Basketball miracles

Chapter 75 [Gossip, 22-Game Winning Streak]

After dinner, Jennifer Connelly asked where Xiao Tu lived.

Xiao Tu politely declined, not taking her to see his apartment, and going to Madonna's house was out of the question. It was fine as long as there were no paparazzi taking pictures; if they were photographed, it would definitely be in the news.

Bringing a minor girl home with a celebrity is no joke. Many American media outlets have no scruples and will definitely fabricate news stories claiming their relationship is more than just friendship. Even if Chris is with both of them, the news will only be more sensational—two hunky guys and a minor actress having an unspeakable secret.

Xiao Tu explained why he couldn't bring Jennifer home, and Jennifer only felt that he was mature, steady, and willing to listen to her.

Xiao Tu drove to a safe park, and the two took a walk to digest their food. He took out the premium lychees as dessert.

The safety situation in Los Angeles is polarized; wealthy areas are very safe with ample police presence.

Several slums are extremely dangerous, long occupied by gangs, where residents are frequently robbed and businesses are often forced to buy things for free. Young people should avoid going to parks, and even after dark, it's best to stay indoors; bad guys lurk in the night, and you won't see them unless they speak.

Jennifer's eyes lit up when she saw the lychees. "You have this kind of fruit? I've never eaten a better fruit than this. My parents tried it and said it was great, but they couldn't find it anywhere else."

Xiao Tu laughed and said, "I told you long ago that you couldn't buy it. This is a tropical fruit from China."

"It must be very expensive, right?" Jennifer frowned slightly. "If you can't buy it, where did it come from? Did Madonna buy it from overseas?"

"No, it was a gift from a Chinese friend of mine, and the quantity is very limited. I can also get other premium fruits, and I'll let you try them later."

Jennifer smiled sweetly: "Why are you so good to me?"

"Because you're beautiful, talking and chatting with you is a pleasure. I'm a very superficial person, I only want to make friends with beautiful women, I don't pay any attention to ordinary women at all." Xiao Tu was straightforward and couldn't help but speak his mind again.

When he first traveled back to the 80s, he trained basketball like crazy for four months, and he really didn't interact with ordinary girls—a total ascetic. After practice, he preferred to watch TV and chat with Chris.

Xiao Tu believes that any man who says he is not a "looks-obsessed" person is hypocritical, and that a handsome man and a beautiful woman is a wise saying.

Xiao Tu always talks a lot whenever he meets Jennifer. He is happy even when Jennifer talks childish nonsense. It is really pleasing to the eye.

Jennifer paused for a moment, then smiled so hard her gums showed again.

Her teeth are relatively large, and her dental arch is full. In addition, her upper lip is relatively thin, so when she smiles, it pulls upwards.

Jennifer smiles restrainedly while acting, but laughs freely when she's with Xiao Tu, which is quite adorable. Xiao Tu prefers her when she had a rounder face; after thirty, she became too thin, looking sharp and masculine.

Jennifer especially enjoys chatting with Xiao Tu; she'd never met anyone so interesting before. After meeting Xiao Tu, she feels she's become more outgoing.

Environment shapes a person. Jennifer grew up in Los Angeles, so she will definitely be very different from her counterpart in a parallel universe.

The two strolled in the park for a while, and then Xiao Tu drove Jennifer home, dropping her off at the entrance of her community. He gave Jennifer all the lychees to take home and eat, telling her to keep them in the refrigerator and eat them within two days, otherwise they would turn sour.

“It didn’t take two days. We finished eating tonight. It was so delicious we couldn’t stop,” Jennifer said with a smile. “Would you like to come over to my house? My parents are probably not home right now.”

"I'm not going." Xiao Tu felt that the atmosphere would be awkward whether her parents were home or not, so she decisively refused.

Xiao Tu was very careful and didn't treat their meeting as a date at all, but they still made the entertainment news the next day.

It's not sports news; gossip-driven entertainment media are more interested in Xiao Tu's off-field activities.

Other NBA stars going out to dinner with female friends wouldn't make the news, but Xiao Tu is unique. Because he now has the important title of "Madonna's boyfriend," the media can simply fabricate a breakup story, which will attract a lot of attention.

Madonna was reading the newspaper in the morning when she asked incredulously, "You actually went out on a date with another woman yesterday?"

Xiao Tu took the newspaper and looked at it. Two of the photos were very blurry, and it was impossible to tell Jennifer's age.

He shook his head and sighed, "These reporters are outrageous. What nonsense are they writing? I just had a meal with a friend. You've seen her on TV, the little girl in the Snickers commercial who played me when I was hungry."

