Chapter 64: The First 30+10

Swish!

After making the additional free throw, Tang Bei immediately turned and sprinted back to the defensive end.

Clang!

Isiah Thomas, the "Brogue Assassin," drove from the right wing, but a severe knee injury severely hampered his penetration speed. Unable to shake off Kendall Gill, who had switched onto him, he was forced into a pull-up jump shot, resulting in another missed field goal.

"Is this the caliber of a rebounding champion?"

"His anticipation and positioning are truly exceptional; I have much to learn from him."

As Tang Bei observed the trajectory of the rebound, Rodman unexpectedly slipped past his arm from behind. By the time Tang Bei judged where the ball would fall, Rodman had already moved into position, claiming the optimal spot and boxing him out entirely.

Rodman leaped high into the air, his legs spread exaggeratedly wide as if executing a flying double kick. Tang Bei tried to close in and was nearly caught by a stray foot.

"The Worm" grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it back out, allowing the Pistons to continue their possession.

Shooting guard Gerald Glass operated outside the right-wing three-point line. Utilizing a pump-fake that sent Kendall Gill stumbling backward, he rose and fired a three-pointer.

Swish!

The net rippled as the three-pointer dropped.

3-3. Hornets' ball.

Larry Johnson posted up on the right low block, calling for the ball. Muggsy Bogues, ever the diplomat wishing to offend neither player nor favor either side, fed it down to him.

Larry Johnson received the pass, delivered a drop-step shoulder bump, and turned for a fadeaway jumper. Good.

5-3. Pistons' ball.

Isiah Thomas drove from the left wing. Hampered by injuries, he had lost his former explosive edge, yet he remained a constant threat.

First, he used a hesitation move to freeze Bogues, blowing past his primary defender.

Then, just outside the left low block, he executed a sharp change-of-direction dribble to bypass Tang Bei, who had rotated over to help, beating his second man.

Finally, slashing into the paint, he faced Larry Johnson's late contest and floated a shot toward the rim.

The ball sailed past Larry Johnson's outstretched fingertips, still climbing. Just as it approached its apex, Tang Bei materialized from behind Thomas, soaring upward to swat the ball violently against the backboard.

"Shit!"

Isiah Thomas cursed in frustration. Had he been healthy, he surely would have challenged Larry Johnson directly and taken it all the way to the rim for a layup, avoiding the block entirely.

Beneath the basket, Tang Bei gathered his own momentum for a second jump, hauled down the rebound, and initiated the Hornets' transition.

"Bastard, cutting off my space in the paint again."

Arriving at the left low block, he noticed Larry Johnson calling for the ball on the right low block, muttered a curse under his breath, and squeezed his way toward the lane.

Rodman possessed immense strength, and his defensive stance was meticulously calculated. His entire body anchored into the hardwood like a driven spike, angled diagonally to form a triangle with Tang Bei's frame.

"Kid, you're nothing more than a bucket of slop..."

At the same time, a steady stream of psychological trash talk began pouring from his mouth, aimed at unsettling Tang Bei.

"A bucket of slop?"

A surge of anger ignited in Tang Bei's chest, instantly transporting him back to the days of being pointed at and ridiculed in his home village.

In the next instant, he executed a sudden Tai Chi spin move, pivoting past "The Worm" behind him and sliding along the baseline directly into the paint.

"What?"

Rodman lunged forward.

Fortunately, his center of gravity was already low and he was in a sprinter's stance, allowing him to recover just enough from the fake.

He felt a jolt of profound shock. Amidst such intense physical contact, executing a rapid spin move was extraordinarily difficult.

It demanded, first, polished spinning mechanics; second, explosive lower-body strength, powerful force generation from a loaded squat, and rock-solid traction; third, formidable core strength to maintain equilibrium throughout the turn and subsequent contact; and fourth, subtle head-fakes and body language to deceive the defender.

As a defender, Rodman prided himself on his wealth of experience in neutralizing post spins.

