Chapter Fifteen: The Opening Battle

  Ye Feng is talking about the movie "Wanted", which is adapted from a comic book. The biggest feature of this film is that it has a curved bullet trajectory.

  "Do you think I can star in a kung fu movie?" Gabriella had never thought of it that way.

  "Hey, Hollywood will never give up on action movies. You're always practicing yoga and have great flexibility, so you can definitely do action films. The high-difficulty stunts are all processed in post-production, as long as you know how to pose. Otherwise, do you think everyone is Jackie Chan or Jet Li? Angelina Jolie is too old and skinny, she's just relying on her fame to sell tickets. Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore can both play Charlie's Angels, why can't you? Your height is almost 180cm, your athletic ability shouldn't be too bad, action movies are the easiest path for you. In the future, when you're famous, you can transition to romantic dramas, people will praise your acting skills. Romance movie directors all want to find older actors, even if they're not well-known newcomers, they'll use 23-year-olds and above, those people can play roles with rich life experience, you just look like the girl next door."

  Gabriella leaned in closer and asked, "It's hard to think of a big movie role for you, do you feel like there are any TV dramas that would be suitable for me?"

  "There are quite a few, let me think."

  Ye Feng casually mentioned several American TV series, "Medium", "Criminal Minds", "Lost", and "Lie to Me", all of which have relatively high ratings. As for movies, he brought up "Kick-Ass" and "Wolverine", suggesting she try them after reading the comics.

  In the previous life of Ye Feng, the heroine of "Assassin's Union" was Angelina Jolie. In the film, she looked like the male lead's aunt and was extremely thin, with arms like branches and visible veins, giving off a feeling that wasn't sexy but rather like a drug addict. According to rumors, the director also wanted to use a newcomer, but chose her because there was no suitable alternative. Ye Feng thought that if young Gabriella were racing on the road and shooting bullets around corners, it would definitely be more exciting.

  The two of them chatted on the balcony for a long time, their conversation ranging from movies to basketball and then to family, until the party ended and people left, their relationship had unknowingly become closer.

  The 2007-2008 NBA regular season opener will see the Lakers hosting Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady-led Houston Rockets. Since Yao and McGrady teamed up, the Rockets have become a strong team in the league, with experts considering them championship contenders every year. However, they have lost their playoff series twice after leading 2-0. Yao Ming is at his peak, easily containing Bynum. A healthy McGrady is also an all-around scorer, and no team dares to underestimate the Yao-McGrady combination.

  Ye Feng originally thought it would be difficult to get a chance, but unexpectedly he was included in the 12-man roster for the first game. Mim, Turiyev and Kritan were placed on the injury list. Among them, Turiyev was indeed injured, spraining his ankle during the preseason. Mim is also good at defense, but the coaching staff ultimately chose Ye Feng, who has stronger athletic ability and can defend multiple positions. Although he can only rely on dunks on offense, as long as he participates in fast breaks, he still has scoring ability.

  Gabriela wasn't very enthusiastic about basketball, and after hearing from Ye Feng that he wouldn't be playing for a long time, she decided to stay home and watch TV. The two of them weren't wealthy now, with Ye Feng being slightly better off, but before getting his salary, he had to be frugal, as his position on the Lakers wasn't secure, and he had to work hard not to get cut in January.

  October 31, the Staples Center was packed, with an audience of 20,000 pouring into the arena to watch the game. ESPN broadcast the game live, and the gold medal duo of Barkley and Smith were back on the scene.

  Before the game, "Big Mouth" Barkley started teasing Kobe again, and even took a shot at T-Mac. "Kobe has been talking about being traded all summer, I don't know if fans will still support him. I think Kobe and T-Mac are similar, whether it's their playing style or opportunities, they both won two scoring titles, when leading the team independently, neither of them made it past the first round of the playoffs, both were overturned by opponents after leading 3-1, and in the crucial seventh game, they both chose to give up early. The only difference is that Kobe didn't say 'I'm ready for the second round' when he was leading 3-1."

  "Smith laughed and said, 'Now McDi's luck is better than Kobe's. He has Yao Ming, this all-star center, by his side. The key for the Lakers today is how to limit Yao Ming's performance.'"

  Barkley laughed: "Kobe also has a Chinese guy by his side now, the media says this game is the China Derby, but in this game, Ye Feng can probably only guard the water cooler."

  Bakley was telling the truth, Ye Feng warmed up and sat on the substitute bench, next to which was a water dispenser.

  Rockets starting lineup is the same as last season: Yao Ming, Hayes, Battier, McGrady, Alston. Lakers start Bynum, Odom, Radmanovic, Kobe, Fisher.

  Neither side was short of stars, but neither was in a state after the game started. You came and went crazy iron, shot for nearly four minutes, until Kobe Bryant stopped jumping and made the first goal of the game. After that, he caused Battier to foul in a counterattack, two penalties all scored, Lakers took a 4-0 lead, Rockets were 7-for-all lost and took the first step into the new season.

