marbury being faked out and knocked to the floor.
Would this petty yellow monkey take revenge on him too? All right, that petty man would definitely get back at him.
After all, the man who'd just been faked out was only his teammate, an American. If he dunked over an Easterner...
At that thought, he decided not to try the dunk. What if he missed? That would be humiliating. He came up with the perfect excuse for himself.
After Stoudemire scored, Li Chen brought the ball up the court.
This time, Marbury didn't guard Li Chen. He'd clearly been beaten into submission.
Joe Johnson reluctantly moved up to guard him, looking uneasy.
"Chen, I'm telling you, don't take this too far," Joe Johnson said.
"I just blew Marbury out. You're the one who wouldn't listen and kept sticking to me."
As he spoke, he passed the ball to Elton Brand, who was fired up.
Joe Johnson felt as though he'd just taken ten thousand points of damage.
Fuck, are you the devil? Joe Johnson felt completely wronged. If he'd known Dou E, he would've clung to her and wept, then together they would've wailed, "Sister E, we're so unjustly accused!"
Meanwhile, when Elton Brand caught Li Chen's pass, he thought of how Li Chen had stood up for him.
Honestly, he was deeply moved, almost to tears. He secretly vowed that Li Chen would always be his good brother.
Lost in thought, he charged toward the basket, leapt, and slammed the ball through.
76–74.
After that, Elton Brand seemed unstoppable, making shot after shot.
By the end of the third quarter, Elton Brand had scored 18 points on his own.
The Clippers led 96–80, a 16-point advantage over the Suns.
Less than five minutes into the fourth quarter, Elton Brand was still attacking fiercely, scoring another eight points.
The Clippers went on a 14–5 run and blew the Suns out.
The Suns surrendered and took all their starters off the floor.
On the Clippers' side, Alvin Gentry also pulled the starters.
This time, Li Chen asked to come out too, because he was a little tired.
He knew it had to be because of the state he'd just entered.
At the same time, he wondered what it would be like to play a game after truly entering that strange state. At that moment, his eyes were full of anticipation.
When the game ended, the Clippers had won 120–105.
In this game, Elton Brand had an outstanding stat line of 32 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.
His other teammates had also performed well.
Li Chen finished the game with 20 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.
Elton Brand was named Player of the Game.
Li Chen had missed out on "Ankle Killer."
But he didn't mind. It would show up as a random draw sooner or later.
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