Champion Rules

Chapter 230, Section 226: No Tolerance for the Slightest Trampling or Offense (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
Lynch was like a perpetually insatiable bastard.

Almost at the start of the second quarter, before Kevin Durant could even wipe his mouth, he pressed KD's head down again.

Kevin Durant missed his first shot right at the start of the game.

Ron Artest did not leave the game at the start of the second quarter, but continued to take over the task of defending KD.

This makes it more difficult for Kevin Durant in every aspect of his offense.

Most of the time, Lynch didn't even need to frequently lend a helping hand; Ron Artest could handle number 35.

In off-the-ball movement, Artest seemed to anticipate all of KD's attempts and constantly used physical contact to prevent him from accelerating.

Handling the ball and running pick-and-rolls? At this stage, KD's ball-handling skills were not yet mature, so even if Artest was screened, he could still disrupt KD's dribbling from behind, just like he did with Harden in the first quarter.

A one-on-one shot with a standing stick? It's basically equivalent to gambling on a distorted shot while facing a defender.

This man, who can break the ribs of the basketball god and cause the King of New York to bleed on the court, is someone that KD cannot handle with ease at the moment.

Ron Artest and Kevin Durant are both in a very special period.

No. 96 has passed his prime; his body and the rules no longer support him, but he can still be a nightmare for some players.

Number 35 is not yet at his peak. Although his talent is unparalleled, he still cannot avoid playing some very embarrassing games.

Whenever Kevin Durant missed a shot on offense, Lynch would demonstrate the "correct way" on the other end.

The Thunder are too young; their immense talent flows through their veins, but they haven't yet fully translated into dominance on the court.

They may have already established themselves in the league, made it to the playoffs, and even achieved Lynch's predicted 50 wins in a single season.

But tonight they'll learn that they're still far from true monarchy.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Ron Artest, sporting orange hair, was finally pulled back to the bench by Flip Sanders.

Has the nightmare ended?

Wilson Chandler, full of energy, took to the court. His defense was also excellent, but it was far less intimidating than that of Ron Artest.

Kevin Durant finally sensed an opportunity.

A chance to fight back and breathe.

He wasn't going to give up yet, actively trying to get past Wilson Chandler's defense through off-the-ball movement.

When KD finally broke free and found a moment where he could receive the ball and shoot, Stephen Curry's pass arrived as expected, like a spring of water in the desert.

Just as KD was about to receive the basketball and had begun to adjust for the shot, a large hand extinguished all hope.

Lynch steals the pass in mid-air!
Kevin Durant had just lifted his head to try and breathe when it was instantly filled again by the even colder, more despairing salty seawater.

Clearly, the nightmare was not over.

After stealing the ball, Lynch pushed the ball across half-court and glided past Serge Ibaka with a Euro step.

Sway left! Slash right!
Take off! Stay in the air!
A one-handed dunk scores!

With this, Lynch has now scored 21 points tonight.

The hourglass in the second section had only flowed halfway through.

This is the second consecutive game in which people are amazed by Lynch's scoring.

During his two-peat, Lynch's dominance over the league was solid, but he never exuded the unsettling aura that is so palpable now.

Last season, Lynch was a competitor fighting tooth and nail against the powerhouses.

But this season, watching Lynch play really gives people the feeling of watching MJ.

They all freely took whatever they wanted on the basketball court.

Kevin Durant's brows furrowed into a deep, melancholy knot, and he let out a long sigh from the depths of his chest.

This expression is enough to tell his current mental state.

However, what Lin Qi admired about him was that KD did not choose to cowardly lie low and retreat.

What if LeBron James were to face such a hellish siege?
That shrewd king has probably already donned that protective cloak called "invisibility cloak" and is playing the "evaporation tactic" on the noisy field.

But Kevin Durant gritted his teeth, like a wounded but defiant lone wolf, relentlessly tearing at every possible gap in the Knicks' steel defense.

He kept hitting the bricks, but he didn't refuse to keep trying.

