54: A strangled beast

Reason and instinct clashed fiercely in Lin Feng's mind.

Passing was the tactically correct choice.

It was the only path to victory that Kobe had taught him.

But Chris Kaman's butterfingers, that ridiculous missed open layup, were like a comical caricature that wouldn't leave his mind.

Chris Kaman was still near the free-throw line, waving his arms like a helpless child.

His eyes were filled with a longing for the ball and an eagerness to make up for his mistake.

Lin Feng saw it.

But in the end, he looked away.

He chose to trust his own hands rather than his teammate's.

He moved.

Instead of passing again, he used a violent crossover to launch a determined assault on Kawhi Leonard's defense.

The Spurs' defensive formation collapsed inward as if rehearsed.

Danny Green came over for a double-team from the wing, blocking his left side.

Tim Duncan stepped up from the paint, blocking the path ahead like a stone buddha.

The great net of the "lin feng rule" descended upon him once more.

But this time, Lin Feng didn't look for a gap to pass.

He was going to tear through this net in the most unreasonable way possible!

Formless Shot!

Just before his body collided with Leonard, his center of gravity suddenly shifted back, and his whole body leaned back at an incredible angle.

At the same time, he flicked his wrist, tossing the ball high.

It was a shot that completely disregarded the defense.

But the Spurs' defense was equally unreasonable.

Leonard's long arms followed him like a shadow the moment he leaned back, obscuring his vision.

Duncan's help defense was perfectly timed, his massive palms covering every area the ball might fly through.

Clang!

The basketball hit the side of the rim and bounced out.

Duncan didn't even need to jump to easily secure the rebound.

The Spurs immediately launched a counterattack.

Tony Parker was like a sports car speeding on the highway, reaching the front court in an instant.

He single-handedly tore the Lakers' defensive formation to shreds.

Parker made a nimble Spin Layup, easily scoring two points.

The point gap continued to widen.

The Lakers' bench was silent.

D'Antoni's face looked as bad as it could get.

On the court, Lin Feng gasped for air, watching Parker's back as he scored easily, then looking at the expressionless Popovich on the sideline.

An anonymous rage flared up from the bottom of his heart.

The next possession.

Nash dribbled the ball over, glancing at Lin Feng and then at the open Kaman, his face full of hesitation.

"Give it to me!"

Lin Feng stepped forward and demanded the ball directly from Nash.

His eyes were filled with an indisputable determination.

Nash opened his mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing, silently running to the corner.

Lin Feng faced Leonard once again.

This time, there was no feeling out.

With a series of between-the-legs dribbles, his rhythm was blindingly fast.

Like a thoroughly enraged beast, he intended to use primal violence to break through the cage tailor-made for him.

He forced a breakthrough!

Leonard's defense was like a rock, his footsteps following closely.

Danny Green arrived for help defense again.

Lin Feng leaped forcefully between the gaps, curling his body in mid-air to avoid Green's block, then used an extreme double-clutch to flick the ball in from the other side of the rim.

This move transcended the scope of basketball; it was more like an acrobatic performance.

However, under the rim, the stone buddha who had been silent for over a decade, Tim Duncan, had long been waiting.

He simply extended his arm.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out.

The basketball was slammed hard against the backboard by his hand.

Lin Feng fell heavily to the ground, but the referee's whistle didn't blow.

It was a clean block.

The AT&T Center erupted!

Fans cheered wildly, applauding Duncan for his perfect defense.

The Spurs launched another fast break, this time featuring Manu Ginobili coming off the bench.

His eerie Euro-step drive shook off the Lakers' last line of defense, leading to an easy layup.

1-for-6.

Under the Spurs' iron-clad defense, Lin Feng's personal stats became incredibly ugly.

D'Antoni could no longer bear it.

He gestured to the scorer's table for a timeout.

A piercing buzzer sounded.

Lin Feng climbed up from the floor and walked to the bench without a word.

D'Antoni walked up to him with a clipboard, his face ashen.

"Lin! What are you doing?!"

His voice was slightly distorted by anger.

"Run the plays! Pass the ball! Did you hear me?!"

Lin Feng took the towel from the assistant coach and wiped the sweat from his face without looking at him.

"Pass to who?"

He asked back coldly.

"Pass to Kaman so he can miss that damn layup?"

D'Antoni was choked up by his words, his lips trembling with rage.

"Listen! Basketball is a five-man game! You can't solve everything by yourself!"

"Calm down! Trust your teammates!"

Lin Feng looked up, his eyes filled with cold stubbornness and frustration.

"Coach, they can't win."

"Only I can."

D'Antoni looked at those eyes burning with fire and was momentarily speechless.

He knew this young man had completely lost his head.

He wasn't playing against the Spurs right now; he was throwing a tantrum at Gregg Popovich.

The timeout ended, and the game resumed.

In the second half, the situation on the court didn't change; if anything, it got worse.

Lin Feng completely transformed into a beast trapped in a cage.

He frantically charged at the inescapable net the Spurs had set for him, over and over again.

Using an Formless Shot from the zero-degree angle at the baseline, with his body almost parallel to the ground, he tossed the ball toward the rim.

The result: an airball.

He tried to use speed to force his way through the double-team of Leonard and Green.

Instead, Leonard stripped the ball directly from him, adding another turnover.

He was like someone fighting an invisible wall, getting battered and bruised, only to exhaust his energy in vain.

Every difficult miss resulted in a smooth, team-oriented offensive play by the Spurs.

Every turnover turned into an easy transition score for the opponent.

The lead grew from 10 points to 15, then to 20.

Any suspense in the game had completely vanished by the third quarter.

The Lakers players seemed lost on the court, their morale sinking to freezing point.

Lin Feng, the once-omnipotent eastern magician, was now like a paranoid gambler who had lost all his chips but still refused to leave the table.

The final buzzer of the game finally sounded.

112 to 87.

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a crushing 25-point defeat on the road.

The giant electronic screen displayed Lin Feng's stats for the game.

5-for-22, 15 points, but with 6 turnovers and 5 shots blocked.

It was a shocking sight.

Lin Feng rested his hands on his knees, his chest heaving violently, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.

The entire AT&T Center echoed with the cheers of the victorious Spurs fans.

Those sounds were so piercing in his ears right now.

The players began to leave the court.

Kobe walked over, said nothing, and just patted him on the back.

Just then, the Spurs' head coach, Gregg Popovich, slowly walked onto the court.

He first gave Kobe a warm hug and exchanged a few low words.

Then, he walked toward the Lakers' bench.

He passed by Lin Feng.

He stopped and looked at the despondent young man.

Popovich didn't speak; he just reached out and gently patted Lin Feng on the shoulder.

The gesture carried an elder's scrutiny of a junior, even a faint, imperceptible trace of pity.

Then, he turned and left without leaving a single word.

This gesture was more lethal than any trash talk.

It was as if saying: Kid, welcome to the real league; your little tricks won't work here.

Lin Feng froze in place, as if all his strength had been drained.

TNT's live cameras faithfully recorded this scene.

Immediately after the game, sports media across America found their hottest topic for the night.

The headlines of major sports websites were occupied by a striking title.

“The Circus Crushed by the Army! Popovich Teaches the All-Star Vote-Leader a Lesson with a 25-Point Blowout!”