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Chapter 264 Who Says LeBron James Can't Make His Teammates Better? (Second Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets)
If he can't win the next game, will he retire?
After Game 3 of the Finals, Qin Yue, while admiring Durant's arrogance, couldn't help but start thinking about how to organize Durant's retirement ceremony.

This may well be the episode in which James shows the most support for Qin Yue in his entire life.

Although James now feels nothing but visible hatred towards Qin Yue.

But just like in Qin Yue's previous life, a certain famous "Bronny Community" who didn't want Curry to win the championship could even say things like "Lakers and Celtics are one family".

Faced with real interests, who says James can't follow his fans' example, hold his nose, and shrilly support Qin Yue in taking down Durant?

A day later, on the evening of the 14th, Game 4 of the 2011/12 NBA Finals continued at Madison Square Garden.

As the first season since the league changed the Finals format from "232" to "22111", the Knicks, trailing 1-2 in the series, were already on the brink of elimination that night.

Although there are precedents in NBA history of teams that have come back from a 1-3 deficit to win a series.

But as of now...
At least on the stage of the finals, there has never been a case of a team coming back from a 1-3 deficit.

Therefore, the importance of this Game 4 to the Knicks is self-evident.

On the court, before the game started, Qin Yue jokingly teased Durant, saying, "'KD,' have you thought about what you want to do after you retire?"

Upon hearing this, Durant, knowing he was no match for Qin Yue in a verbal battle, simply said, "If I retire tonight, I think I'll play through all the games I have in my collection first."

Durant's statement piqued Qin Yue's interest.

However, after Qin Yue roughly understood what games Durant had in his inventory, he immediately froze on the spot.

As it turns out, even dressed in the Grim Reaper's coat, Durant is still the same incredible Durant.

Can you believe that this NBA superstar, worth hundreds of millions, has a collection of those kinds of low-quality games that can't pass censorship?
"What's so fun about that kind of game?" Brown asked, puzzled. "Doesn't he know that he has enough wealth to play Earth Online however he wants?"

At Madison Square Garden, as the starting players of both teams took their places, the big screen displayed the starting lineups for both teams.

The visiting Warriors: Qin Yue, Wallace, Jamison, Green, Curry.

Home team Knicks: Howard, Jeffries, Durant, Iguodala, Harden.

Since the pivotal Game 5 and Game 7 haven't arrived yet, Harden, who naturally has no chance of underperforming, fired a loyal and powerful shot during the team's transition offense after the Knicks defended the first possession.

In his previous life, Qin Yue was the player with the highest "forgiveness ratio." Among the many superstars that "Mistake Bro" Harden had played with, Durant was undoubtedly the most compatible with Harden. ①
This compatibility is not only reflected in Durant and Harden's performance on the court.

Furthermore, Harden's relationship with Durant means that, in the current Knicks team, Harden is likely the player most willing to fight tooth and nail for Durant.

On the court, he first blocked Green's three-point attempt from the outside, then dove out of bounds to save the ball.

To avoid Durant's retirement, Harden went into "do-or-die" mode almost from the very beginning.

Durant didn't waste the basketball that Harden saved himself.

Amid cheers from the fans, Durant dribbled the ball, launched a fast break, and hit a three-pointer.

This kind of pull-up three-pointer is Durant's signature move after entering the peak of his career.

But the person watching on TV wasn't actually on the field.
But who would have thought that the player most severely provoked by Durant's 45-degree dunk was James?
If James's hatred for Qin Yue stemmed from jealousy and envy of Qin Yue...

As for Durant, James wished he could tear him to pieces.

why?
Because, in his own view, James' current predicament, from "King James" to "a LeBron on the side of the road," is entirely due to Durant.

James's level of hatred for Durant dictates that every shot Durant makes in the next game will inevitably cause him some degree of real damage.

On the court, it was the Warriors' turn to attack.

James, who is even more die-hard than Qin Yue's die-hard fans, has never had such a moment before, hoping that Qin Yue can respond to his opponent in the game.

However, contrary to expectations, Qin Yue's three-point attempt also missed the rim.

Moreover, just as James feared, Durant immediately witnessed Durant's fast break layup.

That night, the Knicks started with an 8-0 run, giving them a dream start.

This made James extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.

Fortunately, Qin Yue was far more trustworthy than James had imagined.

In the first quarter, during the official timeout, Qin Yue scored 13 consecutive points, allowing the Warriors to narrow the score gap between the two teams to 2 points.

On TNT, Barkley remarked, "The Knicks gave it their all, but the Warriors' giant just took one step forward and the whole Knicks team was terrified."

Perhaps at this moment, Barkley is suspected of overpraising Qin Yue.

But on this night, Qin Yue, who desperately wanted to personally organize Durant's retirement ceremony, did indeed step in to protect his teammates when the team was in a disadvantageous situation.

