NBA: Be the GOAT starting today!

Chapter 117 Three Heroes Battle Lü Bu

"The Clippers maintained their lead by four points on Monday."

"Coach Brooks has put three of the Thunder's young players on the court now, so this is a battle of youngsters."

On the TNT commentary stage, Barkley and Kenny were cheering for this battle of young talents.

After Barkley finished speaking, Kenny quickly took over the conversation.

"Yes, the Thunder and Clippers are currently seventh and fourth in the Western Conference, respectively, and both teams have young small forwards as their star players."

"It is clear that there will be countless showdowns between Kevin and Zhou in the next ten years."

"Just like..."

As he spoke, Barkley made exaggerated facial expressions at the camera, and then continued.

"The battle between Maggie and Bird, black and white."

"Yes, what an exciting pair of new rivals."

On the court, taking advantage of the Thunder's timeout, the Clippers quickly readjusted their lineup.

Baron Davis remained on the bench, with backup point guard Steve Blake entering the game, and Jamison and Kaman also returning to the court.

After several games of adjustment, Jamison has now fully integrated into the Clippers' offensive system.

His inside partnership with Kaman demonstrated considerable influence on the court.

Kaman is physically imposing and excels in the low post, while Jamison is good at both the low post and long-range shooting.

With the addition of Zhou Yi, who is currently averaging 26.2 points per game, the Clippers' frontcourt duo can contribute nearly 65 points per game.

This is a forward combination with maximum offensive firepower, ranking among the top five or even top three in the league in scoring.

This has led many media outlets to describe the trio as one of the most difficult combinations to deal with in the league.

On the defensive end, Jamison's weak physique makes him unable to contend with some powerful power forwards.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi provided constant help defense. With his exceptional physical talent, Zhou Yi became the Clippers' help defense sweeper.

With an average of eight rebounds, two blocks, and two steals per game, Zhou Yi's current defensive stats are already at the level of a top defender in the league.

On the court, the Thunder had possession of the ball, and Westbrook passed it to Harden.

During Harden's rookie season, he didn't actually have many opportunities to play alongside his older brothers.

But today Coach Brooks took a risky move, wanting to see if Harden could join his two older brothers to upset Zhou Yi.

At the three-point line, Harden received a pass from Westbrook and, without hesitation, chose to shoot a three-pointer.

The basketball swished through the net, making a sound, and the Thunder fans on the sidelines quickly erupted in cheers.

Meanwhile, the round-faced Harden on the opposite side was caught off guard by this shot. He didn't expect the guy who looked like a Base Warrior to shoot so decisively.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi frowned.

Harden looks to be in good form today; we need to figure out a way to improve him.

So, during the defensive transition, Zhou Yi quickly moved to the side of Clippers point guard Blake.

"Hey buddy, keep an eye on that bearded chubby guy for Eric. If that guy who looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is standing at the three-point line, just leave him alone."

After saying this, Zhou Yi whispered a few more words to Blake, and then Blake nodded with a wicked grin.

As the Clippers' defensive anchor and leader, Zhou Yi sometimes makes tactical adjustments on the court based on the situation.

At first, the Clippers players were somewhat skeptical, but as the season progressed, they now have complete faith in Zhou Yi's guidance.

Just as Baron Davis said, this rookie, Zhou, knows more about the current players in the league than they do themselves.

Mike Malone had no objections, after all, the subtle adjustments and guidance from the I Ching were often very effective.

After Harden made that three-pointer, the score difference was instantly reduced to one point.

Possession changed hands, and the Clippers launched their attack.

After Blake brought the ball up the court, he handed it to Zhou Yi.

As Zhou Yi gained control of the ball, the Thunder's three young stars focused all their attention on him.

Durant stretched out his arm to try to defend Zhou Yi's breakthrough, while Westbrook and Harden stood by, seemingly ready to double-team and snatch the basketball from Zhou Yi's hands at any moment.

Zhou Yi also noticed this; all three seemed to be keen on stealing his thunder.

Given this, Zhou Yi naturally didn't let this good opportunity pass him by.

So, on the free-throw line side, Zhou Yi turned sideways and chose to back down Durant.

The moment Zhou Yi chose to back down, Durant quickly closed in from behind.

Although he doesn't have Kobe's skills and experience, Xiao Shuai has longer arms and a taller stature.

He was like a bottle of super glue, sticking to Zhou Yi tightly.

