Chapter 70: After the Black Elbow comes the Black Foot! The Utah Twin Blacks truly live up to their notorious reputation!

"Three minutes, guys, three minutes!"

Phil Jackson clapped his hands and said, "Push the lead to 30 points, and then you can head to the bench and start figuring out where we're throwing Lin's celebration party tonight!"

"Celebration party!"

"I'll book the venue!"

"Let's crush those Utah boys!"

Accompanied by a wave of cheers, the Bulls united as one and stepped back onto the court!

On the opening possession for both sides, Stockton finally found an opening.

He caught the ball beyond the three-point line, shot directly over Lin Tian's defense, and swished a three-pointer!

Having been suppressed and battered for nearly the entire game, Stockton bared his teeth in unbridled arrogance after scoring, unleashing a barrage of trash talk right into Lin Tian's face.

"Nine to thirty-nine!" Facing Stockton, Lin Tian casually stated their current point tallies.

Then, in less than ten seconds, he blew past Stockton once again, pulling up for a mid-range jumper that found nothing but net! Tonight, Lin Tian was completely unstoppable! He had entered that transcendent zone that most players might only experience once in a lifetime!

"Nine to forty-one!"

After scoring, Lin Tian looked at Stockton and tossed out another two numbers: "If I played against my dog, it wouldn't get blown out this badly! You should consider retiring, you old dog!"

"Kid, what are you so smug about?" Stockton retorted. "You're just a benchwarmer! Your importance to this team doesn't even match a water cooler!"

"Yeah, yeah, your importance is so high, you're the second-in-command of your team. But do you know why you guys can never make it to the Finals and always get spanked in the West?" Lin Tian leaned his body against Stockton and suddenly swiped down. Although he didn't poke the ball away, it sent a cold sweat down Stockton's back!

"Because no matter what team it is, if the second option is a piece of trash like you, even if the primary option is God himself, he can never win a championship! You're just that terrible!" As Lin Tian spoke, he shot a glance at Pippen nearby. Pippen, equally adept at dark arts, immediately rushed over to trap Stockton with Lin Tian.

Noticing Pippen blocking the referee's line of sight, Lin Tian raised his hand and gave Stockton's waist a vicious pinch!

Amidst Stockton's agonizing yelp, Pippen cleanly stripped the basketball away!

Lin Tian immediately bolted down the court at full speed, easily receiving a pass from Pippen and throwing down a one-handed slam dunk!

When Lin Tian was matched up against Stockton again, Stockton's eyes were filled with venom and rage!

"Kid, you played dirty!"

"Yeah, I played dirty, what about it?" Lin Tian shrugged, completely unbothered by Stockton's petty threat. "By the way, nine to forty-three!"

***

Nursing his grudge, Stockton gritted his teeth hard on the offensive end!

During a drive, spotting his opportunity, he unleashed a vicious elbow right toward Lin Tian's chest!

He originally thought Lin Tian would continue to go toe-to-toe with him, allowing the blow to land squarely on Lin Tian and make him pay dearly.

To Stockton's surprise, Lin Tian let out a miserable shriek and collapsed backward! The elbow had barely grazed Lin Tian! However, Stockton's elbowing motion was completely exposed right in front of the referee, who caught it with absolute precision!

"Offensive foul!"

This was the United Center!

Of course, the referee wasn't going to give Stockton any favors, raising his hand immediately to signal an offensive foul!

"Is that really all you've got? I thought you were actually good." Lin Tian shrugged. "Can't score, can't defend, no speed, no strength, and even your dirty tricks are this pathetic? What else do you have? Huh? Tell me what else you've got?"

While bringing the ball up the court, Lin Tian kept firing relentless trash talk at Stockton.

At the same time, he kept an eye on the flow of the game.

"Can't you even stop me once, just once, instead of letting me drive by so easily?" After advancing all the way to the frontcourt, Lin Tian continued to provoke Stockton with words.

Then, spotting the right moment, he accelerated once more, launching a fierce drive!

This time, Stockton gritted his teeth, refusing to give an inch, sticking to Lin Tian like glue, and finally managed to maintain his defensive position!

Yet, this was precisely what Lin Tian had been waiting for!

He was counting on Stockton keeping up with him!

Therefore, Lin Tian's speed hadn't even reached its absolute limit; instead, he maintained a steady, even pace!

The Jazz defense, tortured by Lin Tian the entire night, rapidly contracted the moment Lin Tian penetrated into the paint. Malone and Hornacek converged on Lin Tian from two different directions simultaneously—a triple team!

Normally, Lin Tian would have chosen to pass the ball.

However, this time, he saw the venom and malice burning in the eyes of Malone and Stockton!

He knew these two weren't even trying to play defense!

Consequently, Lin Tian directly equipped the "Invincible Iron Elbow" he had just acquired in the first half!

A second later, the three Jazz players completed their encirclement of Lin Tian.

***

Malone's iron elbow smashed straight toward Lin Tian's face! He had waited far too long for this, just waiting for Lin Tian to charge into the paint so he could lay a heavy one on him!

This time, he didn't hold back at all!

Stockton was even more insidious; his foot was already placed stealthily where Lin Tian was bound to land. If Lin Tian had even a bit of bad luck and stepped on his foot, the absolute floor would be a sprained ankle, requiring at least ten days to half a month of recovery!

Hornacek, by contrast, didn't resort to underhanded tactics against Lin Tian, keeping his eyes solely fixed on the basketball!

Just as Malone and Stockton beamed with triumphant malice, preparing to completely take Lin Tian out, Lin Tian's rhythm shifted abruptly!

First, he leaned heavily against Stockton's body, evading Malone's swinging elbow, and then lashed out with his own elbow, driving it viciously into Stockton's side!

"Thud!"

Following a dull impact, Stockton's eyes widened to their limits, a muffled groan escaped his lips, and his entire body went limp, crashing straight onto the hardwood floor!

Lin Tian smoothly executed a "flop," cleverly losing his balance to dodge both Malone and Hornacek while tumbling right down on top of Stockton.

"Whack!"

Amidst the chaos, both Lin Tian and Stockton crashed to the floor together. Most people had no idea what had just transpired; the fans inside the United Center, assuming Malone and Stockton had taken Lin Tian out just like Jordan, immediately erupted into deafening boos and curses!

Taking out a Jordan in a single game was bad enough, and now you're crippling our Lin too?

Damn it! If these Salt Lake scum are allowed to leave Chicago alive tonight, the Chicago fans might as well never show their faces again!

They couldn't afford that kind of shame!

Lin Tian, lying on the floor, was completely fine. Not only was he unhurt, but he was also overwhelmingly excited at that moment!

The suppression throughout the night, the complete annihilation on the court, and this final iron elbow had finally forced Stockton to drop something good!

"Stockton's emotional fluctuation triggered. Dropped consumable item: Insidious Dirty Foot (3 uses)!"

"Insidious Dirty Foot: When using a landing space contest, increases the probability of the opponent suffering a severe injury by 5%!"