90: The seal of fate! The hand of God!

Hayward moved!

His entire body was like a taut bow, and in the final few seconds, he suddenly shot forward!

With a fierce burst of speed, he charged straight for the basket!

Kobe's eyes were bloodshot as he doggedly followed Hayward's footsteps.

His legs felt as heavy as lead.

The aftereffects of his ruptured Achilles tendon, combined with the high-intensity exertion of the entire game, made his lateral movement a crucial step too slow.

Hayward seized this momentary opening!

He came to a sudden stop and took a step back, positioning himself near the free-throw line.

This was his most familiar and confident shooting spot!

He had shaken Kobe off by half a body length!

It was a perfect opportunity to shoot.

Kobe lunged forward with all his might, extending his arm, but his fingertips were still an inch away from the basketball.

A hint of a victorious smile already appeared on Hayward's face.

He could feel it—this shot was going in!

In the entire Energy Solutions Arena, every fan wearing a Jazz Team jersey stood up from their seats, arms wide open, ready to welcome the ball that would send them into the playoffs!

On the Jazz Team's bench, everyone rushed to the sidelines, ready to storm the court and toss their hero, Hayward, high into the air!

Time seemed to slow down infinitely at this moment.

But just as Hayward raised the basketball to its highest point and was about to release it...

A black shadow flew out silently from his diagonal rear like a ghost!

The speed of that figure was incredibly fast!

It was Lin Feng!

The moment Hayward made his move to change direction, the Eye of the Heavenly Emperor had already seen through everything!

The angle of Hayward's shoulder sway, the subtle adjustments in his core strength, the vertical height of his jump, the arc of his wrist as he shot... everything was broken down into a stream of cold, precise data in Lin Feng's mind!

He saw the future of this ball!

He knew Hayward would choose a pull-up jump shot!

He knew Hayward would shake off Kobe!

He knew this was the Jazz Team's only and final option!

Therefore, he made a decision that no one in the arena could understand.

He abandoned the player he was defending.

The moment Hayward started his drive, Lin Feng started as well!

This was a complete gamble!

A high-stakes gamble with the fate of the entire season as the wager!

He bet on his own judgment!

He bet on his Eye of the Heavenly Emperor!

His body stretched out in the air like a hunting falcon, his open right hand accurately closing in on the flight path of the basketball!

In Hayward's pupils, the palm descending from the sky was reflected.

The smile on his face froze.

"Smack!"

A loud crack, so sharp it made the hearts of everyone in the arena skip a beat!

Lin Feng's fingertips pressed firmly against the lower half of the basketball!

Then, with an unmatched and terrifying force, he slammed the ball that was about to fly toward the hoop hard and fast against the backboard!

A pinned-ball block!

An earth-shattering pinned-ball block worthy of the history books!

The whole world went quiet.

The Energy Solutions Arena, which had been thunderous just a second ago, became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

The twenty thousand fans who were ready to cheer froze in place as if a collective freezing spell had been cast on them, their mouths open but unable to make a sound.

The Jazz Team's bench, the players who were ready to rush onto the court, also stopped in their tracks, their faces filled with confusion and shock.

The basketball was pressed against the backboard, stalling for a fraction of a second.

Then, it fell powerlessly.

Gasol, at the basket, used his last bit of strength to firmly box out and hugged the fate-deciding rebound tightly in his arms.

The referee's whistle blew at that moment.

The timer froze at 5.8 seconds!

Kobe, panting heavily, turned his head.

He saw Lin Feng, who had just landed and was still holding his blocking posture.

He looked at the young man, at that face that remained calm yet carried an aura of looking down on the world.

Kobe's gaze slowly shifted from initial shock to a complex emotion.

In it, there was relief, approval, and even a hint of... jealousy.

He seemed to see his younger self.

That self who could fly through the air, was omnipotent, and could decide the life or death of a game by his own strength.

No.

This kid was even calmer and more terrifying than he had been back then.

He didn't rely on a momentary impulse of bloodlust to make that block.

He used his brain, and those eyes that could see through everything, to complete a surgical and precise assassination!

At this moment, all the doubts and scrutiny in Kobe's heart vanished.

He knew he hadn't chosen the wrong person.

He knew that the crown of Los Angeles had finally found its true owner.

This was the passing of the torch.

The Los Angeles Lakers called a timeout.

As the players walked back to the bench, the atmosphere was suppressed to the extreme.

"Great job! Lin!" Nick Young rushed over and slapped Lin Feng hard on the back.

Gasol handed the ball to the referee and walked over to Lin Feng, panting heavily, but his eyes were full of the excitement of a narrow escape.

Kobe was the last to walk over.

He walked up to Lin Feng and said nothing.

He simply extended his fist and lightly bumped it against Lin Feng's.

"The final attack," Kobe's voice was terribly raspy. "How do you want to play it?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Feng.

Lin Feng looked at Kobe, then at Gasol and Nash, whose strength was almost completely depleted.

He knew that this final shot could only be executed by him.

"I'll do it."

Lin Feng only said three words.

There was no extra explanation, yet it carried an indisputable decisiveness.

head coach D'Antoni didn't even set up any complicated tactics; he just drew a simple isolation play on the tactical board.

Everyone clear out.

Give the ball to Lin Feng.

Let him decide the fate of this season.

Timeout over.

Lakers inbound the ball in the backcourt.

All the Jazz Team players put on a posture like they were ready to fight for their lives.

They knew these were the final 5.8 seconds.

If they stopped this shot, they could drag the game into overtime.

On their home court, with the Lakers' strength exhausted, they were sure to win in overtime!

The ball was successfully inbounded into Lin Feng's hands.

The clock began to run.

Lin Feng received the ball in the backcourt.

He didn't sprint toward the frontcourt at full speed as everyone expected, to snatch a final offensive moment.

He just steadily dribbled the ball toward the frontcourt, one bounce after another.

His steps were steady and his rhythm was slow, as if he wasn't playing the final attack of a life-and-death battle, but taking a stroll in a park in the afternoon.

Spectators around the world held their breath.

The commentator's voice also became somewhat stuttery due to tension.

"What is Lin Feng doing? Why isn't he accelerating?"

"Only four seconds left! He's too calm!"

"No, this isn't just being calm; this is playing with fire!"

Everyone thought he would attack himself.

Or, at the last moment, pass the ball to Kobe to stage a classic heroic game-winner.