SOD | Chapter 102

Nie Chuan and Carlo caught up with Ewin. Ewin raised his hand to pass the ball to Nie Chuan, but Raven was already beside Ewin.

Nie Chuan felt a sense of dread, but Ewin somehow managed to pull back the pass just in time. Raven’s arm stretched out, but Ewin stepped back, and Raven’s fingertips only grazed past Ewin’s chest.

As Ewin dribbled the ball behind him, Nie Chuan moved in to take it.

The audience got excited again as Nie Chuan charged towards KSU’s basket, seemingly faster than in the previous quarter.

“I thought he was already fast enough, but he can go even faster?” Ben looked surprised.

Sethston chuckled, “Because he’s more confident now. Last quarter, he was dancing with shackles, but now he knows he has the strength to match Raven. It’s like you, Ben. If you were just a bit weaker than Owen Wishaw, and suddenly you not only blocked his attack but countered successfully, you’d realize, ‘Oh, I can do this,’ and then you’d do it again and again.”

Ben pouted, “You make it sound like I can never get past Owen Wishaw’s defense.”

Sethston retorted, “Have you ever gotten past him?”

By this time, Nie Chuan was nearing the basket, with KSU’s center and small forward Ashley coming to intercept.

Raven was about to catch up, but Heishan and Carlo were double-teaming him.

“Nie Chuan—score!” Carlo shouted.

In this critical moment, Nie Chuan took a running jump to shoot, and his opponents both leaped up.

The audience gasped, as Nie Chuan had already set up for a shot! It was going to be blocked!

But Nie Chuan switched from shooting to holding the ball, twisted in mid-air, and elegantly slipped through the gap between the center and Ashley, landing steadily, then speeding up for a dunk!

Ashley and KSU’s center could only watch as Nie Chuan scored.

The crowd went wild for this aerial change of direction, and even the professional commentators were stunned.

“Wow, it feels like Reese Reddington is still on the court…” KSU’s point guard frowned, watching Nie Chuan’s back.

“What are you talking about? He’s still not as seasoned as Reese Reddington,” Raven said, stretching his neck.

The game continued, with KSU’s point guard passing to the shooting guard, who had no chance to break through Ewin’s tight defense.

He was surprised. In previous DK game footage, Ewin’s scoring ability from the outside was strong, but he had never shown such defensive initiative.

He had to pass the ball to the approaching Ashley, who drove to the basket for a layup. Heishan jumped to block. In terms of jumping ability, Heishan had a slight edge over Ashley. Seeing the situation wasn’t right, Ashley stopped the layup, stepped back with the ball, and passed to the shooting guard on the line.

Heishan’s heart sank as the shooting guard set up to shoot. Just as he was about to release the ball, a figure leaped from the side, and with a “bang,” blocked the shot.

It was Nie Chuan!

The crowd gasped again.

Chuck was about to grab the ball, but Raven, with his speed, snatched it before Chuck could.

Nie Chuan turned and sprinted after him. Raven went for a layup, and both Nie Chuan and Heishan jumped. Their jumping height was excellent, but Raven managed to stretch the ball past their arms and into the basket.

“What a brilliant play!” the commentators praised in unison.

Even with Nie Chuan and Heishan teaming up, they couldn’t stop Raven.

Nie Chuan wiped his chin with his collar.

He exhaled deeply. The full-speed running in the first half had drained a lot of his energy, and the good start to the second quarter made him overlook his exertion. But after this full-force jump, Nie Chuan could feel his fatigue.

“He’s tired,” Sethston said, leaning on the railing with one hand.

“No way! That jump was amazing! His feet were higher off the ground than Heishan’s!” Ben couldn’t believe what Sethston said.

Sethston smiled, “Raven’s speed is among the best in the league. Keeping up with him shows that Nie Chuan is no pushover. But he also has to handle cutting in, which means he has more to worry about than Raven. When I say he’s tired, I don’t mean his stamina is poor, but that he’s under more pressure than Raven.”

The score kept changing. Whenever DK caught up, KSU would reclaim the lead within twenty seconds, keeping DK five points behind.

Five points, even in the last ten seconds of a basketball game, can be overturned, let alone with five minutes left.

Just five seconds ago, Nie Chuan had chased Raven from KSU’s basket to DK’s. Raven’s ball-handling was superb, and Carlo was defending him one-on-one under the basket, finally giving Nie Chuan a chance to guard Ashley.

