Basketball miracles

Chapter 244 [Slapping Each Other Back and Forth]

Xiao Tu couldn't sleep at all on his flight back to Miami. He didn't chat with his teammates and cursed the Spurs in his heart.

He felt he was getting a huge loss because the only reward he received after losing the game was a low-level Iron Chest.

After reviewing the game, he believed that the Heat were fully capable of winning, but failed to capitalize on many easy scoring opportunities.

Xiao Tu hasn't unlocked any new basketball techniques lately; the rewards from the Silver Treasure Chests, aside from the premium bear paw, are all training halos. He feels his luck is terrible; the halos aren't improving his strength fast enough.

He immediately opened the black iron treasure chest; the reward was a lollipop for quitting smoking, which he had no use for and kept.

Xiao Tu doesn't regret his outburst at the press conference; he deliberately offended the Spurs. Player conflicts can boost popularity, and if a nice guy keeps his feelings bottled up, he'll only continue to suffer.

In future games against the Spurs, if Bowen fouls Xiao Tu while guarding him, everyone will think it's intentional. That's Xiao Tu's goal: to make fans see the Spurs as the villains through his words.

With the Lotus Incarnation buff, Xiao Tu wasn't actually worried about being seriously injured by Bowen; he was simply annoyed by the behavior. He couldn't very well fight Bowen; it would be too beneath him.

Xiao Tu also remembers something: Bowen was going to injure Vince Carter by deliberately tripping him this season. Now he's already set a trap for the Spurs; when Bowen injures someone, he'll publicly support Carter and rant about the Spurs.

The Heat are likely to face the Spurs in the Finals in the future. If Xiao Tu does not cause a big butterfly effect, the two teams may meet in the Finals in 2005 and 2007.

Xiao Tu sees further than others; the Spurs will definitely be his greatest enemy in the future. He doesn't need to be polite to his enemies, and he's already laying the groundwork.

The fiercer the rivalry between the two teams, the higher the viewership will be for future games. Xiao Tu doesn't want to end up like the Pistons and Cavaliers, with the Finals against the Spurs seeing record-low viewership; he can't afford that kind of embarrassment.

If everything goes smoothly, most fans will definitely support Xiao Tu and the Heat to win the championship. The Spurs, as the villains, will definitely not benefit from biased officiating and may even suffer losses.

Xiao Tu's 60+ triple-double performance has already generated significant impact, and his criticism of the Spurs has made headlines, instantly elevating his popularity to the top tier of the NBA.

Currently, only the Lakers have a higher profile than the Heat, as the F4 are all big-name stars.

Kobe Bryant made headlines in legal news, and he didn't forget to drag Shaquille O'Neal into it. His statement, "Shaq did it too," has kept a large number of media people entertained; whether he actually said that is no longer important.

The Heat's next game is also nationally televised, a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Fans think the Heat have a terrible schedule, but Xiao Tu is confident of victory.

The Heat have had three days without a game, giving the players time to rest and recuperate, so at least their physical condition shouldn't be a problem. Furthermore, Caron Butler is recovering well and preparing to return, meaning the team will likely have another excellent rotation player.

Butler is very anxious; if he doesn't return soon, he feels he'll soon lose his place on the Heat. Xiao Tu and Odom have been playing a lot of minutes and don't really need substitutes.

The Timberwolves have become championship favorites since their major trade, with many of their games broadcast nationally. However, the "Big Three" combination didn't gel well at the start, losing 121-125 at home to the Kings, leaving them with a record of only 2 wins and 3 losses.

The Timberwolves aren't fielding their strongest lineup either, as star small forward Szczerbiak is seriously injured and will be out for a long time. If all four of the Timberwolves' star players were available, their roster would indeed be formidable.

The league started promoting the game in advance, and fans were really looking forward to it, wanting to see how Xiao Tu would perform against the super defensive player Garnett.

The following day, after the Cavaliers' home game against the Nuggets, various media outlets again compared LeBron James and Xiao Tu.

Xiao Tu's popularity is unmatched among the 2003 draft class; he can easily outshine others even while on vacation at home. This is because the others are simply playing mediocre; even if they put up decent stats, their shooting percentage is low.

The Cavaliers lost to the Nuggets 89-93, marking their fourth consecutive loss to start the season.

In the first matchup between two high draft picks, James lost again.

Carmelo Anthony had a poor performance, scoring 14 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and dishing out 2 assists, but at least he helped the Nuggets win the game.

James' performance can't be simply described as "bad"; it's downright ridiculous. His team can't even defend him.