Yet just then, Tang Bei had deployed no preliminary head-fakes, leaving him completely unable to anticipate the timing or direction of the spin.

Furthermore, Tang Bei's pivot was shockingly abrupt, entirely devoid of telegraphing, blindingly fast, and executed without the typical shoulder dip—giving him zero time to react.

However, once inside the paint, Tang Bei did not receive the ball.

Isiah Thomas played exceptional defense, cutting off Bogues' passing lane to the low block, and Larry Johnson remained isolated.

To avoid a turnover, Bogues redirected the ball to Kendall Gill on the right wing.

Tang Bei lingered in the restricted area for three seconds before promptly stepping back out.

At that moment, Kendall Gill drove hard past Gerald Glass's defense, breached the three-point arc by a step, and pulled up for a jumper.

"Rebound!"

Seeing the trajectory of the shot drifting offline, Tang Bei immediately charged back into the lane.

Rodman reacted faster. As the primary defender starting closer to the rim, he had already established inside position.

Clang!

The ball struck the inner right side of the rim, caromed off the backboard, bounced high into the air, and descended directly to the right of the basket.

"Mine!"

Rodman leaped high, his limbs thrashing in the air with predatory intensity.

"Across the entire league, no one rebounds better than me."

In that moment, "The Worm" suspended in mid-air radiated supreme confidence.

"Screw you!"

Cold fury glinting in his eyes, Tang Bei launched himself directly at Rodman.

The two collided mid-air. Rodman's right knee slammed into Tang Bei's left thigh, throwing both players completely off balance. Neither secured the ball cleanly.

"Fuck!"

Overwhelmed by Tang Bei's immense aerial leverage, Rodman lost his center of gravity entirely, crashing hard onto the hardwood and striking the back of his head against the floor.

Thanks to his massive tonnage, Tang Bei merely experienced a slight displacement of his center of gravity despite the knee strike; upon landing, he took a single retreating step and firmly maintained his footing.

Thud!

The basketball dropped onto the floor right in front of him. Snatching it up, Tang Bei spun and threw down a ferocious two-handed putback slam that rattled the Pistons' stanchion to its core.

"That idiot!"

Sitting on the bench, Bill Laimbeer watched the newly returned Worm hit the floor—fearing a potential concussion—and felt a sharp pain flare in his liver from sheer aggravation.

Enduring his nagging back pain, Laimbeer hoisted himself off the bench and roared at Rodman, "You moron, get up! You're not dead yet."

Tang Bei glanced sideways at Laimbeer and stated coldly, "You're next."

"You—!"

Bill Laimbeer's face flushed purple with rage; he looked ready to charge onto the court and murder the Chinese player himself.

"Sigh!"

At the end of the bench, Joe Dumars, clad in a sharp suit, let out a quiet sigh. He sensed that this once-ironclad squad was truly aging, stripped even of the courage to brawl.

Yet Rodman did not sub out. Having hit his head numerous times in past rebounding battles, he had practically grown accustomed to the impact. After lying motionless on the floor for a dozen seconds, he hauled himself back up.

Tang Bei harbored no desire for Rodman to leave either; he believed he could glean invaluable rebounding techniques from this very master of the glass.

In the end, the superior Hornets closed out the second half of their back-to-back, securing a hard-fought victory and elevating their stellar record to 9-2.

Since entering the NBA, this marked Tang Bei's first performance exceeding 30 points and 10 rebounds, and his fifth time earning Player of the Game honors.

In 37 minutes of action, he shot 13-of-17 from the field and 4-of-9 from the line, racking up 30 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.

Though he still deliberately took a few short two-point jumpers—slightly dampening his overall shooting efficiency—the conscious choice conserved a tremendous amount of energy.

Rodman, his direct matchup, logged 33 minutes. Despite shooting a dismal 2-of-6 and scoring only 4 points, the relentless forward vacuumed up an astonishing 18 rebounds.

As he finally limped toward the bench, Rodman felt as though his body was falling apart at the seams, seriously contemplating a hospital visit to check if several of his ribs had cracked under the pressure.