Breaking the Scoring Record for Players Under 18 Years Old

Chapter 29: Breaking the Scoring Record for Players Under 18

After so long, both teams had undergone considerable changes in their lineups.

On Real Madrid's side, Sun Hao was starting for the first time. On Barcelona's side, both Gasol and Navarro had also entered the starting lineup.

During warm-ups before the game, Sun Hao and Gasol started chatting again.

"I looked into that great man you mentioned. He's as great as Cervantes."

"Cer... you actually like literature?"

"I like to read some books when I have nothing to do. It calms the soul. For example, Jiménez makes you feel true sorrow, and Lorca makes you feel genuine joy from the heart."

"I... still prefer 2K."

Their friendly interaction before the game seemed quite peculiar against the tense, confrontational atmosphere of the match.

Especially for the older Barcelona players.

Not only had they failed to prank Gasol, they hadn't even been able to compete with him. Now they could only watch as Gasol did whatever he wanted.

Sure enough, talented people could do as they pleased.

The banter between Sun Hao and Gasol was just a small interlude during warm-ups.

Most people didn't even notice.

Most attention was on the upcoming game.

This time, the home court was in Barcelona.

Just like the season opener, the arena was packed to capacity. The excitement on the Barcelona fans' faces was no less than what the Real Madrid fans had shown back then.

Real Madrid and Barcelona—always drawing that much attention.

During the pre-game introductions, after both teams' starters were announced, they exchanged greetings. When Sun Hao shook hands with Gasol, he patted him on the shoulder.

The last time the two teams faced off, Sun Hao had only played during garbage time and hadn't been able to compete directly with Gasol on the court.

Now both were starting, and they could have a real fight on the floor.

But once the game began, the spotlight wasn't on them.

As rookies, they were just running errands to start.

Gasol won the tip-off, and Barcelona attacked first.

On the first possession, Gasol set a screen at the high post. Navarro used the screen to drive inside and threw up a floater.

Navarro would later earn the nickname "The Bomb," largely because of his unstoppable floater.

But that was later. Right now, he was still a bit raw.

His floater over Gabajosa missed, and Gabajosa turned around to grab the rebound.

Barcelona's first offensive play didn't score, but they retreated quickly on defense, not giving Real Madrid a chance to fast break.

Prigioni organized the half-court offense on the front end. Gabajosa's shot after receiving the ball was also defended by Gasol.

Just like the games Sun Hao had experienced before, European basketball had no defensive three seconds, but teams still focused their offense on the interior.

The closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage—that was a universal truth in this era, not just in Europe but even in the NBA.

Gasol was still green, but he had size. When he came off the bench before, he hadn't matched up against Gabajosa.

Now that he was starting, Gabajosa's presence in the paint was clearly diminished.

Both teams started the game with a defensive (grind) battle.

After half a quarter, the score was 6 to 6.

But the physicality on both sides was intense. Even though the efficiency was low, the fans were into it.

Gasol finally got a chance to show his footwork in the paint. He turned and squeezed past Gabajosa for a shot. He missed, but used his long arms to tip in the rebound.

8 to 6. Barcelona had taken the lead over Real Madrid for the first time in the game.

The cheers shook the arena.

The season was already past the halfway point, and Barcelona's performance had clearly lagged behind Real Madrid's.

Under these circumstances, unlike Real Madrid, who had been forced to change starters due to injuries, Barcelona had started promoting their young players early.

This was Sun Hao's first start, but it was already Navarro's 8th and Gasol's 6th start.

Now it seemed the effect was immediate.

Unlike the season opener, where they got crushed from the start, they were actually gaining the upper hand!

At this point, Laso realized that Gabajosa couldn't get much of an advantage over Gasol. He raised his hand to signal a new tactic.

When Sun Hao saw the new tactical gesture, his face lit up. They were going to run an outside offense!

European basketball was strict about tactics. If you didn't follow the coach's instructions on the court, even if you were the team's core player, you'd be benched in no time.

Back in the Plata League, he had gotten a rush of blood because of "mistaking Jocelyn" and played as a privileged player for once.

But this was La Liga, Spain's top-tier league, and Jocelyn wasn't there.

So even with the team's offense stalled, he didn't force things. He was waiting, and now he'd finally seen what he wanted.

"Barça! Barça!"

With Barcelona leading, the home crowd's Mighty Momentum surged, and the DJ led them in chanting support for their team.

Prigioni directed the offense from the frontcourt as Sun Hao started running off screens from the left for a three-point chance.

Gabajosa successfully blocked his defender on the right, and Sun Hao Cut Out. Prigioni's pass arrived on time.

Prigioni had earned his starting spot with Real Madrid through his exceptional passing.

Sun Hao caught and shot the three in one motion, fast enough that the switching Gasol couldn't close out in time.

