Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Bloody Hat Postman

The Knicks were on offense.

"Chris!" Zhao Dong shouted from the right wing, carrying Ma Long with him as he called for the ball at the top of the arc. Childs passed the ball down, and the Jazz quickly collapsed their defense, with small forward Brian Russell also dropping back into the paint.

Facing Ma Long's tight defense and the crowded paint area behind him, Zhao Dong suddenly turned around and began his attack.

"Slip?" Ma Long, sensing the movement, took a step back. However, his defensive judgment was off. After turning, Zhao Dong immediately pulled up and launched a jumper near the basket. With his 93-level shooting ability, which was already close to elite, the shot was nearly open. Adding to that his 88-level pull-up, Zhao Dong's shooting accuracy during training was impressive, with a rate that could even reach 29 out of 30 shots. The celebratory "OK" gesture was already forming.

"Shh!" The ball swished through the net.

"Crack, clap..." The media cameras behind the baseline flashed wildly at him.

"What are you pretending to be? Damn rookie, I'll kill you next time!" Ma Long was furious when he saw Zhao Dong's "OK" gesture.

"Remember, don't even try guarding me again, because you can't guard me at all," Zhao Dong taunted, spitting out some trash talk.

An angry expression appeared on Ma Long's face as he chased Zhao Dong back to the frontcourt.

The Jazz were on the attack again. Stockton called for a pick-and-roll with Malone at the top of the arc. Zhao Dong didn't switch to defend Stockton, as he knew that if the defense was switched, the ball would surely be passed back to Malone, and point guard Charles wouldn't be able to handle Malone's high jumper. Instead, Zhao Dong chose to let Stockton break into the paint, while he stayed on Malone, not giving him a chance to catch the ball.

Childs was blocked by Malone, leaving Stockton with no defenders around him. After breaking into the paint, Stockton went for an emergency stop jumper. At that moment, Zhao Dong, who had been guarding under Ma Long, rushed over from behind, with Oakley also coming to help from the left wing. Ewing also charged up from the basket.

The three of them jumped together to block the shot.

"Snapped!" The ball was deflected and flew to the right wing, while Stockton was knocked down in the paint. The block was clean, with no foul called, and the game continued.

Alan Houston grabbed the ball, pushed it up the court, and the Knicks began their attack. Zhao Dong entered the basket, ready to compete with Ma Long for the offensive rebound.

The two players were in a hand-to-hand struggle as they were locked in position. "Give me a shot, and I'll return it right away," Zhao Dong said, determined.

"Boom!" Malone missed the mid-range shot. Although Malone was still in his prime during this period, his knee injury had begun to affect his performance. Similar to Duncan in the future, he had become a slower player, with reduced jumping ability and speed, and couldn't compare to Zhao Dong at all.

Zhao Dong grabbed the rebound, but Malone blocked him from behind, and Jazz small forward Brian Russell immediately double-teamed him. In the first two games, Zhao Dong often tried to shake off the defender first in such situations, but it hadn't been very effective. This time, however, he chose to power through.

He rose up once, shaking off the defenders, then rose again and made a quick throw in the double-team.

"Snapped!" His shot was so fast that Malone and Russell, who had been shaken off, couldn't catch up. They were forced to foul him as he made the shot.

"Di!" The referee blew his whistle. Malone and Russell both raised their hands, but the referee, aiming to better control the game, pointed at Malone and called it a flagrant foul. Zhao Dong was awarded two free throws.

"Good job, Feilong, just fight like this!" Oakley roared from the sidelines.

"Call!" Zhao Dong nodded. He had just taken a hard hit to the head, and the cost of that was steep.

At that moment, the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers game was underway. Kobe had come off the bench to face Michael Jordan. Since the start of the new season, Kobe had been holding a grudge, inspired by the Knicks' undrafted pick. Now, facing Jordan, he couldn't hold back any longer and exploded with energy.

"That guy had the guts to challenge Jordan, and so can I." The thought flashed in Kobe's mind as he stared at Jordan on the opposite side. He then said a famous line that would echo through history:

"Michael, do you know? If we went one-on-one, I could beat you."

"What?" Jordan was momentarily stunned, and then his frustration boiled over.

"Damn it, is this world crazy? Why does everyone think they can beat me and challenge me? Am I made of mud?" With both a fiery dragon and now Kobe in front of him, Jordan was livid.

Swish. Zhao Dong made both free throws, bringing the score to 2-6, with the Knicks taking the lead at home.

As the Knicks moved to the frontcourt, Ma Long took position in the low post on the right wing, his right hand behind Zhao Dong, and his left hand holding the ball.

Though Zhao Dong's interior defense wasn't top-tier, he was very familiar with superstar players like Ma Long and understood his style of play. Ma Long's low-post offense accounted for only 25% of his moves, with the majority of his offense coming from mid-range shots, face-to-basket plays, or pick-and-rolls. There were fewer post-ups in his game.

Malone's style in the low post was to back down the defender, squeeze them, then turn around and shoot a jumper. However, it was rare for him to get blocked. This wasn't due to his jumper being exceptional; his movements were slow, and his jumper wasn't as difficult to block as Jordan's fadeaway or Garnett's step-back. His strength lay in the fact that anyone who dared to contest his shot would quickly feel the brunt of his body, as he would use his elbows and knees to create space, much like how he protected the ball when facing double-teams. This was a tactic Zhao Dong had learned from Malone.

"Today, I'm exempt from injuries and diseases. Are you afraid, you son of a bitch? I'm coming for you tonight," Zhao Dong thought, as he rushed forward, prepared to contest Malone's jumper.

As Malone turned and jumped, Zhao Dong slapped at the ball.

"Damn you!" Malone instinctively raised his knee and threw up the ball. Zhao Dong was hit in the lower abdomen with the knee, but in the next moment, he slapped the ball away from Malone.

"Yeah!"

The Madison Square Garden crowd erupted in cheers.

"Ow!" The commentator screamed in excitement. "Big block, the postman got a bloody hat from the Dragon!" The commentator continued, "The postman got bloody, he got bloody..."

On the CCTV broadcast, Zhang Lili expressed her surprise, "Oh, Zhao Dong, be careful, don't get pushed there... Uh, don't get hurt."

In the TNT broadcast, Bill Walton praised, "Tough defensive attitude, but next time, will the Dragon have the guts to defend the postman like this?"

"Feilong, you did great, but be careful with this guy," shouted Oakley.

"It's okay, I can handle him," Zhao Dong replied, rubbing his belly. Although he was immune to injury, it still hurt, and the pain was intense. He even thought that Nowitzki's Golden Rooster move in the future might have been influenced by Malone, making it a routine move.

"Why is this kid fine?" Malone wondered. Most people would be on the ground after that hit.

"What are you looking at? I'm made of steel and iron. You think you can hurt me?" Zhao Dong shot back.

"Humph!" Malone snorted coldly.

(End of chapter)

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