Kevin Durant has always believed that, regardless of the predicament, the best player on the team should take more shots.

If even the best players can't solve the problem, how can anyone else?
In difficult situations, the best player will take whatever shot is available, even if it's not the most rational.

This is better than giving the ball to role players to shoot.

This is the biggest difference between KD and LeBron James in their basketball philosophies.

Years later, he would even bluntly express this view to LBJ on a basketball program.

But the only thing he deserves praise for tonight is his courage.

His offensive performance was like falling into a bottomless abyss, sliding deeper and deeper into the mire.

Lynch's timely defensive assistance left him at a loss.

By halftime, Lynch had scored 33 points.

KD scored 13 points with a shooting percentage of only 30%.

Stephen Curry was the Thunder's best player in the first half, casting a faint glimmer of light on the team's lackluster performance.

But he lacked support.

The Thunder walked into halftime trailing by 22 points.

The reporters on the sidelines kept Lin Qi there.

How would you rate Stephen's performance if you could work with him?

"Sorry, I'm not interested in that question."

Lynch, unusually, refused to answer and turned to leave.

In the third quarter, Lynch showed no mercy whatsoever.

Perhaps he didn't even have that thing on the basketball court.

He continued to make moves, even though the scales of victory had long since tipped heavily in his favor.

Flip Saunders clenched his fists. Even though he was the Knicks' head coach, looking at the group of young players across from him, torn apart by the storm, he still felt sorry for the Thunder.

Mike Malone, who was standing nearby, suddenly asked in a low voice, "Why is Lynch so angry?"

"Because that arrogant kid was too hasty, and in his haste, he stepped into a restricted area that he shouldn't have entered at that moment." Philip Sanders pointed to number 35.

Mike Malone seemed thoughtful, believing that Kevin Durant wasn't everything:
"But they have no history of animosity, right? In the past two seasons, they probably haven't exchanged more than five words with each other."

Kevin Durant isn't LeBron James; why would he make Lynch so angry?

On the court, Stephen Curry broke through after a screen and lobbed the ball high off the backboard inside the paint.

This is Curry's brilliant finishing move in the paint when he's thin: he throws the ball as high as possible, which avoids contact and renders any attempt to block with long arms and big hands futile.

Of course, this requires precise control of space, force, and angle.

Only Stephen Curry's divinely inspired touch can ensure that the basketball gently slides into that pre-set sweet vortex the moment it hits the high post of the backboard.

But this time, Stephen Curry's high-arcing magic failed him.

Because Lynch touched the bottom of the basketball with his fingertip while it was still rising.

Kevin Durant got beaten so badly by Lynch tonight that people overlooked his equally tight defense on Stephen Curry.

This was Lynch's third block on Stephen Curry.

In contrast, KD was only blocked once by Lynch tonight.

Why was Lynch so angry?
Mike Malone seemed to have found the answer in this defensive play.

A series of fragments instantly connected in his mind.

When Lynch arrived in Oklahoma City yesterday, which question made him the angriest?

It's that question about whether you'd be upset about losing Stephen Curry.

Just after halftime, Lynch also declined to answer questions related to Stephen Curry.

This group of people, these media outlets, have repeatedly emphasized that losing Stephen Curry is a devastating blow to Lynch.

This kind of discussion is tantamount to people mocking the Trail Blazers for missing out on Michael Jordan in 84.

But this is completely different.

The Trail Blazers, having lost MJ, certainly lost a chance to forge greatness.

But did Lynch lose his chance to forge greatness by losing Stephen Curry?
Stephen Curry makes it easier for Lynch to achieve success; that's an undeniable fact.

Even though DeMar DeRozan had an outstanding performance tonight, scoring 9 points and being close to achieving double figures for the first time in his career.

But the chasm-like gap in talent is still too glaring to be concealed.

But this doesn't mean that Lynch lost his chance at success by losing Stephen Curry.

This argument was like a needle, precisely piercing Lynch's untouchable pride.

