Rivals Worthy of Each Other, a Match Between Equals

It was no wonder he was the kind of man who dared to try dunking over Kawhi right in his face. Murray challenging Chen Xi like this was something the Thunder had hardly ever encountered in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

After all, there were very few players these days who dared to challenge Chen Xi's on-ball defense face-to-face.

Even James and Butler weren't keen on it, let alone the Lakers' and Pelicans' role-playing point guards~~

But Murray was different. He was undoubtedly a skilled ball-handler, with a wide range of offensive moves and good physical tools.

He knew that facing Chen Xi's defense would make things extremely difficult. But if he could break through Chen Xi's defense and score, the boost from that possession would be enormous, both for his team's morale and his own confidence.

After a quick crossover dribble, he followed with a Bait Buddha fake, then burst forward, attacking toward Chen Xi's right side.

After two steps, he abruptly stopped and pulled the ball back, then followed with a second front crossover before accelerating toward the paint again.

Chen Xi's footwork was steady. He never lost his position, staying firmly in front of Murray and keeping up the pressure.

That thwarted Murray's original plan to drive into the paint for a layup.

It was just too difficult.

And with the baseline fast approaching, Kobe Mamba gritted his teeth. Here goes!

He gathered the ball and leaped in one quick motion. Carried by his momentum, Murray drifted toward the baseline in the air. At the same time, he twisted his upper body as hard as he could, then launched an extremely difficult fadeaway jumper over Chen Xi's outstretched arm as Chen Xi tried to block him.

The ball spun off Chen Xi's fingertips and sailed