Chapter 168: Defeating the Lakers Again

The second half of the game began, and the Clippers' players showed no signs of anxiety, only serious expressions.

They didn't look like the trailing team at all.

And this could also serve as ammunition for ESPN to attack Star.

"Under Star's leadership, this team has lost its competitive spirit and its desire for victory. Can a team like this even win? Look at Kobe's expression when the Lakers are behind—he looks like he wants to swallow his opponents alive."

Amid ESPN's mockery, the Clippers initiated their offense.

With the Lakers in the lead, Kobe naturally did not let go of this heartbreaking opportunity, continuously talking trash right in front of Star.

After two or three possessions, Star began launching his ultimate move.

"Kobe, do you know what the phonetic translation of your first name means in our country?"

Star asked.

"Oh, what is it?"

Kobe was somewhat surprised that Star's remark wasn't typical trash talk.

Star suddenly broke into a mischievous smile and said, "Never mind, I'm afraid you'll hit me if I tell you."

"..."

Kobe's curiosity was instantly hooked; after all, he couldn't think of any reason why he would want to hit Star.

"Go ahead and say it, I won't hit you."

Kobe said.

"Well, the pronunciation of 'Kobe' in our language is... well, better not, I still can't say it."

Halfway through, Star couldn't help bursting into laughter and left it unexplained.

Although Star didn't spell it out, Kobe could already guess that it was definitely nothing pleasant, otherwise Star wouldn't be smiling so wretchedly.

Yet the more it was like this, the more Kobe cared.

The more he cared, the more Star refused to say, driving Kobe half to death with anger.

Consequently, his performance over the next couple of possessions wasn't very good, allowing the opposing team to close the gap by 2 points.

Not to mention Kobe himself, even the commentators and spectators had their curiosity thoroughly piqued by Star's words.

Barkley was howling with anxiety in the broadcast studio, cursing himself for not understanding Mandarin.

Having such gossip dangled right before his eyes without being able to understand it felt utterly terrible.

Among the many spectators, quite a few understood Mandarin, along with some resident Chinese international students.

At this moment, they instantly became the objects of everyone's pursuit.

However, when questioned, they were equally baffled.

"Kobe, Kobe—in our country, these are just two completely unrelated characters. Put together, they have no meaning at all; they simply refer to Kobe the person."

Some international students explained.

Kobe really didn't have any other special meaning.

This explanation obviously failed to convince the other fans, who could only continue staring at the screen, anticipating Star saying it himself.

On the court, Brand and Gasol both tumbled to the floor while fighting for a rebound, sending the ball out of bounds.

The referee went to review the replay to see who touched the ball last, and the ball boy seized the opportunity to wipe the sweat off the floor.

During the dead ball, Kobe approached Star again for a conversation: "I get it now. Actually, my name doesn't have any special meaning in your country; you're just putting on a mysterious front to distract me."

Kobe spoke with absolute confidence and decided to stop thinking about this boring matter altogether.

Seeing this, Star smiled, waved at Kaman, and beckoned, "Chris, come here. Let me tell you something secretly."

Kaman very cooperatively leaned his ear over.

Then, Star leaned close to Kaman's ear and whispered: "Kobe's name pronounced in our language sounds like **. The first word is a verb, and the second is a noun, referring to **. Combining these two words together means using your fingers to #￥@*&%#@."

As he spoke, he couldn't help bursting into laughter again.

He wasn't spouting nonsense or slandering. Back when he listened to the live audio in his past life, he had found it strange why Kobe's pronunciation didn't sound like ke (first tone) bi (third tone) at all.

Later, he realized that translating it literally would sound rather weird, which made him understand why it was translated as Kobe instead.

Before Star even finished speaking, Kaman was laughing so hard he covered his face.

He would never have dreamed in a million years that Kobe's name would mean something like that in China; it was simply...

Too shameful.

The wretched and perverted way the two of them were laughing only made everyone else even more curious about what Star had said.

Just what kind of explosive content could make Kaman lose his image so thoroughly?

Standing nearby, Kobe was so angry that his face turned a mix of dark and reddish hues. He knew Star was badmouthing him behind his back, yet he couldn't guess what it was.

His unplaced curiosity made his entire body uncomfortable.

Equally uncomfortable were countless viewers because Star had whispered right into Kaman's ear without the cameras capturing it, making it impossible for the broadcast translators to interpret.