It made Lynch feel like he was being dragged into that "coward list" of people like LeBron James, who relied on "talent shortcuts" to win the crown. It was as if Lynch couldn't make a single step without top-tier talent like Stephen Curry.

He wants to use this burning stadium as a furnace to forge an unquestionable, iron-blooded answer.

He doesn't need to, nor does he have to, rely on Stephen Curry to achieve success, nor does he need to feel regret for losing Stephen Curry.

It would be great to get it.

But not getting it doesn't mean failure for Lynch.

So he went on a crazy offensive, a crazy defensive, and a crazy burning.

With his most primal and ferocious demeanor, he demonstrated his dominance to the world in two consecutive matches.

He told the entire alliance: a person like him doesn't need any shortcuts or reliance; he is the master himself!
Even if there are shortcuts to rely on, it's others who rely on him, and he treats them as shortcuts to winning the championship.

Therefore, Lynch's furious rage tonight was not solely directed at number 35.

But fate played a cruel trick on him; Kevin Durant's eagerness to get on stage before the game just happened to push him into the absolute eye of the storm.

They became sacrifices to be scorched by the strongest foehn winds.

Mike Malone shook his head.

Lynch and MJ have distinct personalities, but at this moment, Lynch is indeed reflecting more and more of the cold, ruthless edge of the Chicago god.

For example, their dignity cannot be trampled on or offended in the slightest.

Even if you did it unintentionally.

With 47 seconds left in the third quarter, the New York Knicks had a 35-point lead.

Goran Dragic dribbled the ball across half-court, and Lynch, ignoring the staggering point difference, still decisively raised his hand, demanding the power of life and death.

Logically, Philip Sanders should have substituted Lynch to rest by now.

In fact, that's exactly what he did.

But Lynch refused.

He told his head coach, "Isn't the entire fourth quarter enough to compensate for this little bit of rest?"

On the field, the attack has begun.

Seeing Serge Ibaka's frontal defense preventing him from receiving the ball, Lynch used off-ball movement and screens to shake him off.

Kevin Durant had to switch on defense again, or rather, was pushed in front of Lynch like a sacrifice.

Lynch catches the ball, and KD spreads his arms and stands in front of him.

It has to be said that Lynch is growing to admire KD more and more.

At least he was still defending the opponent's strongest player, instead of launching a fast break.

When Lynch drove to the basket, Kevin Durant at that time was not strong enough to compete with him.

Number 20 forcefully drove into the paint against number 35. Facing a double block from Nick Collison and Kevin Durant, he coiled his body in mid-air and glided through the gap between the four arms with an incredible movement for his size, before pulling up for a layup.

The score difference is 37 points.

Under the scoreboard—Lynch! Three quarters! 48 points!
Kevin Durant's gaze went completely extinguished, leaving only a desolate, lifeless expanse deep within his pupils.

Lin Qi had already nailed him to the floor of this nightmare with a complete slaughter, both physically and mentally.

With Stephen Curry missing a three-pointer in the final moments of the third quarter, Lynch walked off the court satisfied.

Philip Sanders patted Lynch on the shoulder: "How about playing a few minutes in the fourth quarter? You're just two points away from 50, right on your fingertips."

This time, Lin Qi simply waved his hand casually, his gaze sweeping over the figure of number 35, who was being supported by the coach and looked completely lost.
“That’s enough, Phil. I think this lesson should be enough for him to digest the whole season.”

What about the 50 points?

"Come on, you're making me sound like one of those pathetic guys whose career can only be decorated with one or two 50-point medals. I don't need that."

In the fourth quarter, Stephen Curry led his team in a fierce counterattack.

However, the Knicks' steel-like barrier, built by their rotation lineup, acted like a sponge that absorbed the flames, steadily and ruthlessly neutralizing the impact of this offensive wave.

During this time, DeMar DeRozan's sharp "rim-attacking dagger" frequently appeared.

The repeated punctures into the still-unhealed wound of the thunderbolt brought waves of real stinging pain.

