My 8x Scope: CP3!!!

At his peak, Chris Paul could even pull off a "fake poster dunk" on Monster, let alone the current Zhou Ze. Once Zhou Ze was beaten off the dribble, he had no time to recover.

In the first half, Los Angeles Double Elbows both delivered eye-catching performances on offense.

Kobe, in particular, spared no effort on defense, hounding his opponents relentlessly.

With Kobe's current stature, he had no need to do that kind of dirty work. The other three of the Four Great Shooting Guards all had a somewhat pampered attitude toward defense.

Only Black Mamba gave everything on both ends of the floor.

But compared to the well-rested Charlotte Hornets, the back-to-back Lakers were still relatively sluggish overall.

Over the entire third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth, the Hornets cut the gap to just 1 point.

82–81. The Lakers led by only 1 point.

Phil Jackson called a timeout.

Chris Paul, who had just made a three-pointer to narrow the score, waved his arms to whip up the crowd.

In the TNT broadcast booth, Kenny Smith said with feigned regret, "The Lakers played two great quarters, but even so, it's all going to come to nothing. The exhausted Lakers simply can't hold back the Hornets' offense. Sir Charles, looks like I can prepare a male donkey for you in advance."

"Man, until the final minute, who knows what the result will be? Besides, Los Angeles still has a 1-point lead," Charles Barkley said calmly.

"Haha, Sir Charles, you said it yourself—the Lakers only have a 1-point lead right now. Just 1 point. Many of the Lakers players can barely run anymore, and their defense is practically made of paper."

Kenny Smith was not exaggerating. Other than Kobe, none of the Lakers players were locked in defensively. The Lakers had never been a particularly strong defensive team to begin with, and now things had only gotten worse.

"Just watch. The Lakers will win in the end. Zhou will also win Western Conference Rookie of the Month," Barkley said with complete confidence.

"Oh, Sir Charles, what do you think the Lakers can do to solve their current problem?" Kenny Smith asked, unable to suppress a laugh.

"Secret!" Barkley flashed Smith a bizarrely confident smile, though inwardly he could not help praying, God, please don't make me kiss a donkey's ass again.

Fine, Barkley had no idea how the Lakers could deal with this collapsing situation either.

All he could do was keep talking tough.

The timeout ended, and play resumed.

It was him!

It was him!

Still him—the man whose surname was "Ko," whose name was "Kobe." Gritting his teeth, he forced his way to the basket. Facing P.J. Brown and David West closing in on him, he twisted and contorted in midair, stretching to the limit for a reverse layup and putting the ball in.

"Wow!"

"Ouch!"

The Hornets fans, who had finally seen hope of a comeback, felt their hearts tighten as a chill shot straight to the tops of their heads.

Panic rose uncontrollably within them.

But right after that, Chris Paul connected with David West, who knocked down a long two. It was like the Hornets fans had taken a calming pill, and their heartbeats settled slightly.

Then Kobe hit a difficult fadeaway two, and the Hornets fans' hearts leaped into their throats again.

After the timeout, Kobe scored twice in a row, and the Hornets immediately decided to trap him on the catch.

The moment Kobe got the ball, two defenders swarmed him.

Trying to turn the tide by himself, Kobe rose for a contested three over the first double-team. Zhou Ze had just opened his mouth to curse Kobe for his narrow vision and selfish play, for failing to see him open with a little space.

But the next second, the shot went in.

Zhou Ze could only swallow the words that had reached his lips.

As Kobe ran back on defense, he glanced at Zhou Ze.

"Nice shot!" Zhou Ze said reluctantly, as though Kobe had seen through his thoughts.

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The second time Kobe was trapped by the Hornets, he slipped straight through the "gap" formed by the two defenders. As he dribbled to the free-throw line, he drew David West over.

