Chapter 190

Two minutes before the end of the second quarter, some of the key players from both teams were sent off to rest again, while Andre Iguodala, who had performed well in the second quarter, was brought back onto the court. At that point, the score between the two teams was 52:61.
Time passed by slowly, with only two minutes left before the end of the second quarter. At this stage, it was the Pistons who held the ball.
Zhou Yi controlled the ball, moving outside the three-point line, while Kobe defended him, moving slowly alongside him.
These two talented young players faced off against each other—Zhou Yi did not attack, nor did Kobe try to steal the ball from him.
Because of this, the cameras on the court kept focusing on them, capturing every subtle movement they made.
All the fans in the arena were on edge, tens of thousands of anxious and eager eyes fixed on those two players on the court, cheering for Zhou Yi, who held the ball.
After both Zhou Yi and Kobe reached the 45-degree angle on the right side outside the three-point line, they stopped moving and stared coldly into each other’s eyes, filled with fierce determination.
Time continued to pass, and Zhou Yi’s rhythmic bouncing of the ball gradually accelerated. As the rhythm changed, Kobe’s vigilance also increased.
A sharp glint appeared in Zhou Yi’s eyes, and he began to move. He suddenly sped up, using the purest, simplest, most direct, and perfect form of “speed” to take his first step to the right, followed by quick subsequent steps, aiming to use his speed to break through Kobe’s defense.
As Zhou Yi moved, Kobe also started moving. He accelerated almost simultaneously with Zhou Yi, staying close to him, tightly surrounding him to prevent him from reaching his maximum speed or getting a chance to shoot.
After entering the paint, seeing that he still couldn’t shake off Kobe, Zhou Yi stopped and turned his back on him.
After bouncing the ball a couple of times with his back to Kobe, Kobe relaxed slightly and loosened his defense. But it was precisely this relaxation that led to a severe consequence for him.
Zhou Yi moved again. He quickly turned to the right, using his body and subtle movements to block Kobe behind him, then increased his speed to the highest level in the shortest time possible, heading straight for the Lakers’ basket.
Seeing Zhou Yi approaching the basket, the Lakers’ closest forward, Paul Gasol, had no choice but to leave Greg Monroe behind and rush back to defend, trying to stop Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi rushed up to Paul Gasol without hesitation. With a strong push from his right hand, he sent the basketball toward the floor beneath Gasol’s legs, causing it to bounce off the ground and land in the hands of Greg Monroe, who now had a chance to shoot.
“Great pass, Zhou!” Greg Monroe exclaimed in ecstasy after catching the ball. As he said this, he jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket with fierce intensity.
“Thud!” The sound of the basket echoing along with Monroe’s fierce roar filled the entire court, making the fans’ hearts race even more and prompting them to erupt in loud cheers.
All sorts of shouts came from the fans—old and young, men and women—all excited by this brilliant teamwork between Zhou Yi and Greg Monroe.
“Zhou!” Swift rushed over to Zhou Yi with a triumphant smile, using a simple gesture to express his joy and high-fiving him in celebration.
Kobe stared intently at Zhou Yi’s retreating figure, his face expressionless and calm.
Kobe received a pass from teammate Paul Gasol just outside the three-point line, facing the basket. After catching the ball, he immediately lowered his center of gravity, ready to attack, while his other teammates moved around to create space for him, giving him ample room to showcase his skills.
Zhou Yi once again spread his arms, watching Kobe like a lurking predator, his face expressionless.
Kobe narrowed his eyes briefly before widening them suddenly, shooting two icy glances at Zhou Yi. At the same time, he made a move that surprised Zhou Yi—with a flick of his right hand and a step forward, he broke through Zhou Yi’s defense along with the ball, leaving Zhou Yi staring in shock.
That’s because Kobe simply threw the ball onto the floor beneath Zhou Yi’s legs, allowing it to easily pass under him.
Kobe moved past Zhou Yi’s defensive range on the left side, caught the ball, and drove toward the Pistons’ empty paint.
This breakthrough by Kobe was similar to the quick pass Zhou Yi had made to Greg Monroe earlier—except that Zhou Yi had passed the ball, while Kobe drove through the defense on his own.
“Damn it, I was careless…” Zhou Yi cursed under his breath and quickly turned to chase after Kobe. Meanwhile, the other Pistons players also rushed toward the paint, trying to stop Kobe.