他出战41分钟，11投3中，三分球2中0，罚球1中1，得到7分11篮板7助攻2抢断3盖帽。

Anyone who watched the game noticed that LeBron James consistently struggles against teams with twin towers. He simply can't break through zone defenses, gets blocked in the paint, and often hesitates to shoot against shorter guards on the perimeter. For a period, James was matched up against Earl Boykins, who is 165cm tall and weighs 65kg.

Boykins gave James two steps back to lower his center of gravity, making him look like a hobbit bravely taking on an orc with his bare hands. James still hesitated when he got the ball, choosing to pass unselfishly most of the time, and his jump shots over Boykins always missed.

He didn't get a back-to-the-basket move, and Boykins lost his chance to become a mountain.

博伊金斯出战25分钟，12投7中，三分球5中2，罚球2中2，得到18分2助攻。

After the game, some media outlets reported that James was not the core player of the Cavaliers at all.

During the game, shooting guard Ricky Davis was very dissatisfied with James' performance and yelled at him several times.

Within the team, Davis often has James carry his shoes. Clearly, James is the team's leader. But nothing stays hidden forever, and after seeing the news, Cavaliers fans felt James was utterly incompetent.

Many media outlets interviewed James, asking him to comment on Xiao Tu.

Anthony, Bosh, and other high draft picks didn't have the same level of popularity, so the media's main focus was on James. James couldn't escape this comparison; after all, he has "The Chosen One" tattooed on his back, and he's not going to back down.

James needed to maintain a good image but didn't want to offend anyone, so his evaluation of Xiao Tu was full of rambling nonsense. The reporters didn't know what he was trying to say; all they knew was that he said "you know" a lot.

James will only be 19 years old at the end of this year, and dealing with reporters is extremely difficult for him; he's completely exhausted.

Back home, James didn't want to go online; it felt like a venomous snake might jump out of the computer monitor at any moment.

James was happy after the draft, but his perfect career was overshadowed by the Summer League when the Cavaliers lost to the Heat twice.

What frustrated him most was that Sebastian Shaw was unknown at the time, with no money, no influence, and a low draft pick. Aside from being slightly more handsome and having a better shot, Shaw was equal to him in every other aspect, or even far superior.

As a result, after the season started, James saw Shaw quickly rise from a second-round pick to a star.

He has potential, that's true, but he's already a super player ready to contribute immediately. Someone who was inferior to him in every way before the season started dared to mock and ridicule him when he was still struggling, but then quickly surpassed him after the season started, slapping him in the face back and forth.

Xiao Tu has become the person James most wants to defeat; if he can't beat the Heat, he can't prove he's better. Embarrassingly, he hasn't won a single game yet.

James is under immense pressure; he's not even the primary star on the Cavaliers. He needs to become the leader first, and then the team needs to trade for talented stars to support him before they can have a chance of winning.

He still wanted to see what netizens were saying, so he searched for news articles. He didn't see many people supporting him; it was all praising Xiao Tu's incredible triple-double.

"Xiao's individual ability is too strong. There was only one game where he didn't get a triple-double and scored less than 30 points. I think he might be able to average a triple-double this season. Most teams can't stop him."

"The league is dominated by the West and weak in the East. The Heat mainly compete with Eastern Conference teams, and only play two games a season against strong Western Conference teams. As long as they dominate the East, the Heat might be able to achieve the best record in the league, and Shaw could win the MVP in his rookie season."

"The Heat can really contend for the championship. With Xiao on the team, I feel the Heat are no worse than the Pacers or the Nets. The Pistons and 76ers didn't start well, and their strength is clearly inferior to the Heat."

Online comments about LeBron James are generally sarcastic and mocking.

"Can we get rid of this chosen one and replace him with the 33rd pick? If Shaw were on the Cavaliers, Davis would only be fit to carry his shoes, and probably wouldn't even be able to get a pick."

"What kind of bust did the Cavaliers draft? He couldn't even beat a guard who's a head shorter than him in two consecutive games, and he's scored single digits."

"The Heat have such a terrible roster with a 4-1 record. They don't even have a center, and Shaw is the team's leading rebounder. If he had started his career with the Cavaliers, with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Carlos Boozer, and Anthony Davis as teammates, he might have won a championship in his rookie season."

After seeing the news, James was so angry that he almost punched his computer monitor through the hole.

The two have vastly different reputations now, and he can't imagine how things will turn around in the future.

Where did this Xiao come from? Why did this happen?
God, why did you choose the most difficult path for me?!
(End of this chapter)