188: Chapter 188 The Final Gamble! The Burning Emperor's Eye!
He had to bet everything!
The whistle for the start of the fourth quarter echoed sharply throughout the arena!
The Lakers players stepped back onto the court with solemn expressions.
The previous ease and confidence were gone from their faces.
All that remained was a grim determination, like death row inmates heading to the execution ground!
"Defense!"
"Defense!"
"Send them back to Los Angeles!"
Inside the arena, the roar of nearly twenty thousand Thunder fans was more terrifying than ever before!
They could already smell the blood of victory!
They wanted to use their voices to completely crush their opponent's final will to resist!
Lakers' possession.
Kobe received the pass from Lin Feng.
Facing defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha, he made a signature jab step!
Then, a pull-up fadeaway jumper!
The basketball traced a less-than-perfect arc through the air!
*Bang!*
It hit the back of the rim!
And bounced out!
Ibaka leaped high and firmly secured the rebound!
No good!
Even Kobe's shooting touch began to decline under the immense physical exhaustion and defensive pressure!
Transition!
The Thunder's counterattack surged forward like a tide!
Westbrook had the ball, pushing at full speed with his usual unreasonable aggression!
But this time, he didn't choose to attack alone!
After drawing a double-team from two Lakers players!
With a flick of his wrist!
He passed the ball to Durant, who was following up on the wing!
Durant caught the ball and didn't even look at the rim!
He went straight for another forced shot right in the face of Artest's aggressive defense!
Swish!
It's in again!
64:78!
The lead was further extended to 14 points!
"It's over..."
In front of their TVs, countless Lakers fans closed their eyes in despair.
Everyone could see it.
The Lakers had reached the end of their rope!
Their offense was becoming stagnant!
Their defense was being torn to shreds by the thunder duo!
The game seemed to have lost all suspense!
Time ticked away, second by second.
Led by Kobe, the Lakers launched a final, tragic counterattack!
Kobe charged into the Thunder's paint time and time again!
Using his already battered body to draw foul after foul!
He stood at the free-throw line.
Gasping heavily for breath.
Sweat had long since soaked his jersey.
Two for two!
66:78!
But!
On the other end!
Durant answered with an even more unreasonable long-range three-pointer!
Striking back!
66:81!
The lead was kept firmly above ten points!
The Thunder were like a precise, cold machine harvesting the game!
Leaving the Lakers without a shred of hope for a comeback!
The game entered the final five minutes!
The Lakers were still down by 12 points!
Lin Feng's nerves were stretched to the limit.
Keeping the Eye of the Heavenly Emperor active for so long caused waves of needle-like pain in his brain!
The court in front of him even started to show slight double vision!
He was too tired.
This mental exhaustion was far more terrifying than physical fatigue!
But he couldn't fall!
He glanced at the sidelines at the three women who had come for him.
Then he looked at number 24 on the bench, who was still watching him with eyes full of trust!
He bit his lip until it bled!
Using the sharp pain to force his consciousness to remain clear!
"Give me the ball!"
He roared at Nash!
Nash was stunned for a moment but still passed the ball into his hands!
Lin Feng caught the ball!
He gave up on playmaking!
He gave up on passing!
He activated the most primitive, most savage scoring mode!
Just like Westbrook!
He used his body to launch suicide charges into the Thunder's paint time and time again!
*Bang!*
He was slammed to the floor by Ibaka!
The referee's whistle blew!
Foul!
Lin Feng climbed up from the cold floor.
He felt like his bones were about to fall apart.
He walked to the free-throw line.
His chest heaved violently.
Steady!
I have to stay steady!
He adjusted his breathing.
The shot!
Swish!
First free throw, in!
Swish!
Second free throw, also safely in!
Relying on free throws!
In the most grueling way, Lin Feng struggled to keep the Lakers' last breath of life going!
70:82!
There were two minutes left in the game!
The Lakers were down by 5 points!
79:84!
Under the reckless and frantic assault by Lin Feng and Kobe!
The gap was finally narrowed to a range that could be changed by a single offensive or defensive play!
The entire Chesapeake Energy Arena fell silent!
Every fan stood up from their seats in tension!
The air seemed to freeze!
Lakers' possession!
The basketball was once again handed to Lin Feng!
He stood at the top of the arc!
He felt like his brain was a CPU about to burn out!
His vision began to grow increasingly blurry!
Westbrook's figure even split into two in his eyes!
His mental energy had reached the breaking point!
"Timeout! Timeout!"
On the sidelines, D'Antoni was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, shouting frantically toward the court!
He was prepared to call the team's final timeout!
However!
Under everyone's gaze, Lin Feng...
...slowly shook his head in D'Antoni's direction.
He knew.
A timeout could no longer solve anything.
Conventional tactics could no longer save this dying Lakers team.
He needed to create a miracle!
He needed to make an unprecedented, all-or-nothing gamble!
Under the gaze of hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide!
Under the gazes of the three queens on the sidelines, who were so nervous they could hardly breathe!
Lin Feng made a decision that no one could understand!
He didn't look at the rim!
He didn't even look at the defender in front of him!
His gaze pierced through layers of obstacles!
And locked onto two figures simultaneously!
One was Pau Gasol, who was in the paint engaged in a fierce physical struggle with Ibaka!
The other was Kobe Bryant, who was being tightly smothered by Durant on the wing!
His brain was burning frantically!
The Eye of the Heavenly Emperor was operating at its absolute limit without reservation!
He was going to use his last shred of mental energy...
...to pry open that door of miracles that existed only in theory!
An unprecedented gamble: a double [Pseudo ZONE]!
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