But how could Kobe, who had already made such a breakthrough, easily let others catch up with him? So by the time the other Pistons players started moving, Kobe had already accelerated to his maximum speed, crossed the free-throw line, and headed straight for the Pistons’ basket. The only person close to Kobe was Zhou Yi, who had reached his right side. Kobe casually glanced at Zhou Yi out of the corner of his eye, a cold smirk forming on his lips. Gritting his teeth, Kobe took three big steps, leaped into the air beneath the basket, and raised his hands to grab the ball as he soared. At this point, it was impossible for Zhou Yi to block Kobe using normal methods; the only way to stop him was by committing a foul. Thus, Zhou Yi, who hadn’t committed a single foul yet, chose that option without hesitation. Zhou Yi jumped up along with Kobe, raised his arms high in the air, and pressed his body against Kobe’s. “Bang!” Their bodies collided in midair, and both Kobe and Zhou Yi lost their balance, falling to the ground. The basketball in Kobe’s hands flew out of bounds due to the impact. After landing, neither could stand steadily, but their fates were different. Kobe was supported by Andrew Bynum and didn’t fall; whereas Zhou Yi, with no one to hold him up, simply collapsed to the ground, his hands pressed against his left forehead. “Ding!” The referee blew his whistle and made a call. “Home team player number 37, foul!” No one paid attention to what the referee had decided at that moment, as everyone was focused on Zhou Yi, who lay on the ground, his hands still pressed to his forehead. When Zhou Yi moved his hands slightly, bright red blood gushed out, streaming down his head and dripping onto the floor, forming a pool of dark red liquid. Seeing this, everyone who cared about Zhou Yi grew worried. They all realized one thing: Zhou Yi was injured! “Zhou!” The Pistons players on the court quickly gathered around him, looking at him with concern and worry, filled with panic. They were truly afraid that Zhou Yi might have to miss the rest of the game due to his injury. Kobe frowned, feeling a hint of guilt. He had a very high opinion of Zhou Yi, seeing him as a rival of his own strength—a rare opponent. If Zhou Yi couldn’t continue playing because of his injury, Kobe would not only feel guilty but also deeply regretful.

He could swear he definitely didn’t intend to hurt Zhou Yi. What happened was purely an accident.
Kobe felt a bit guilty and also a bit disappointed, because he knew Zhou Yi had to leave the court, and Zhou Yi’s departure meant he would lose a strong opponent who could inspire him to give his best.
The Pistons’ team doctor rushed to Zhou Yi and conducted a quick check. All the fans present and those watching on TV watched anxiously as Zhou Yi lay on the ground, bleeding heavily, fearing the worst and praying silently for him.
After the doctor finished checking, Zhou Yi used a towel handed to him by a teammate to press on his bleeding forehead. Under the concerned gazes of the fans, he left the court quietly with the doctor, accompanied by Xiang Yun who left the stands and an assistant coach from the Pistons’ locker room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Zhou Yi has left due to injury. While Kobe is taking his free throw, let’s take a look at the slow-motion replay from earlier.”
As Yu Jia spoke, the five screens in the stadium and the large screen on the court immediately showed the earlier footage.
Zhou Yi and Kobe collided in mid-air. Due to Zhou Yi’s position, his head was right in front of Kobe’s right elbow, so the intense impact caused his forehead to bleed. This showed that Zhou Yi’s injury wasn’t intentional on Kobe’s part but was simply an accident.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I think everyone saw that Zhou Yi’s injury was purely an accident. It seems he only has a cut on his forehead—nothing serious. He’ll likely return to the court soon, so let’s give him some time! I believe our ‘Chinese Flying Man’ will definitely come back!”
After hearing Yu Jia’s explanation, the fans in the stadium who were dissatisfied with Kobe immediately dismissed their resentment. Of course, they still felt a bit upset, as Zhou Yi’s removal from the court was still related to Kobe.
Will Bynum glanced at the hallway where Zhou Yi had gone and got up to leave, but McGrady called him back.
McGrady shook his head, signaling to Will Bynum not to follow.
Will Bynum frowned tightly: “But Zhou…”