On the court, Durant seemed to have Zhou Yi completely entangled.

At that moment, Westbrook and Harden, who were standing nearby, were immediately interested and chose to double-team Zhou Yi.

The Thunder fans on the sidelines cheered, as if they were about to witness Zhou Yi suffer a setback.

But just as Westbrook and Harden moved, Zhou Yi threw the basketball in his hand with the precision of a guided missile towards the corner.

"Pass the ball, shoot!"

"Oh, Zhou outmaneuvered three young Thunder players and assisted Antoine in the corner."

As Jamison made the three-pointer, Zhou Yi smiled and waved to the Thunder's three young stars before retreating to the backcourt.

"Shit, damn guy."

On the court, the three Thunder players who had been humiliated all showed expressions of anger and embarrassment.

Zhou Yi learned this trick from Kobe Bryant, using his offensive threat to draw double teams and pass the ball.

The old blacksmith was facing three people when he jumped to shoot, but Zhou Yi wasn't that stubborn. Jamison had already run into an open position.

After Jamison hit a three-pointer, the score was narrowed back to a four-point gap.

Possession changed hands, and the Thunder resumed their offensive play.

Westbrook dribbled the ball up the court, looking at the Clippers' interior center Kaman and Zhou Yi, who was ready to help defend at any moment.

The turtle was also intimidated. As a top student at UCLA, he was stubborn, not stupid, and he didn't want to become the background for Zhou Yi's block again.

So Westbrook stood at the three-point line to prepare to pass the ball, but an awkward moment instantly occurred on the court.

Seeing Westbrook standing at the three-point line, Blake on the opposite side took a big step back, giving Westbrook the opportunity to shoot a three-pointer.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi and Round-faced Harden were relentlessly surrounding Durant and Harden, affecting their passing lanes.

Blake's deliberate blanking made Westbrook feel ignored.

At that moment, Westbrook's blood rushed to his head, and disregarding his 22.1% three-point shooting percentage, he stiffly shot the basketball.

Boom! Russell's three-pointer flew towards the basket, and just as Zhou Yi had predicted, the ball hit the rim directly.

"Fuck!"

Seeing his three-pointer hit the backboard and be picked up by Zhou Yi who was rushing to the basket, Westbrook could only curse under his breath.

No sooner had Westbrook finished cursing than Blake ran up to him with a smug grin.

"Russell, do you want to be the boss? You're so bad, Kevin should be the boss."

After Blake finished speaking, Westbrook's face instantly turned ashen.

This is a secret he keeps to himself; he also wants to be the leader of this team.

He wants to control the ball so he can recklessly attack the basket and rack up stats.

But Blake pointed it out directly, instantly putting Westbrook into a state of rage.

In the following possessions, Westbrook failed to pass the ball to Durant and Harden for two consecutive offensive possessions.

Westbrook chose to attack the paint like he was carrying a bomb, which was exactly what Zhou Yi wanted.

When Zhou Yi saw Westbrook attacking the paint, he decisively moved to help defend inside.

It has to be said that Westbrook was already showing the power of the blue supercar at this point, but under the combined suppression of Kaman and Zhou Yi, Westbrook's two attacks on the rim ended in turnovers.

On the sidelines, Coach Brooks looked at Westbrook, who was already in a frenzy, and covered his forehead.

Westbrook's haphazard play resulted in the Clippers taking an eight-point lead.

Brooks couldn't help but call a timeout, letting Westbrook sit on the bench to clear his head.

After Brooks's barrage of criticism, Westbrook lowered his head, and Harden and Durant led the team back onto the court.

Without Westbrook constantly dribbling the ball and making random shots, Harden and Durant actually played much more smoothly.

On the court, although Durant was struggling to contain Zhou Yi, his scoring prowess was still on full display.

With occasional free throws and catch-and-shoot pull-up jumpers, the Thunder tenaciously kept the score close and prevented the deficit from widening.

Facing Xiao Shuai, a well-known fourth-quarter player, Zhou Yi played very cunningly.

They started frequently using Jamison and Kaman's screens to run the ball, and Xiao Shuai's long legs and feet seemed clumsy at this moment.

Off the court, Thunder head coach Brooks also chose to use Thabo Sefolosha to defend Zhou Yi, responding to his moves.

Although the Swiss Army Knife's defensive level was extremely high this season, and he even made the All-Defensive Second Team at the end of the season.