Kobe kicked the ball out to Zhou Ze in the corner. The Hornets rotated quickly. Zhou Ze had made four threes tonight, three of them from the corner. Chris Paul lifted his short little legs and sprinted toward Zhou Ze, but he was still too late.

Zhou Ze let the three fly. It did not go straight through the net, instead bouncing off the rim before dropping in.

"Fuck! What bullshit luck!" Paul said bitterly.

"My dear Chris, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't see that you were the one guarding me just now. Otherwise, I could have waited until you got in front of me before shooting," Zhou Ze said with a pleasant smile.

"Hmph!"

Paul snorted angrily. On the next possession, he used a screen and, despite Zhou Ze's chase-down block attempt, exploited the difference in timing to finish with an underhand scoop.

Compared with the Hornets, the Lakers had to work far harder for every point.

Although the Lakers still held the lead, to Lakers fans, they looked like a critically ill patient barely hanging on to a final breath.

On the next possession, Kobe bricked another shot. He had been touched by the defender as he released it—by the standards of a ticky-tack foul, it was a clear shooting foul—but the referee did not blow the whistle. The Hornets counterattacked.

Kwame Brown found himself mismatched against Chris Paul.

Lakers fans inwardly cried out in despair. Chris Paul was a master at attacking bigger defenders. Kwame Brown chose to sag back in drop coverage, guarding against Paul's drive to the rim. It was clearly a gamble, but unfortunately for Paul, Kwame Brown had gambled right.

Paul bricked a mid-range shot. The Lakers launched a fast break, and Kobe connected with Zhou Ze, who threw down a thunderous dunk in midair.

"Choosing to dunk at this stage takes quite a toll on his stamina, but it can also lift the team's morale!!!"

"A reasonable offensive choice."

Heavenly Dynasty Sports Studio.

With three minutes left in the game, the Lakers—who had kept fans on edge as though they were holding their breath—somehow still held a five-point lead. The main reason was their offense-for-offense approach.

Kobe Time + Zhou Ze's absurd three-pointers + the Ze-Bi Duo's alley-oop dunks.

Compared to a powerful enemy, an enemy that simply would not die was even more frightening.

P.J. Brown had an open mid-range look—and bricked it!

The Lakers switched from defense to offense. Paul cleverly used some subtle contact to delay Parker's advance, and the referee did not call it.

With the fast break disrupted, the Lakers fell into a half-court set. Zhou Ze stepped up to set a screen for Parker, then suddenly rolled to the basket. West did not react in time. Paul quickly followed him while calling for the interior defenders to come over and stop Zhou Ze.

The moment Zhou Ze saw P.J. Brown moving toward him, he immediately changed direction and ran toward the corner.

Paul followed again. Zhou Ze caught the ball, with Paul right in front of him. Zhou Ze rose high and fired over the fully set Paul, launching a three-pointer.

Paul stood on his toes and reached out to obstruct Zhou Ze's vision.

It had to be said that Paul was extremely, extremely smart on the defensive end. He absolutely refused to jump.

But Paul's height could not disrupt Zhou Ze much. With a swish, the three went through without touching the rim.

After making the shot, Zhou Ze smiled at Paul. "My 8x scope is branded CP3!"

Paul's expression immediately darkened. "Second-round pick, quit fucking bragging!"

However, on a possession not long afterward, Zhou Ze once again got Paul on a mismatch and took a three-pointer over him. Nothing but net again.

"Hello, my 8x scope!" Zhou Ze made a binocular gesture at Paul.

Paul was instantly speechless, his fists clenched tight.

But what left him even more speechless was that on Zhou Ze's next three-point attempt, facing Paul's teammate Mason, he bricked it.

With 1 minute and 8 seconds left in the game, Kobe hit a mid-range jumper that killed the game. The Lakers led 107–96, stretching the margin to 11 points.

That basket completely extinguished the Hornets' hopes of mounting a comeback.

Hornets head coach Byron Scott was the first to pull his starters, surrendering in advance!!!