But Raven passed the ball to the shooting guard behind him. The shooting guard caught it and jumped, startling Nie Chuan. Luckily, Ewin and Chuck rushed to defend, but the shooting guard forced a shot, and the ball hit Chuck’s fingertips, bouncing off the rim.

Heishan jumped for the rebound, but Raven jumped faster, grabbing the ball and almost dunking it.

Carlo and Heishan’s interception angles weren’t great.

He can’t score!

Nie Chuan didn’t know when he rushed under the basket, jumped with all his might, and everyone watched as Nie Chuan’s hand pressed against Raven’s ball, holding their breath for this power struggle.

Despite Nie Chuan gritting his teeth and giving it his all, Raven still forced the ball in.

As he landed, Nie Chuan took a hard hit, unable to stay on his feet, and fell to the ground.

“Actually, Nie Chuan’s defense under the basket was brilliant this time. But the difference in strength between him and Raven is still obvious,” Robert said regretfully.

“Hey, are you okay?” Raven looked down at Nie Chuan. “Do you need your coach to call a timeout for you to rest?”

Raven’s voice carried a hint of teasing.

He had expected his opponent to be Reese, but DK sent Nie Chuan instead. He hadn’t thought this kid could be his match, but the situation exceeded Raven’s expectations.

He had blocked this kid three times, thinking it would crush his confidence, but instead, he wasn’t affected at all and even performed better.

But this was as far as it went. Raven knew that his and Ashley’s teamwork had greatly drained Nie Chuan’s energy, and he didn’t think Nie Chuan could maintain his second-quarter form for the remaining minutes.

Carlo rushed over to pull Nie Chuan up. “Did you hurt anything?”

Nie Chuan shook his head and slowly stood up, clearly hearing his heart pounding in his chest.

He knew he was tired.

After all, in such a high-intensity game, running all over the court, giving his all in every jump, if he didn’t feel tired, he’d be a superhero.

At that moment, Coach Gordon called a timeout.

“Of course, a timeout is needed. Allen must rest,” even CBU’s point guard Wright could see Nie Chuan was tired.

“The question is whether this short rest can adjust Nie Chuan’s state,” Owen’s gaze turned cold.

Nie Chuan followed Carlo and the others back to the bench, looking at Reese. Throughout the game, Reese hadn’t changed his posture.

Everyone took out their water bottles to drink. Carlo looked at Nie Chuan with concern.

Reese placed a white towel over Nie Chuan’s head, and Nie Chuan lowered his head, adjusting his breathing.

Coach Gordon spoke, “Everyone did great, but in the last four minutes, I need you to control the game more, be more mobile, and make KSU unable to predict our moves. You all feel it, Raven and Ashley’s teamwork made Nie Chuan run at least 30% more than other players. I want to reverse this in the remaining time, make KSU run, not us. Heishan, the basket is yours.”

“Yes, Coach.”

“Carlo, I need you to break the connection between Raven and Ashley. Just defending Raven’s scoring ability under the basket isn’t enough. You’ve seen it; sometimes even you and Heishan together can’t stop him. So don’t give Raven the chance to bring the ball under the basket. Only if you and Heishan can do this can Nie Chuan score with peace of mind, understand? Or are you saying, Carlo, that you don’t have the ability to face Heishan?”

“Of course I do!”

“Ewin and Chuck, I need you to control our backcourt. Your range doesn’t need to be too wide, just between the three-second areas on both sides. Running all over the court isn’t to our advantage, and our key loss area is now partial. Ewin, your defense has impressed me, and I need you to give Ashley a hard time when necessary.”

“Me? Ashley?” Ewin looked surprised, then got excited. “Okay, Ashley is really annoying!”

Nie Chuan was still adjusting his breathing, instinctively reaching out to grab Reese.

Reese curled his fingers around Nie Chuan’s hand and spoke slowly, “I wanted to tell you, you’re already amazing. More amazing than anyone imagined. From the start of the game until now, you’ve scored twenty-eight points. In previous games, you rarely even scored fifteen, let alone twenty.”

Reese’s voice was calm, not out of indifference to victory, but from his own confidence.

Nie Chuan knew that if Reese were on the court, even without him, KSU might not be able to beat DK.