Chapter 378: Chapter 290: Shattering the Backboard, Shocking the Audience, 64 Points in 3 Quarters!
Little Thomas didn’t see the ball at that moment; his whole reaction was a beat too slow.
By the time he heard the crowd’s gasp, he realized that Butler had already scored.
What’s going on?
The Boston fans watched as Little Thomas was toyed with by Zeng Xingyang, and they felt helpless. They knew it wasn’t Little Thomas’s lack of effort that was to blame.
It was simply that the talent gap between Little Thomas and Zeng Xingyang was too large.
"Zeng’s control over the game’s pace is fantastic."
"Damn, Isaiah Thomas can’t defend at all, he’s a defensive liability."
"Isaiah Thomas can’t perform in high-level games. If the two teams meet in the playoffs, I think he’ll be utterly dominated by Zeng Xingyang."
"Zeng Xingyang is just playing around."
The fans were buzzing with discussions.
Butler ran forward with his head down, and Zeng Xingyang shouted to Little Thomas, "If you were 10 centimeters taller, you wouldn’t have been fooled by me. Here’s a tip: eat more papaya to grow taller, hahaha."
Looking at Zeng Xingyang’s arrogant demeanor, Little Thomas was very angry.
After taking the ball to the frontcourt, Little Thomas continued to call for a pick-and-roll, trying to shake off Zeng Xingyang’s defense.
But Zeng Xingyang came out early this time to defend, maneuvering around the double-team pick.
Little Thomas chose to accelerate from the right the moment Zeng Xingyang approached.
Seeing a clear path ahead, Little Thomas collected the ball and prepared to leap for a layup.
But soon, a shadow flashed by.
Just as Little Thomas’s ball was about to touch the backboard.
"Smack!!"
Zeng Xingyang slammed down a powerful block on Little Thomas.
Jokic grabbed the rebound.
Butler took off at that moment.
Only Bradley was back on defense; Butler still acted as the passer, drawing the defense and then passing to Grant who was cutting down the middle.
Grant caught the ball and slammed it in with both hands.
"Bang!"
The basketball was heavily smashed into the hoop.
to 7
The Nuggets finally took the lead on the scoreboard.
"Your layup assists my block stats nicely, I appreciate you boosting my numbers," Zeng Xingyang continued to taunt Little Thomas.
Now, the usually cocky Little Thomas had nothing to say; he was thoroughly beaten by Zeng Xingyang.
The game continued.
The Celtics kept moving the ball, but the Nuggets’ defense remained solid, and the ball ended up in Little Thomas’s hands again.
This time, Little Thomas was so tightly marked by Zeng Xingyang that he had no chance to shoot. With only 1 second left on the shot clock, he passed it to Bradley.
Bradley took a rushed three-point shot.
He made the shot under Butler’s defense, and while Bradley had three-point range, Butler’s defense was spot on.
"Bang!"
No good.
The basketball bounced heavily off the rim.
Little Thomas jumped up trying to grab the offensive rebound, and the ball did move in his direction.
But Zeng Xingyang was a step quicker and snatched the rebound above him.
Today, Zeng Xingyang was all over Little Thomas.
Little Thomas felt helpless facing Zeng Xingyang, thinking, why does your talent defy the odds when we both play point guard?
Little Thomas believed that if he had Zeng Xingyang’s height, he’d surely be even better.
After grabbing the rebound, Zeng Xingyang pushed the ball up to the frontcourt.
Zeng Xingyang didn’t hold onto the ball, opting to pass it to Jokic who had followed up to the middle.
Jokic acted as if to take a shot, drawing the Celtics’ defense before passing the ball to Butler.
At this moment, Zeng Xingyang was signaling from the corner.
Butler passed the ball sharply to Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang caught the ball and pulled up immediately.
Little Thomas tried to defend.
To no avail.
"Swish!"
A perfect shot!!!
to 7.
"Timeout!!!"
The Celtics quickly called to stop the game.
It wasn’t much different from other opponents.
The Celtics started strong at home, but that toughness didn’t last long.
After the timeout, the Nuggets continued to dominate, consistently scoring, while the Celtics struggled to get points.
The Nuggets kept up intense defense.
At 4:11 in the second quarter.
Little Thomas drove into the lane and, surrounded by double-team, passed it out, only for Zeng Xingyang to intercept it.
Bradley immediately tried to stop Zeng Xingyang.
But he couldn’t; Zeng Xingyang used a swift behind-the-back dribble to breeze past Bradley’s defense.
After getting past Bradley, no defender was left in front of Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang accelerated down the court, leaving the Celtics fans in despair as they could only watch him perform.
One step past the free-throw line, Zeng Xingyang powered up and launched into the air, putting all his force into jumping as high as possible.
Zeng Xingyang clutched the ball with both hands, swinging it in a windmill before switching to a one-handed grip with his right hand.
Zeng Xingyang unleashed all his explosive power.
"Boom!!"
Zeng Xingyang completed the powerful dunk with full force.
Zeng Xingyang gripped the rim with both hands.
As he was about to swing, he noticed the rim was bending!
After enduring several hits in the first half, the rim finally reached its limit.
Just then, cracks appeared where the rim met the backboard.
The tempered glass shattered—once a part broke, it all broke.
Zeng Xingyang quickly let go of the rim and ran as the backboard’s glass shattered.
Since adopting new backboard materials in the new century, this was the first time such an incident occurred.
Even though the backboard’s quality was partly to blame, it happened after Zeng Xingyang’s thunderous dunk.
The visual impact was simply explosive.
Zeng Xingyang actually shattered the backboard.
OMG!!
God!
What on earth happened?
Unbelievable, is this guy that brutal?
The game was forcibly stopped for a timeout.
Butler shouted to Zeng Xingyang, "Dude, that was over the top."
Jokic patted Zeng Xingyang’s arm and said, "I want to know what you’re eating to have such strength."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Little Thomas looked at Zeng Xingyang with eyes full of astonishment.
What just happened?
The backboard just shattered?
This guy must be a monster!
"Damn, incredible."
"The most violent guard in history."
"I remember Zeng Xingyang being a three-point sharpshooter. How’s he shattering backboards now?"
"He keeps getting more violent."
"Hey, hey, stop him, he can’t be stopped."
"Today’s Zeng Xingyang is going to explode again."
The fans buzzed with discussion.
As expected by the fans, Zeng Xingyang put on a show in today’s game.
Afterwards, he avoided playing under the basket and lit up the perimeter.
Continuously hitting shots from beyond the arc.
By the end of the third quarter, the score was 111 to 81, with the Nuggets leading by a hefty 30 points once again.
Zeng Xingyang’s individual score climbed to an astounding 64 points!!
In the fourth quarter, all Nuggets starters rested, and the Nuggets ultimately defeated the Celtics on their home court with a 133 to 100 victory.