This suddenly became a mystery case.

Play resumed, and Kobe was momentarily lacking concentration.

Though he desperately wanted to ignore it and stop thinking about it.

The more he tried, the more phonetic variations of that name flooded his brain.

The Clippers were on the attack, and after Star executed a step-back, Kobe failed to stay with him in time.

Consequently, Star released a three-pointer, and the ball went in.

A bleeding-stopping three.

"******."

Star muttered to himself.

"Significate il del edian."

Kobe suddenly blurted out a sentence in Italian. However, Star didn't understand a single word, so his emotions remained completely unaffected, much like hearing a cow moo.

The Lakers attacked, and Kobe began calling for the ball.

Unable to make Star confess the meaning of his name, he could only choose to crush Star in other aspects to make himself feel better.

However, this time Star defended in place, causing a major disruption for Kobe, who bricked a heavy jumper.

In transition, the Clippers scored through Mobley.

Kobe didn't realize the severity of the problem and kept trying to do it himself.

Mobley suddenly rushed over to trap him, catching Kobe off guard and forcing him into a rushed shot that came up short. Kaman boxed out Brand, and Gasol comfortably collected the rebound.

After a couple of possessions each, the Clippers quietly clawed back 5 points.

Having reeled off 7 consecutive points, the Clippers' morale soared.

Clippers on the offense: Gasol fired a mid-range jumper and hit it again.

The Clippers' strength was never inferior to the Lakers'; their previous deficit was merely due to poor shooting touch.

Now that their touch had recovered, they scored in succession.

Trailing by 9 points now, Kobe was starting to panic.

Lakers on the counterattack: Kobe took the ball, and Star continued his verbal harassment.

No matter how many consecutive shots Kobe had missed previously, Star never underestimated his opponent.

On the defensive end, he always gave his all, employing every available means.

"Forget it, I might as well tell you so you stop dwelling on it."

Star continued his verbal harassment, but Kobe remained unmoved.

His mind was now entirely occupied with scoring; how could he possibly care about some petty gossip regarding his own name?

A drive, a layup, and the ball went in.

Kobe reclaimed two points in a very dominant fashion.

During the defensive transition, Kobe finally had the time for gossip.

He stated, "You can say it now."

"When I was just about to tell you, you wouldn't listen. Now I don't feel like saying it anymore."

Dropping that line, Star sprinted toward the front court.

At that moment, realizing he had been toyed with once again, Kobe clenched his fists. He genuinely wanted to rush over and give Star a piece of his mind.

Unfortunately, he saw Ken Mauer holding the whistle in his mouth, looking ready to blow it at a moment's notice.

Kobe had no choice but to unclench his fists and jog back to participate in defense.

Star drove past him because Kobe's concentration was lacking.

Embarrassed and angry, Kobe stealthily stuck out a foot, tripping Star into a stumble as he plunged to the floor and lost control of the ball.

After committing the foul, Kobe maintained an innocent expression, diving after the loose ball as if attempting a recovery play.

Unfortunately, Mauer directly whistled Kobe for a technical foul.

"How on earth was that a foul?"

Kobe shouted directly at Mauer in rage, looking as wronged as humanly possible.

In any case, Kobe's fans firmly believed the referees were biased.

Fortunately, Lamar Odom grabbed him in time; otherwise, the referee might have slapped him with another technical foul and sent him to the bench.

Mauer gestured with his foot, pointing out that Kobe had tripped the player.

Knowing he was in the wrong and that his petty trick had been caught, Kobe chose to swallow his anger.

Once again, he took a loss.

Star converted the technical free throw, and the Clippers followed up with a sideline inbound.

Receiving the ball, Star drained a three-pointer, meaning he single-handedly netted 4 points in a single possession—superb efficiency.

Having reeled off 11 unanswered points, the gap shrank to just 1 point, prompting Phil Jackson to belatedly call a timeout.

Barkley complained, "Was the Zen Master asleep? He should have called a timeout right when the Clippers started gaining momentum. Now that they've already clawed back 11 points, what good is calling a timeout anymore?"

"The Clippers' scoring explosion is just too insane. A 12-point deficit wiped out in the blink of an eye."

Smith marveled.

In the games he had called previously, such a scenario rarely occurred.

Over at ESPN, Mike Breen found himself in quite an awkward spot.

