I fell in love with Toutiao and became the GOAT.

Chapter 83 Cannon Fist and Curry

On the field, a half-hearted conflict had just subsided when a highly sincere one followed.

Enraged, Paul stood on tiptoe and reached out to touch Curry's head; he wanted to touch him back.

But when he curses first and then raises his hand, the pre-arranged movement is particularly obvious.

Curry was very perceptive and anticipated his movements. With a nimble movement, he easily dodged the counterattack.

The moment his counterattack failed, Paul's anger intensified. He suddenly broke free from his teammates' restraints, strode over to Curry, raised one hand to roughly grab Curry's shoulder, and stretched out his other hand to forcefully reach back.

Curry struggled to push away Paul, who was entangled with him.

Seeing the conflict escalate again, Lin Bei frowned instantly.

He quickly glanced at his Warriors teammates beside him, and everyone looked stunned. For a moment, no one reacted and stepped forward to stop him.

Left with no other choice, Lin Bei stepped forward and stood between Paul and Curry, determined to separate the two.

Lin Bei, with his muscular build, suddenly cut in, catching Paul, who was rushing at full speed, completely off guard.

With a muffled thud, Paul crashed solidly into Lin Bei. The immense impact caused him to lose his balance instantly, and he staggered back two steps before barely managing to regain his footing.

This collision ignited the fuse on the field.

Paul stared intently at Lin Bei in front of him, his eyes blazing with fury. He still remembered Lin Bei calling him "brainless."

The old and new grudges between the two caused Paul to lose his temper completely, and he threw a powerful punch at Lin Bei.

Unfortunately, just as Paul unleashed his punch, Curry squeezed out from behind Lin Bei, intending to argue with him.

"I just gently patted your head, is that such a big deal that you're making a fuss about it endlessly?"

Curry, seething with anger, had just poked his head out to question them when a dull thud rang out.

Paul's powerful punch landed squarely on Curry's cheek.

In an instant, the once bustling and noisy Oracle Bone Center fell into a deathly silence.

The entire audience fell silent instantly; no one could believe what they were witnessing.

After a brief two-second silence, a deafening chorus of boos swept across the entire arena, accompanied by the referee's urgent whistle, so sharp it seemed to pierce the dome.

The situation on the court instantly spiraled out of control, with a bunch of Clippers players rushing onto the court, including DeAndre Jordan, Caron Butler, and reserve Kenyon Martin, among others.

The Warriors weren't to be outdone, with Dorell Wright, Klay Thompson, and Spud Potato off the bench—

The two teams were now locked in a fierce battle, and the atmosphere was tense and ready to fight.

But in the chaotic crowd, only Curry and Paul were truly emotional and unable to control themselves.

Lin Bei stood in the center of the crowd. The punch that had just been aimed at him was almost hit, and a fire ignited in his heart. He clenched his fists, almost ready to return the punch for Curry.

In the blink of an eye, the players from both teams swarmed forward and pushed him and Curry to the back of the crowd, giving them no chance to make a move.

With a sharp whistle, referee Scott Foster rushed out, bringing the second, very serious conflict to a complete end.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, the referees went to the technical table to review the video.

On the Warriors' side, Curry rubbed his cheek, which had just been punched, and said angrily to Paul in the distance, "Just you wait, I'll get that punch back."

Lin Bei, standing to the side, shrugged slightly, his tone somewhat certain: "I think you most likely won't have the chance for revenge."

His gaze was fixed on referee Scott Foster, who was reviewing the video replay.

At this moment, Foster was not well-known in the league, but Lin Bei knew that this referee would have a great reputation in the future and was recognized as the "Paul terminator".

Whenever he officiated Chris Paul's games, Paul's winning percentage was ridiculously low, and he could hardly win a single game.

Faced with Scott Foster, Paul punched back, still wanting to stay on the court?

In Lin Bei's view, this was simply impossible.

However, after reviewing the replay, Scott Foster returned and only gave Paul a technical foul.

"One technical foul? Isn't there a second one?"

There was no second one; Scott Foster did indeed only give Paul a technical foul.

A technical foul does not result in ejection.

Lin Bei frowned. Boxing doesn't get you kicked out?

He didn't know that in his previous life, Paul's famous cannonball only resulted in a technical foul, and he wasn't ejected.

