Chapter 71 - Two v Two

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“Tip-off?” Coach Gordon brought the basketball to the centerline of the court.

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“Of course.”

Reece naturally took the tip-off upon himself. Owen looked at Irvin, and Irvin laughed. “I’ll leave the physical work of jumping to you. I’ll watch Allen.”

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Nie Chuan stood at a spot not far from Reece. The match hadn’t even started and his nerves were already stretched taut.

Irvin also retracted his smile and his eyes darkened. He stared at Nie Chuan coldly just like a hunter staring through a scope at a small quail that was oblivious to the danger.

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The ball flew into the air, attracting everyone’s eyes.

Reece and Owen jumped at the same time, the explosive power that the two showed in that moment was staggering.

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This was the first time Nie Chuan saw Reece partake in a tip-off. His speed of ascent wasn’t any inferior to that of Montenegro’s!

The heights of the two were equal, and they both touched the ball at the same time.

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Nie Chuan was nervous enough to collapse—— just who will get the ball? Who is it!

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Reece, like a comet colliding into the stars, squeezed Owen away at the most critical moment and pushed the ball to the side.

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Nie Chuan jumped, caught the ball, and rushed at full speed towards the opponent’s basket without any hesitation.

But before he reached the three-point line, Irvin had already caught up.

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What kind of monster is this guy!

Nie Chuan has no time to think, he must either pass Irvin or find the most optimal time to pass to Reece!

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Owen directly gave up on defending Reece and turned to pincer attack Nie Chuan with Irvin!

Reece reacted by rushing forward to block Nie Chuan’s back, helping him obstruct Owen.

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Although this was only a two v two, many tactics were unable to be implemented. While methods of offense and defense had become the sole focus, for Nie Chuan judgement of the situation was more complicated than in a team competition!

Many people in the surroundings had already taken out their phones to record and the reporters who wanted to interview Reece had also gotten to work. It was as if this wasn’t a two v two for swapping pointers but a highly anticipated match instead.

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Nie Chuan’s speed at changing directions and feints had long surpassed the level he was at when he confronted Irvin the first time. Within seconds, he went from swiveling to the left to a sudden stop, making Irvin think he wanted to switch to the right only for him to unexpectedly take a small step back before quickly cutting to the left.

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Irvin was surprised by the turn of events as Nie Chuan quickly bypassed him.

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In that instant, the surrounding onlookers exclaimed at how natural and beautiful Nie Chuan’s movements were. Like dancing the tango, his unique rhythm and the unexpectedness that made it impossible made others full of expectations for his upcoming performance.

He was just about to dribble up for a layup when Irvin jumped to intercept.

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With such strong jumping capability, Irvin would definitely arrive from behind first and block Nie Chuan from above.

Nie Chuan had to admit that he was frightened because he was completely unaware that Irvin’s speed and explosiveness would actually reach such a level. However, without thinking, his body had already reacted.

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But Irvin didn’t give Nie Chuan a second chance to succeed. He hooked his hand, his fingers altered the direction of the ball, and the ball hit the rim of the basket before bouncing off.

There was a sigh from the surroundings at the wonderful confrontation that occurred in a time that people could not even count the seconds. Whether it was Nie Chuan’s incomplete skyhook or Irvin’s defense, they could all be said to make one’s blood rush.

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When it came to rebounds, Nie Chuan knew that he didn’t have the slightest advantage in front of Irvin. Without any regard for what would happen at the basket, he had already made the preparations to return to defense.

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Owen and Reece ran to the basket and jumped at the same time, but Reece was farther away than Owen. In the instant that the two rose into the air, it was the most direct contest of explosiveness. Although Reece was further away than Owen, he reached the same height as Owen at practically the same time and the distance between the ground and his feet made the onlookers exclaim in admiration.

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But this time, Owen held the advantage. He seized the ball and, with a wide swivel, he passed Reece and rushed towards the basket.

Nie Chuan swiftly ran beside Owen, constantly exerting pressure on his left wing. Irvin ran after him, ready to provide support at any time.