The Knicks' final possession of the first quarter.

Double change of direction to widen the body position.

He then dribbled the ball and took a long stride into the Warriors' paint. The next second, Durant, soaring through the air, witnessed a scene he would never forget.

Qin Yue intercepted Durant's powerful attack from the sky.

Furthermore, while confiscating Durant's axe, Qin Yue also delivered a perfect quarterback-style pass to the frontcourt.

In the frontcourt, Wallace made a tough two-point layup.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 31-31.

TNT's Barkley commented on Qin Yue's performance in the first quarter: "'KD' tried his best to defend the home court, but the response he received was from God, who wanted him to retire immediately."

Meanwhile, O'Neal cheered for Durant, saying, "So what, Charles? At least 'KD' has the courage to compete with the Messiah."

Barkley laughed and said, "Shaq, are you saying that some players don't even dare to compete with the Messiah?"

O'Neal said, "Hey Charles, I didn't say that about LeBron. You can't wrong me."

In the second quarter, the Knicks were led by Harden and Howard.

In this quarter, the Warriors, who fouled out in less than 3 minutes, were in a disadvantageous situation almost right from the start.

Harden, who has improved his ability to draw fouls this season, not only helped the Knicks regain their lead by scoring a few points, but also disrupted the Warriors' offensive rhythm by frequently going to the free-throw line.

"Mike, why don't we use the 'Hack-a-Howard' strategy?" Qin Yue, from the Warriors' bench, reminded Warriors head coach Malone.

Upon hearing this, Malone, whose mind was full of thoughts on how to adjust the tactics, suddenly realized and said, "That makes sense. We've already fouled out, so instead of constantly sending James to the free-throw line, we might as well let Dwight take the free throws."

Under the threat of the Warriors' "Hack-a-Howard" strategy, D'Antoni, on the Knicks' bench, never expected that Harden's excessive ability to draw fouls would become the final straw that broke Howard's back.

Due to repeated missed free throws, D'Antoni had to temporarily remove Howard from the bench.

But after Howard left the game, how could the Knicks possibly stop Qin Yue's relentless attacks with Jeffries alone?
Watching this dramatic scene from the sidelines, Kwame Brown laughed and said, "Luckily, I listened to advice back then and improved my free throw percentage to over 70%."

In fact, when faced with a slashing tactic...
If the player responsible for taking free throws can achieve a success rate of close to 60%, it will be a huge loss for the opponent.

Unfortunately.
If Howard could consistently achieve a free throw percentage of over 60%, he wouldn't have needed to see a psychologist because of free throws, as Qin Yue remembers.

The Warriors, who had a poor start to the second quarter, built a 4-point lead before the end of the first half thanks to Qin Yue's clever idea.

This made James, who had been watching the game on TV, breathe a sigh of relief.

It was only the third quarter of the game.
With Iguodala hitting two consecutive three-pointers for the Knicks
While forcing the Warriors to call a timeout, Iguodala also successfully broke through James' defense.

If in the last game James only suspected that his teammates were throwing the game,

In that game, James had already experienced firsthand the incredibly poor acting skills of his teammates.

So, what people can least see clearly is often themselves?
On the court, after the timeout, it's the Warriors' offensive possession.

It has to be said that only Qin Yue could save James from having doubts about life.

Dribble back and pull the ball back, then step back to collect it.

Swish-!
At Madison Square Garden, when Qin Yue once again became the silent defender on the court, James almost instantly felt the joy of being a Qin Yue fan.

Back to the Knicks' offensive possession.

After receiving a pass from Durant, Howard, who had a chance to attack the basket in the Warriors' paint, was also mercilessly blocked by Qin Yue.

Fortunately, Jeffries, who was highly focused, secured the second ball for the team and then put it into the basket.

However, before the fans in the arena could cheer, Qin Yue, who had entered "god mode" on the Warriors' next offensive possession, forced the Knicks to call a timeout with a quick turn and stop to score a three-point play under the basket.

Furthermore, when the Knicks called a timeout, Qin Yue didn't forget to remind Durant, "'KD,' if you don't work harder, you might really have to retire after this game."

Upon hearing this, Durant immediately countered Qin Yue's remarks with a witty reply: "Isn't it an honor to have you personally organize my retirement ceremony?"

"."

What you said makes so much sense that I am speechless.

At this moment, looking at Durant, who had matured considerably in his mindset, Qin Yue was certain that KD had reached a new level in terms of his understanding of the game.

After all,
James may have played a significant role in preventing Durant from taking a decade of detours in his life.

so.
Who says LeBron James can't make his teammates better?

……

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①: Fault tolerance, similar to "C-level tolerance". Because Harden's current nickname is "Fault Guy", the fault tolerance refers to the performance of various superstars when playing with Harden.

(End of this chapter)