Chapter 132: Lin Madness (Part One)

At the spot where every gaze converged, a handsome young man with golden skin and black hair descended slowly to the floor, as though a god had come down from heaven.

There was no mistake. The man who had completed that earth-shaking dunk was Lin Feng.

For a moment, the entire Quick Loans Arena fell into an eerie silence. The fans stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

“Oh my God! How is this possible? How could it be him?!” After freezing for a moment, commentator Haisen cried out.

“Though I can hardly believe it, I still have to say it—it’s Lin! Lin completed that unbelievable dunk! Oh my God, he must have springs in his shoes…”

“This Chinese guard has scored seventeen straight points! Oh my God! The Knicks have cut the deficit to eleven! There are three minutes and five seconds left in the game. Could a miracle really happen tonight? No—this Chinese guard has already created his own miracle. He scored seventeen points in two and a half minutes, shooting five of six from beyond the arc, and now he’s thrown down a dunk as beautiful as a painting. Oh my God, forgive me for getting a little carried away, but this guy’s performance is simply insane…”

Haisen’s hysterical shouting was hardly surprising. American television commentators had always loved exaggeration and theatrics, and faced with such a stunning performance from Lin Feng, it was only natural that his emotions would get the better of him.

“Take it easy, Haisen. Perhaps there’s something even more exciting still to come,” Johnson teased with a smile.

“Oh, you’re right. I should calm down. The game isn’t over yet.” Haisen shrugged and laughed. “By the way, I’d really like to say something to that gentleman named Swift right now: Hey, buddy, get your chewing gum and toothbrush ready. And you’d better pray to God that the donkey you’re going to kiss doesn’t relieve itself before you kiss it… Ha-ha-ha!”

“That’s excellent advice. He really should have a toothbrush and some chewing gum ready,” Johnson joked. “If possible, they could even invite him onto your broadcast to do it live.”

“Not a bad idea. Ha-ha! Mr. Swift, on behalf of the entire production crew, I’d like to extend an invitation to you…” Haisen addressed the television camera with solemn sincerity.

…

On the court, after completing the dunk, Lin Feng excitedly broke into a triumphant strut. Chris, who was nearest to him, rushed over and celebrated by bumping chests with him.

“You’re not even human!” The usually reserved Chris had been utterly stunned by Lin Feng’s dunk.

The Knicks’ bench erupted as well. The substitutes waved their towels excitedly, and even the normally composed head coach Fils leapt out of his seat, shouting a string of curses.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! We didn’t choose the wrong man!”

“Lin! He must have been sent by God to save this team!”

Mills, the team’s general manager, was seated in the front row beside the court. Overcome with excitement, he flung his coat onto the floor.

“Damn it! Nobody stop me! I’m giving this kid a raise!”

The Knicks had gone completely wild over Lin Feng’s dunk. The people of Cleveland, however, were deeply dispirited.

“Damn it! How did he do that?!” Thomas angrily hurled the basketball toward the hoop support. He simply could not imagine how Lin Feng, who stood only six feet tall and was hardly powerfully built, had managed such a soaring, gliding dunk.

“We need to be careful. There’s something strange about this guy,” Devon said.

Thomas nodded. “Push harder. No matter what, we have to hold on and win this game!”

The game resumed.

The Cavaliers inbounded from the baseline.

Devon continued to handle the ball. Just as he had on the previous possession, he controlled the clock patiently, waiting until only eight seconds remained on the twenty-four-second shot clock before initiating the offense.

This time, he drove and kicked the ball out to Thomas, who caught it and took a mid-range jumper.

Unfortunately, it clanged off the rim again.

“Damn it!”

Thomas cursed in frustration as the ball struck iron.

What made matters even worse for Cleveland was that their power forward, Comfort, fouled Chris while battling for the rebound. Since the Cavaliers had already committed five team fouls in the quarter, Comfort’s foul sent Chris straight to the free-throw line.

The clock stopped, and free throws followed—exactly what the trailing team wanted to see.

Chris came through, making both shots.

The score became 89–80. The deficit was now in single digits—only nine points!

Cavaliers head coach Brown had no choice but to call another timeout.

The home fans, who had been chatting and laughing only moments earlier, now wore dejected expressions. With two minutes and forty-two seconds remaining, their team still led by nine, which seemed like a substantial advantage. But just three minutes ago, they had been ahead by twenty-eight. At this pace, a nine-point lead truly offered little security.

Far away in New York, the local sports network was also broadcasting the game live. Since this was the Knicks’ first playoff appearance in five years, fans throughout the city had been paying close attention.

At first, the game’s ratings had been excellent. But once the Knicks fell far behind in the fourth quarter, viewership plummeted. Social media was flooded with complaints from New York fans. Losing was one thing, but being crushed so thoroughly was difficult for them to accept.

On the Knicks’ online forum, fans who had turned off the broadcast flocked there to vent their anger.

“This series should just end as soon as possible. Getting beaten like this is unbearable!”

“The eighth-seed miracle? Keep dreaming, guys. We should be praying that we lose by fewer points in the next few games—that’s more realistic!”

“To hell with the Knicks! If I’d known it would be like this, I’d rather we hadn’t made the playoffs at all!”

“Damn it! Enjoy getting slaughtered, you idiots!”

“If only we could win one game. Even just one—it would give us fans a little peace of mind.”

“Hey, stop cursing, everyone! The game has completely turned around. We’re only down by nine!”

“What?!”

“Are you kidding?”

“Give me a break! We were down by twenty-eight three minutes ago!”

“I’m not joking. It’s true!”

“Only a fool would believe you!”

“If it’s true, I’ll eat shit!”

“Then you can go ahead…”

After posting that reply, the fan uploaded a screenshot of the television. The image clearly showed the score between the two teams: 89–80!

“Oh my God, it’s actually true!”

“Damn it! What happened?!”

“God, have we really caught up?!”

“Damn it, I’m going to eat shit right now!”

“Oh my God! Lin Feng! The Chinese guard they signed not long ago—he’s the one who brought us back into the game! Five of six from three-point range, plus a dunk! Seventeen points in two and a half minutes! Oh my God, he must be insane!”

One after another, fans who had turned off the broadcast learned that the team had clawed its way back into the game, and they hurried to spread the news.

“Jack, hurry back and watch the game!”

“Lucas, turn on the television!”

“Sorry, buddy—the date will have to wait!”

“Darling, put your clothes back on. The game isn’t over yet…”

…