The Best Point Guard

Chapter 370: Chapter 113: If You Don’t Know How, I’ll Teach You

In the NBA, once you’re considered a top-tier offensive player, there’s no one in the league who can completely shut you down in single coverage. That kind of thing only happens once in a while.

CLANK!

James’s shot clanked off the rim.

Tony Battie grabbed the rebound.

He grabbed the rebound and held it up high.

Then, with a taunting expression, he yelled at the fans booing him from the sidelines, "This-is-for-you!"

This immediately provoked even louder boos.

Tony Battie wasn’t taking any crap from the Cavaliers fans.

He looked like he was there to stir up trouble.

Su Xi couldn’t help but shoot him a look, a silent warning: ’Don’t play with fire.’

’If you get taken out, we’ll have a hard time even scraping together a starting lineup.’

Battie always listened to Su Xi.

The Su Bao Protector. Providing close, warm, and reassuring protection.

Su Xi brought the ball into the frontcourt again. The disappointing part was... James didn’t come over to guard him.

This was where James was clever.

’As long as I adapt on the fly, nobody is getting clout at my damn expense.’

James never let things get to his head. He knew Su Xi’s on-ball offense was better than his right now, so he stopped testing him. He was well aware of how poor his own half-court offense was.

If he ended up on the wrong side of a comparison highlight reel, he’d have to spend a fortune on PR again.

It wasn’t necessary.

All that mattered was going all out for the win.

Su Xi went one-on-one against Eric Snow. Snow had more defensive experience than James, but his physical attributes were far inferior. Su Xi’s skills were still quite advanced, just lacking that sublime, pinpoint perfection of a Jordan or a Kobe. But it was more than enough to shake Snow... and even if he couldn’t shake him, he could just bump him out of the way or accelerate straight past him for a drive.

He had plenty of ways.

Anything James could do, Su Xi could do.

It was just that Su Xi didn’t have James’s massive frame and size, so his plays didn’t look as visually stunning.

Su Xi shook off Snow’s defense, and McGinnis rotated over to help. Su Xi passed the ball out, and Reggie Miller caught it and shot... CLANK!

A brick.

Just as Gooden was about to grab the rebound, Su Xi soared in, snatched the ball right over his head, and slammed it into the hoop.

Drew Gooden deliberately put on a show of being furious, acting like some innocent maiden who’d just been harassed for the first time.

The sense of humiliation and rage was portrayed to perfection.

His acting was good enough to teach a masterclass in Hollywood.

Su Xi couldn’t be bothered with him.

’Who doesn’t know your deal, Gooden? On defense, you get run through by practically everyone. Why pretend to be so pure? Is this the first time you’ve gotten dunked on off an offensive rebound?’

"Stop the acting. The collected footage of you getting posterized is longer than the time you and your wife... get it on... in an entire year."

Tony Battie was a straightforward guy, just telling Drew Gooden to tone it down.

’I know it ain’t easy hustling for that big contract in Cleveland, having to put on a show every night.’

’But we’re all shrewd old foxes, so don’t pull this tough, unyielding act in front of Su Bao’s protector. Be careful, or I might get overprotective and really knock you one.’

Drew Gooden was nothing if not adaptable. He immediately dropped the fierce glare and ran up the court.

A seamless transition.

James ran a pick-and-roll with Gooden. He drove into the paint, was met with a double-team, and kicked it out to Gooden, who hit the shot from the free-throw line.

After making the shot, he clenched his fist and let out a powerful roar.

His roar sent a wave of momentum through the entire Quicken Loans Arena.

"Can the Cavaliers ever be a functional team?" Tony Battie complained as he inbounded the ball to Su Xi. "Little King James is surrounded by a bunch of sycophants."

Su Xi caught the pass and instinctively pushed the pace.

He drove to the hoop, drew the double-team, and kicked it out to Tony Battie, who drained a jumper from the exact same spot.

Anything James could do.

Su Xi could do too.

The two were like two sides of the same coin.

It was a perfect stalemate.

The game continued.

The Cavaliers had begun to build a so-called "one-star, four-shooters" system, but Mike Brown wasn’t fully committed yet. He kept Snow, a defensive guard who wasn’t great at open shots, at the point, and McGinnis was also more of a secondary perimeter creator than a pure shooter.

