Basketball Terminal

Chapter 101 Iron Finger
After the start of the second half, the Celtics, with their stable half-court offense, launched a counterattack, going on a 7-0 run against the Nets and forcing a Nets timeout. Li Wei covered his head with a towel, pretending he wasn't there; he wanted to delay his entry into the game. But Nash didn't give him that chance, putting him on the court early in the second half.

DeAndre Jordan is becoming increasingly lax on defense. He's a bit better at home, but his legs feel like lead when he's on the road. Anyway, he and Li Wei are both focused on the game, so he's not worried about his playing time or role.

Out of various considerations, Nash reluctantly started DeAndre Jordan, and only brought in Levi when the game was clearly in disarray. As soon as he entered the game, Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer from the right side at a 45-degree angle, and Irving's performance improved as the game progressed.

Jaylen Brown isolated Harden in the low post on the right side, turned and drove to the basket, pulled back and attempted a fadeaway jumper, but missed. Jaylen Brown played poorly, his shooting touch was off, and he missed several low-post attacks in the half-court, preventing the Celtics from executing their half-court offense.

Li Wei grabbed the rebound, and the Nets launched a counterattack. Irving, with the ball, faced Tatum and used an extremely skillful move: first, he drove in close, using Tatum as a shield to get to the basket, then he made a low layup on the other side. The ball grazed the backboard high up and bounced into the net!

This is a move that most people can't use. He actively seeks out contact, presses down on Tatum, and doesn't give Tatum the space to jump and block. Then, he finds a layup space on the other side in the gap and sends the ball into the basket with his delicate touch and technique.

Even without explosive power, Kyrie Irving's driving skills are incredibly refined. In this respect, he's similar to Levi on the defensive end; if his engine isn't powerful enough, he relies on aerodynamics. Levi had a cheat code, but Irving's success is truly a combination of talent and hard work.

Seeing Irving's breakthrough, Li Wei thought to himself, "This is the skill I dreamed of when I was a point guard! His ball-handling ability is top-notch; he manipulates the ball with ease, knowing exactly how to put it in without even looking at the basket. It greatly compensates for his shortcomings in explosiveness, jumping ability, and size, and it's incredibly entertaining to watch."

Now, Li Wei is learning from Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and Harris, trying to solidify his role as a player. One day, he'll learn from Irving, Durant, and Harden, striving to master all their skills. Frankly, that's extremely difficult. Some things you can't just learn at will; many techniques, even if mastered, only scratch the surface, never capturing their essence.

Because you lack the talent and physical attributes, you may learn the moves, but you can't execute them in a match. Li Wei hopes that as his mastery of Haki deepens, he can one day compensate for his lack of physical attributes and talent. As the saying goes, the poor rely on mutations; aside from Conqueror's Haki, which he's still exploring, Li Wei is becoming increasingly proficient in the other two.

With proper development, it has many uses; for example, Armament Haki is very effective. Midway through the third quarter, the Nets maintained a lead of over 5 points, and Smart returned to the court. For his comeback game, Stevens planned for him to play 5 minutes per quarter, gradually adapting to the intensity of the game.

Smart suffered a setback against Levi in ​​the first half, and he was naturally unwilling to accept it. Although the coach didn't say anything in the second half, Smart, who returned to the court, still focused his attention on Levi. In one offensive play, Smart dribbled the ball and charged towards the inside, ducking down and trying to brush against Levi.

Knowing that another attempt to stage an accident was underway, Li Wei stepped aside to let Smart pass. Smart, without support, stumbled and fell, sliding several meters on the ground. The referee blew his whistle, calling a defensive foul on Li Wei because there was physical contact between the two at the moment of the fall.

"He couldn't rely on himself, so how can he blame me?"

“There was physical contact; your body bumped into him.”

"It was just a slight contact!"

"Physical contact is contact. Actually, in this position, you could use your hand without any problem, but since you collided, that's considered obstruction."

The referee patiently explained to Li Wei that since the position was below the free-throw line, a handcheck was not prohibited, and he could touch Smart to defend, but using his body, especially his hips, to make contact would likely result in a blocking foul.

Having suffered another minor setback at Smart's hands, Li Wei silently made a mental note. "Using your hands is fine, huh? Okay, I'll show you what a powerful, invincible finger really is later."

The Celtics inbounded the ball, and Tatum received it on the perimeter and drained a three-pointer. Jaylen Brown had a poor performance, and Tatum carried the Celtics' offense. His shooting form is a bit strange; he clamps his arm tightly, and his power generation resembles a catapult, which isn't aesthetically pleasing. However, the advantage of this shooting style is consistency. He maintains a consistent form every game, ignoring defense and firing continuously, always managing a certain number of shots made, and can handle the volume.

Harden ran another high pick-and-roll with Levi and Bruce Brown, passing the ball to Levi first, who then passed it to Bruce Brown cutting down the middle. Brown caught the ball and made a floater. In just one game, this tactical play has become even more refined.

