Chapter 665 - 591: Even a Cheap Shot Can’t Stop Me, Who Else Can

Chapter 665: Chapter 591: Even a Cheap Shot Can’t Stop Me, Who Else Can

「Two days later, in Safford.」

Durant jumped up for the shot. The moment he landed, he was already turning away.

’I don’t need to look. This shot is definitely going in!’

Sure enough, the next moment, the cheers from the sidelines grew several decibels louder.

The game was over. 50 to 39. A huge victory for Devil’s Mountain.

Only then did Durant turn his head, beat his chest, and roar fiercely at DaJuan.

DaJuan Samos was silent, not even daring to look at Durant.

Still not satisfied, Durant pushed away Harden, who had jumped on him to celebrate, and viciously flipped DaJuan the middle finger.

DaJuan’s expression turned even uglier. He didn’t react at all, just silently turned and walked away.

Only then did Durant grab Harden and Little Jordan, roaring in excitement.

At that moment, he felt even more satisfaction than if he had just beaten DaJuan up!

In front of the camera, Durant wrapped his arms tightly around Harden’s and Little Jordan’s necks, his tone resolute. "DeAndre, James, I don’t think anyone can beat us now!"

His words were filled with confidence.

From the three of them forming a team, to Little Jordan’s breakout, to being handed consecutive losses and falling to the bottom of the East—Durant endured it all. He kept training and never stopped working. He didn’t just focus on offense; he worked hard on defense, desperately passed the ball to Harden and Little Jordan, and led them in extra practice sessions.

They had given so much, and they had finally made it into the playoffs.

Then they won their way through the first round, the second round, and now, especially after eliminating DaJuan with pure skill, Durant felt like he had changed. A heroic feeling swelled in his chest—a conviction that he could defeat anyone he faced.

’Not even a cheap shot could stop me, so who can?’

Harden and Little Jordan glanced at each other and shouted in unison, "Championship!"

Now, the trio had only one goal: the championship!

But amid the excitement, a flicker of worry crossed Harden’s face.

They had now advanced to the East Finals, and their opponent would be decided between Gordon’s Little Horse Team and DeRozan’s team.

Harden felt very conflicted at that moment.

He wanted his good friend to win, but if DeRozan won, he would have to compete against that same friend for a spot in the Grand Finals.

The thought of playing against DeRozan made Harden feel awkward.

He had never beaten DeRozan.

For a brief moment, Harden found himself hoping DeRozan would lose. At least then he could go all out to help his team win without any reservations.

’Gordon is strong, but I have to shut him down, even if it kills me!’

「The next day」

It was the final game between Gordon and DeRozan.

The series had gone to a fifth game.

Harden, Durant, and Little Jordan watched the live broadcast from Safford.

The thirty-plus-minute game was over quickly.

Little Jordan let out a long sigh, turned, and patted Harden’s shoulder. "They fought really hard."

to 50. DeRozan lost by a margin of seven points.

"But it’s okay, we’ll win it back for them," Little Jordan said, his tone shifting to one full of confidence.

Harden nodded with a pained expression, unsure for a moment whether to be happy or upset.

Just then, Presti threw a bucket of cold water on Little Jordan’s enthusiasm, saying gravely, "DeAndre, don’t get too excited yet. You should first think about how you’re going to defend Jahuan Johnson! You watched the game. His back-to-the-basket skills are excellent, and his footwork is very polished. He’s not going to be easy to handle."

Jahuan Johnson, also from Indianapolis, was from the same hometown as Gordon.

He was also Gordon’s teammate during the regular season. Tall, with outstanding athleticism, the inside-outside duo were key contributors to the Little Horse Team finishing first in the East.

"And then there’s Kyle Singler."

Presti folded his arms.

During the final trade period, Gordon made a trade to bring over another captain, Kyle Singler.

Kyle Singler is from South Meaford High School. As a sophomore, he’s the absolute core of his school team, averaging 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists last season.

He’s a versatile small forward who can score and create plays for others.

"He’s a very unselfish player. In the first round, they still had some chemistry issues, which is why they almost lost to Grand Canyon. But by the second round, they were gelling more and more. Look at this game—their coordination was seamless, and they led Demar’s team the entire time."

"I believe the credit for that goes to Singler. He can attack with the ball, he can play off-ball, his defense is very active, and he integrated into the team very quickly."

The three players in the room looked at each other and nodded.

Clearly, making it all the way to the East Finals wasn’t just about luck.

Little Jordan cried out, "Sir, if what you’re saying is true, doesn’t that mean we’re doomed to lose?"

Presti shook his head. "I never said that."

He suddenly looked at Durant. "Kevin, in the upcoming East Finals, if we want to win, there’s only one way. It’s on you!"

He reached out and poked Durant’s chest.

Durant froze, not understanding what he meant.

Presti glanced at Little Jordan and Harden and said, "During the trade period, we didn’t make any moves. Looking back now, that was a good choice. It helped us avoid potential chemistry issues."

Even professional insiders like them had been fooled by the trap Chen Yu had dug for all the teams.

"But doing so also limited our ceiling."

Little Jordan and Harden trained hard and improved quickly, but everyone was improving. As it stood now, the level they could perform at was still far below that of the 30 captains.

"So in this final stage, you are the one who determines our ceiling."

Presti stared intently at Durant and said in a low voice, "In the upcoming games, I need you to be a little more selfish. You need to keep scoring. And DeAndre, James, you two need to do everything you can to help Kevin score."

"You need to score 40 points, or even more, because you are our greatest advantage."

"Kevin, I know you want to pass to James and the others, to let them play better. In past games, that was fine. But not anymore. If you want to win, we can only rely on you."

After the three reconciled, they became inseparable, encouraging each other, working hard to coordinate, and improving together.

But Presti always felt that Durant was suppressing his own offensive talent.

Even Jim had said his shot was unbelievable, scarily accurate.

With his height, his wingspan, and his abnormal flexibility, he could absolutely become the most unstoppable scorer, just like Oden.

In their only two games against Kyle Singler’s team, it wasn’t as if Durant hadn’t completely dominated him.

Singler’s athleticism was average; he couldn’t guard Durant at all.

Now that they were at the finals stage, the only way to win was to create an advantage and then exploit that advantage to the absolute fullest.

Durant stared blankly at Presti, his heart starting to race uncontrollably.

Deep down, he also felt he could score more points.

Especially over the past four months, as time went on, that feeling had grown stronger and stronger.

Over these months, Durant truly felt he had gone through a world-shaking transformation. Opponents he had considered formidable at the start of the show, he now slowly began to see as nothing special.

But just as Presti said, he had always been holding back for the sake of the team.

He couldn’t help but look toward Little Jordan and Harden.

"What are you looking at me for, Kevin? If you’ve got the guts to score 50, I’ll wash your underwear for you!" Little Jordan said immediately. After speaking, he glanced at Harden, giving him a look that said, ’Aren’t you going to say something?’

Harden’s expression also turned uncharacteristically serious. He said, "Kevin, we’ve come this far. I really don’t want to lose and get eliminated. So, lead us to victory!"

Durant stared at them both, stunned, then nodded forcefully.