Consecutive Dunks

At the same time, Carter seemed to sense something and looked toward Li Chen. Their eyes met.

In each other's eyes, they saw a burning passion for basketball and an unwavering devotion to the game.

At that moment, Li Chen felt a strange sense of kinship with Carter.

They both nodded at the same time.

A moment later, the jump ball began. The Raptors won it, but Li Chen snatched the ball away with lightning-fast reflexes.

The Clippers went on the attack.

The Raptors got back on defense quickly.

The Toronto Raptors were playing man-to-man defense that night.

As Li Chen dribbled past the frontcourt three-point line, Carter stood in his way.

Li Chen's lips curled slightly. He lowered his center of gravity, then suddenly burst forward with a long stride.

With just one step, he got past Carter by half a body length.

Li Chen found it incredibly easy to get past an offensive player like Carter.

Carter was just as stunned. He truly hadn't expected Li Chen's first step to be so quick. Only Iverson could match that kind of speed, right?

Though he'd lost his position, Carter gritted his teeth and chased Li Chen without giving up.

Antonio Davis came over to help.

Li Chen stopped abruptly, his sneakers shrieking against the floor.

As he came to a halt, he tensed his body and made a shooting motion.

Antonio Davis leaped past him, and Li Chen spun around, dribbled past him, and soared into the air.

Just then, Jerome leaped up too. Li Chen's lips curled slightly as he pulled the ball back with both hands, then passed it beneath Jerome's arm to Elton Brand, who had just run over.

Elton Brand slammed the ball into the basket.

0–2. The Clippers struck first.

The Clippers' smooth, flowing offense drew boos from the home crowd.

As they ran back on defense, Elton Brand complained, "I hate getting booed."

"Elton, that's the wrong way to look at it. Getting booed is a kind of recognition, too."

"Fuck, Chen, what kind of logic is that? By your reasoning, there'd be no difference between playing at home and on the road."

Elton Brand was completely floored by Li Chen. He couldn't understand him. Was the Eastern way of thinking really that bizarre?

Carter was also a little surprised. If he'd been in Li Chen's shoes on that play, he would have dunked over Jerome. But Li Chen had passed instead, and that caught him off guard.

A moment later, the Raptors went on offense.

The Clippers set up a 2-3 Zone Defense.

Carter brought the ball across the frontcourt, and Li Chen quickly closed in on him.

Carter tried to drive past Li Chen. At that moment, Andre Miller left Williams to double-team Carter.

Seeing no opening, Carter passed the ball to point guard Williams.

As soon as Williams caught it, Corey Maggette closed in on him.

Williams passed to Antonio Davis, who was cutting inside.

Antonio Davis caught the ball and went up for a three-step layup, but Wang Zhizhi disrupted the shot, and it missed.

Morris grabbed the rebound, his leg muscles tensing as he leaped with all his strength, soaring toward the basket like a bird in flight.

Just then, Li Chen leaped high. His huge hand came down on the ball like the Buddha's Palm.

Smack!

Morris felt an enormous force throw him off balance, sending his whole body crashing toward the floor. The ball flew out of bounds.

Morris sat dazed on the floor, staring blankly at Li Chen, who stood tall and proud. For some reason, an inexplicable sense of fear rose within him.

At the same time, the Space Center arena erupted in a synchronized chorus of boos.

Li Chen's lips curled. Those boos were music to his ears. Let them get even louder!

"Fuck, Chen, what a block!" Elton Brand slapped Li Chen's hand hard.

The other players followed suit, and the Clippers were riding high.

Just then, the whistle blew. The Raptors prepared to inbound the ball.

Inside the TNT broadcast room.

"Oh, my God! I'm starting to love calling Clippers games more and more," Barkley shouted dramatically.

Kenny Smith laughed. "I feel the same way. That block just now, taking out both the man and the ball, was absolutely stunning."

"Charles, I have a feeling something's going to happen tonight that'll leave us completely stunned."

Hearing that, Charles Barkley wondered if he should make a bet to liven things up.

But then he reconsidered. He wasn't confident enough, so he quickly abandoned the idea.

After Carter caught the ball, Li Chen and Andre Miller double-teamed him again.

Carter seemed to have anticipated the double-team. He immediately passed the ball to Williams, then quickly cut inside.

Li Chen wasn't about to let Carter get what he wanted.

But just then, Jerome set an off-ball screen for Carter.

Li Chen stopped and evaded Jerome.

Williams lobbed the ball high toward the basket.

Clearly, he was trying to set up an alley-oop with Carter.

Carter leaped high like a man in flight, reaching for the ball as it spun through the air.

Li Chen jumped at just the right moment too.

Though Li Chen believed his vertical leap was every bit as good as Carter's, he wasn't standing directly beside Carter, so it was difficult to stop the play.

Sure enough, Li Chen couldn't get his hands on the ball, but his middle finger tipped it upward by five centimeters.

As a result, the Raptors' alley-oop came to nothing.

After landing, Li Chen rubbed his slightly sore middle finger.

Carter shook his head helplessly. He truly hadn't expected this Eastern man to have such an impressive vertical leap. Then he ran back downcourt.

Wang Zhizhi secured the rebound.

The Raptors' possession ended in failure.

The fans in the Space Center arena were displeased. That damn Eastern man kept ruining their offense. He was infuriating.

Next time—next time, they'd give that bastard an even louder chorus of boos.

On the court, Wang Zhizhi passed the ball to Li Chen.

Li Chen dribbled into the frontcourt, and Carter quickly moved up to defend him.

Wang Zhizhi came over to set a screen for Li Chen, then cut inside.

With Carter screened off, Li Chen quickly headed for the basket.

But the Raptors seemed to know the Clippers' playbook. Jerome and Antonio Davis moved together to block Li Chen.

What surprised them was that Wang Zhizhi didn't pass to Li Chen. Instead, he passed to Corey Maggette, who was cutting inside.

On the Clippers' bench, Alvin Gentry nodded with satisfaction. Wang might not be able to match Chen, but he had good awareness and could adapt quickly.

Corey Maggette took a jump shot, but Morris, coming over to help on defense, disrupted it, and the ball bounced off the rim.

Jerome, Antonio Davis, and the others all jumped to fight for the rebound.

Just then, a hand suddenly appeared behind the ball in midair. It caught the ball and slammed it into the basket with tremendous force.

Li Chen's putback dunk.

0–4. The Clippers scored again.

After a little over a minute of play, the Toronto Raptors hadn't scored a single point. The suffocating pressure of being dominated by the Clippers had the Raptors players frowning deeply.

Seeing the Raptors thoroughly outplayed, their coach, Wilkens, looked toward Alvin Gentry, who sat coolly on the Clippers' bench.

He hadn't expected Alvin Gentry, whose team had posted a poor record last season, to suddenly rise to the occasion this year and coach at a level equal to the game's best.

But Wilkens didn't call a timeout. He wanted to wait and see.