The Best Point Guard

Chapter 362: Chapter 109: Two Games Against the Pistons, A Sudden Event

The first quarter was all about the one-on-one matchup, and so was the second.

Late in the third quarter, Su Xi saw the team was down by eight. He gave the signal: it was time for his teammates to get tactical.

The moment the Pacers got serious, the Knicks buckled.

Stephon Marbury was seeing stars after running into the Pacers’ iron wall of a perimeter trio, and his offensive efficiency plummeted. At the same time, the Knicks’ other "lone wolf," Jamal Crawford, also went into iso mode. He’s one of the NBA’s ultimate streaky shooters. When he’s hot, he can drop forty or fifty points in a game, even sixty.

But tonight, he clearly couldn’t get hot.

The Pacers had him completely locked down.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Pacers were up by 15.

The Knicks were powerless to fight back and basically surrendered, lest the deficit grow even larger and the final score become embarrassing.

With the Knicks throwing in the towel, the Pacers were content to let them off easy.

105-89.

A comfortable win.

Interestingly, after the game, a smug Stephon Marbury—who had posted 25 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal—said, "This just goes to show that Little Sheep Su Xi’s success is built on the Pacers’ overall strength as a team."

"His scoring skills are nowhere near mine."

Marbury then delivered a classic quote: "Instead of fantasizing about him joining the team, New York fans should just treat me better."

Su Xi finished the game with 19 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. While his point total was lower than Marbury’s, he dominated him in every other statistical category.

Su Xi did not respond to Marbury’s comments.

’There’s no point. The guy calls himself the best point guard in the world.’

’You can’t take him seriously.’

Jackson, however, couldn’t let it slide. "Just wait," he said. "Next time we play them, Stephon Marbury will see just how big the gap is between him and Jack."

The Pacers were more united than ever, as close as family.

Coach Carlisle was extremely confident about defending their title this year, a sentiment shared by Larry Bird.

After all, the strongest team in the West, the Lakers, had already imploded, leaving Kobe to tirelessly chase the scoring title by himself. Meanwhile, in the East, the Detroit Pistons hadn’t made any significant offseason acquisitions. ’If we could beat them last year, we can definitely beat them this year.’

Soon, the Pacers would face the Detroit Pistons in back-to-back games.

One game at home, one away in Detroit. They were both Central Division matchups, after all.

Before that, however, the Pacers swept aside the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets were practically Su Xi’s hometown team, but he always played with extra intensity whenever he faced them.

The Nets no longer had the same aura from when they made back-to-back Finals appearances. They had failed to re-sign Kenyon Martin in the offseason. Without his primary lob threat—his "interior helicopter"—many of Jason Kidd’s plays fell apart.

Next, the Pacers traveled to Miami for a showdown with the Miami Heat.

This proved to be the Pacers’ toughest game of the new season.

O’Neal was in even better shape than last year, despite having put on a few more pounds. His dominance was still enough to make the Pacers’ paint tremble; neither Foster, Tony Battie, nor Slade could do anything to stop him.

While Wade’s offensive arsenal wasn’t as deep as Kobe’s, his play was crisp and efficient. His drives to the basket were lightning-fast, and his chemistry with O’Neal was arguably even better than what O’Neal had with Kobe.

He blew past the defenses of both Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest, as neither was particularly well-suited to guard such a speedy guard.

That left Su Xi to try and contain him. But the referees’ whistles were especially sensitive this year. Su Xi’s smothering defense, which had long surpassed that of a prime Gary Payton, was neutered by 30 or 40 percent in the current officiating climate. It was practically useless.

The game came down to the wire, and the Pacers only pulled ahead thanks to an incredibly difficult three-pointer from Su Xi.

Su Xi launched the three with two defenders in his face.

There was a huge element of luck involved.

But God was on the Pacers’ side.

Indiana scraped by with a hard-fought victory. After a period of what looked like tanking at the start of the season, this winning streak had propelled the Pacers back to second in the East, just behind the Detroit Pistons.

In the blink of an eye, the Pacers were heading back to Indiana to host the Detroit Pistons at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Pistons were still salty about losing the Eastern Conference Finals last season. They believed the Pacers never would have won if Su Xi hadn’t kept evolving and pulling new tricks out of his bag. They were convinced that if they could just beat the Pacers, the championship would be theirs, as they had a high win rate against the Lakers.

