"What?"
The situation took a sudden turn, and Malone's mood did a complete 180.
"John, that's the difference talent makes."
Malone looked at Stockton beside him.
"Keith had completely shaken his man and created space, but he still couldn't escape getting his shot blocked."
And yet.
No sooner had one thing settled than another cropped up.
Possession changed hands. Li Fei sealed Van Horn in the low post and called for the ball.
"Thump!"
The ball was in his hands.
With his back to Van Horn, Li Fei went straight at him, shoving him aside and creating half a meter of space with one step.
Oh, yeah!
That bruising, physical style got Malone fired up again.
This was exactly the sight he wanted.
Was it coming?
The scene of Big Dog getting punched into the air.
Was it about to happen again?
Unfortunately,
Li Fei didn't use the boxing routine Malone was hoping for.
Instead, he simply drove his shoulder into Van Horn and knocked him flying.
"Bam!"
With his left hand raised high, he leaped from the spot two meters from the rim and slammed it home.
"WTF?"
Malone gaped, then shot up from his seat. "I'm seeing this right, baby? He just dunked from a standstill, that far from the basket?"
John Stockton was just as astonished.
"Sit down, Carl."
But Stockton wasn't as worked up as Malone. "Don't forget, we're Utahns."
Their young guy from Salt Lake City had just been dunked on, and Malone was still cheering?
Stockton couldn't get excited about this at all.
His instincts told him
that their young guy, Keith Van Horn, had run into a serious problem.
Back on offense,
Van Horn still wanted to get even with Li Fei.
But Van Horn was inferior to Li Fei in both height and strength. There was no way he could gain an advantage in the paint.
After turning toward the basket, his strong layup was turned away by Li Fei once again.
At 120 kilograms, Li Fei wasn't exactly a heavyweight center among players over 2.2 meters tall.
But Van Horn weighed even less than he did.
"Another rejection. Keith won't find it easy to score on Li."
TNT commentator Doug Collins shook his head. "He may have underestimated Li Fei just as much as we did."
"At the very least, we have to give Li credit for his defense. This guy's a rim protector who can hold Glenn Robinson scoreless."
Before the commentator could finish praising him,
Li Fei scored again on a roll to the basket, catching Kidd's lob after setting an on-ball screen for him.
6:0
Li Fei was dominating Van Horn at both ends.
But what hurt Keith Van Horn most was this:
After every basket Li Fei made, some of the home crowd cheered him on.
Van Horn still couldn't overpower Li on the court. He kicked the ball out to a teammate on the perimeter, who missed. Li Fei grabbed the defensive rebound. The Golden Bears went on offense, but Lamond Murray's tough midrange shot missed.
Li Fei easily edged Van Horn out under the basket, stretched out both arms, and pulled down the rebound before slamming home the putback.
8:0
"Forgive me for saying so, but scoring is as easy as drinking water for Li Fei."
At the commentators' table, Doug Collins shook his head helplessly. "I just don't see how Keith Van Horn resembles Larry Bird."
"If anything, Li Fei's the one who looks more like Hakeem Olajuwon!"
He was nimble, played unbelievable defense, and had a complete offensive game—able to finesse or overpower his opponents.
Li Fei's style really did bring Olajuwon to mind.
More than five minutes into the game, Van Horn still hadn't scored a single point from the field.
He'd managed only a meager two points from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Li Fei was pounding away in the paint, tearing the opposing defense apart and even forcing them to send two defenders to double-team him.
"Double-team him! Stop him!"
The University of Utah's head coach screamed from the sideline.
But even when faced with two defenders,
Li Fei didn't panic in the slightest.
Before the double-team arrived, he half-turned and raised his right hand.
With the defenders' arms between him and the basket, he shot a straight-armed hook.
Li Fei didn't have any system-boosted accuracy, but his defenders were simply too short.
The shot stunned the whole arena.
A short hook shot in the paint was a must-have skill for a center.
But if you mastered it and paired it with a height of over 2.2 meters,
it became practically impossible to defend.
"John, I've got a strong feeling."
Down on the sideline, Malone's expression turned serious.
"Li Fei might be the kind of center we've been searching for."
Malone and Stockton had played together on the Utah Jazz for eight years, but they'd never had much success.
They'd reached the Western Conference Finals only once.
They'd always been looking for a center who could give them some help inside.
After all, this was an era when the big men ruled, and Karl Malone was actually a power forward.
They did have Mark Eaton at center, a 2.24-meter, 125-kilogram defensive specialist nicknamed "Mammoth."
But Mammoth had put just about every attribute point into defense. His offense was awful.
How awful?
Ever since he'd entered the NBA in 1979, this guy had never scored more than ten points in a season, despite standing 2.24 meters tall. In the playoffs, whenever he took the floor, his team was effectively playing four-on-five on offense.
He was also 37 years old. He'd suffered a major injury last season, and his availability for the new season was uncertain.
So during the summer, the Jazz had traded with the Phoenix Suns for Tom Chambers, a former All-Star-caliber big man.
But this former All-Star power forward wasn't the perfect answer for the Jazz.
At 2.08 meters, Tom Chambers still preferred playing power forward, a position that overlapped too much with Malone's.
When the playoffs came around, Malone would still have to play center.
Just look at the potential opponents Malone would face at center in the playoffs.
The Dream, Olajuwon. The Admiral, Robinson.
Mount Mutombo. The 2.18-meter Vlade Divac.
Even power forwards like Reign Man, Kemp, and Flying Pig, Barkley—
any of them would give Malone a hard time.
That was why Malone hadn't been able to get out of the West all these years.
Chambers was also 35. Never mind that he'd never been known for his defense—his offensive game was no longer at an All-Star level, either.
After a few practices with his new teammate, Malone had already given up on expecting much from the veteran big man.
But when he saw Li Fei,
it was like a dirty old man spotting a curvy, fishnet-clad, 36E housewife. His eyes filled with undisguised greed.
"We need to make our move as soon as possible."
Malone stared at Li Fei, his voice grave.
"It won't be long before every team wants him!"
Before you continue