Chapter 153: Lin Feng VS The Nervous Blade

"Indeed! If not for Lin Feng, how could the live broadcast ratings have been so insane?!"
"Ah, it looks like our bonuses, overtime pay, and company-sponsored trips will all depend on Lin Feng from now on."
"Why don't we enshrine Lin Feng and bow to him together on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month?"
"That sounds viable. People in business worship the God of Wealth to get rich, and Lin Feng is our God of Wealth! I happen to have his autographed poster from the CBA finals right here. Let's put it on the wall..."
"Hey, Xiao Li, don't you have apples and oranges? Lend me a few..."
...
He Congwen was left completely speechless. Usually, his subordinates always cried and complained about being tired whenever they had to work overtime, but when it came to talking nonsense, they could outdo anyone. Enshrine Lin Feng? Put up a poster? Why didn't they go and build a statue of him instead?!
"Alright, alright, get back to doing some real work!" He Congwen waved his hand impatiently, and then said to one of the men, "Wang Tong, go tell Xu Jia at the venue later that during halftime, he must invite Lin Feng to our on-site commentary desk."
"You got it, Director He!" The man named Wang Tong acknowledged the order and hurried off to the control room.
Just then, He Congwen's phone rang. It was Shen Wu, the deputy director in charge of advertising sponsorship for the sports channel.
"Director Shen, is something the matter?" He Congwen answered the call.
"Old He, are you in the office?" Shen Wu asked.
"I am."
"Perfect. Qianwei Beer wants to run an ad on your show, and it's urgent. They want it broadcasted today. I've had someone send the commercial over to you. Qianwei Beer is a long-standing client of ours, so don't screw this up. I'm still negotiating with them right now, and if all goes well, it'll be a multi-million level deal. Your production team's bonuses will be guaranteed when the time comes! Alright, that's it for now." With that, Shen Wu hung up.
He Congwen, however, chuckled with delight. He had to admire the sharp instincts of these advertisers. Back when "NBA Live" was suffering from low ratings, they had begged Qianwei Beer to buy ad space, but nobody came. Now look—they were coming knocking on the door themselves.
At that moment, He Congwen felt a surge of gratitude inwardly, realizing how wise his decision had been to reject Zhu Deli's proposal to ban Lin Feng!
If they hadn't broadcasted the Knicks' games, and if there had been no Lin Feng, the ratings surely would have remained in the same pathetic state as before!
...
At the game venue.
Lin Feng sat on the bench, taking a sip of water. Naturally, he had no idea that he had brought such immense benefits to the "NBA Live" production crew and even the CCTV Sports Channel.
Fills was drawing up defensive tactics. With Lin Feng on the court, the team's offensive end had zero issues; the only deficiency was defense, since the Cavaliers boasted three megastars after all.
The game resumed.
The Knicks made no personnel adjustments. In fact, due to the absence of Cook and Poldolski, the team had no better options in terms of personnel.
The Cavaliers, on the other hand, made a change. They substituted out center Dawacho and brought in the team's best sixth man, swingman Lewis.
Lewis, nicknamed the "Loose Cannon," possessed a magnificent three-pointer. However, his three-point accuracy was notoriously erratic—sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, much like Duan Yu when he first learned the Six Meridians Divine Sword—which was how he earned the nickname "Loose Cannon."
Brown's lineup adjustment noticeably boosted the team's mobility and increased their aggressiveness.
6 minutes and 52 seconds into the first quarter.
Devin and Comfort executed a pick-and-roll, with the former driving smoothly toward the basket. Chris and Deco blocked his attacking path like a pair of walls.
Devin immediately passed the ball back to the perimeter, right into the hands of the newly substituted Lewis, who caught and shot a three-pointer without hesitation.
Swish!
"Lewis drains one right as he comes on. If he gets his rhythm going, it's going to be a huge problem!" Liu Weiping said.
"The Cavaliers' lineup is just too difficult to defend; almost every single one of them has exceptional one-on-one scoring ability," Xu Jia remarked with a sigh.