Thanks to the Pacers being short-handed, and their players not yet having built good chemistry or a new tactical system...

As a result, the Cavaliers’ offense was highly efficient.

However, the Pacers were also efficient tonight, and they were playing at an increasingly fast pace.

The Cavaliers’ team defense had obvious vulnerabilities against a fast-paced attack, as they had to keep up while running with the giant Ilgauskas.

The Pacers often found themselves in a 5-on-4 advantage on the break.

Although James’s mobility made him an excellent transition defender, Su Xi knew him well. Su Xi was composed and savvy, always able to find the open man for the best opportunity.

Su Xi pushed the tempo faster and faster, and the Pacers’ pace became increasingly fierce.

At this point, it wasn’t just the coaches and players, but even the fans in the arena couldn’t help but wonder: ’Did the damn Pacers pick up the Phoenix Suns’ playbook or something?’

Su Xi’s offensive style was like lighting a fire under his teammates, getting them to charge wildly down the court and shoot quickly, almost as a conditioned reflex, without a second thought.

It was a shoot-first, ask-questions-later mentality.

It was a bit sloppy at first, but the Cavaliers fans could see the team rapidly developing its run-and-gun style right before their eyes.

They were stunned!

James’s playmaking had always been a point of pride for them. Basketball pundits praised him as a once-in-a-generation talent, saying he used his historic driving ability and superb court vision to elevate the game to a new level.

But now, Su Xi was playing an even more modern style, essentially updating Indiana’s offensive "menu" right here in Cleveland.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers led by 2 points.

At the end of the second quarter, the Pacers led by 3 points.

At the end of the third quarter, the Pacers led by 5 points.

Although the point differential wasn’t huge, in terms of momentum, the Pacers were completely dominating the Cavaliers. Su Xi was in his "ultimate" mode, and there was simply no stopping him.

Through the first three quarters, James had 21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.

A very well-rounded, absolute superstar stat line.

However, Su Xi had 15 points, 15 assists, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals through three quarters, leading the short-handed Pacers to a 5-point lead.

The Cleveland fans had been brainwashed into believing that Su Xi wasn’t capable of carrying a team on his own, that he couldn’t compare to James. They believed the only reason Su Xi won Finals MVP was because the Pacers were a much stronger team overall.

But after these first three quarters, their belief was shaken.

The lion’s stats spoke louder than the bear’s hype.

Su Xi was the lion; James was the black bear.

James returned to the bench and said to Mike Brown, "Coach, let me lead a unit in the fourth quarter and get into a shootout with them. There’s no need to slow it down. I can absolutely destroy him."

’Mike Brown was in a tough spot. He knew a slower, more controlled pace gave them a better chance to win than a shootout. But if he refused James, would it upset him? Would it make him think I believed Jack was better, especially since Jack and I used to be colleagues? LeBron was always so sensitive when it came to anything involving Jack.’

He hesitated for about five seconds before saying, "Of course, LeBron. You’re the most talented and capable young man I’ve ever seen. You can definitely do it better than anyone. In fact, I was planning on doing just that."

James was pleased.

Meanwhile, on the other bench.

Su Xi looked at his gasping teammates with a sense of helplessness.

There was nothing to be done. The Pacers’ bench was mostly composed of veterans, and they never imagined that Artest, Little Ao, and Jackson would all be suspended for two or three games at once. They were like temps who were suddenly made permanent overnight; their engines weren’t ready for the workload, but they were sent to the front lines for a firefight anyway.

And since they were playing at such a breakneck pace tonight, they were burning through their energy even faster.

Now, they truly didn’t have much left in the tank.

Reggie Miller said, completely out of breath, "Jack, I really can’t run anymore."

"Yeah."

Su Xi nodded.

He said, "Just leave the fourth quarter to me."

Carlisle asked in surprise, "You’ve already figured out the offense?"

Su Xi said, perfectly matter-of-factly, "Of course not."

"Uh... then..." Carlisle faltered. He thought, ’Then what the hell are you talking about? If we don’t win, it doesn’t matter how well we played to get here; the Cavaliers will have a field day with it.’

’Carlisle was suddenly filled with regret. ’I should have signed a few more players to short-term contracts over the past couple of days. Then we wouldn’t be in this position with no one available.’’

But when he looked at Su Xi, he saw that Su Xi, at least, looked completely confident.

...