The Head Referee vs. the System

The Kings' star scorer's injury gave the Clippers players hope, and their momentum soared.

In the following minutes, the Kings, on the other hand, encountered a difficult offensive period.

Their attack became slow and disjointed, seemingly stuck in a stalemate.

The players' teamwork became clumsy, with frequent mistakes, and they were unable to pass and move as smoothly as before.

At this point, they need someone to step up and replace Chris Webber as the Kings' savior.

At the end of the third quarter, the Clippers trailed by 12 points, 73-85.

"Oh my god! Victory is beckoning to the Clippers!" Barkley shouted exaggeratedly.

Kenny Smith smiled and nodded, but added, "I believe the Kings won't give up so easily."

"Haha! It's the perseverance that makes things exciting, and miracles need supporting characters to embellish them. Actually, I'd love to see Webber back on the court," Barkley said with some anticipation.

In fact, Li Chen thought the same thing.

The fourth section begins.

The Clippers are fourth-quarter kings; that's an indisputable fact.

Unsurprisingly, in just three minutes, the Clippers' balanced attack changed the score to 85-88, trailing the Kings by only three points, and the Clippers still had possession of the ball.

Li Chen dribbled the ball forward, a slight smile curving his lips as he looked at Bibby in front of him. Then, he suddenly started moving, using a crossover step to get past Bibby.

Bibby gritted his teeth; he had an urge to pull Li Chen down.

He then stopped abruptly and shot Bobby Jackson in the face, drawing a foul from Jackson's defender.

Li Chen stepped up to the free-throw line, and swish! Li Chen calmly sank the ball; his free-throw shooting remained as reliable as ever.

The Clippers tied the game at 88-88.

At this point, Kings Coach Adelman called a timeout.

In the TNT broadcast room.

Let's take a look at the comparison of the highest scorers for both teams in this game.

For the Kings, Chris Webber played 29 minutes, scoring 38 points and dishing out 1 assist, shooting 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Clippers' Li Chen played 36 minutes, scoring 39 points and dishing out 8 assists, shooting 2-for-4 from three-point range and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Although the statistics show that Li Chen at a disadvantage, he is carrying the team forward.

Barkley nodded, then quipped, "Donald Sterling must be laughing in his sleep. He's got the best performance ever, costing almost nothing, yet he's got the value of a multi-million dollar superstar."

Kenny Smith smiled and nodded, guessing that Li Chen would become an untouchable asset for the Clippers.

Barkley didn't respond, but instead said, "If I were Chen, I would definitely leave the Clippers after my rookie season."

"Hahaha! Charles, you and Li Chen are thinking the same thing," Kenny Smith teased.

Meanwhile, in the Kings' rest area, Coach Adelman looked at the players in front of him, cleared his throat, and then said:

"Everyone, wake up!"

The players looked at Coach Adelman.

As he spoke, Coach Adelman pointed at Chris Webber and said, "Did you do justice to Chris's efforts in the first half?"

All the Kings players turned to look at Chris Webber, who was silent and had his head down.

Bibby said, "Coach, we understand. We will do whatever it takes to win this game."

The other Kings players nodded in agreement.

Seeing the players' reactions, Coach Adelman felt a sense of relief. Now, he could only pray that the Clippers' offense would suddenly go cold.

After the timeout, the Kings went on offense.

Bibby the ball to Stojakovic.

Stojakovic attempted a shot over Corey Maggette, but Corey Maggette provided sufficient interference, and the ball missed.

But just then, the referee blew his whistle, signaling that Corey Maggette had committed a defensive foul.

Corey Maggette argued with the referee, but today's referee, Tim Donaghy, did not overturn the decision and instead gave Corey Maggette a technical foul.

At that moment, the Clippers players all swarmed around him.

Seeing this, Tim Dorangie warned, "Don't cause trouble."

Li Chen signaled to his teammates not to act rashly and told them to scatter.

Then Li Chen looked at Tim Donaghy. He knew Tim Donaghy; this guy was the first referee in NBA history to be imprisoned for cheating and match-fixing, and also the first referee in the history of the four major American sports leagues to be imprisoned for cheating and match-fixing.

Tim Donaghy officiated in the NBA from 1994 until his resignation in 2007, a total of 772 regular season games and 20 Playoffs during his 13-year refereeing career, including many classic games.

For example, in the Auburn Hills incident, this "golden referee" and "renowned referee" was taken away by the FBI for investigation on suspicion of "betting on sports" just 11 days after submitting his resignation.

Therefore, he was certain that this guy was being manipulated by capital.

Lost in thought, Li Chen gave a meaningful, faint smile, then walked towards the basket.

Li Chen's mysterious smile made the referee uneasy. After all, he had something to hide.

However, he hasn't yet become as ruthless as Li Chen, who would give him a technical foul with just a smile.

Moreover, Li Chen is a player that the president is keen to promote.

If he wants to stay in the league, he won't dare to act openly.

A short while later, the Kings' Stojakovic went to the free-throw line and made two of three free throws.

"This call was really unfair to the Clippers," Kenny Smith said with some regret.

"Yeah! The referees in the league are getting worse and worse," Barkley said sarcastically.

88 to 90.

The Kings throw the ball in.

The Kings players never expected that such a huge windfall would suddenly fall from the sky and land on their shoulders.

This ruling is a godsend; if they seize this opportunity, they will surely achieve final victory.

Bibby the ball up the court.

Li Chen stared at Bibby like a wolf.

At the same time, Bibby was about to pass the ball to Bobby Jackson.

At that moment, Li Chen made a lightning-fast move, swatting the basketball away from Bibby's hand.

Seeing this, Bibby knew something was wrong. He grabbed Li Chen's jersey, which restricted Li Chen's speed.

But to his surprise, the referee didn't call a foul; he had committed the foul himself. This...

Li Chen frowned as well. He hadn't expected Tim Donaghy to be so brazen. How could he not call such an obvious foul?

Just then, the whistle finally sounded.

This relieved Li Chen.

A moment later, Corey Maggette passed the ball to Li Chen, who dribbled the ball while thinking.

I wonder if the system's anti-cheating skills can make Tim Donaghy is trying to manipulate the match, a little more fair?

The C-rank "extortion" skill has a 20% chance of successfully staging an accident, which is a bit low.

However, if you're lucky, it might work.

Li Chen broke through Bibby and then shot Bobby Jackson in the face.

*Smack! Bobby Jackson slapped Li Chen's arm hard.

This caused Li Chen's shot to deviate from its trajectory, but the Miracle Shot skill was triggered, and the ball still stubbornly climbed into the Nets like a cockroach.

Meanwhile, Tim Donaghy ignored the Sacramento Kings's foul, but then a strange emotion welled up inside him.

Suddenly, he picked up the whistle, put it in his mouth, and blew it hard.

Li Chen smiled when he saw the delayed whistle; the system really was working.