"Brown must have realized that defending Lin Feng is exhausting, so he simply decided to let them go toe-to-toe on offense. When it comes to scoring threats, the Knicks are at a disadvantage—it's basically just Lin Feng and Jones. But with Jones facing Devin's defense, his chances aren't great either. Brown's lineup change is quite clever," Liu Weiping commented.
On the court.
The Knicks attacked. Jones, Chris, and Farmar executed a triangle offense in a localized area, and eventually, Farmar found an opening for a wide-open look, but unfortunately, his shot clanked off the rim.
Possession returned to the Cavaliers. Lewis dribbled past half-court and, facing Jones's defense, pulled up directly for a three-pointer.
The basketball traced a bizarre arc through the air and went in!
16:17!
Lewis scored two consecutive three-pointers to turn the game around.
"Lewis really lives up to his nickname as the Loose Cannon, hitting two three-pointers in a row!"
"And his three-point shots look a lot like Lin Feng's—completely unreasonable, yet they keep dropping! If the Knicks let Lewis catch fire, it's not good news at all. He's a player who has hit seven three-pointers in a single quarter!" Xu Jia said with a hint of worry.
On the court.
Lin Feng's competitive spirit was ignited by Lewis's back-to-back three-pointers. After crossing half-court, he actively called for the ball from Jones, then shot a contested three-pointer right over Thomas's defense.
Unfortunately, the shot missed.
However, because the Cavaliers had switched to a small-ball lineup, they had serious vulnerabilities in rebounding. This time, Chris grabbed the offensive rebound and immediately whipped the ball out to Lin Feng.
This time, Lin Feng did not hesitate at all, pulling up for a three-pointer from the zero-degree angle!
Swish!
19:17!
Lin Feng's three-pointer once again reclaimed the lead for the Knicks.
"This is getting interesting! Back and forth, trading blows!" Liu Weiping said with a smile.
At that moment, the Cavaliers launched a fast break. After Lewis dribbled the ball to the front court, he pulled up for yet another three-pointer.
Swish!
The net rippled.
In again!
Lewis had hit three three-pointers in a row, truly doing justice to his nickname as the Loose Cannon.
Lin Feng showed no weakness either. Right after Lewis netted his three-pointer, Lin Feng immediately responded with one of his own, and it dropped too!
22:20!
The Knicks maintained their lead.
"This is fascinating. Lewis and Lin Feng have really locked horns. One hits three straight three-pointers, and the other hits two. Let's see if Lewis is going to shoot this time...?"
"He's actually shooting it!"
Lewis took his fourth shot from beyond the arc, and this time, it finally clanked off the iron.
Deco secured the rebound and tossed it to Lin Feng, who was already leaking out on the fast break. Lin Feng caught the ball and pulled up sharply for a transition three-pointer.
Swish!
25:20!
Following Lewis's three consecutive three-pointers, Lin Feng answered in kind with three straight triples of his own, keeping the score gap at five points.
At this point, Lin Feng's score for the first quarter had already reached 22 points, having drained six three-pointers in the single quarter.
Over the next three possessions, Lin Feng hit a mid-range jumper while the Knicks came up empty on the other two trips. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers capitalized during their three possessions with baskets from Thomas and Devin respectively.
27:24!
With 2 minutes and 47 seconds left in the first quarter, the Knicks held a 3-point lead and made a substitution.
Brewer came on to replace Lin Feng, and Thomas substituted for Farmar.
As Lin Feng walked off the court, the fans in the arena showered him with the most enthusiastic cheers...
"We've entered the rotation period, and Lin Feng really needs a rest. He's way too tired. Out of the Knicks' 27 points, an astonishing 24 of them were scored by Lin Feng alone," Xu Jia exclaimed.
"At this pace, there's no telling—Lin Feng might actually break Mike's record in this game! Haha, if that really happens, Coleman is going to be in deep trouble..." Liu Weiping let out a mischievous laugh.
...
Ps: To the readers following the updates, are there any free appreciation tickets and Qidian coins left? The 515 red envelope leaderboard is counting down! I'm here to rally for votes—please send extra support and appreciation tickets for one final push! (To be continued.)