Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

But James knew that now was not the time to respond to Yu Fei.

Only when victory is achieved will his words be heard.

Is history written by the victors? This statement is debatable, but the truth is, only those who win and survive have the right to speak.

Bystanders have no choice, the only truth they accept is the truth of the victor.

This atmosphere shaped the fifth game.

Rough and intense, tense and anxious.

Both sides were fierce, Clippers played a seven-man rotation, Miami Heat a six-man rotation.

You want a confrontation? Then go all out.

You try to play dirty, I'll escalate it.

You want to add extra physical moves on defense? Then let's brawl until we're rolling on the ground.

From the second quarter on, almost every round someone ended up on the floor due to the intense confrontation.

Those who fell couldn't expect teammates to help them up, they had to stand up on their own.

After standing up, there was no time to catch a breath, immediately plunging into the next round of battle.

To control the emotions of both sides, the referee's whistle kept sounding.

But both sides still went back and forth, the intense killing intent was like two professional armies despising each other.

High-intensity confrontation and defense led to many difficult shots.

Difficult shots mean lower shooting percentages.

Clippers, with their advantage in the paint, grabbed far more offensive rebounds than their opponents.

And the way they handled offensive rebounds was enough to make traditional coaches' blood pressure soar.

Whoever it was, the first choice after grabbing a rebound wasn't to pass, but to immediately initiate a second-chance attack right there.

No one could stop, amid the intense game filled with irritating trash talk, one couldn't help but wonder: "Do they have some deep-seated hatred for each other?"

By the fourth quarter, both sides had given up on tactics. Especially the forwards and centers were bloodshot and crashing into each other fiercely.

Terrifying intensity along with a lot of physical contact led to low shooting percentages for both sides.

In such a game, Curry ironically became the most stable scoring option for Miami Heat, contributing 35 points, nearly exhausting his energy, while James appeared inferior in front of Yu Fei.

Before the finals started, the outside world thought there were three monsters in the series, Yu Fei, Curry, and James. Their common trait was that they were all drivers of the game. Yu Fei and James had the attribute of being ball-handling cores, while Curry could naturally create shooting opportunities with his spatial gravity.

The issue is, Miami Heat has two monsters, so normally, two monsters should outperform one. But there is only one ball on the basketball court, and only one absolute core.

Curry is the core identified by Miami Heat, and James must complement him.

Remember, even during his time with Lakers facing peak Kobe, James was never a sidekick. He doesn't know how to be a sidekick, and if you want him to be one, he can only act instinctively.

Superstars indeed possess great instincts, but instincts can't be used as a game tactic to maintain a player's presence. Instead, Yu Fei only did three things tonight: shoot, defend, and rebound.

Doing these three things well, his impact on the court surpassed that of James. Because in such a chaotic high-intensity fight, if no superstar takes over the game, the game gradually turns into a contest of "who does more."

James fought with his instincts.

Curry shot with all his might.

Both sides hated each other, hence the game turned into wrestling, shoving, speed, desperate ground fights, trash talk... and crucial plays.

When Miami Heat was behind by 6 points, Curry shot a long three-pointer.

Yu Fei could tell from the trajectory that it wouldn't go in, as players crazily positioned under the basket, but he rushed to the free-throw line spot, accurately predicting the ball's landing spot, and secured the ball.

At that moment, there was one minute left in the game.

Yu Fei dribbled forward, facing James, controlled the court calmly, and asked: "How much have you changed since then?"

James didn't answer, as he hadn't even heard Yu Fei's words.

Then, Yu Fei suddenly changed direction and shot a cold-blooded buzzer-beating three-pointer over him.

With 36 seconds left before the end of the King of the Hill battle between Clippers and Miami Heat, Yu Fei's three-pointer extended the lead to 9 points.

Minutes later, the final whistle sounded, and Clippers secured a crucial victory in King of the Hill, leading the series 3-2.

After the game, "The devil doesn't accept weak souls" as a jibe at James topped the hot search on various social media platforms.

And yet James, as if he had a delayed reception of information, suddenly remembered Yu Fei's last words.

"How much have you changed since then?"

Since then?

Where since then?

When?

James didn't know.

James didn't want to know.

He took it as just a psychological ploy by Yu Fei.

Even with the world in uproar, he could not be affected.

The finals were not over yet.

Being down 2-3 was not hell.

He had seen hell and walked out of it. He hoped Yu Fei would take a look at hell too.

Then he would understand what a person who walks out of hell becomes.

The battlefield of the finals returned to Los Angeles once more.

On Game 6 day, a Los Angeles reporter asked Yu Fei: "Michael has never played a Game 7 in the finals, does this fact motivate you?"

"Stupid question!" Yu Fei retorted mercilessly, "That old guy has not been my motivation since after 2003."