Just moments ago, he had been praising the Lakers and looking down on the Clippers.

And yet, this slap in the face came far too quickly.

Thinking of the countless fans watching him, Mike Breen felt immense pressure.

He could only quietly pivot the topic, complaining about the Zen Master's timeout timing instead.

As the timeout concluded, Kobe finally adjusted his mindset and banished that trivial nonsense to the back of his mind.

Back on the court, Kobe drove and hit a mid-range jumper.

Kobe shot a cold glare at Star, though it had little effect.

Clippers on the offense: Star assisted Quinton Ross, who had been left wide open under the rim. Ross drained another shot, bringing his personal tally to 5 points and fulfilling his scoring quota for the match.

Following that, Ross jogged back with a pleased grin.

The happiness of a role player was just that simple.

Championships and playoffs didn't have much to do with him.

Scoring a few more points per game and securing his next contract was everything to them.

Lakers on the offense: Kobe posted up against Star, and Ross came over to trap.

Kobe passed the ball again, only for Mobley to intercept it.

When a routine is used too often, opponents inevitably see through it.

Clippers on the counterattack: Star easily converted a dunk for two points, completing the comeback.

"Damn, Cousin is too unkind. Knowing everyone wanted to see his explosive dunks, he pulls this kind of stuff instead?"

Barkley complained, echoing the sentiments of the fans.

"Maybe he's tired. Playing for so long, dealing with Kobe on both ends of the floor, and talking trash all the while isn't easy either. This low-energy style of play is the most sensible approach."

Smith offered a defense.

On the court, the Clippers' comeback became the watershed moment of the entire game.

Once the Lakers fell behind, Kobe entered a demonic mode, shooting wildly.

Having taken only 9 shots in the first half, he attempted 10 shots in the third quarter alone.

Consequently, by the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had fallen behind by 8 points.

The Clippers outscored them by 20 points in a single quarter, leaving commentators from major networks baffled.

In the fourth quarter, the starters played another 8 minutes until the gap widened to 16 points, prompting the Lakers to pull their starters, followed shortly by the Clippers.

The game entered garbage time as the substitutes took over to gain experience.

The Lakers' sudden collapse in the second half wasn't particularly complicated.

The Clippers were never weaker than the Lakers; their first-half deficit was purely due to poor shooting, and a second-half rebound was a high-probability event.

Simultaneously, Star's sudden distraction of Kobe allowed the Clippers to seize a scoring run.

As the Clippers regained their shooting touch while the Lakers lost theirs, coupled with Kobe's increasing isolation plays, the Lakers' collapse became inevitable.

Ultimately, the game concluded with the Clippers crushing the Lakers 117-103 by a 14-point margin.

In the series matchup, the Clippers led 3-0.

Looking solely at this season, the Clippers could truly be called the Lakers' kryptonite.

For the Lakers, the best performer was Brand, shooting 8-of-14 and adding free throws for 20 points.

His scoring volume dropped slightly compared to his time with the Clippers, but his efficiency rose.

In contrast, Kobe's shooting percentage was rather painful to watch.

Going 10-for-26, including one three-pointer, and 7-of-8 from the line, he scored 28 points while consuming 30 shooting possessions.

For a superstar, such a performance was clearly failing.

Odom added 12 points, while the rest scored in single digits.

In the eyes of Kobe's fans, his supporting cast was utterly useless, and Star simply had great luck having such a good supporting cast.

Cassell scored 11 points, Gasol contributed 20, and Kaman had 9. Even the bench had two players scoring in double figures, with Mobley chipping in 13 and Livingston 10.

Star only scored 24 points—fewer than their idol—yet he won the game; it simply wasn't fair.

The Lakers lost, but Kobe didn't lose.

Unfortunately, Kobe's fans overlooked the fact that Star scored those 24 points using only 19 shot attempts.

He shot 8-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and went 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.

As the game ended, Phil Jackson's lips twitched as he muttered a curse internally.

With the addition of Brand, the team remained the same old story; he had no idea what else he could do to make the Lakers win.

At that moment, he suddenly found himself wishing he could coach Star.

A player who never faltered in clutch moments, prioritized efficiency, attracted defensive attention to create opportunities for teammates, used trash talk to disrupt opponents' mental states, and occasionally drew technical foul free throws.

Absolute perfection.