Chapter 57: The Birth of Carter in Los Angeles!

What traveling?

As long as the referee doesn't blow the whistle, it's a good play.

Don't you understand the basic unspoken rules of basketball?

James looked up nonchalantly at his personal points displayed on the scoreboard.

Hmm!

The scorekeeper was adding points quite fast.

"Pull the defense in toward the paint a little bit." Kobe shouted as he brought the ball up across half-court.

James, representing the Cavaliers' forward position, possessed outrageously strong offensive capabilities. Facing a small forward with such explosive and aggressive drives to the rim, the strategy Kobe came up with was to compress the spacing, denying James easy opportunities to attack the basket.

Kobe wasn't sure if this defensive approach would work; he could only say they would give it a try.

Kobe dribbled to the top of the key and observed.

Gibson was fast and agile. His defensive assignment was to prevent Li Rui from getting an open three-point opportunity.

One had to admit that a fast guard like Gibson was quite troublesome. Li Rui kept running around the baseline and the wings without finding an opportunity to receive the pass.

Kobe passed the ball to Odom on the left side, at a 60-degree angle.

Seeing Odom catch the ball, Li Rui ran toward him again.

"Screen!" Li Rui called out.

Odom reacted quickly, without a moment's hesitation, delivering a direct hand-off pass to Li Rui, and immediately shifted his body sideways to set a screen that blocked the pursuing Gibson.

"Bang!"

Gibson was blocked by Odom's solid frame.

Gooden's rotation defense was out of position, and he was also brushed by Odom, failing to keep up with the action rate.

Li Rui took one dribble and shifted laterally, creating a tiny bit of space at the high post near the free-throw line.

The basketball spun at high speed into his palm, his fingers brushing the seams.

Following his own rhythm.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Gathering the ball into a sudden stop.

Pushing off with both feet to jump.

Releasing a mid-range jump shot after reaching the peak.

James tried hard to close out from the other side, but he was too late.

The basketball traced a standard arc in the air.

"Swish!"

Li Rui's mid-range rating was as high as 88; whenever he had space, he was extremely reliable.

This shot slightly dampened the arena's roaring momentum.

"Li Rui's mid-range! Holy crap, that rhythm looks so smooth."

"This response shot was crisp. James makes one, and Li Rui fires right back."

"Odom's screen was of very high quality. The two of them must have a pretty good relationship off the court."

"That rhythm is truly comfortable. Honestly, I love watching Li Rui play."

Fans quickly posted messages in the live broadcast thread on the Hupu forum.

"Beautiful."

Odom ran over to high-five and celebrate with Li Rui.

Although the Cavaliers scored on consecutive possessions, it didn't matter; the Lakers could respond with offense just as well.

"Stay calm, keep your concentration." Kobe continued to shout to his teammates on the court.

Playing against the Cavaliers required absolute focus.

Mike Brown yelled to his players on the court: "Switch on screens immediately! Don't let that rookie get open."

They had only given up one basket, but Mike Brown wasn't going to panic. As long as they didn't let Li Rui hit consecutive three-pointers, the game would remain within a controllable range.

After shouting instructions, Mike Brown fixed his gaze on Li Rui on the court.

He was very curious about this "Linsanity"-esque figure who had recently risen to prominence in the NBA.

After reviewing the footage of Li Rui's first few games, Mike Brown's impressions boiled down to three main points.

First, his ball-handling was ordinary, with almost no penetration.

Second, his shooting was top-tier. Once he had space, he practically never missed. Combined with his height just over two meters and his exceptional off-ball movement techniques, defending him was extremely difficult, and he was reliable in clutch moments.

Third, his defense was decent—not top-tier, but he wouldn't become a liability.

To be honest, Mike Brown wished the Cavaliers had a player like Li Rui; he would be a perfect fit for the system centered around LeBron.

If this guy received a pass from LeBron in the final moments, he would definitely be able to shoulder the blame.

No wait, that's called absorbing pressure.

"What's wrong? Want to adjust the defense on Li?" The assistant coach noticed Mike Brown's interest in Li Rui.

Mike Brown muttered to himself, "As a functional role player, it's hard for him to become a super star."

"But he's a great fit for LeBron." The assistant coach caught on and quickly replied.

"Yeah, such a great system player. Why couldn't we draft someone like that?" Mike Brown sighed.

"Li seems to only have a one-year contract," the assistant coach noted.

"After the game, I'll go find the front office and see if there's any way to trade for him," Mike Brown said.

