Chapter Eighty-Two: The Grand Final, Part Two

Lin Nan dribbled the ball across half court with speed and poise.

Yangcheng High showed no intention of pressing him full court. Instead, they set their zone defense early and stood ready.

Lin Nan glanced at their formation, paused not at all, and headed straight toward the area guarded by Wang Shiying.

He knew Wang Shiying would come out to meet him on this possession. It was about the opening clash of momentum, and about the rivalry between the first and second men on the scoring chart.

Sure enough, once Lin Nan dribbled up to him, Wang Shiying stepped out of the defense and assumed his stance.

Wang Shiying understood Lin Nan’s intent as well, but he also knew he could not afford to look weak at the start.

Unlike other teams, Qing Shui First High and Yangcheng High were meeting for the very first time.

Because of his small frame and dazzling style of play, with shooting, driving, and dunking all in his arsenal, Lin Nan was the undisputed darling of this national high school basketball league.

And Wang Shiying had long held the top spot on the overall scoring chart.

So the outside world had never stopped comparing the two, debating endlessly over who was stronger.

Every argument seemed to have its own merit, and each side had its own loyal supporters.

For that very reason, Wang Shiying had to step forward now and face Lin Nan head-on in their first true duel.

Lin Nan, of course, felt no fear, even with Wang Shiying standing seven or eight centimeters taller than he was.

As Wang Shiying drew closer, Lin Nan made no move to pick his pocket. Instead, he bent slightly at the waist, lowered his center of gravity, and shifted side to side in tiny steps, the textbook stance of a defender.

Seeing that, Lin Nan used one of Iverson’s signature moves: a wide crossover with the ball in his left hand right in front of the defender, baiting him into reaching, then bursting past him in one step to the right.

Lin Nan thought he had sold the move perfectly. Yet Wang Shiying, even with the ball nearly within arm’s reach, forced down the instinct to swipe at it, and instead shifted his body to the right to seal off the drive.

As a devoted fan of Kobe, Wang Shiying had watched countless highlight reels, and he knew well the signature move of Kobe’s old rival Iverson.

He also knew this was the move that had once scored against the basketball god Jordan himself.

So when the familiar scene unfolded before him, Wang Shiying clenched down hard on the hand that wanted to reach for the ball.

Just as he was quietly congratulating himself for making the right defensive read in that instant, Lin Nan did not drive right at all.

Instead, with his extraordinary body control and left hand that handled the ball as naturally as a right hand, he executed a flawless step-back, retreating beyond the three-point line.

Wang Shiying felt the danger immediately and desperately tried to throw his body forward.

But Lin Nan had stepped back precisely at the moment Wang Shiying shifted right to cut off the drive.

Not a millisecond too early. Not a millisecond too late.

Wang Shiying could not instantly pull his weight back. If he forced it, he might even fall over, completely shaken off balance.

Helplessly, he could only watch as Lin Nan launched the uncontested three, and hope that his touch was still cold after just coming into the game.

But on a basketball court, for a true expert, there is no such thing as being cold.

In crucial moments, body and mind both peak together, and the accuracy that follows can seem almost impossible.

And in those few short seconds of confrontation, Lin Nan had already found that peak feeling.

So there was no doubt about it: with a clean, beautiful arc, the ball left Lin Nan’s hand and fell straight through the net with a crisp swish.

Qing Shui First High led by three from the opening possession.

The crowd from the southern region erupted at once. The boys from Qing Shui First High had already melted into the surging atmosphere of the arena, roaring themselves hoarse in support of their school team.

The girls, by contrast, were still a little shy.

From the commentary table, Yang Yi also gave this basket lavish praise.

“Great players clash in an instant. Wang Shiying’s defense was already perfect, so who could have known Lin Nan would pull out the step-back? And to do it so naturally, too; he hadn’t used that move before today. So can Yangcheng High’s next attack be stopped by Qing Shui First High?”

His final words were spoken very tactfully, referring to both teams.

But to the players on the court, it meant one thing: could Lin Nan stop Wang Shiying’s attack next?

In truth, both sides acted exactly that way, leaving the rest of the floor completely to the two of them.

Everyone understood that a small early lead was not important; momentum was.

They also understood that once basketball skill reached a certain level, you could not stop me and I could not stop you. Then what mattered was who attacked faster and scored more steadily.

Perhaps Lin Nan and Wang Shiying had not yet reached that level, but that did not stop the two teams from fighting for momentum at the start.

So when Wang Shiying received the ball, he dribbled across half court and went directly into the area Lin Nan was defending.

Lin Nan immediately closed in, using his agile body and lightning speed to try for a steal.

He knew full well that, given Wang Shiying’s height, he would most likely choose to back him down and then finish with that signature fadeaway jumper.

So Lin Nan had to get there first to apply pressure and disrupt him, and he was confident Wang Shiying would not be able to shake him with a single move.

Faced with Lin Nan’s aggressive defense, which seemed full of openings, Wang Shiying had no intention of trying to beat him straight up.