Returning to the defensive end, Smart started handling the ball again. Despite the Celtics having two young stars as their core, Smart is the de facto locker room leader. On the court, Smart often plays like a leader as well. Although not a strong ball-handler, he frequently gets the ball and attacks aggressively in crucial moments of the game.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are still developing, and both are introverted and not natural leaders, so they couldn't dominate the more experienced Marcus Smart in the locker room. Therefore, Smart often had a lot of ball possession during games, sometimes putting on spectacular performances, but more often causing headaches for the Celtics. His shooting percentage was really poor, consistently below 35% from three-point range and less than 40% from the field, making him a very inefficient ball-handler who frequently made laughable mistakes. His tendency to miss repeatedly from the same spot, resulting in numerous missed shots, earned him the nickname "Smart."

After entering the game in the third quarter, Smart changed his work-skilled approach from the first half and began to handle the ball more often, initiating the Celtics' offense and attempting to lead the team's counterattack. Having just drawn a foul and seen some effect, he repeated the tactic, switching on defense after a pick-and-roll, with Levi once again facing Smart on the right 45-degree angle.

Smart's breakthrough level isn't great, and Levi can defend against him even without using Observation Haki. Even without any special abilities, his physique is quite good. After all, he has a combination of two bodies, and his 2-meter height gives him the agility and reaction speed of a 174cm short person. Dealing with Smart shouldn't be a problem for him.

Having learned his lesson, Li Wei neither dodged nor blocked, following Smart's steps inside, his right hand resting on Smart's waist—not a violation of the rules. However, he concentrated a massive amount of his domineering aura at his fingertips, just as he had concentrated it on Dick when sleeping with Kim Mi-won and Cheon Ji-hyo, and with a powerful Vajra Finger strike, he jabbed Smart in the waist!
Everyone says there's a ticklish spot on your waist because there's a densely packed area of ​​nerves on your side that gets very itchy when touched or scratched. Smart couldn't take it when Li Wei poked him with his powerful finger; he yelled "Ah!" and like a fish out of water, leaped up, dropping the ball and flying through the air, gliding across the floor for quite a while.

This time, however, the referee didn't react. Smart, rubbing his waist, complained to the referee, "He pinched my waist! He pinched my waist so hard! It hurts!" The referee ignored him. Li Wei had already stolen the ball and launched a counterattack with his teammates. Five against four, Harden passed the ball to Li Wei, who drove to the basket and scored a layup!

Smart protested, lying on the ground and demanding the referee review the replay, insisting that Levi had definitely fouled. However, the replay showed that Levi had only placed his hand on Smart's waist, not pinched him, at most poking him; there was no foul whatsoever.

"I felt like I was pricked by a needle!"

"Look at my back, it's definitely injured!"

Smart persisted, resulting in a technical foul. His teammates didn't believe him either, telling him to stop faking it and to stop acting like it was real.

Xu Dongyu, watching the live stream, got angry again at Smart's performance and cursed, "This Smart, all he does is wipe the floor! Keep wiping! Keep wiping until North Shore Gardens is sparkling clean, we don't even need cleaners! He's useless, he's just lazy! He only touched your waist, how did he hit your weak spot? You coward!"

Helpless, Smart could only rub his back and get up to return to the game. He dared not try to fake a fight with Levi again; that guy seemed to have some kind of dark magic, and he was really ruthless. In the rest of the game, Smart lost his energy on both offense and defense. He was terrified of Levi, and having just returned from injury, he didn't want to get hurt again.

Kyrie Irving found his rhythm in the latter part of the third quarter, relentlessly attacking any Celtics player one-on-one. He dominated his former teammates – Jaylen Brown, William Hill, Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, and Marcus Smart – scoring 17 points in the quarter and holding off the Celtics' comeback attempt.

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics were unable to mount an effective offense and were unable to stop Irving's relentless attacks. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Celtics still had a chance, but they inexplicably went into a scoring drought, failing to score a single point for three minutes, missing all their shots.

This sudden scoring drought completely destroyed the Celtics' efforts to win, and they succumbed to the Nets' powerful offense. The score was 123-105; the gap between the two teams wasn't as large as the score indicated. The Celtics weren't behaving normally tonight, suddenly going cold. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving, facing his former team with whom he had a history of rivalry, scored 41 points, delivering a resounding victory at TD Garden.

In Irving's opinion, it was a pity there were no Celtics fans in the stadium, otherwise the victory would have been even more exhilarating.

Li Wei contributed a solid double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, successfully completing his mission. After the game, as they hugged, Smart came over and asked Li Wei, "What happened with that ball? Did you pinch me?"

"I didn't pinch you, I just pressed your pressure points."

"Acupoints? You must be joking."

"No, that's my unique Chinese kung fu. Be careful next time, and don't try to act it out for me."

Smart started to wonder, "Could this guy really know Chinese Kung Fu? Pressure point strikes... that's something you only see in movies. Damn it, I'm back from injury and running into this guy right now, what bad luck." The legends surrounding Levi in ​​the league were growing more numerous and increasingly fantastical.

(End of this chapter)