Chapter 45: Truly a Worthless Teammate!

The game on the court continued.

The Heat ramped up their offensive and defensive intensity once again.

They couldn’t accept falling behind at home.

Li Rui’s consecutive three-pointers felt like slaps to their faces.

“Pull yourselves together, don’t get distracted!” Pat Riley kept shouting to his players from the sidelines. “We’re going to win. This is our home court. Control the pace.”

Taking advantage of Wade’s drive that drew a defensive foul from Walton, Pat Riley pulled Wade over and instructed him: if Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t come out to help on defense, Wade should step up, then on offense target Li Rui.

Though overwhelmed by the instructions, Wade had no choice but to nod in agreement.

The Heat’s offense resumed.

“Wade and Li Rui are mismatched.”

“They’re spreading out widely—the Lakers and the Heat have a lot of space between them.”

“Wade changes direction, Li Rui steps up to defend.”

“Li Rui’s defense isn’t bad; Wade shouldn’t underestimate him—”

“Ah, Li Rui got beaten by Wade! Someone help him with the double-team—Kobe’s coming over!”

Kobe arrived just in time to cut off Wade’s path to the basket.

Wade had to pass the ball low to O’Neal.

O’Neal caught the ball in the paint, shoved Kwame Brown aside with a solid shove, and rose up for a classic two-handed dunk.

“Swish!!!”

The buzzer sounded.

Kwame Brown staggered and fell clumsily, while O’Neal hung onto the rim, roaring fiercely.

Though no longer in his prime and mainly relying on Wade, O’Neal still had moments of brilliance.

The referee signaled an additional free throw.

“Weakling, what are you doing? If you’re going to foul, foul harder—don’t let him score!” Kobe shouted at the fallen Kwame Brown.

Odom and Li Rui quickly helped Kwame Brown up.

Kwame was visibly upset.

That was Shaq—they really wanted to stop him, but just couldn’t.

This Heat offense not only shattered the Lakers’ defense but also unleashed Kobe’s frustration towards his teammates.

The Lakers’ interior defense against O’Neal was like a piece of cake.

And this was O’Neal past his peak—how could Kobe not be furious?

Coach Phil Jackson sensed the situation was worsening and quickly shouted to Li Rui, “Li, double-team Shaq.”

Huh?

Li Rui pointed to his own nose in disbelief.

After confirming the coach wasn’t mistaken, Li Rui was stunned. Could he really hold back O’Neal?

The old man thought too highly of him.

Though puzzled by the coach’s tactic, Li Rui prepared to follow orders.

Over the next two minutes, while the Heat continued to attack O’Neal, Li Rui’s double-team forced O’Neal to pass the ball out.

But the Heat adjusted promptly—Pat Riley substituted Dorell out for Kapono.

Kapono might lack in other areas, but his three-point shooting was deadly; his career three-point percentage was an impressive 43.5%.

Once he came in, he quickly solved the problem created by O’Neal’s double-team, sinking two three-pointers and putting the Lakers behind again.

With 3:22 left, Kobe and Odom double-teamed Haslem; Kobe successfully stole the ball.

Li Rui reacted swiftly, moving forward before the steal was fully completed.

Fast breaks were the best scoring opportunities.

Kobe passed ahead to Li Rui, who quickly dribbled up and scored on a layup.

Improved ball-handling skills made Li Rui faster on fast breaks, showing excellent coordination with the ball.

The score was tied once more.

However, when the second unit came in and Kobe rested, the Heat regained a slight edge.

Soon, the first quarter ended with the score at 27 to 30.

As expected, Kobe, having scored 14 points in the quarter, began scolding his teammates on the sidelines...

Fortunately, Li Rui performed well, scoring 8 points and avoiding Kobe’s wrath.

“Damn it, Li Rui’s playing so well with Kobe—I thought the game was in the bag.”

“The Heat’s depth is not comparable to the Lakers. Their players play with noticeably higher intensity on both ends.”

“This game is tough for the Lakers. If they don’t double-team inside, O’Neal will crush them; if they do, the Heat’s outside shooters get chances.”

“O’Neal seemed off in previous games, but he’s still so dominant against the Lakers.”

“Didn’t you see Kobe? He’s just as fierce. These two clearly want to take each other down.”

...

During the break, Coach Phil Jackson quickly stopped Kobe from pressuring the players and gathered the team for tactical instructions and emphasis.

They soon focused on Li Rui.

“Li,” the coach hesitated before saying, “you’d better not double-team Shaq anymore. Just focus on your individual defense. Also, on offense, keep moving to create scoring opportunities and ease Kobe’s offensive burden.”

In the first quarter, the coach observed that although Li Rui had done well limiting Jason Williams—who hadn’t scored in the first quarter—he struggled in mismatched defense against Wade, whose speed was too quick for Li Rui to keep up.

The first basket by O’Neal, where Brown was fouled and scored the and-one, was mainly due to Li Rui losing defensive position.

Li Rui nodded and replied, “Okay, no problem.”

He then thought seriously—limiting Jason Williams was not difficult, and the main objective was likely achievable; however, completing the bond missions would be much harder.

To win, they needed to stop Wade.

Mismatched defense against Wade was tough.

Li Rui wasn’t afraid of tempo-setting point guards but found it harder to guard quick first-step guards.

He still needed to find ways to contribute offensively; as long as he scored more points than the opponent, victory was possible.

The bond missions added many attribute boosts, which were very appealing to Li Rui.

He eagerly wanted those boosts to improve himself significantly.

That would cement his status and finally push Smash Parker and Jordan Farmar deep onto the bench.

The second quarter began quickly.

Coach Phil Jackson moved Smash Parker to point guard, Li Rui to shooting guard, and Kobe continued to rest.

The coach’s idea was good—he wanted Li Rui to focus on scoring while Parker helped share the ball-handling pressure.

However, the execution was far from ideal.

In the first possession of the second quarter, Li Rui cut back to an open spot at the right 45-degree angle.

But Smash Parker didn’t pass the ball.

Li Rui stood still, watching what Parker intended.

Parker never planned to pass to Li Rui; instead, he charged at Gary Payton, believing his youth and speed advantage would prevail.

However, Payton’s defensive experience was vast. He let Parker get past, then suddenly looked back and poked the ball precisely.

“Pop!”

The ball was knocked away directly into O’Neal’s hands.

Damn it!

Playing recklessly!

“Pass the ball!” Li Rui shouted at Parker.

“Shut up, rookie,” Parker snapped back, running back alone.

Li Rui realized from Parker’s attitude on the court and their almost non-existent communication off the court that this guy was competing against him.

Probably upset from being suppressed by Li Rui.

Parker was still in the rotation, so their playing time would overlap. If Parker refused to pass, it would create problems for the team.

Damn it.

Playing poorly and causing trouble—no wonder Kobe called you garbage.

And indeed, Parker was nothing but garbage.