The ball flew, tracing a high arc through the air.

Swish!

A crisp sound.

Sun Hao's three-pointer Swished Through the Net, and the crowd's roar died mid-shout.

The shot was clean and decisive, like a bucket of cold water falling from the sky, dousing the fans' emotions completely!

Laso saw Sun Hao score and finally relaxed his furrowed brow.

Even though he'd never seen anyone play like Sun Hao before, putting the ball in the basket was a good method regardless.

On the other end, Navarro drove at Sun Hao, trying to use his height advantage.

But Sun Hao's physical defense was solid, and Navarro's floater missed!

Gabajosa Secured the defensive rebound and turned to pass to Prigioni.

With his "Fast Break Finisher" badge activated, Sun Hao sprinted downcourt, caught Prigioni's long outlet pass, shook off the defender, and finished the layup... scored!

He'd personally unleashed a 5-0 Scoring Run!

This stretch not only helped Real Madrid retake the lead but also put them up by 3 points!

"%￥%... #...#"

Barcelona's head coach was furious, shouting at his players from the sideline.

They'd worked hard to build that early lead, and now some unknown short player—with yellow skin, no less—had broken it!

He couldn't accept it!

His anger had an effect; Barcelona noticeably tightened their defense on Sun Hao's off-ball movement.

Sun Hao didn't get any more comfortable looks like before.

The game devolved into a defensive grind, with frequent missed shots and even several 30-second shot-clock violations.

The score stayed frozen.

During one Real Madrid possession, Gabajosa found no opening inside and kicked the ball out to Sun Hao on the perimeter at the last second.

Sun Hao was at least a meter and a half behind the three-point line.

For most players, that position was impossible to shoot from.

Even Sun Hao's defender had already turned to crash the boards for the rebound.

Sun Hao got the shot off just before the buzzer.

The timing was tight, but his form was clean.

Even from this greater distance, he was used to taking the hot potato.

And with Infinite Range in hand, he wasn't rattled at all.

The ball flew in an ultra-high arc.

It came down faster and heavier, like a long-range cruise missile.

Swish!

To the crowd's disbelief, the basketball Swished Through the Net!

At that moment, Sun Hao was the universe's greatest hot-potato shooter.

Barcelona's head coach stood frozen.

How the hell did that go in?!

After scoring, Sun Hao silently raised his hand and mimed blowing smoke from a finger gun.

Damn, that felt good!

He finally understood what it was like when Curry hit those super-long shots.

He felt like he could shoot through the earth!

Laso clenched his fist in excitement; his trust had paid off!

The bench erupted—their assists were within reach!

Adding the 5 consecutive points he had scored earlier, Sun Hao had already put up 8 points in this quarter.

His scoring alone matched the entire Barcelona team's total!

Barcelona's head coach quickly called a timeout.

Because of his height, and because Sun Hao had barely gotten any playing time when the two teams first met, the coach hadn't paid much attention to him, let alone game-planned for him.

But after this stretch, he realized he had underestimated his opponent. At the very least, Sun Hao's three-point shooting was far better than he had imagined.

If he didn't call a timeout and adjust, the game might really be taken over by Sun Hao alone!

After the timeout, Navarro finally made a floater to score his first points of the night.

On the other end, Sun Hao ran the play again and took a three.

The shot missed, but Gabajosa grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback.

Sun Hao's scorching hot hand had pulled Barcelona's entire defense out.

With more space on the court, Gabajosa no longer had to force one-on-one matchups against Gasol, and his room to operate expanded.

By the end of the first quarter, Sun Hao had gone 3-for-5 for 8 points, the highest in the game.

Just from that one quarter, the Barcelona fans in attendance had already taken notice of this 16-year-old, barely 1.7-meter-tall guard.

But what they didn't expect was that Sun Hao's performance wouldn't stop in the first quarter.

Or rather, he wasn't a pure three-point shooter in the truest sense.

When the perimeter defense clamped down hard, his pump-fake-and-drive, as well as his cuts off screens, stood out impressively.

With the Silver Grade Basketball IQ Badge, plus the Bronze Grade Pick and Roll Evasion and Pick and Roll Master badges, he remained effective on the court.

Laso, having seen Sun Hao's true ability after he started, couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

A 17-year-old playing like this could only mean one thing.

This kid... was the big leg he needed to latch onto in the future!

In the end, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona again, 71 to 61.

In his first career start, Sun Hao put up 17 points and 3 assists.

And those 17 points, at 16 years and 9 months old, broke La Liga's single-game scoring record for players under 18!

I suddenly had a wild idea—I've decided to drop a cheesy love line for you every day, so you can experience what it feels like to have a girlfriend.

Rumor has it humans have 206 bones. But the moment I met you, I had 207.

If you get it, remember to drop a recommendation ticket~