Chapter 405: Dynasty (1)
As night once again settled over Sacramento, the entire city sprang into motion.
All eyes were fixed on the brilliantly lit Golden 1 Center.
“Does this work?”
Chen Yilun glanced at himself in the mirror and asked casually.
“Looks fine…” Prince, standing behind him, hesitated for a moment before speaking up anyway.
“Boss, don’t you think the shirt underneath is a bit… too loud?”
Chen Yilun was still wearing a suit jacket, but the shirt underneath was a riot of colors—a flashy floral pattern, complete with oversized, gleaming gold buttons.
The whole look screamed street boss.
“You don’t know a thing. A peak-lapel suit like this needs a bold shirt to match.”
As he spoke, Chen Yilun carefully adjusted the slicked-back hair he’d just had done.
He’d deliberately put this whole look together to match the image everyone projected onto him. If people were calling him the Godfather, then he needed to look the part.
Seeing that Chen Yilun had no intention of listening, Prince shook his head and said nothing more.
Maybe he just didn’t understand that kind of style well enough.
Or maybe this was simply Chen Yilun’s own aesthetic.
“Fellas! We’re back!”
Gay shouted as he strode into the locker room.
“A dynasty! How many years has it been since we last saw one? Finish this series and we’ll be part of history. You boys excited?”
“Absolutely!”
Murray, the team’s resident flatterer, was the first to answer.
“I was so pumped I barely slept last night.”
“I know everyone’s fired up, but I still have to say the same old things.”
Gay clapped his hands to get their attention.
“At times like this, the one thing we can’t afford is emotional swings. It’s been a full season. We’re right at the finish line. Keep your minds steady. We’ve got the advantage—just play it safe and play it smart.”
“One last thing.”
After finishing his remarks, Gay added with a note of concern.
“Injuries have been everywhere lately. Make sure you protect yourselves out there.”
The room answered with a unified “Got it,” and everyone went off to prepare.
...
...
Once the game tipped off, the Kings quickly took control of the tempo.
“Control the pace! Don’t rush!”
After inbounding the ball, Jokić shouted to Murray.
At this point, Jokić had fully become the team’s primary floor general. The rhythm of the game was entirely in his hands.
“Understood!”
Murray replied, slowing things down as he brought the ball up.
Crossing half court, Jokić set a screen at the top of the arc. Murray used it and cut downhill, preparing to drive straight to the basket.
The current Bucks were, in truth, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s team alone. The rest of the roster was merely a notch above league average.
That was more than enough to compete in the Eastern Conference, but against a Kings squad loaded with stars, it looked thin.
Murray accelerated, blowing past Lopez and leaving him behind.
Sensing danger, Giannis Antetokounmpo slid laterally into the paint to cut off Murray’s driving lane.
What he didn’t realize was that this was exactly what Murray wanted. Without even looking, Murray whipped a pass to the corner.
Durant, already waiting there, caught it and fired instantly.
Middleton, who had been stationed at the forty-five-degree angle, rushed over in a panic to contest, but it was too late. When he was still half a step away, the ball was already gone.
Swish!
The ball traced a perfect arc and dropped cleanly through the net.
“How are we supposed to deal with this? The Kings’ spacing is ridiculous!”
On the sideline, Coach Rivers rubbed his smooth head and muttered in frustration.
As he spoke, Rivers instinctively turned toward the bench.
Unfortunately, there was no one there he could really rely on.
“Next season, we absolutely have to bring in a veteran point guard. Otherwise, this is impossible to play!”
Having made up his mind, Rivers turned his focus back to the court.
No exaggeration—this year’s Kings were the league’s premier five-out team. Their powerful wing rotation perfectly covered for Jokić’s lack of foot speed, while their tall, fast perimeter guards tore into every opponent without mercy.
“Go, go, go!”
After Middleton missed on offense, Jokić grabbed the rebound, checked his teammates’ positioning, and immediately kicked the ball out to the perimeter.
Booker caught the pass without even checking where his teammates were. Hearing Jokić’s shout, he took off toward the other end at full speed.
Seeing another Kings fast break coming, the Bucks players broke out in a cold sweat.
All night long, the Kings had relied on just two weapons: in the half court, high pick-and-rolls through Jokić or the wings to generate inside-out threes; and on defense, immediate fast breaks.
This constant tightening and release had completely toyed with the Bucks.
Realizing the Kings were about to do it again, the Bucks sprinted back in desperation, trying to disrupt the play.
At the front of the pack, Giannis Antetokounmpo stretched his long legs and crossed half court in just three strides.
Booker raced into the frontcourt, sensing Giannis closing in from behind. Catching sight of Durant trailing the play out of the corner of his eye, he immediately understood and fired a bounce pass straight ahead.
Durant caught it, glanced at Giannis Antetokounmpo’s position, quickly calculated the distance between them, and gathered the ball into a powerful three-step drive.
Boom!
With a dull thud, Durant hammered the ball through the rim.
But as Durant completed the dunk, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s momentum carried him into the paint, placing him directly beneath Durant’s landing spot.
Durant realized something was wrong—but his hands were already off the rim.
All he could do was watch as his right foot came down squarely on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot.
“Ah!”
With a cry of pain, Durant lost his balance and crashed to the floor.
“What?!”
From the sideline, Chen Yilun had seen everything. He shot up from his seat as if stung.
During that possession, he’d already felt a vague sense of dread. Then he saw Durant step on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot—his ankle bending at a ninety-degree angle.
This time, something had really gone wrong.
Staring at Durant lying on the court, Chen Yilun felt as though he’d fYilun into an icy abyss.
Author's Note
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