Chapter 20 Fighting Ross with All Might

The duel between the two players naturally became a major gimmick across the league. Before Lin Fei entered the scene, many people predicted that the league would sooner or later belong to the Windy City Rose, Derrick Rose. However, the sudden and meteoric rise of Lin Fei injected a high degree of uncertainty into the battle for the future supremacy of the league, and no one dared to casually decree whose era it would truly become anymore.

When rushed for interviews and asked for his thoughts on the young player Lin Fei, Rose offered a concise yet profound response: "He is an opponent sent to me by God."

During their head-to-head clashes last season, the statistics of both players were mutually explosive. Lin Fei's scoring made Rose lose face, but Rose's well-rounded dominance left Lin Fei trailing far behind. In truth, a careful analysis of last season showed that the two had fought to a relative standstill; it was simply that many experts and fans held Rose to impossibly harsh standards, unable to tolerate an MVP-caliber superstar being pushed to such limits by a second-year rookie. But the landscape had shifted. Up to this point in his career, Lin Fei had been putting up otherworldly numbers, firmly cementing his status in the echelon of absolute superstars. When Rose matched up against a fellow superstar of this magnitude, perhaps the analysts and fans would finally ease up on their stringent demands.

When someone asked Lin Fei how he viewed his matchup against Rose, his answer was equally straightforward and grounded. "I am deeply honored to be mentioned in the same breath as big brother Rose. If I want to achieve greatness in the NBA, I believe the very first opponent I need to challenge and conquer is Rose." This evaluation was more than fair and objective.

At the Bulls' home arena, Rose had originally emerged in the image of Chicago's savior. He single-handedly revived the city's basketball market, maintaining a fervent craze to this day. Especially now, with Chicago's ultimate darling facing off against the most aggressive offensive player in the league, the matchup was guaranteed to be an absolute spectacle. In the hearts of many Chicago fans, the fastest player in the league remained Rose, not Lin Fei. Even though numerous fans and experts trotted out advanced tracking data to prove that Lin Fei held the crown for raw speed, these loyal partisans trusted their own eyes above all else, and their eyes told them that Rose was still the swiftest force on the hardwood. Today, they harbored visions of Rose using his blazing speed to completely overwhelm and dismantle Lin Fei.

Before the opening tip, Rose took the initiative to approach Lin Fei for a deep, fraternal embrace. They exchanged a knowing smile and a locking of eyes that seemed almost ambiguous to onlookers. Yet everyone understood that this mutual fondness stemmed from a profound, deep-seated appreciation for a peer of equal caliber.

The commentators began their tactical breakdowns. The Warriors were the premier offensive juggernaut in the league, while the Bulls stood as one of the most suffocating defensive fortitudes. This game could be aptly described as the ultimate collision of two contrasting basketball philosophies. Although the Warriors had crossed swords with traditional defensive powerhouses like the Spurs and the Celtics last season, the truly formidable challenges for Golden State perhaps lay in teams like the Bulls and the Heat. Why was that? Because when the Warriors squared off against the Spurs and Celtics, despite their fierce defense, those rosters were growing elderly. The Warriors only needed to dial up the tempo slightly to practically drag them into exhaustion, rendering their veteran experience almost entirely useless. The Bulls, however, were a different breed altogether. Their players were fiercely youthful and played with a relentless, punishing defensive intensity. If it came down purely to stamina and endurance, the Warriors might not even hold the upper hand against Chicago. The most representative avatars of these two teams were undoubtedly Rose and Lin Fei. Rose possessed physical attributes superior to Lin Fei's in many respects, seamlessly blending blistering speed with sharp defensive instincts. Most undersized point guards loathed having such a defender hound them, because they could neither outrun him nor withstand his physical pressure. Yet Lin Fei was perhaps a glaring exception, primarily because his own speed was blistering enough to make him virtually the only player in the league capable of independently shaking Rose with pure quickness alone.