Paul wasn't ejected, and Lin Bei immediately tugged at Curry, whispering, "Don't be impulsive, Stephen."

Curry's face was cold, and the anger in his eyes had not subsided, but he still replied in a deep voice: "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of impulsive person."

The game resumed, and the Warriors were awarded one free throw and possession.

At the free throw, Curry, who had just been punched, took the shot himself and swished it in.

Then, Lin Bei passed the ball to Curry on the sideline, giving the Warriors another possession.

At the top of the arc, Lin Bei tried to set a screen for Curry, but Curry waved him off.

Lin Bei shrugged, not caring, because he knew Curry was angry.

He then pulled him away, landed under the basket, and had DeAndre Jordan sit behind him.

On the other side, Curry, his eyes blazing with fury, glared at Paul. After threatening three times, he suddenly executed a crossover dribble, resulting in a sharp change of direction and a breakthrough.

Paul's defense is not bad, but he really didn't expect this.

Let alone Paul, even Lin Bei didn't expect that Curry, in his rage, could play such basketball.

Curry has the same ability to make sharp changes of direction and drive to the basket as Rose. His first step is just not as good as Rose's, but he is still top-notch at the point guard position.

He blew past Paul in one step, rushed to the free-throw line, stopped abruptly, and launched a decisive mid-range jumper.

Swish!

The basketball swished cleanly through the net, and Curry, positioned at the free-throw line, pounded his chest and roared in celebration.

"That kid—"

Lin Bei shook his head. He now understood that Curry's revenge meant fighting back on the basketball level.

The offense and defense switched, and it was the Clippers' turn to attack.

At the top of the key, Paul, with the ball, needs to return one.

Curry cooperated well, pushing Klay aside and taking the initiative to defend him.

But Paul also went all out, after a series of slow crossovers, he suddenly burst out and once again blew past his opponent in one step.

After getting past Curry, Paul sped to the mid-range and responded with an almost identical mid-range shot.

2-5, this is the Clippers' first point of the game.

Turning around again, Lin Bei passed the ball to Curry from the baseline and rushed to the frontcourt with Curry.

Paul stood in defensive position, his eyes fixed on Curry, a hint of provocation in his voice: "Want to keep going?"

Curry's eyes were firm, showing no sign of backing down, leaving Lin Bei feeling helpless.

His scoring relies heavily on Curry's pick-and-roll, whether it's a three-pointer after a pick-and-roll or a roll to the basket for an easy layup. Without Curry and the pick-and-roll, he has a hard time scoring.

In this offensive possession, Curry still rejected his pick-and-roll.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have just punched Stephen (Curry) back for him—"

Lin Bei could only retreat to the basket again, but he still hoped that Curry could make the basket.

In this possession, Paul's defensive effort intensified, his footwork closely marking Curry and blocking all his driving routes, leaving him no opening to penetrate.

Curry's two attempts to break through were perfectly anticipated by Paul, and the direct attack became completely deadlocked.

"Is this the end?"

Lin Bei frowned, his heart filled with worry. He continued to exert force, firmly trapping Little Jordan on the outside of the basket, fully prepared to fight for the rebound.

Curry, holding the ball in front of him, faced an impenetrable defense. He suddenly dribbled between his legs to adjust his rhythm, and under immense defensive pressure, he decisively raised his hand to shoot a three-pointer from the top of the arc!

The entire audience held their breath instantly, everyone believing that this forced three-pointer would most likely miss the rim, after all, Paul's defense had been done to the extreme, almost completely blocking all shooting space.

But the next second, a crisp sound of the wire entering the net suddenly rang out!

Swish-!

The snow-white net burst open, and Oracle Arena erupted once again. A deafening roar of cheers swept through the entire arena, so loud it almost lifted the roof off.

At the top of the arc, Curry, who had just hit that difficult three-pointer, pounded his chest and roared in triumph once more.

Paul's face instantly darkened, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He never expected that even though he had done his best on defense and blocked almost all the usual offensive routes, he still couldn't stop this young junior who had only played for a little over two seasons in the league and wasn't very famous.

Paul is now regretting his earlier provocation of Curry, which has put him in an awkward position.

The current situation is that DeAndre Jordan has inbounded the ball from the backcourt, and he is facing Curry again.