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Owen changed to a one-sided dribble in an attempt to pass Nie Chuan when Reece unexpectedly lowered his center of gravity and quickly bypassed his defense from the other side. At that decisive moment, Owen passed the ball behind him at an extremely fast speed.

Nie Chuan stopped pursuing Owen and leaned back with his arm stretched. In that instant, his body made a graceful arc. Everyone thought he would lose his balance and fall but before Irvin could receive it, he fished the ball back! No one saw how Nie Chuan adjusted his center of gravity, they only knew that immediately after he took a short step back and firmly found his footing, he quickly cut into the opponent’s area with the ball!

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There was a spatter of applause all around; this interception was simply too brilliant.

Standing on the sidelines, Ewing knitted his brows. “Allen is obviously the last one to join us…… why do I feel like he’s already left us all behind by a lot?”

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Neither Carlo nor Montenegro spoke, but merely patted Ewing on the shoulder.

Nie Chuan’s speed could already be considered top-notch among point guards, but Irvin still caught up.

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Nie Chuan hadn’t had a chance to experience this crazy speed in his last time one-on-one with Irvin so at this moment, he had a lingering fear. How can he get rid of this guy?

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Reece also chased after them and was shoulder to shoulder with Irvin. Nie Chuan ran along the left side of the court, but Owen suppressed his breakthrough direction.

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In a flash, Owen was right in front of Nie Chuan, his eyes exuding chills as if he was a quiet but fierce beast that would bite Nie Chuan’s neck at any time.

Stay calm, Nie Chuan…… stay calm……

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Nie Chuan’s speed slowed down. Meanwhile, Reece was guarding Irvin while constantly looking for the best opportunity to provide support to his teammate.

They must move the frontline forward!

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But Owen’s defense was too tight. No matter how realistic and quick Nie Chuan’s feints were, he could always keep up. This feeling of tenaciously being bitten at made an inexplicable feeling of despair arise in Nie Chuan.

Suddenly, Reece shook off Irvin and rushed to the basket.

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Nie Chuan suddenly understood something and he quickly lowered his center of gravity. With a pass close to the ground, the ball’s point of impact just so happened to be beside Owen’s left foot. This angle was very subtle; Owen would have to move back and lower his center of gravity to be able to stop it, but Nie Chuan’s pass was clearly on the low side, so low that even Reece wouldn’t have been able to catch it.

Just as everyone was lamenting about how Nie Chuan’s hard work would be to no avail, Nie Chuan suddenly detoured around Owen and chased the ball back.

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Everyone’s jaws dropped, they never expected Nie Chuan to pass Owen in this way!

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Nie Chuan quickly advanced with the ball. In front of him was Irvin while behind him was Owen. As everyone was worrying for him, he took a large leap from the three-point line.

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Ewing pulled at Carlo beside him, his eyes wide: Was Allen really going to risk shooting?

However, in that instant when Irvin jumped to intercept, Nie Chuan sent the ball through from under Irvin’s arm.

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From bottom up, Reece jumped after receiving the ball before quickly dunking!

After a moment of silence, there was a thunderous applause outside the court.

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The gold content of this game was truly too high! (tn: referring to the quality of the plays)

Whether it was the offensive rhythm or the closeness of the defense, they all made the people watching want to savor a slow-motion replay!

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Nie Chuan clenched his fists and whistled to himself.

Some female fans outside the field couldn’t help but sigh, “He’s so cute!”

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“How come I never knew Asian boys could be so handsome!”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Hearing their voices, Nie Chuan looked towards them and gave them a big smile.

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Reece came over and knocked on his head.

Nie Chuan immediately clutched his head and looked at Reece in bafflement.

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Owen raised his eyebrows at Irvin. “Didn’t you say you’d keep an eye on that kid?”

“He’s like a groundhog, always popping out of unexpected places.” Irvin scratched his chin, “But only like that will it be interesting.”

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Time was extremely precious. In the next round, Irvin’s dribbling was like a gust of wind passing Nie Chuan’s ears. Without any fancy movements whatsoever, he directly passed through Nie Chuan’s defense.

But Nie Chuan quickly recovered and pursued him.

