92: God is being played! The Spurs are unstoppable!

Kobe handed the basketball in his hands to Lin Feng.

“You earned this.”

Kobe's voice was raspy, yet incredibly solemn.

Lin Feng took the ball, which still carried the scent of sweat and gunpowder.

This ball carried the weight of a self-redemption, a team victory, and the fate of a season.

He looked at Kobe and nodded solemnly.

“Thanks, Boss.”

Kobe didn't say anything more; he turned, picked up a bottle of champagne, uncorked it, and sprayed it toward the ceiling.

After the suppression, the revelry swept through the locker room once again.

It wasn't until the early morning hours, as the players were preparing to leave with their exhausted but excited bodies.

Kobe stood at the door, stopping everyone.

The atmosphere of celebration gradually cooled down.

“Enjoy tonight.”

Kobe's gaze swept across everyone's faces.

“Celebrate and let it all out to your heart's content; you deserve this.”

“But, remember my words.”

His voice dropped, carrying a gravity that made everyone's hearts tighten.

“Starting tomorrow, we will no longer be facing a team like the Jazz, who are just fighting for a playoff spot.”

“We are facing a true war machine.”

A war machine.

This term sobered up most of the young players in the locker room from their drunken state.

The San Antonio Spurs.

Number one in the West.

The next day.

When the Lakers players woke up from their hangovers and turned on the TV or their phones, they were met with overwhelming headlines from sports media across the country.

ESPN: 'An Eighth-Seed Miracle? No, It’s a 4-0 Slaughter.'

TNT: 'Stats Don’t Lie: The Lakers Have a 0% Win Rate Against the Spurs.'

Yahoo Sports: 'Popovich’s Chessboard: The Lakers Don’t Even Qualify to Be Pawns.'

Almost every expert and commentator predicted the outcome of this series with a tone that sounded like a death sentence.

They listed detailed statistics.

In their regular-season matchups, the Lakers lost all three games, losing by an average of over 15 points.

Offensive efficiency: Spurs were third in the league, Lakers were eleventh.

Defensive efficiency: Spurs were second in the league, Lakers were twentieth.

Assist-to-turnover ratio: Spurs were first in the league, Lakers were in the lower-middle tier.

They even compared the levels of the coaches.

On one side was the tactical master and legendary godfather, Gregg Popovich.

On the other side was D'Antoni, who advocated for run-and-gun but had a shambolic defensive system, jokingly referred to by fans as 'ruling by doing nothing.'

No matter the angle, this was a matchup with absolutely no suspense.

Inside the Lakers.

The atmosphere in the locker room became somewhat strange.

“Damn! These bastards!”

Nick Young slammed his phone into his locker.

“How can they say that? We just pulled off a game-winner!”

“Do they think we’re pushovers?”

“4-0? In their dreams!”

The young players were completely infuriated by the media's blatant contempt.

This anger translated into a volatile atmosphere on the practice court.

The scrimmages became exceptionally intense, as everyone seemed to be holding in a surge of energy.

But this energy carried a sense of impatience and impulsiveness.

Mistakes were frequent during training, and several times, things nearly boiled over due to overly aggressive play.

Kobe had to halt the practice and give everyone a piece of his mind.

“You want to prove yourselves? In this way?”

“Charging around like a bunch of brainless bulls?”

“You’re just helping the Spurs warm up!”

Only Lin Feng remained exceptionally quiet.

He didn't participate in his teammates' arguments and impatience.

He just sat alone on the sidelines during the breaks in training, his eyes closed.

In his mind, he was using the [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor] to frantically simulate the Spurs' tactics.

He pulled up all the game tapes of the Spurs from the regular season.

However, the results startled him.

He could predict Tony Parker's drive paths, but Parker had over a dozen passing options.

He could see through Tim Duncan's post moves, but the Spurs' perimeter shooters could always find an open spot.

He couldn't even lock onto an absolute core player.

The Spurs' offense was like mercury flowing on the ground—pervasive and finding every crack.

There seemed to be thousands of variations on their playbook.

Everyone was an initiator, and everyone was a finisher.

For the first time, the [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor] felt a sense of powerlessness.

It could see through a person's movements and the intent of a tactic.

But it could not see through a vast and complex system composed of countless precise tactical combinations.

He couldn't find that 'core'.

Because the core of the Spurs was the 'system' itself.

Two days later, the Lakers arrived in San Antonio via a private jet.

