The Lost Immortal

While the commentator analyzed the game, the live-stream bullet comments kept flooding past, the pace having taken off long ago.

"LeBron James!!!! GOAT!!!"

"Eunuch, tone it down. You're hurting my eyes."

"Cavaliers, win the NBA Championship!!!"

"Chen Xi is seriously awesome! Watching him go head-to-head with Old Zhan in the second quarter got me so hyped!!"

"It's still my Westbrook! He's already had 28 triple-doubles this season. Feels like he can get another one today!"

"Idiot, what the hell is Chen Xi? Look at those two plays. Old Zhan sent him flying five meters with one bump, and you call that going head-to-head?"

"Brownie is just like that."

"Isn't Westbrook just a one-trick pony? Why doesn't he have stats like this when Durant is around?"

"Did he not score? Didn't he score over your LeBron's head?? If that isn't going head-to-head, then what is? You call eight points in forty-five minutes going head-to-head?"

"How dare you!!!"

"If you don't need your brain, donate it. The gorilla getting consecutive double-doubles is skill, but Westbrook getting three straight triple-doubles is stat-padding?"

"Typical. I don't want a championship without an FMVP."

"Traitor Durant is there. How could he have the ball?"

"Idiot, he's still better than that History's number one point guard who had his FMVP stolen by a bench player."

"Tone it down, underwear boy!"

"There it is! Brownie's signature skill, attacking an imaginary enemy. Keep talking and I'm going to become a Korver fan again."

"Seventy-three wins and runner-up in the Finals. How embarrassing. And he still has fans?"

"Not gonna lie, Chen Xi's moves in these plays are really cool!"

The snowflake-like bullet comments swept past at lightning speed. Amid the flood of trash and gloating, there were also plenty of voices praising Chen Xi. After repeatedly making highlight plays in games against the Warriors and Cavaliers, he had unknowingly attracted a large following.

Back at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Thunder Team returned to the court and continued practicing their shots on their own half, keeping their rhythm going.

Chen Xi stood at center court, looking at the surrounding spectators and the posters of LeBron and the others. When he looked up again, he could see the NBA Championship banner hanging high above.

"2015–16 NBA Championship, Cleveland Cavaliers."

"Tsk, that's really enviable. There was plenty of controversy, but the championship was real. In the end, people only remember the name of the NBA Championship winner."

"We can win it too." Westbrook walked over and looked with him at the banner every NBA player dreamed of, flames of ambition flickering in his eyes.

"We will. We definitely will." Chen Xi naturally couldn't dampen his spirits. Besides, as long as he continued improving steadily, he believed they would definitely accomplish it.

"But for now, the Warriors are still the biggest obstacle. The Cavaliers are a little short." Chen Xi smiled.

As their opponents, they could feel it most directly: the pressure from the Cavaliers was ultimately a notch below that of the Warriors. Whether it was their tactical system or their roster depth, they were still inferior to the Warriors. The Cavaliers could rely only on the individual ability of their Big Three. Losing in the Finals had not been unjustified; it was simply a gap in pure strength.

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author. It might have just been renamed!

The whistle sounded, and the second half began.

Chen Xi continued resting at the start of the Third Quarter to conserve his energy, while the Thunder Team, led by Westbrook and Butler, continued to battle the Big Three head-on.

The two sides traded baskets back and forth. It was obvious that LeBron had placed greater emphasis on playmaking in the Third Quarter, with Irving and Korver finishing most of the Cavaliers' possessions.

Unfortunately, Irving's outside shot was off tonight, while Korver couldn't handle enough volume. Once Roberson locked onto him, he could barely make an impact.

As a result, the Cavaliers' offense had to rely on Irving's drives and Love's outside shooting.

By comparison, everyone on the Thunder Team except Westbrook unexpectedly had a good touch in the second half. Even Roberson had knocked down two three-pointers. Their artillery fire came in waves, leaving the Cavaliers struggling to cover everything.

Consequently, during the time Chen Xi was off the court, the Cavaliers not only failed to close the gap but fell several points further behind, allowing Chen Xi to get even more rest.

With five minutes left in the Third Quarter, Chen Xi returned to the court. The score was now 88–74, a fourteen-point gap and a comfortable advantage.

The Thunder attacked. Westbrook used his old play: calling for a Pick-and-Roll and targeting Korver. After attacking the paint and passing out when the help defense came, Adams finished with an easy dunk.

There were many ways to attack, but smart players usually prioritized repeatedly using the most efficient ones. In tactical choices, before the opponent found a way to counter them, efficiency was the first consideration.

As long as the Cavaliers kept Korver on the court, he was a massive weakness for the Thunder to exploit. Of course, as long as Westbrook was on the floor, it wouldn't necessarily get much better even with Irving, let alone Shump, who was known for his defense.

The Cavaliers had no other option and could only seek a response on offense.

But when Chen Xi was targeted by LeBron, he chose to sag off rather than switch, gambling on LeBron's outside shooting. At least so far, LeBron hadn't made a three-pointer. It was worth the gamble.

LeBron saw Chen Xi drop back, but continued following Irving. Butler quickly recovered to the player in front of him. After hesitating, LeBron chose not to shoot the three and passed the ball back to Irving.

After receiving the ball, Irving faced Chen Xi, quickly dribbled once, and took off toward the left side for a hard drive. Taking advantage of Chen Xi failing to keep up immediately, he pulled up sharply for a jumper.

Bang!

The god of basketball seemed to have lost his powers tonight. Even now, Kyrie Irving still hadn't found his shooting touch. It was extremely rare, but for the Thunder, it was certainly a good thing.

Adams grabbed the defensive rebound and quickly fired it to Westbrook. He immediately pushed the fast break, racing all the way from the backcourt into the Cavaliers' paint before taking off after two heavy steps.

Boom!!!!

Another C-shaped tomahawk dunk.

His acceleration was absurd. He had already landed before Korver had even crossed the three-point line.

On the next possession, LeBron realized how serious the problem was and finally chose to attack himself. He charged from the three-point line all the way to the rim and scored a twisting layup through contact.

Unfortunately, a mere two points were already little more than a drop in the bucket.

The Thunder's firepower had never let up, but the Cavaliers could no longer keep pace.

At the end of the Third Quarter, a panting LeBron looked at the 99–82 score, his expression grim.

Chen Xi, meanwhile, came off the court grinning. After high-fiving each teammate, he sat back down and watched the highlight plays replaying on the big screen.

It was LeBron breaking into the paint and taking on three defenders before finishing a contested three-point play.

That was damn impressive, no doubt about it—but his teammates really weren't giving him much help.

Irving had been almost completely lost for the entire game, shooting just 2-for-11 from outside. Even Love was only 4-for-9. Under these circumstances, no one could do anything about it.