Chapter 215

The second quarter began. James hadn’t had many playing opportunities in the first quarter, and now he was eager to get onto the court. He started controlling the ball across half the court and repeatedly breaking through the opponent’s defense.

Zhou Yi was observing James at that moment. Indeed, he was very different from before. The current James was a completely composed player, with a more steady playing style. The recklessness of his youth was hard to find in him now; he had gradually matured over time. For Zhou Yi, although this was somewhat a bad thing, it would prevent him from being too lonely on his path to dominance. Having James as an opponent wasn’t bad either.

The two were destined to be enemies for life.

Thanks to James and the others’ leniency and efforts, after just over six minutes in the second quarter, the ball went back to the Eastern Stars team. Eric Spoelstra called his players back, then substituted in Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi stepped onto the court and started controlling the ball across half the court.

By this point, the Eastern Stars team was already 5 points ahead, and the ball was in Zhou Yi’s hands. He didn’t want to worry about pleasing the audience for now; what he was thinking about was how to make it impossible for the opponent to stop him.

The one defending Zhou Yi was Durant, who had just come in.

“Hey, Zhou! Time really is funny—here we are again,” Durant said with a smile, his white teeth visible in the light. Zhou Yi could tell this guy was smiling genuinely. After all, he had once fought alongside Durant and knew what kind of person he was—someone who could be a good friend.

Zhou Yi replied, “Yes, it’s been a long time since we last met. But since we’re meeting again today, you’re going to be my backdrop in front of the audience.”

“It’s not that easy… even though this is an All-Star game,” Durant said with a smile.

Zhou Yi smiled briefly, then used a crossover move to break through directly. Although Durant knew this was a exhibition game where players didn’t need to go all out, seeing Zhou Yi’s style, he decided to defend seriously—just to test the gap in strength between the two of them.

So Durant still threw everything he had at it. Seeing this guy fighting so hard, Zhou Yi also felt he should use his strongest skills, so he held nothing back and used a killer smile along with a deadly crossover. His body moved through a blur of shadows and light to get past Durant, after which his speed surged, like lightning in motion or a serpent striking swiftly. Before Durant could react, Zhou Yi had already moved past him and reached near the free-throw line, then finished the attack with a low glide layup.

Many Chinese fans came in and cheered for Zhou Yi, their voices filling the air as the cheers grew louder and louder. “Zhou Yi’s skills are becoming more mature by the day,” said the commentators in the live broadcast room of China’s Sports Channel 5—still Zhang and Sun Weiping. Watching Zhou Yi’s performance, they both expressed their admiration. The previous comment came from Sun Weiping, one of Zhou Yi’s current fans. “Yes, he’s playing more steadily. We can see significant progress in his breakthrough ability and dunking skills this season. But he doesn’t like to prove himself with flashy moves; he prefers a simple and direct approach, which I think is a reasonable way to play on the court,” he said. “Indeed, even the simplest moves have a special beauty when executed by Zhou Yi. I think that’s why his influence has spread beyond the United States,” added Sun Weiping.

The ball went back to the Western Stars. At this point, Nowitzki stayed on the court and asked for the ball from the outside players. Nowitzki took possession and ended the attack with a mid-range shot. “Nowitzki is a major competitor for Zhou Yi’s All-Star MVP title. His strength cannot be underestimated. Zhou Yi has already won the three-point shooting contest and the dunk contest. He just needs one more All-Star MVP award to achieve a feat that future players might never surpass. I hope he can beat Nowitzki and claim his glory,” said Sun Weiping. “It seems that Zhou Yi is playing quite safely right now, and his stats are rising. His numbers are good, so it’s only fitting that he won that grand slam,” said Coach Zhang.

While the two were talking, Zhou Yi controlled the ball and moved beyond the opponent’s three-point line, still facing Durant’s defense.

“Dude, you’ve improved a lot,” Durant said sincerely to Zhou Yi. “But even so, I won’t give up on guarding you. Show me what you’re really capable of—let me see just how strong you really are.” Durant was straightforward; he clearly wanted to see the level of Zhou Yi’s skills at this point. Hearing the sincerity in his words, Zhou Yi replied, “Alright, I won’t disappoint you.”

With that, the basketball darted between Zhou Yi’s legs and behind him, as if it had its own soul—one that favored Zhou Yi’s hands, staying close and always under his control. Zhou Yi still used his unstoppable breakthrough moves.

Durant guarded Zhou Yi meticulously. Though he knew it was impossible to stop him, he wanted to try and at least hinder him. His determined defense prevented Zhou Yi’s first wave of attacks from being fully effective. Zhou Yi retreated and prepared for another breakthrough.

Seeing Durant’s slightly excited look amid the tension—probably because he had just blocked one of his attacks—Zhou Yi smiled slightly and said, “I’m going all in now!” The moment he said this, Durant was stunned, as Zhou Yi’s subsequent change of direction seemed completely beyond human limits. It was hard for him to imagine the pressure and pain on Zhou Yi’s knees to pull off such a drastic maneuver. In fact, Zhou Yi did it effortlessly, shaking off Durant completely after the sharp turn, moving like lightning as his body slipped back into the paint.

The defensive players from the West stepped in to guard him, with Nowitzki becoming the main defender. Nowitzki’s desire to win MVP hadn’t faded, so he gradually closed in on Zhou Yi. While the MVP race wouldn’t turn them into enemies, he still didn’t have much goodwill toward Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi approached Nowitzki, held the basketball close to his chest, then moved past him like a falling leaf. Before Nowitzki could react, Zhou Yi, like a cloud drifting silently through the air, headed straight into the paint. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he executed a flawless layup, then landed lightly, as if he were truly just a leaf floating in the wind.

The players of the Western Stars team grew anxious when Zhou Yi scored four points in a row, widening the score gap to four points. They passed the ball to the outside players, who immediately hit a three-point jump shot, finally closing the gap. During the next offensive-defense transition, the ball came back to Zhou Yi, who controlled the ball and crossed half-court before suddenly stopping just outside the opponent’s three-point line.

The Western Stars players had grown used to Zhou Yi’s habit of suddenly stopping silently before making a breakthrough, so they tightened their defense. The game finally started to heat up. But just as their defense was about to take shape, Greg Monroe, a player from the Eastern Stars team on the inside, suddenly grinned and used his massive backside to push Novaksky away. By then, no one realized that the pass from Zhou Yi had already reached Greg Monroe.

Zhou Yi and Greg Monroe’s默契 never wavered. Greg Monroe caught the ball in the air and executed a powerful dunk that shook the basket slightly. Finally getting a chance to show off his skills in the All-Star game, Greg Monroe now had the opportunity to pound his chest in triumph. He slapped his chest on the ground and shouted loudly.