At that moment, Taylor Hansbrough also pulled Will Bynum aside and said, “Sit down, Will. The assistant coaches and Miss Xiang have gone with them. It’s no use for us to go. Besides, Zhou’s injury isn’t serious. As you heard, he might return soon.”
Chapter 420: Pistons vs. Lakers (Part 2)
“But…” Will Bynum was still a bit worried.
Madison smiled at Will Bynum and said, “Will, don’t worry. Let’s just wait here. Zhou Yi will definitely come back!”
After hearing this, Will Bynum slowly sat down in his seat, quietly observing his teammates on the court, waiting patiently for Zhou Yi’s return.
Although the commentator said Zhou Yi’s injury had little to do with Kobe, the fans watching on TV didn’t care about that. They believed Zhou Yi’s injury was entirely caused by Kobe.
“See? That jerk Kobe is setting traps again. Damn, when he can’t beat others, he resorts to dirty tactics. He did the same thing last season against the Rockets—used dirty elbows on Artest. Ugh, no professionalism at all.”
“It’s sad. Can’t he win games the proper way? Poor Kobe fans, still crying every day. Sigh…”
“Never mind. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this. Better just watch the game!”
…
In the Pistons’ locker room medical room, the team doctor applied a patch to Zhou Yi’s injury to temporarily stop the bleeding. After examining it carefully, he said, “Zhou, your injury isn’t serious. A few stitches will do. But I advise you not to play in this game. It could get worse if you play.”
After hearing this, Zhou Yi pondered for a moment before asking, “Doctor, is my injury really not serious?”
“Yes!” the doctor nodded.
“Then thank you,” Zhou Yi said with a smile before turning to leave.
When Zhou Yi returned to the court, the fans immediately gave him warm applause, expressing their admiration and affection for him playing despite his injury.
Zhou Yi truly lived up to being Detroit’s new king—he would never be defeated by a minor injury.
“Zhou, how are you?” John Kuester asked worriedly.
“Hehe, I’m fine, coach. Let me play!” Zhou Yi said with a smile.
“No, you’d better stay on the bench for now! I don’t want you to be unable to play at the last moment,” John Kuester said, rolling his eyes.
Since Will Bynum had too many fouls, it was rookie Jody Meeks who replaced Zhou Yi on the court.

“Clang” — another clang of a hammer. Greg Monroe happily grabbed the rebound in the backcourt and passed it to Jody Meeks.
Through his confrontation with Derek Fisher, Jody Meeks realized that although Derek Fisher was strong, his speed and agility were far from what they used to be, especially when it came to his ability to stay close to opponents and his stamina. Jody Meeks felt that breaking through Derek Fisher now didn’t require much effort.
Seeing Jody Meeks about to dart past him for a layup again, Derek Fisher became displeased and grabbed Jody Meeks tightly. By committing a foul to prevent Jody Meeks from scoring easily, Derek Fisher showed some awareness. But then he realized he couldn’t keep using fouls to stop him!
At that moment, Kobe stepped up to Derek Fisher and whispered, “Leave that rookie to me!”
Hearing Kobe’s words, Derek Fisher nodded agreeably.
The Pistons inbounded the ball. As soon as Jody Meeks caught it, Kobe rushed toward him. Jody Meeks was surprised—was Kobe guarding him directly? But he wasn’t panicked at all. Getting to play against the best player in the league naturally excited him greatly, intensifying his fighting spirit to its peak.
However, after all, he was still a rookie, so facing Kobe, the best player in the league, he felt a bit nervous. His dribbling under his arm wasn’t as smooth as before. With his vast experience, Kobe swiftly reached in and stole the ball.
After stealing the ball, Kobe drove straight down to the Pistons’ basket and scored with a behind-the-back dunk.
Jody Meeks helplessly wiped the sweat from his forehead and ran back to his own half to receive the inbound pass. After catching the ball, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to steady his rhythm.
“I have to stay calm; otherwise, I’ll still make mistakes,” Jody Meeks thought to himself.
After half a court pass, Jody Meeks calmly scanned the entire court. At that moment, McGrady came over and moved past Jody Meeks. Jody Meeks immediately passed the ball to McGrady and even set up a screen to block Derek Fisher, who was guarding McGrady.

Without any defense, McGrady accelerated to his fastest speed, rushed into the Lakers’ paint, and scored with a double-handed dunk, also drawing a foul on Paul Gasol. It was a brilliant play, made possible by his clever coordination with Jody Meeks. Commentating on the game today were Yao Ming’s mentor Jeff Van Gundy and Reggie Miller; since it was a nationally televised game, both provided professional commentary. To the Pistons’ players’ delight, the team’s owner Bill Davidson and general manager Joe Dumars were also in attendance to watch the game. So when McGrady completed that dunk, everyone on the Pistons’ team was extremely excited, including owner Bill Davidson and general manager Joe Dumars. If even the owners and general manager were so thrilled, it’s needless to say the home crowd was even more excited. The Pistons’ home fans were shouting McGrady’s name loudly, cheering for their team. “T-MAC…” Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, known as “The Zen Master,” didn’t show much reaction when Paul Gasol got another foul—only a slight frown—but he didn’t replace him either. Gasol had only two fouls so far, so Jackson wasn’t in a hurry to take him out. McGrady made his free throw and the extra shot as well. Even with all his starters on the court, Phil Jackson sat there indifferently, as if there was no sign of panic on his face. Of course, if the referee kept calling fouls on the Lakers’ inside players, he would get angry. When “The Zen Master” isn’t angry, he’s fine; but when he is, he’s quite intimidating. And since the Lakers were still ahead, he naturally had the leisure to sit there, chewing gum calmly while watching the game. Kobe controlled the ball, with McGrady closely following, constantly using subtle moves to disrupt him. But these didn’t cause Kobe to make mistakes. With a behind-the-back dribble and a quick pull to the left, he jumped and shot. With a swish, the basketball smoothly entered the basket. In the next offensive series, the Pistons failed to score. Paul Gasol grabbed a defensive rebound and passed it to Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher drove past half-court and, seeing Kobe’s upward gesture, quickly threw the ball toward the top right corner of the basket. However, the pass was a bit too far, and Kobe didn’t catch it comfortably.

