jdhmnovel Chapter 109 We must win today, I said it!
Chapter 109 We must win today, I said it!
Washington, D.C., January 5, 2022.
The Washington Wizards' home arena, Verizon Center, is located next to Washington's Chinatown, so it usually attracts many Chinese fans. When it comes to teams like the Lakers or Warriors, tickets sell out very early.
But tickets for the Wizards' game against the Rockets today have actually not sold well.
The Rockets are a tanking team, who wants to pay to watch a bad team?
Wouldn't it be better to have that money for a nice meal?
But a turning point came two days ago.
After the Rockets announced Wang Xiucheng's return for this game, all 20,000 tickets for the Wizards' home game sold out in just three hours.
Many fans who originally planned to wait until after dinner to buy tickets were filled with regret.
In the TNT live broadcast room, O'Neal was joking with Barkley.
Then O'Neal suddenly said, "By the way, the bet between me and Barkley, the one where the $10,000 reward per game for whoever steals the ball from Wang Xiucheng, has been changed again."
Barkley spoke up first: "The money has been increasing, and we felt this was inappropriate, so we talked to the two sponsors and set up a charity fund. Whoever steals the ball from Wang Xiucheng will have the money donated in their name."
"You've already accumulated $27." O'Neal's eyes changed as he reminded him.
Although Wang Xiucheng was recovering from injury and did not play any matches during this period, the money still accumulated according to the sponsor's requirements.
$27—this amount of money has accumulated to a point that cannot be ignored.
Meng Chao is connecting with Tencent's live streaming room from the sidelines.
"At the pre-match press conference, Silas said that Wang Xiucheng would start, but would only play for 20 minutes."
"When I arrived, I did see a lot of Chinese people outside the stadium asking for tickets. Although the price was already very attractive, there weren't many tickets available for resale."
"Rui Hachimura will also be starting. I just saw my Japanese colleagues and we chatted briefly. It seems that this match is very important in Japan, and I heard that many people have taken leave today."
"Okay, that's all for now. See you after the game."
In the Penguin Live room, after the live connection ended, Wang Meng first gave a fluent speech about a sports protection brand before saying, "It's only eight o'clock in the morning now, which is not a very friendly time for us, as it is the time when we go to work or school."
"But I didn't expect there to be so many fans in the live broadcast room."
Wang Meng glanced at the backend data; the competition hadn't even started yet, and there were already millions of people online.
Fortunately, the server has been replaced, otherwise he was really worried about problems.
"I saw a lot of sick leave slips on Weibo, it felt a bit like going back to the Yao Ming era." Yang Yi rested his hands on the table, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Back in Yao Ming's era, this was always the case during every competition: when the teacher arrived at the class, they would find that half of the boys were absent, and upon asking, they would all say they were on sick leave.
Some boys arrived at class to find that the teacher had taken leave.
This situation is less common now, after all, technology is advancing, and you can watch the game on your phone.
"The warm-up is over. Now let's introduce the starting lineups. Don't go away, the match will start right after a short commercial break," Wang Meng said, seizing the opportunity.
At the game, the visiting Rockets introduced their players, with each name being read out quickly by the host, except for Wang Xiucheng's name, which was drawn out for two seconds.
Along with Wang Xiucheng's name came a mix of boos and cheers from the fans at the stadium.
That's already pretty good; the other Rockets players just booed.
"Brothers, kill them! We have to win today, I said it!"
The Rockets' starting five huddled together, and Wang Xiucheng was the first to raise his fist and shout loudly.
"Kill them!"
Shen Jing, Green, Old Gordon, and Tate all threw their fists at him.
The five fists collided with a loud thud, then quickly separated.
Green patted Wang Xiucheng on the back without saying anything, but it seemed like he had already said a lot.
The players from both sides came onto the field and shook hands briefly to greet each other.
Rui Hachimura and Xiucheng Wang shook hands as usual, but neither of them said a word.
Both sides knew what this match represented.
This means whoever wins will be the boss in Asia from now on!
beep!
As the whistle blew, the basketball was tossed high into the air by the referee.
Wizards' starting center Gafford and Shen Jing jumped at the same time.
The two are about the same height and weight, but Garford is more athletic and jumps faster and higher.
So the ball was passed directly from Gafford to Bill behind him.
Bill caught the ball and was about to pass it forward when a hand reached out from behind him.
With a snap, the basketball left Bill's control.
Shen Jing, still at the center line, leaped and slapped the basketball, directly passing it to Wang Xiucheng behind Bill.
Wang Xiucheng received the ball, turned around immediately, dribbled for only one step, and then threw the basketball high into the air!
Bang!
Green intercepted the ball with one hand and slammed it into the basket with a tomahawk dunk!
The Rockets scored the first point of the game.
Silas couldn't help but applaud from the sidelines.
Wang Xiucheng's return has given the whole team a completely different look.
Wang Xiucheng was originally supposed to defend Pope, but he suddenly abandoned Pope and went to intercept Bill's ball.
Bill didn't notice what was behind him, and the ball was intercepted.
What pleased Silas was Shen Jing's attitude during the game; it was quite rare for someone of his size and stature to dive to the floor to contest the ball on the very first possession.
Bill frowned, glanced at Green and Wang Xiucheng who were high-fiving each other, and then turned around to receive the baseline serve.
Bill received the ball and slowly advanced, with Green coming over to closely guard him.
Wang Xiucheng was following Pope.
Defending Pope was a task assigned to Wang Xiucheng by Silas, since Wang Xiucheng had just returned from injury and it was best not to defend the opponent's star player.
After crossing half-court, Beal passed the ball to Kuzma beyond the three-point line.
After receiving the ball, Kuzma took a probing step, Tate feinted slightly, and Kuzma immediately pulled up and shot a three-pointer.
Bang!
It's a pity that I didn't get in.
Shen Jing blocked Gafford and passed the ball to Gordon, who was not far away.
Gordon dribbled forward, but Bill closely followed Wang Xiucheng, preventing him from receiving the ball.
Wang Xiucheng was not wary of Bill, but Bill was wary of Wang Xiucheng.
The only thing this rocket team has to offer that's its Chinese personnel is this.
Gordon attempted to drive inside but failed. He stepped back and passed the ball to Wang Xiucheng, who had just shaken off Beal.
Wang Xiucheng received the ball and pushed it with the ball's momentum without hesitation. The basketball changed direction slightly and flew towards the left baseline.
A figure arrived just in time, caught the ball, and immediately pulled up for a shot.
Bang!
Swish!
The basketball hit the rim first, but bounced up and went into the net.
Three-pointer!
Green clenched his fist and then bumped fists with Wang Xiucheng, who had extended his hand.
That's how basketball should be played!
Rockets 5 to 0.
Bill took a breath, dribbled the ball across half-court again, and then set a screen with Rui Hachimura, bouncing the ball off to him.
Rui Hachimura looked at Tate, who was defending him, and decided to crush him with his body.
Regardless, let's get the first point first.
However, after dribbling and pushing twice, Rui Hachimura found that he couldn't move Tate.
Tate may not be tall, but he is very strong and has a stable lower body. Rui Hachimura had no choice but to hand the ball to Bill.
Snapped!
Just then, an arm reached out and slapped the basketball, and then a figure quickly passed through the gap between Rui Hachimura and Bill.
Rui Hachimura's expression changed, and he instinctively reached behind him to grab it, but he couldn't even catch the hem of her clothes.
Only the number "12" was dancing in the wind!