However, at only 198cm tall, he appeared inferior when facing Zhou Yi, who was 203cm tall.

Sefolosha has a decent wingspan, but that's all; he doesn't really have a way to deal with Zhou Yi's jump shot.

Durant couldn't keep up with Zhou Yi's constant movement, and Sefolosha couldn't defend Zhou Yi's jump shot.

And so, two cups of poison were placed in front of the Thunder, and the Thunder had no way to do anything about it.

As Brooks watched Zhou Yi score points on the court, he suddenly remembered what happened before summer.

Hennigan, who was working for the Thunder at the time, strongly recommended Zhou Yi, but the coaching staff, led by himself, preferred Harden.

Although the final result was that the Thunder only had the third overall pick and were unable to select Zhou Yi, who was of the caliber of a first overall pick.

But the thought of the Book of Changes pains Coach Brooks.

If I had placed more faith in the I Ching back then, would things have been different?

For example, the super trio of Zhou Yi, Durant, and Westbrook.

People always romanticize the paths they didn't take, and there's no going back in this world.

Brooks understood that the Thunder could no longer acquire Zhou Yi unless they were willing to trade away their "Thunder Three."

Even so, Brooks believes the Clippers won't even look at their assets.

On the court, the Thunder were clearly at a disadvantage compared to the Clippers, who had Zhou Yi on their roster.

The game was a back-and-forth affair for the Thunder, but the Clippers, led by Zhou Yi, maintained a firm lead.

Meanwhile, the Thunder fans who had been chanting from the sidelines fell silent as the score gap widened.

They no longer dare to trash talk at Zhou Yi, because whenever a fan yells at him in the stadium.

Zhou Yi will respond to the Thunder fans' taunts with a goal in the next offensive possession.

Seven minutes into the fourth quarter, the score reached 98-82.

Within five minutes, the score difference reached sixteen points.

Seeing Durant already panting heavily on the court, Coach Brooks finally called a timeout to concede defeat.

"The Thunder called a timeout and substituted their starters, so we can now congratulate the Los Angeles Clippers. They've won this Western Conference matchup."

On the TNT commentary booth courtside, Barkley and Kenny, both Clippers supporters, were talking happily.

After Barkley finished speaking, he pulled out the current stats for the game, and a look of shock flashed in the eyes of the fat man with a big head and big ears.

Kenny Smith also noticed Barkley's actions and came over to look at the data sheet together.

"In this game, Zhou once again racked up a terrifying stat line of 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while the Thunder..."

"Kevin only scored 21 points, Russell 8 points, and James only 8 points."

After Barkley finished speaking, he looked at the camera with an exaggerated tone.

"So, in this game, Zhou single-handedly defeated three young Thunder players."

After the game against the Thunder, the Clippers did not stay and chose to fly back to Los Angeles overnight.

Sitting on the Clippers' plane, Zhou Yi connected to the plane's Wi-Fi and browsed the latest news.

The Clippers vs. Thunder game has ended, attracting not only a lot of attention from fans but also a large number of media outlets.

"Zhou is undoubtedly a leading figure among the younger generation."

As a Clippers supporter, the Long Beach Telegraph has always been a major proponent of the I Ching.

The Long Beach Telegraph even included statistics from the match on its page under this slogan, as if it were evidence.

As for the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets that are rivals of the Clippers, they also chose to remain silent tonight.

Now they understand that with the I Ching, Los Angeles is no longer a Lakers monopoly.

After happily reading through the media praising themselves, Zhou Yi started paying attention to the dunk contest.

After all, he had personally promised to participate in this dunk contest in front of the media.

He's not like LeBron James, who can take back what he said.

Zhou Yi flipped through a few related news articles and suddenly realized something was wrong.

Why are so many other players accepting the challenge and announcing their participation in the dunk contest after I called out to Kobe and LeBron?

Shannon Brown of the Lakers, Elvis Wallace of the Bobcats, Spud Robinson, Andre Iguodala of the 76ers, DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors...

Even Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic announced that he would participate in another dunk contest.

Facing the camera, the happy animal spoke cheerfully.

"I will definitely find a way to win this championship. Sorry, Zhou, Superman is going to beat you."

Looking at the grinning Huo Hua and the other players who were also ready to fight, Zhou Yi scratched his head.

So these people think I'm easy to bully?

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