Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 73 When the Pretense Breaks
For Xu Ling before his time travel, Richard Jefferson's image was mostly fixed at the end of his career—the veteran who joined the Cavaliers in 2016 and helped LeBron win the championship. Although he was nearing retirement, he played an average of nearly 25 minutes per game in the Finals, and his solid skills and rich experience were impressive.

However, in 2007, Jefferson was at his peak. Especially in recent years, with Jason Kidd's decline and Vince Carter failing to fully recapture his "half-man, half-god" era, he had already shown signs of becoming the Nets' leading scorer. Now, after his initial provocation failed and he was humiliated by a block, followed by a powerful dunk by the same player, he was naturally eager to regain his pride.

Perhaps Jefferson should have consulted a fortune teller before leaving home today.

"Kid, you were just lucky just now!"

Jefferson uttered a sentence, then lowered his center of gravity and suddenly dribbled hard to Xu Ling's right side.

Jefferson's explosiveness is truly astonishing; in terms of sheer speed in initiating a move, he might only be slightly inferior to Rudy Gay. Moreover, his dribbling is extremely aggressive, entirely serving the offensive purpose, without the sluggishness that Gay's talent suffered due to a lack of fundamental skills.

However, perhaps due to impatience, or perhaps because he was forced into an extremely uncomfortable position by Xu Ling's defense, Jefferson's foot suddenly slipped the moment he made a powerful breakthrough, and the ball slipped out of his hand!

Xu Ling reacted with lightning speed, stealing the ball in an instant. Without hesitation, he launched a counterattack, driving straight to the frontcourt and easily scoring a layup.

"I was really lucky."

Xu Ling's response was tinged with an almost numb calm. He felt like a spring being wound up tighter and tighter, each defensive play and each point being drained of his dwindling patience.

Jefferson's expression grew increasingly grim, but the experienced Jason Kidd calmly received the serve and raised his hand to signal for a steady pace. He didn't rush the attack but instead controlled the situation, waiting for everyone to get into position.

Kidd slowly dribbled the ball up the court, his eyes scanning the entire court like a radar. He didn't call a play, but instead used a very subtle hand gesture to signal his teammates to start off-ball movement. He first dribbled to the left, feigning a drive to draw the defense's attention, and then suddenly delivered a smooth bounce pass, accurately placing the ball in the hands of Vince Carter, who was cutting to the basket after using a screen. Carter received the ball with the opportunity already created, and immediately jumped and shot, scoring the Nets' first point of the night.

Markjafaroni was completely impressed by the point guard's coordination and organizational skills; this was exactly the kind of point guard he had always dreamed of.

In contrast, players like Lowry and Jackson, who only know how to charge headfirst, are practically an insult to the word "point guard."

But Xu Ling had no intention of giving his opponent any chance to catch his breath. He reached out for the ball, and Lowry passed it to him without hesitation.

This Grizzlies offense completely deviated from the SSOL system's fast-paced principle of "deciding to shoot or pass within two seconds." Xu Ling raised his hand immediately after receiving the ball, signaling Rudy Gay to set a screen.

Then, Xu Ling saw a scene that almost froze his blood.

Guy moved slowly, his eyes unfocused, making an almost insulting, easily crumbling false screen. Not only did it fail to stop anyone, it created the perfect double-team space for Carter and Jefferson.

This is the person.

This is the person who leaked the information.

This is the person who caused the team to fall into a losing streak.

This is the person who is destroying everything.

A blast of scorching air suddenly shot up to Xu Ling's head.

Xu Ling used Carter's body as a barrier to force his way through and made a jump shot after a sudden stop.

"Hit! Even with a double-team, Eli Xu showed no mercy!"

TNT commentator Kevin Harlan exclaimed.

But what happened next was even more dramatic than the goal.

After scoring, Xu Ling didn't celebrate. Instead, he turned around and walked straight to Gay, demanding, "Rudy, is that what you just did considered a pick and roll?"

Guy froze on the spot, completely unprepared for Xu Ling to question him directly.

Xu Ling didn't wait for his response, looked him straight in the eye, and continued to ask, "Or would you rather I demonstrate to you in front of the whole world how to do a 'correct pick and roll'?" "It seems there's some disagreement between Eli and Rudy!" The commentator caught this scene, his tone filled with the excitement of watching a spectacle.

This is undoubtedly a welcome sight for those who firmly believe in serious discord within the Grizzlies.

Lowry quickly stepped in to smooth things over, patting Xu Ling on the back.

Xu Ling didn't move. He just stared intently at Guy until the other man avoided his gaze. Only then did he turn around and run back to the back field as if he were throwing away a piece of trash.