  Yao Ming then scored 5 consecutive points, but the Rockets as a whole played without any rhythm, with only Yao hitting 2 shots in their first 13 attempts. Kobe guarded McGrady tightly, limiting him to 1 for 6 shooting in the first quarter. Kobe himself scored 13 points in the first quarter, leading the Lakers to a 25-16 lead. Yao was the only Rocket playing normally, scoring 9 points on a combination of shots and free throws.

  In the second quarter, both sides changed to their substitute lineups, and the situation changed dramatically. Adelman sent out Bonzi Wells and Mike James, Wells was a sharpshooter, who didn't get much playing time during Van Gundy's era, but had strong scoring ability, in 2006 playoffs he averaged 20+10 against Spurs for six games. James was also a master of chaos, averaging 20.3 points and 5.8 assists per game in the 2006 regular season. These two frequently attacked the inside line, achieving immediate results, plus Battier's three-pointers from outside, the Rockets launched a 13-4 wave, tying the score at 29. In the latter part of this quarter, both sides sent their main forces back onto the court to confront each other, and the halftime score was tied at 43.

  The Rockets' momentum was even stronger in the third quarter, Yao Ming maintained his success rate in singles, and McGrady also found his touch, scoring 14 points in a single quarter, pulling away from the inside and outside. Kobe cooled down this quarter, and the Rockets led 70-62 at the end of the third quarter.

  When the Lakers fell behind, Barkley laughed especially happily, with a look of being owed a beating, completely disregarding that this was the Lakers' home court. He said: "Today the Rockets played very chaotically, from the first three quarters we can't see any difference between them and last season, their offense mainly relies on Yao Ming and McGrady's individual singles. Adelman's Princeton tactics are still nowhere to be seen, but the Lakers played even worse, relying solely on Kobe, if it weren't for Kobe getting a lot of free throw opportunities, I'm afraid it would have become garbage time already, in three quarters he has already gotten 18 free throws."

  Ye Feng has a burning passion but no place to use it, he can only watch his teammates fight on the field and wait quietly for an opportunity.

  The power forward position, after Odom comes off the court, is always replaced by Brian Cook. In both the second and third quarters, Cook played for a while, with the coach hoping he could make some three-pointers, but his hand was very cold this game, going 0-4 from beyond the arc. Even so, Yi Jianlian remained firmly seated on the bench, not even getting a chance to play when Bynum came off the court, and Jackson wouldn't let him guard Yao Ming.

  Why not use me? Cooke, this waste frequently leaks people, is simply a sleeper, it seems that today I can only be an audience. In the fourth quarter, they have no reason to send me on the court. Ye Feng thought gloomily, he really wanted to take the initiative to ask for the field, he had confidence in doing better than Cooke in defense and steals, in his eyes, McGrady's breakthrough was not much faster than walking, and there was a possibility of being blown three seconds foul when shooting, he would never let McGrady break through successfully.

  The Rockets led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but Kobe Bryant finally erupted at a critical moment, scoring six consecutive points and leading the Lakers on a 10-2 run to narrow the deficit. The outside world often evaluates Battier as "Kobe's terminator", but today Battier's defense was not effective, and there was no shadow of the terminator.

  Regarding this statement, Ye Feng is also very skeptical. In the two games against the Lakers last season, Kobe scored 50+ points under Battier's defense. This fourth quarter didn't finish, and Kobe already got 38 points. What Battier is good at is interfering with his eyes when the opponent shoots. Ye Feng has defended Kobe like this before, almost no effect, many super scorers in the league have a very good feeling, even if they don't look at the basket, as long as they shoot from their familiar position, they can control how much force to use. Battier was completely blown up by Kobe today.

  With 2 minutes and 17 seconds left in the game, the Lakers tied the score. Adelman saw a cooked duck about to fly away and quickly requested a timeout. Ye Feng suddenly felt that the scene was familiar. In his previous life, the first game between the Lakers and Rockets also went to the last minute, and Battier made a three-pointer to win the game. Would the same thing happen this time?

  The game resumed, and Ye Feng continued to watch the match. "Master" Jackson beckoned him over, asking him to sit beside him. He hastily went in front of Jackson and asked, "Coach, what's up?"

  "Jackson's expression was serious. 'Yeh, warm up for a bit. If we need to defend against their final attack, I'll put you on the field. I need you to do a good job defending.'"

  No way! Is he actually planning to put me on the court during this critical moment? Ye Feng was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood the reason. The 3rd position Radmanovic and Walton were not good at defense, if he let him play in the end, the Lakers' defense would be better.

  Jackson is a veteran coach with rich experience, rookies tend to make mistakes in the fourth quarter, but Ye Feng is the fastest moving big man who can provide good support for perimeter defense, and he believes that Ye Feng will not make any mistakes on defense.

  With 13 seconds remaining in the game and the score tied at 92, the Rockets had possession of the ball and called a timeout.

  Ye Feng knew his chance had come.

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