That would simply be attacking another man’s strength with your own weakness.

Guards were strong in quickness and agility, while tall players were strong in body and reach.

Wang Shiying simply turned his back to Lin Nan at once, making it impossible for him to swipe at the ball.

And Lin Nan could not circle around in front to steal it either; that would have been far too disrespectful to the opponent.

Thus Wang Shiying, relying on his superior strength and solid fundamentals, backed his way step by step to the spot where he was most comfortable.

Then came a fake, and a fadeaway jumper after the turn.

Lin Nan did not bite. He sprang at him with all his might, but because of the height and distance, he hardly affected Wang Shiying at all.

And Wang Shiying’s graceful fadeaway went down cleanly.

A cheer rose instantly from the eastern stands as well.

The opening battle for momentum ended with Qing Shui First High slightly ahead, after all, because Lin Nan had scored a three while Wang Shiying had only answered with two.

Still, the effect was not decisive. Both sides were burning with fighting spirit.

On Qing Shui First High’s second possession, Lin Nan did not take another shot. Instead, he decisively passed the ball to Zhao Zhongshi.

The game had only just begun, and Zhao Zhongshi was bound to be a major scoring option in this contest.

After receiving the ball, Zhao Zhongshi saw that Yangcheng High had Wu Fan defending him, only about five centimeters taller than he was.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Zhongshi took the ball and drove hard toward the rim, using his right hand to battle through Wu Fan’s defense. Then, in the middle of the layup, he unleashed his signature hook shot, sending the ball out from his left hand and off the glass for two.

It was effortless. Against someone not much taller than himself, Zhao Zhongshi was simply unreasonable.

Wang Shiying muttered a few words to his teammates, meaning that Yang Wenton should take Zhao Zhongshi, because Wu Fan and Cai Kun were not up to the task.

When Yangcheng High came back on offense, Wang Shiying dribbled across half court, found the opening, and passed directly to Yang Wenton near the basket.

Facing Zhao Zhongshi, who defended him, Yang Wenton was just as unreasonable. He backed him down repeatedly, then turned and banked in the shot at the rim.

This game seemed to have turned from the opening into a battle of kings and a clash of foot soldiers.

Lin Nan against Wang Shiying, Zhao Zhongshi against Yang Wenton, Jiu Wu against Su Yuxiang, Screw against Wu Fan, Zhu Bo against Cai Kun.

And though Lin Nan and Wang Shiying’s styles resembled Iverson and Kobe, the difference was that both of them could pass, and both liked to pass. They were not the sort of players who lived on isolation scoring alone.

So this game would come down to which side’s players could suppress the other in their individual matchups.

The game went on. Over the next few minutes, both starting lineups each unleashed their own offensive weapons.

Lin Nan’s crossover drive, Wang Shiying’s fadeaway jumper, Zhao Zhongshi’s miraculous hook, Yang Wenton’s back-downs...

Miraculously, every single attack went in. No one made a miss.

The contest was fierce beyond measure, and the roar of the crowd never once stopped. Su Qun and Yang Yi kept narrating one brilliant basket after another.

By the end of the first quarter, the score had somehow reached 30 to 29.

Qing Shui First High led by a single point, and that one point was the very first lead Lin Nan had created with his three.

Both starting lineups sat down to rest, each taking a small sip of water and slowly swallowing, replenishing their bodies’ moisture.

Inside the VIP box, Yao Ming said to Lin Lang, “If they keep playing at this pace, the final score of this game will definitely be over a hundred.”

Lin Lang nodded and replied, “It just depends on which side has the stronger will and can hold out longer.”

The second quarter began with Yangcheng High’s possession.

As soon as they took the floor, Yangcheng High gave special treatment to Zhu Bo, Screw, and Jiu Wu.

They simply passed the ball to the man guarding each of those three, forcing collisions, burning the full twenty-four seconds, and wearing each other down.

That was the tactic Yangcheng High’s coach, Xiao Ran, had come up with.

From the previous game between Qing Shui First High and Dongshan High, Xiao Ran had already seen that Lin Nan and Zhao Zhongshi had monstrously strong stamina. Even in a high-intensity game, those two could probably play all forty minutes without issue.

So Xiao Ran chose not to grind directly against them. Instead, he focused his effort on the other three.

He wanted to show Qing Shui First High that basketball is a team game.

Once those three had been worn down and taken off the floor, Qing Shui First High’s remaining substitutes would be of little use.

Then Lin Nan and Zhao Zhongshi would inevitably stand alone, unable to hold the whole thing up by themselves.

Coach Gibbon immediately understood what the other side was aiming for, and could only tell Lin Nan and Zhao Zhongshi to attack and score as quickly as possible.

While the opposition focused its energy on Zhu Bo, Screw, and Jiu Wu, Qing Shui First High’s two core players had to stretch the lead as much as they could.

And by the time the second quarter came to an end, both coaches had achieved their aims.

At the peak of the arena, the game had become a masterpiece of will and fire.