But even so, he still completed the alley-oop in mid-air. However, due to poor coordination, it wasn’t an alley-oop dunk but just a simple alley-oop layup. Yet despite being a simple alley-oop layup, it was extremely difficult. After completing this layup, Kobe also lost his balance due to the difficulty of the coordination and fell from mid-air. Fortunately, Kobe had a strong sense of self-protection, so he wasn’t injured.

Jody Meeks still had a significant speed advantage, thanks to his youth, while Kobe was in his thirties and no longer had his former speed, making him slightly inferior compared to these rookies known for their speed.

By maintaining a good mindset, Jody Meeks was no longer as nervous around Kobe. With consecutive dribbles under his arm followed by a crossover, he broke away from Kobe. Seeing Kobe get beaten, Derek Fisher immediately came over to help defend Jody Meeks. As Derek Fisher rushed over, Jody Meeks wasn’t in a hurry; he effortlessly passed the ball behind him to McGrady, who was further away. McGrady caught the ball and took a quick jump shot, successfully scoring 2 points.

Seeing Jody Meeks break through Kobe and complete this beautiful pass with McGrady, especially that effortless and clever behind-the-back pass, the crowd erupted in cheers once again.

As the situation on the court gradually changed, Jody Meeks also noticed some issues with the Lakers’ defense. For example, in the previous play, although Kobe tried his best to defend, he stopped chasing after falling behind by half a body length. And after Derek Fisher came over to help defend him, there was no one left to cover McGrady behind. Being ahead by a few points made the Lakers’ players a bit complacent. There might be another reason as well—Lakers’ fatigue, as both games were played away from home, so their weak defense could also be attributed to this.

However, despite some complacency in defense, the Lakers’ offense remained sharp. Kobe received the ball at the top of the key, broke past McGrady, and faced Jody Meeks’ help defense. After a feint, he turned and took a backspin jump shot—“swish”—another successful shot.

“Good defense!” After scoring that shot, Kobe smiled at Jody Meeks and said to him.

Yodai Mix’s help defense on that play was indeed excellent; McGrady had no way of stopping Kobe. As soon as Kobe broke through, Yodai Mix immediately covered him. Although Yodai Mix’s help defense was solid and his timing for the block was good, Kobe’s backspin jump shot was simply too powerful, so Yodai Mix couldn’t stop it.

Samuel Dalembert’s jump shot left Andrew Bynum, who couldn’t defend it, completely helpless. As Samuel Dalembert’s shooting form improved, Yodai Mix was happy to pass the ball to him to facilitate his offense.

With the Pistons gradually closing the score gap, the Lakers were indeed a bit worried. But in critical moments, they could trust in their team leader, Kobe, who hadn’t yet lost his composure!

When Kobe stepped past James Posey’s defense in one stride, Yodai Mix immediately rushed over to help. Yodai Mix had quick feet and high agility, making it somewhat difficult for Kobe to play one-on-one with him. But this didn’t deter Kobe, who was one of the most aggressive offensive players in the league. Kobe faced Yodai Mix back-to-back, pushed him twice, then suddenly turned around and delivered his signature backspin jump shot. However, under Yodai Mix’s tight defense, Kobe’s shot missed, and Yodai Mix felt a sense of satisfaction.

Yet, Paul Gasol secured the rebound, and the Pistons scored on the second chance. Fortunately, Samuel Dalembert responded with a jump shot inside the paint.

On the Lakers’ offense, Kobe took the ball and cut from the left wing. Using Andrew Bynum’s screen, he got past Yodai Mix’s defense and successfully penetrated into the paint. Faced with Samuel Dalembert’s defense inside, Kobe didn’t back down and simply shook him off with a beautiful layup attempt. Unfortunately, the layup missed, and Samuel Dalembert grabbed the rebound.

Kobe looked at the basket disappointedly, made a shooting gesture, then shook his head.