But there are no "what ifs" in basketball. A loss is a loss.

Just like Ben Wallace. He got hit by Su Xi, and that was that. No concussion, however severe, could change the fact.

What could he do but let the hatred in his heart fester?

"If we can beat the Detroit Pistons in both these games, we’ll be back on top of the East."

Rick Carlisle rallied his players in the locker room.

In truth, no one needed to be motivated to play the Pistons.

Everyone knew these two teams were bitter rivals.

TNT was broadcasting both games nationally.

Fans across the country were anticipating this destined, titanic clash.

The air was already thick with tension before the game even started.

Ben Wallace dubbed it a revenge game.

Rasheed Wallace said they wouldn’t give the Pacers any reason to celebrate.

Artest said they were full of shit.

Jackson said the Pistons would just keep on losing; it wasn’t in their DNA to beat the Pacers.

The war of words was in full swing, ratcheting up the tension to the max.

...

Before the game, Su Xi received a text from Scarlett. It read: "I’m three days late."

’Huh?’

Su Xi froze, then immediately called her. "But didn’t you say it was your safe period?"

"There’s no such thing as a ’safe period’ for this sort of thing. It just means we’re full of vitality," Scarlett replied, a hint of joy in her voice.

That night, Su Xi had told Catwoman to call him daddy.

But Catwoman had wrapped her legs around his waist and told Su Xi to call *her* mommy.

And then...

Su Xi lost control.

Who would’ve thought that less than two weeks later, he’d get this kind of news.

Su Xi was panicking.

He wasn’t ready.

"I’m coming to Indiana tomorrow morning," Scarlett told Su Xi. "You’re going with me to get a checkup."

’Tomorrow?’

After tonight’s game, the Pacers were supposed to travel to Detroit for another crucial game tomorrow.

"This is important for us, Jack. This is the fruit of our love. No matter how important the game is, you should take a day off," Scarlett said in a serious tone.

Su Xi nodded and agreed.

Then, he sat on the bench in a daze.

One moment he was fraught with worry, the next he was breaking into a smile.

It was a complicated feeling.

After a moment of adjustment, he decided to just let things be.

’It’ll probably be a beautiful baby girl.’

’She should take after me more. My features are more refined than Scarlett’s.’

...

The game began.

Conseco Fieldhouse was packed to the rafters. Across the country, viewers were glued to their TVs, watching the TNT broadcast of this summit clash in the East—what the Pistons were calling their "game of destiny."

The Pistons’ starting lineup was: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace.

While none of the five exuded star power individually, under Larry Brown’s coaching, they were an incredibly formidable fighting unit.

The Pacers had witnessed it in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.

The Pacers’ starting lineup was: Su Xi, Artest, Reggie Miller, Jermaine O’Neal, and Tony Battie.

Carlisle had made a last-minute adjustment, starting Reggie Miller and Tony Battie to add more shooting to the floor.

Jermaine O’Neal won the opening tip against Rasheed Wallace.

Su Xi brought the ball past half-court with Billups stepping up to guard him.

’For me, the Pistons’ defense is the best way to level up,’ Su Xi thought. ’Is there any team in the league with a tighter defense?’

But Su Xi didn’t play around.

This game held the hopes of the entire team; he couldn’t let the fans down.

So, with a quick change of direction, Su Xi drove hard to the inside, unleashing his formidable explosiveness, speed, and power all at once.

Billups was a strong physical defender with great court awareness.

But even though he anticipated Su Xi’s move, he was brushed aside after just one step. Su Xi charged to the rim, leaping up to meet Ben Wallace’s frantic block attempt with a powerful collision.

He stumbled slightly but still managed to put the ball in the basket.

A hard-charging, head-on attack to start the game.

Conseco Fieldhouse erupted, and chants of "MVP! MVP!" echoed through the arena.

But Su Xi was still a little unsatisfied. ’If my leaping ability were also at a superstar level,’ he thought, ’I would’ve just dunked it.’

’Ben Wallace isn’t even that tall.’