The Cavaliers' current goal was to win a championship. If they couldn't find a superstar to pair with James, they needed to find high-value functional players like this.

......

The game moved at a fast pace. The Cavaliers' primary defensive focus remained on Kobe, followed closely by Li Rui.

Just as anticipated before the match, the Cavaliers' defense on Li Rui was now extremely tight; they wouldn't take him lightly like previous opponents did.

Mike Brown consistently deployed Gibson to stick close to him in tight defense, and even when a screen was set, other Cavaliers players would quickly rotate to help.

The difficulty for Li Rui to find an absolute open look spiked drastically.

Most of the time when Li Rui received the ball, the Cavaliers' defense was already all over him, forcing him to either take one dribble or pass the ball off without dribbling.

Li Rui's ball-handling could be used to execute some penetration against average or weaker teams, but facing a team with a strong defensive system like the Cavaliers, there was simply no opportunity to drive.

The Cavaliers' players were experienced, and almost every single one of them knew precisely what defensive position they needed to occupy; they made very few mistakes.

Even if Li Rui managed to shake off Gibson and drive inside, he would be met with the help defense of James or Zydrunas Ilgauskas, making success practically impossible.

Over the next few minutes, Li Rui attempted just two shots: a missed three-pointer, and a backdoor cut into the paint to receive a pass from Kobe's penetration for a layup.

On Kobe's end, the wrist injury was affecting his shooting accuracy.

Some of the mid-range shots he should have converted were missed.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers relied on James continuously driving against the Lakers' defense to power their entire offense.

It had to be said that version 1.0 of James was fast, strong, and an exceptional passer; the only area where the guy was slightly lacking was his shooting.

With 4 minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the quarter, the score stood at 14 to 20, with the Cavaliers leading by 6 points, prompting the Lakers to call a timeout.

"Judging by the flow of the game, the Cavaliers holding home-court advantage have the upper hand."

"The overall feel for the Lakers isn't good right now. The perimeter shooting of both Kobe and Li Rui isn't going smoothly, and needless to say about other spots—the scoring is scattered and sporadic."

"For the Cavaliers, basically all the tactics they wanted to run have been executed."

Zhang Weiping expressed some concern at the commentary desk.

Phil Jackson didn't make major adjustments, simply urging everyone to concentrate.

The first possession after the timeout.

The Lakers on offense.

Kobe brought the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Odom, who had cut to the left 45-degree position.

Odom called for a screen from Bynum, who stepped up, prompting Ilgauskas to step out as well.

Li Rui, cutting from the right side, seemed to spot an opportunity. He first made a fake move pretending to head toward the top of the key.

After shifting Gibson's center of gravity, Li Rui suddenly executed a spin move and headed toward the paint.

Seeing Li Rui's backdoor cut, Odom quickly delivered a bounce pass to him.

Upon catching the ball and seeing no one directly in front of him, but noticing the help defense closing in from the Cavaliers, Li Rui knew he had to finish with the utmost speed, taking a stride upward and preparing to throw down a dunk on the momentum.

Following the enhancement of all his attributes, he had gained a tiny bit of confidence in his dunking ability.

However, Gooden's rushing figure from the other side still managed to throw Li Rui's rhythm slightly out of sync.

"Bang!"

Li Rui's jump height was insufficient, causing the dunk attempt to crash directly against the rim.

He missed the dunk.

Li Rui himself landed and tumbled clumsily to the floor.

Utterly disgraceful.

The rebound was secured by Gooden.

Gooden launched an outlet pass to James in the frontcourt, and James drove hard against Walton.

"Bang!"

James gathered the ball, crashed past Walton, and threw down a tomahawk slam.

"Clang!!"

Overflowing with dominance.

"A fast break by James!!"

"A tomahawk dunk! The Cavaliers extend their lead even further."

As James roared toward the camera, Li Rui got up and waved his hand to his teammates in acknowledgment: "My bad, that was on me."

Damn it, I am never dunking again.

Resolutely never dunking again.

Whoever dunks is a dog!

What on earth was that!

Standing two meters tall and messing up a dunk like that, even falling over—Li Rui's ears turned red with embarrassment.

Walton wore a speechless expression; their own offense failed to capitalize, resulting in a fast-break score for the opponent.

At this moment, the camera cut to Phil Jackson on the sidelines.

Zen Master sat with his eyes closed in meditation, acting as if he had seen nothing at all.