At the tip-off, the Bulls successfully secured the opening possession. Rose caught the ball and launched into a frenzied drive, slicing past Lin Fei as if he weren't even there. Fortunately, Caines possessed quick recovery speed, managing to slow down Rose's breakneck momentum. Rose pulled up around the half-court logo to orchestrate the offense. Facing Lin Fei directly, he motioned for his teammates to clear out, signaling his intent to go one-on-one. Noah and Boozer deliberately vacated the paint to open up the floor. Why choose isolation? Perhaps to Rose, doing so was a matter of pride and a supreme challenge—he had to personally dismantle Lin Fei and establish clear dominance. Lin Fei was acutely aware of this; at the very least, he refused to concede an inch of competitive spirit to Rose. Lin Fei lowered his stance, dropping exceedingly low. He knew that while his speed was a match for Rose's, Rose currently held the initiative and possessed a terrifyingly explosive first step. If he misjudged that initial burst, he might never recover the opportunity.

Rose jab-stepped and exploded to the right. Lin Fei reacted instantly, shifting his weight to block the path. Given Rose's athletic gifts, he could well have forced his way through for a tough drive—beating Lin Fei's point-of-attack defense might not have been out of the question—but once past Lin Fei, Caines would undoubtedly rotate for a timely help-side contest, of that there was no doubt. Instead, Rose executed a sharp jump-stop, yanking the ball back. Yet as he pulled it back, he was astonished to find that Lin Fei had already retreated back into perfect defensive position, as if he had anticipated this exact countermove all along. Rose countered with a swift crossover to the left; seeing the exact same defensive containment, he spun, but Lin Fei matched his pivot stride for stride. With his teammates cleared out, passing options were scarce, so Rose executed a sudden pull-up jumper and fired directly. Fortunately for the Bulls, the shot found the bottom of the net. In truth, Rose's most lethal weapon had always been his relentless penetration, but over recent seasons, he had continuously refined his jump shot. Especially after witnessing how lethal a shooter like Lin Fei could be while orchestrating an offense, Rose became all the more convinced that a jump shot could be drilled to an unguardable degree.

On that particular possession, Lin Fei's defense had been executed with absolute maximal effort. Forcing Rose into a contested jumper could only be classified as a resounding defensive success.

The Bulls drew first blood.

An old military adage goes: an army can afford to lose a battle, but it can never afford to lose its morale. Faced with such an imposing display from the Bulls, Nelson, a coach who always prioritized an assertive aura and swagger, was never going to concede the mental battleground.

Everyone in the arena—from the Warriors bench to the Bulls squad, down to every spectator in the stands—knew precisely whose hands this upcoming possession would rest in. In certain respects, this could well be framed as a clutch possession.

Lin Fei brought the ball up, moving at a measured, deliberate pace. At this moment, all the Warriors players pushed the pace in transition. Undoubtedly, for Golden State, slowing the tempo on this particular possession was a deliberate choice to execute with methodical precision. This was likely a calculated arrangement by Nelson; against a squad like the Bulls, altering their rhythm might yield far superior dividends.

Lin Fei slowly crossed the half-court line, a faint, composed smile playing across his lips. In stark contrast, Rose wore a mask of absolute solemnity, entirely locked into the zone. As Lin Fei dribbled, he noticed Rose sinking lower and lower into his defensive stance, clearly bracing to neutralize Lin Fei's unguardable change-of-direction drives. In truth, Rose had meticulously studied tape on him. Why? Because whenever Lin Fei was forced into a half-court set, his most devastating weapon was his pull-up jumper following a sudden crossover—a move that seemed utterly impervious to containment by anyone in the league. By crouching low, Rose aimed to swallow up Lin Fei's first step, stay attached to his hip, and deny him any clean path to a turning jumper.

Lin Fei faced Rose squarely, initiated a sudden burst of acceleration, dead-stopped, crossed over, and spun. Rose had anticipated both motions and stayed glued to his hip. Lin Fei executed a step-back, then immediately launched into another right-side drive. Rose slid his feet to cut him off, but as Lin Fei spun again, anticipating another counter-crossover, Rose shifted a step to his left. Yet once the spin was complete, Lin Fei remained square in front of him. Seeing Rose make that slight micro-adjustment, Lin Fei immediately unleashed a rapid sequence of consecutive right-handed drives, finally slipping past Rose with sheer velocity. Rose was thrown so off-balance he nearly lost his footing, saved only by his exceptionally low center of gravity.

Still, Lin Fei managed to squeeze past. The moment he cleared his defender, he elevated smoothly and released the shot.

All Rose could do was stand frozen, watch the trajectory, and let out a sigh of lingering awe.