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As Irvin brought the ball up for a layup, Reece threw off Owen with astonishing speed and chased him up. The moment he jumped to block Irvin’s shot, Irvin retracted the ball while in midair.

Nie Chuan was alarmed, this guy is going for a hand switch layup combo!

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Sure enough, when Irvin sent the basketball up with his other hand again, Nie Chuan found the opportunity to jump up and brushed the ball with the tip of his fingers, causing Irvin to lose his accuracy.

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The basketball bounced. Reece forcibly grabbed the rebound from Owen and, within seconds, it was a melee.

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Reece seemed to have intercepted the ball with only a slight advantage but for experts such as themselves, a small advantage could mean a huge difference in results.

As soon as Reece was about to quicken with the ball, Irvin shook off Nie Chuan with speed and followed after Reece. When Irvin reached out to steal the ball, everyone was in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Reece dribbled the ball from behind and evaded to the side, but he didn’t expect Owen to be there.

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“Peng–” The ball was batted away.

“Oh——” The onlookers exclaimed.

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Owen shook him off with speed and rushed towards the basket.

Reece was about to chase after him when Irvin blocked in front of him so Nie Chuan hurried to catch up.

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When Owen jumped to dunk, Nie Chuan had to exert all his strength to jump.

Damn—— you bunch of monsters with super strength!

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Nie Chuan gritted his teeth, having never exerted himself so much in his life.

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Owen never thought that Nie Chuan could actually jump to such a height, half of his (NC) palm was practically on top of the ball.

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Coach Gordon was dumbfounded. Whether it was during normal practices or even the match earlier, he had never seen Nie Chuan jump to this height.

From behind came the sound of shutters from a sports reporter.

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However, Owen, who was a veteran of many battles, retracted the ball back in an instant. When he landed, he bypassed Nie Chuan and was about to dunk backwards when Reece, with an exceedingly complex feint, flashed past Irvin like a sharp blade. He arrived under the basket and blocked as soon as Owen took off and was about to make the shot.

The audience’s nerves were about to burst and they didn’t dare make a sound.

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Irvin and Nie Chuan rushed to vie for the ball.

Irvin, who held the advantage in terms of speed, intercepted the ball from in front of Nie Chuan’s finger. He quickly retreated then took off and shot!

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Nie Chuan could only jump again. Irvin was originally taller than Nie Chuan but it was unknown if the jump earlier had allowed Nie Chuan to find the feel for it as the height of his jump this time was still beyond everyone’s expectation.

But he still fell a little short of Irvin’s ball as it smoothly entered the basket.

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The two landed at practically the same time. Nie Chuan stared at Irvin fiercely but Irvin only teasingly blew a kiss at Nie Chuan.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Finally the dust settled, and the surrounding audience could finally let out the breaths they held.

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At this time, Coach Gordon raised his hand and shouted, “Alrights, kids! Time’s up!”

“What, it’s time already?” Irvin looked at his watch disbelievingly. “Mr. Coach, are you sure you’re not mistaken? It’s only been five minutes.“

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Coach Gordon shrugged. “But our bus has arrived. The driver is quite temperamental and doesn’t like waiting for people. It was truly a wonderful match but let’s leave that for the leagues, alright?”

Everyone made sounds of regret.

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“Let them play!”

“Why won’t you let them keep on going?”

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There were waves of complaints and condemnation, but Coach Gordon didn’t mean to waver in the slightest.

The combination of Reece and Nie Chuan had already attracted too much attention. He didn’t want any school or sports weekly publications to make special reports on the two kids, nor did he want any opponents studying the two’s coordination and plays.

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If it was just to test the waters then it would be fine to stop here.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Coach Gordon looked at Nie Chuan, he already understood Nie Chuan well.

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What made Nie Chuan grow wasn’t how long he competed with experts but the quality of the competition. This child was like a sponge, it can quickly absorb all the surrounding moisture but one must leave him enough room for expansion.

Drea: Apologies for the late chapter! The action scenes were particularly difficult to translate so it ended up taking more time than I originally anticipated ^^;

MadMadamMims: Feels like I’m watching some crazy sports anime! 😮

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