When they stepped out of the airport, they weren't met with the frantic insults and provocations of Salt Lake City, but rather a strange tranquility.

It was a strange tranquility.

There weren't many media members or fans outside the airport.

There were no boos, no banners, and no trash talk.

They just quietly watched the Lakers players walk by, their eyes calm, even carrying a polite smile.

But beneath that smile was a deeper, absolute disregard.

It felt as if they were saying: Welcome to San Antonio; your journey ends here.

This disregard was more chilling than any provocation.

G1 Game Day.

AT&T Center.

The atmosphere here was completely different from Salt Lake City.

There was no deafening noise, no crazed fans.

The arena was filled with spectators wearing black, white, and silver jerseys; they were quiet and focused, as if they were enjoying an elegant concert.

But every Lakers player could feel the invisible pressure in the air.

The game began.

The Lakers' first defensive possession.

The Spurs' point guard, the French Sensation Tony Parker, unhurriedly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.

Lin Feng matched up against him.

After the peak battle of hitting the game-winner against the Jazz, Lin Feng's confidence was at its zenith.

He immediately activated the [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor]!

He wanted to completely shut down the Spurs' engine starting from the very first defense!

In the vision of the [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor], every minute movement of Parker's was infinitely magnified.

His center of gravity leaned to the left.

There was a slight twitch in his shoulders.

His eyes glanced at Danny Green in the left corner.

A fake!

Lin Feng instantly reached a conclusion in his mind.

This is a fake drive to the left; his real intention is to pass to Kawhi Leonard on the right!

However.

Just as Lin Feng was about to move early to block the passing lane...

Parker simply made the most basic pass, devoid of any flashy moves.

He handed the ball to Tim Duncan at the high post.

Lin Feng's prediction completely missed the mark.

He was stunned where he stood.

The ball reached Duncan's hands without a moment's pause; with a flick of his wrist, Duncan sent a bounce pass to Manu Ginobili, who was cutting in from the other side.

Ginóbili took the ball, drawing Kobe's defense.

He didn't even look at the basket; with a stylish behind-the-back pass, the basketball flew accurately to the left corner.

Danny Green.

He stood there, with no one within three meters of him.

He jumped and shot with composure.

“Swish!”

The three-pointer went in.

The entire play, from Parker's pass to Green's shot, took less than four seconds.

Three passes, smooth as flowing water.

Lin Feng stood there, his mind a complete blank.

For the first time, he felt that his [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor] was like a joke.

He saw through Parker, but the ball wasn't in Parker's hands.

He predicted the opponent's tactic, but the opponent didn't execute that tactic at all.

On the sidelines.

Spurs head coach Popovich watched the court expressionlessly, holding a glass of red wine in his hand.

It was as if the basket just now had nothing to do with him.

This was just the beginning.

Over the next few possessions, Lin Feng fell completely into the 'information fog' that Popovich had meticulously designed for him.

He predicted Ginóbili would go for a Snake-like drive, but Ginóbili was just a screen; the real killing blow was Duncan's Bank shot.

He saw through the Pick-and-roll between Duncan and Parker, but the ball was given to Leonard on a Backdoor cut for an easy layup.

He could see the next move of every Spurs player.

But he could never guess who the ball would be passed to.

For the first time, his [Eye of the Heavenly Emperor] was completely toyed with by an invisible, intangible 'system'.

The first quarter was barely halfway through.

Lin Feng was already drenched in sweat; the physical toll was immense as he tried to keep up with the Spurs' dazzling ball movement and process the explosion of useless information in his mind.

The result was that his predictions only managed to disrupt one inconsequential pass from the Spurs.

The effect was negligible.

The point gap had already widened to double digits.

The first quarter was nearing its end.

The Lakers were on offense.

Kobe took the ball in the low post, wanting to use his individual ability to force a breakthrough.

Defending him was that expressionless young man.

Kawhi Leonard.

Leonard spread his disproportionately large hands, which were like two iron pincers, constantly disrupting Kobe's dribble.

Kobe made several Jab steps in succession, but he couldn't shake off Leonard's defense.

He grew a bit impatient and forced a Turnaround fadeaway jumper!

At the moment he jumped and landed, his left foot suffered a slight stumble upon touching the ground.

A flicker of imperceptible pain flashed across Kobe's face.

Subconsciously, he reached down to support his knee with his hand.