79: Contempt for God

Paul's face was filled with a desperate madness.

He condensed his lifetime of ball-handling mastery into these few seconds.

He felt as if he had entered some kind of mysterious state.

He felt that every single move he made was flawless.

Now!

With a final behind-the-back dribble into a Shammgod, his body suddenly dipped low to the left!

He saw it!

He saw Lin Feng's shoulder make an extremely subtle tilt, a tendency to move to the right!

You fell for it!

A cry of wild joy erupted in Chris Paul's heart!

It was a trap!

His true breakthrough direction was to the right!

Using every ounce of strength, his ankles suddenly exploded with power, and he shot toward the opening on the right like an arrow from a bow!

The space opened up!

A massive space, enough for him to complete a shot or even a drive!

He had won!

Using the skills he was most proud of, he had defeated this monster who could predict the future!

However...

At the very moment he thought the path was clear...

A hand, so ordinary and even somewhat casual, reached out into his breakthrough path.

The owner of that hand, Lin Feng, hadn't moved at all.

From beginning to end, he had stood right where he was.

That subtle twitch of the shoulder just now was only because he had been standing for a long time and was relaxing slightly.

Chris Paul's mind went blank.

He watched helplessly as the basketball in his hands, as if pulled by a magnet, escaped his control.

Then, unerringly, it "delivered" itself right into that outstretched palm.

“Clap.”

A slight, almost inaudible sound of contact.

A steal.

So effortless.

So simple.

Chris Paul's confidence, his pride, everything he had built as the "god of point guards," was utterly shattered at this moment.

Because he had exerted too much force, he lost his balance, stumbled a few steps, and came to a stop.

He didn't look back.

He just stared blankly at his empty hands.

What happened?

Just now... what happened?

He couldn't figure it out.

He completely couldn't understand.

Lin Feng ignored the league's number one point guard standing soul-crushed behind him.

He grabbed the ball and immediately launched a fast break!

After a brief moment of dead silence, the Staples Center erupted in ear-splitting screams!

“Steal! Lin Feng stole the ball from Chris Paul!”

“Oh my God! How did he do it? Paul's sequence of moves made my eyes go blurry!”

The Clippers players, as if waking from a dream, frantically sprinted back to their half-court.

Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford, one on the left and one on the right, like two hounds, chased relentlessly after Lin Feng.

They knew they absolutely couldn't let Lin Feng score easily again!

This was no longer just about one basket!

It was a matter of dignity!

Everyone thought Lin Feng would choose to pass or use his speed to drive into the paint.

Because behind him were two frantic pursuers.

In front, the Clippers' center, DeAndre Jordan, had already retreated to defend the rim.

It was a desperate situation, surrounded on three sides!

However...

Just when everyone thought so...

Lin Feng, running at full speed, suddenly came to a screeching halt just one step past the three-point line!

The piercing screech of sneakers echoed through the arena.

Griffin and Crawford behind him couldn't stop in time!

But relying on their professional instincts, the moment they overshot, they forced their bodies to twist and leaped high, attempting a block from behind!

Lin Feng didn't look at the hoop.

Because of the sudden stop from a full sprint, his body had completely lost its balance.

He was falling backward.

Just as his body was about to be parallel to the ground...

Using an extremely distorted and uncoordinated posture, he casually tossed the basketball toward the hoop with one hand.

Formless Shot!

This wasn't a shot at all!

It looked more like throwing away a hot potato before falling!

“Bang!”

As Crawford came down, he collided heavily with Lin Feng.

“Beep—!”

The referee's whistle blew at the same time!

Defensive foul!

Everyone's eyes followed the basketball that had been tossed out.

It traced a high, somewhat crooked arc in the air.

Then...

“Swish!”

A crisp, pleasant sound that broke the hearts of every Clippers player.

Nothing but net!

The basket counts!

And an extra free throw!

A 3+1!

The entire Staples Center went completely wild!

Fans leaped from their seats, waving their arms and roaring with all their might, venting their excitement and fervor!

“God! Is that a shot a human can make?”

“With two people on his back! Fading away and throwing it in! And he drew the foul!”

“The game is over! It's completely over! Lin Feng has killed the game!”

This shot completely shattered the psychological defenses of everyone on the Clippers.

They stood frozen, looking at Lin Feng, who was being pulled up from the ground by his teammates, still expressionless.

In their eyes, only numbness and despair remained.

How do you play against this?

How can you even play?

If you guard him, he can use his voice to direct teammates to score.

If you leave him to play one-on-one, he can steal the ball from you in the most humiliating way and then toss it into the basket in the most unreasonable manner.

This was no longer a basketball game.

It was a one-sided, cruel execution.

Clippers head coach Del Negro could no longer maintain his composure.

He slammed his tactical board onto the floor and walked to the scorer's table.

He called his final timeout.

The game entered garbage time.

D'Antoni waved his hand and subbed Lin Feng out.

Lin Feng walked off the court.

The entire Staples Center, all twenty thousand spectators, rose to their feet!

They gave their most enthusiastic applause and cheers to the only king of the night!

Lin Feng walked calmly, high-fiving his teammates one by one as they left the court.

He headed toward the bench.

The first to greet him was Kobe.

Kobe didn't say a word.

He just opened his arms and gave Lin Feng a firm hug.

He patted Lin Feng on the back once, twice, three times with force.

A thousand words were melted into this embrace.

It was a passing of the torch.

It was an acknowledgment.

Even more, it was a heartfelt relief of an older brother seeing his younger brother finally grow into a towering tree.

Lin Feng hugged Kobe back.

He could feel the slight trembling in Kobe's arm.

Finally, the game ended.

The Lakers secured a resounding victory at home, ending their embarrassing six-game losing streak.

Lin Feng's stats for the night were displayed on the large statistics screen.

25 points, 18 assists, and 6 steals.

The scoring wasn't exactly explosive, but anyone who watched the game understood how terrifyingly high the quality of these stats was.

Every one of his scores was achieved at the most critical moment, in the most soul-crushing way.

Every one of his assists was like a scalpel, precisely cutting through the Clippers' defense.

Every one of his steals directly destroyed the opponent's confidence.

The post-game press conference was packed with reporters.

All cameras and microphones were pointed at the Lakers' bench.

A reporter grabbed the chance to ask a question and handed the microphone to Kobe.

“Kobe, how do you evaluate Lin Feng's performance tonight? He seems to have played a brand-new kind of basketball we've never seen before.”

Kobe looked at the reporter, then at the young man beside him who had remained calm throughout.

His eyes suddenly grew a bit moist.

He took the microphone, his voice slightly raspy but filled with unprecedented determination.

“I have always wanted to find a future for the Lakers.”

Kobe paused, his gaze sweeping across every camera on the scene, as he spoke word by word.

“Tonight, I found it.”