West's words still echoed in my ears, but now they sounded like a clumsy joke. Keep everything as usual? When everything has already gone awry?
Does it really make sense to keep everything as usual?
What if he's convinced that Rudy Gay is the biggest cancer on this team? Then what's the point of all this fake acting?
He wasn't a saint, and he couldn't swallow this insult. He refused to believe that the recent torrent of public opinion against him wasn't fueled by Gay's team and their sponsor, Nike. He also refused to believe that the repeated leaks of locker room information had nothing to do with Gay—it was entirely in Gay's interest. It was that hidden force that repeatedly pushed him, completely innocent, into the eye of the storm, attempting to crush him with overwhelming external pressure.

Anger surged within him, threatening to shatter his facade of composure. Xu Ling took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his emotions back into his eyes, transforming them into an even colder chill.

Just one possession later, Richard Jefferson found a mismatch against Rudy Gay on the wing. He used his signature jab step to fake out the shot and pulled up for a jumper. Gay's defense was merely symbolic, as if just to show the coach that he was "on the court."

However, just as Jefferson released his shot, a blue figure flashed into the paint from the weak side like lightning—it was Xu Ling! He had anticipated Jefferson's offensive choice, so he abandoned his defender, jumped with all his might, and swatted the ball out of bounds with an amazing help defense block!

This was his second block on Jefferson. Before the gasps from the audience at the Continental Airlines Arena had subsided, at the moment the ball was dead, Xu Ling didn't glance at the flying basketball, but instead turned to Rudy Gay, who was standing there stunned.

"Where's your defense, Rudy?!" Xu Ling demanded sharply. "Where the hell are you playing defense?! Is it that if the score isn't scored by the person you're directly guarding, it's none of your business?!"

The commentary booth had completely veered away from the game itself, turning into a heated discussion about the conflict between Xu Ling and Gay. The broadcast cameras frequently focused on the two – even the Nets' home crowd began to wonder if they were about to witness the Grizzlies' rumored "locker room bloodbath."

However, the closer one observes, the clearer it becomes: this was not a chaotic brawl at all. From beginning to end, it was Xu Ling who unilaterally and relentlessly pursued Guy's responsibility.

Guy was already intimidated by Xu Ling, who seemed to have completely changed. Coupled with the psychological trauma of being suppressed by Xu Ling since the training camp, and knowing that he was in the wrong, he couldn't even utter a decent rebuttal in the face of Xu Ling's series of sharp questions and rebukes.

Xu Ling's current state was unbelievable, not only to Guy but even to Roderick Craig, who had been with him every day since college. It was as if he were in a surreal dream. He simply couldn't connect the extremely demanding and imposing figure on the court with the Eli he knew.

At that moment, Craig suddenly remembered the Sports Illustrated reporter Grant Wall's evaluation of Xu Ling—he said that Xu Ling was like a gentle boy next door off the court, but that might just be a disguise; the real him might only be revealed on the court when the mask is torn off.

At that moment, Craig truly understood the meaning of those words. It really was Eli, without a doubt.

Once he accepted this reality, Craig quickly adjusted his mindset and began to re-examine Guy's actions from Xu Ling's perspective.

Craig then came to a conclusion: Eli's anger came too late. The only way to deal with such insects was to "interact" with them in the only way he could understand.

Seeing Guy nearly driven to a mental breakdown by the scolding, the other teammates couldn't help but feel a bit afraid of Xu Ling—even Lowry, who was closest to him, was no exception.

Lowry had always been inclined to pass the ball to Xu Ling, and after what had just happened, he completely transformed into Memphis's most devoted player: Xu Ling wants the ball? Pass it immediately. Xu Ling doesn't ask for it? Find an opportunity to pass it. Xu Ling clearly indicates he doesn't want it? Try a different approach but still insist on passing it. It even went so far as to be so extreme that when he was on a three-line fast break with no one in front of him, he still chose to pass the ball back to the following Xu Ling.

This time, Xu Ling never expected the opponent to pass the ball at this moment. He misreceived the ball, and it rolled directly out of bounds, wasting a golden opportunity for a fast break.

Before Xu Ling could speak, Lori immediately blurted out, "It's my fault, Eli! It's all my fault!"

Xu Ling actually wanted to say, "This ball is my fault," but since Lowry was so eager to admit his mistake, he swallowed his words.

In this eerie atmosphere, Xu Ling unleashed his full offensive mode, accounting for 12 of the Grizzlies' opening 15 points and scoring 18 points in the first quarter alone (out of the team's 28), almost single-handedly carrying the offense. His full-on firepower and imposing momentum were astonishing.

The Nets were completely unprepared for the team, which was on a three-game losing streak, to put on their most aggressive quarter of the season on the road.

Tonight, Xu Ling seemed to be truly possessed by ghosts and gods, unstoppable.

(End of this chapter)