He didn't want to play the answer ball, but Curry continued to guard him, forcing him to respond.

On this play, Paul made a crossover and drove hard. Although Curry was a beat too slow in his defense, he still managed to catch up in one quick step.

After taking a few steps, Paul accelerated further, finally shaking off Curry.

But by then, he had already broken through to the basket.

Just as Paul raised his hand to finish the attack with a layup, a tall figure leaped out of the air.

It's Lin Bei!

He quickly moved into position to help defend from under the basket, his soaring body blocking out all of Paul's layup angles.

This play was supposed to be a one-on-one duel between Paul and Curry, but Paul knew perfectly well that even with Lin Bei's help defense, if he missed this layup, he would lose this head-to-head matchup to Curry.

In a desperate situation, Paul gritted his teeth and rose up, attempting a reverse layup in mid-air, trying to shake off Lin Bei and avoid his block to score.

Paul's layup was indeed very deceptive; his initial feint successfully tricked Lin Bei into shifting his defensive focus.

But when he caught the ball in mid-air and prepared for a second layup, Lin Bei, thanks to his superior hang time, remained suspended in the air.

Just as the basketball left Paul's fingertips and flew towards the basket, Lin Bei suddenly raised his hand and, with a snap, cleanly and decisively grabbed the basketball directly in his hand!

boom-!

The cheers at Oracle Center erupted once again, and the entire audience went completely wild.

CCTV commentator Yu Jia suddenly stood up from his seat, extremely excited: "A direct block in mid-air! Da Lin's defensive recovery was incredible!"

Although Lin Bei cleaned up Curry's mess, Paul's answer ultimately failed to go in.

This one-on-one challenge initiated by Paul has now come to an end.

The moment Lin Bei landed after firmly catching the basketball, he didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately delivered a precise long pass. The basketball crossed the entire half court and landed steadily in Curry's hands in the frontcourt.

In the frontcourt, Curry drove to the three-point line and hit a three-pointer.

Swish!

Lin Bei clenched his fist and waved it; he had scored an assist.

In the transition between offense and defense, Curry continued to actively guard Paul, his eyes full of disdain and confidence. After a few rounds, he had completely gained the upper hand.

Paul, looking frustrated, took the ball again and forced his way through, trying to get back at Paul.

This time, however, Lin Bei stopped standing by and quickly came over to help defend from under the basket.

He was very clear-headed; it was better to end this one-on-one session there.

It's not that he underestimates Curry, but rather that Paul at this stage is superior to the still-developing Curry in terms of overall strength on both offense and defense.

Curry's consecutive victories in the previous rounds were entirely due to his explosive form and hot shooting, coupled with Lin Bei's timely defensive help.

If the two are allowed to continue their one-on-one battle, Curry will most likely be the one to lose in the end.

This time, Lin Bei decisively intervened, ending the one-on-one duel and stepping forward to form a two-on-one defensive formation.

Paul had nowhere to break through, and Lin Bei precisely blocked his passing lanes, making it impossible for him to find DeAndre Jordan, who was unguarded under the basket.

Left with no other option, he could only pass the ball back to Randy Foye behind him.

After receiving the ball, Foye immediately made a wide pass, passing it to Griffin on the right.

Griffin received the ball, pushed past David Lee, and drove into the three-point line. After taking two steps into the three-point line, he stopped abruptly and made a mid-range shot.

The ball went in, but at the start of the game, the Warriors went on a 12-4 run against the Clippers, gaining a significant early advantage.

The subsequent matches gradually returned to a normal rhythm.

The main reason is that Paul doesn't want to go one-on-one with Curry anymore. He realizes that Curry, this relatively unknown junior, is not so easy to deal with.

During the Warriors' subsequent offense, Lin Bei regained his pick-and-roll rights at the top of the key.

Curry's hot performance, scoring 9 points in a row, has given him a brief moment of "Curry Gravity" that doesn't yet belong to him at this stage.

DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul teamed up to shut down Stephen Curry as he drove past a screen.

Lin Bei, suddenly unguarded, received the ball and immediately launched a three-pointer.

Swish!

The basketball swished through the net, a three-pointer sank perfectly!

Lin Bei has finally returned to the rhythm he wanted, with the goal of breaking his personal career scoring record.