Ultimately, the score was 117 to 88.

Despite not using many of their starters in the fourth quarter, the New York Knicks still managed to defeat the young Oklahoma City Thunder by a massive 29-point margin.

Kevin Durant walked onto the court, ready to shake hands with the Knicks players.

At that moment, a broad, warm hand pounded heavily on his chest.

There was no mockery on James Harden's face, only pure warmth:

"It's okay, KD, it's just a game. Lynch couldn't gain an advantage over Tze and KG at first, but now they're just footnotes in Lynch's legendary story?"
We are just getting started, but we have a bright future ahead of us.

The most crucial thing is

James Harden looked sincerely at Kevin Durant, whose eyes were already reddening from the comfort he received.

"Most importantly, this is not as embarrassing as your last time demanding the return of the nightclub girl's bathwater."

Durant: ? ? ?

The resolve and emotion that had just been building on his face instantly crumbled.

Ha, I actually expected a dog of a brother to comfort me.

He decided to register a new account when he got home tonight.

Let's uncover some untold stories about James Harden and the big-butt girls online.

Then use a large account to "accidentally" like posts to attract traffic.

I can't beat Lynch.

Do you think I don't understand the internet?

At this moment, Lynch had already walked up to Kevin Durant.

A smile finally appeared on his face.

Lynch is not the kind of person who is unreasonable. Unless it is a personal grudge like LBJ, he would never bother to let the flames of war on the court spread off the court.

"Kevin, to be honest, I quite admire you, just for not avoiding facing me tonight."

Kevin Durant replied almost without hesitation: "Of course! You think I play like LeBron James?"

KD's answer surprised Lynch.

It seems that in this history, the impact of the phrase "You play like LBJ" has far exceeded Lynch's imagination.

Lynch patted Kevin Durant on the head: "Remember, talk to me like this from now on."

Kevin Durant clenched his fist, but did not refute.

He currently lacks the power to refute Lin Qi.

He silently set a goal for himself deep within his soul:
Within three seasons at most, he will definitely steal that man's glory, power, and everything in the finals!
He will definitely do it.

He glanced at Stephen Curry and James Harden.

No.

We will definitely do it.
-
Lynch is right, I think we really need to be patient and wait for our turn. Of course, believe me, it won't be as long as LeBron James waiting for his Slam Dunk Contest opportunity. — Kevin Durant admitted after the game that the Oklahoma City Thunder are not yet a match for the New York Knicks.

Every generation has its own MJ. We had a good personal relationship with Lynch, we were his little brothers, but that didn't stop him from teaching us a lesson with 48 points in three quarters. Just like in the 90s, MJ would never go easy on his two close friends, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing. —Stephen Curry's comment on Lynch's performance tonight.

"DeMar played exceptionally well tonight. My brother is definitely not a bust." — James Harden praised DeMar DeRozan for his 15 points tonight.

"Linch, you've scored 40+ points in two consecutive games. Can you tell us what's different about you this season compared to previous seasons?"

"Nothing is different. I crave victory every season, and that has never changed."

"But you've clearly been more angry this season. We could understand it last game, but why did you angrily refuse to be interviewed by reporters at halftime tonight?"

"Oh, I just don't like people constantly bringing up that Stephen Curry issue."

"why?"

"Listen, LBJ has started a trend where it's like you're missing out if you don't team up with another superstar."

If a player is truly exceptional, and I'm about the same level as him, I'd rather beat him than play alongside him.

I believe that most people in this alliance share the same thoughts as me.

Therefore, I hate those kinds of questions.

"Speaking of LeBron, the Pistons bounced back strongly tonight, crushing the Orlando Magic by a massive 26 points. What are your thoughts on that?"

"Oh, LeBron should really throw a party. He teamed up with Melo, Deron, and Richard to actually defeat the mighty Dwight Howard, who once easily took down the Cleveland Cavaliers."

My God, he's absolutely amazing!

—Lin Qi's interview with Sports Illustrated.

(End of this chapter)