Madonna asked, "Why did you have dinner with her?"

“She’s a fan of mine. We exchanged contact information when we filmed the commercial, even before we knew each other. Don’t underestimate her; she’s acted as a movie lead.” Xiao Tu introduced Jennifer openly, knowing he couldn’t hide it anyway. Madonna breathed a sigh of relief seeing Xiao Tu’s lack of concealment. “How old is she?”

"Next Wednesday is her 14th birthday, and she invited me to celebrate with her winning the lead role in a new movie audition. She used to live in New York and doesn't have many friends here. Why don't you come over for dinner on her birthday?"

"Sure, students have classes on Wednesdays, so even if you're going to meet up with her, it'll be in the evening, right? I shouldn't be busy then."

"..." Xiao Tu didn't expect Madonna to actually agree.

He quickly figured out the reason. Madonna probably wasn't jealous or anything; she just wanted to spend more time with him. It was perfectly normal for Madonna to accompany him when he went out to dinner.

Madonna had dinners with people from the music industry, and Xiao Tu was her male companion three times. It didn't matter if he didn't understand what they were talking about, or if he just stared blankly throughout; he was just there to show his face.

Let them go. They'll meet sooner or later anyway; they're both celebrities.

We'll just be having a meal out, it's that simple.

Despite her young age, Jennifer has earned a lot of money, not only acting in movies but also shooting many commercials. Jennifer said she wanted to treat Xiao Tu to dinner, and he didn't refuse; there might be other people going too.

He didn't know if any reporters would ask about Jennifer; if so, he would explain, but if no one interviewed him, he would pretend it never happened.

Another day passed, and the NBA regular season continued, with the Lakers crushing the Suns 144-101 at home.

Larry Nance, the Suns' leading scorer this season, was again held to a 40% field goal percentage by Xiao Tu, managing only 16 points and 7 rebounds. With their star player underperforming, the Suns had absolutely no chance of winning.

南斯本赛季场均20+8只是看起来不错，战术作用并不大。肖途在攻防两端的表现都强出他许多，仅出战30分钟便砍下22分13篮板2助攻2盖帽，和两大巨星三节打卡下班。

Maurice Lucas, who stands at 206cm, is the Suns' starting center, and he is completely unable to defend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one-on-one.

贾巴尔出场28分钟，15投12中，罚球8中7，得到31分4篮板5助攻2盖帽。

His one-on-one game is always simple: he takes two steps in the low post, turns around, and hooks the ball, making it impossible for shorter players to block.

Magic Johnson also had a standout performance, scoring 20 points, dishing out 14 assists, and recording 5 steals. With the team leading by a large margin, he didn't need to exert himself much on defense and tended to gamble on steals, which he did quite a few today.

Xiao Tu immediately opened the brass treasure chest, and the reward was a premium watermelon.

He had a big watermelon he hadn't eaten yet, and now he has two. That's great, he's in for a treat.

The Lakers won easily against the Pacers, a weak team in the Eastern Conference, in a back-to-back game, with a decisive 135-103 victory.

The Pacers are a team led by their star center, and their starting power forward for this game was Clark Kellogg, who is 201cm tall and weighs 102kg. He relies on his physicality and has considerable impact, but he was completely contained by Xiao Tu.

Xiao Tu scored 22 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 blocks, including 8 offensive rebounds. He didn't take many shots, focusing most of his energy on rebounding, yet his stats were still impressive.

Xiao Tu had never heard of Kellogg. This black player was very strong and only knew how to brute force; he had blocked four shots. He liked this type of opponent and hoped that one day he could also get double-digit blocks.

凯洛格只得到8分7篮板，并且6次犯规被罚下，数据远低于个人平均水平18.5分9.5篮板。

Herb Williams, who is 208cm tall and weighs 110kg, performed well, trading stats with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Xiao Tu received an intermediate shooting training aura as a reward from the treasure chest, and he will take some time to practice it.

Unbeknownst to many, the Lakers have achieved an astonishing 22-game winning streak.

This is the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, with the first two both held by the Lakers. The Lakers players are giving it their all in every game, hoping to extend the winning streak even further.

The Lakers' home games have seen phenomenal attendance, with every game sold out since the start of the season. Los Angeles fans are willing to come to the stadiums to cheer for their team and participate in breaking records.

Experts predict the 33-game winning streak will be hard to break, but the Lakers are almost certain to achieve 70+ wins in the regular season. As for the record for the longest winning streak at the start of the season, the Lakers have already broken it, so it's not difficult for them.

(End of this chapter)