Free Web NovelChapter 372: Chapter 114: Stopping at Nothing to Pad Stats
His attacks on the Pacers’ vulnerable paint became devastating.
The Pacers had lost their best small forward defender and their best help defender in the paint.
This was an opportunity the Cavaliers should have seized at the very start of the fourth quarter.
But they wasted five minutes on a fruitless offensive flurry.
Mike Brown had Ira Newbell help defend Su Xi. Under the double-team, Su Xi’s shot missed the mark. The towering Lithuanian, Ilgauskas, grabbed the rebound and passed it to James. Without a moment’s hesitation, James tore down the court.
Su Xi gave chase, catching up to James just outside the three-point line. But James made a bold move. He pulled up sharply from a meter behind the arc and, without a single teammate cutting to the basket, launched the shot.
It was an incredible gamble.
SWISH!
And it paid off.
He raised his hands high, soaking in the cheers from the Quicken Loans Arena crowd.
The shot sent his confidence soaring. ’God is on my side,’ he thought.
He became fearless. He started guarding Su Xi personally, demanding his teammates just stick to Su Xi’s "lackeys."
He projected an air of dominance rarely seen from him before.
Su Xi watched LeBron James. He crouched low, his incredibly long arms patting the ball back and forth. The basketball seemed to skim the floor, his dribble tight and intricate.
James spread his arms wide, his eyes fixed on the ball.
He had already said to Su Xi, "Come on. Let’s settle this. I know you want to take my place as the Chosen One, but as long as I’m here, you’ll never be more than a Pippen!"
He’d lowered his voice when he said it, not wanting anyone else to hear.
He even tried to disguise his mouth movements, lest the cameras catch him and the lip-readers figure it out.
This was typical of LeBron’s constant caution. He was extremely mindful of his public image.
Su Xi, by contrast, was the polar opposite.
After a couple of seemingly casual crossovers, Su Xi suddenly widened his dribble and lunged to his left with a massive stride.
James was forced to backpedal.
THUMP!
The instant James retreated, Su Xi stopped on a dime and executed a vicious crossover right in front of him—less than five centimeters away—with a sharp feint of his body.
Su Xi vanished from James’s line of sight.
He spun around to pursue, but just as he turned, Su Xi pulled up for a jump shot. James scrambled to contest but was a step too late.
SWISH!
It was good.
Su Xi drained it.
His offensive skills were on full display tonight. He was in the zone, performing at what felt like 120% of his actual ability.
’Okay, that one was a little lucky,’ Su Xi thought to himself.
"That move? It’ll take you three years to learn."
Su Xi looked at him. "Ever seen a ’Chosen One’ who doesn’t have a mid-range game?"
His tone was dripping with mockery and scorn.
The comment really got to James.
On the next possession, James answered with a pull-up jumper of his own. He charged like a bull, using his momentum to push Su Xi back before stopping and launching the shot.
His height and wingspan were far superior to Su Xi’s.
But his release was still a bit awkward and his form wasn’t exactly graceful. BANK! SWISH!
It banked in.
That sent James’s confidence through the roof. He was more convinced than ever that God was on his side.
So, he kept challenging Su Xi to one-on-one duels.
This time, Su Xi used a powerful drive. When James and Ilgauskas converged on him, he passed the ball to Foster for a dunk.
On the other end, James and Ilgauskas executed a similar play.
The two stars went back and forth, trading blows in an intense duel.
Neither could gain an edge.
James was having the time of his life.
With 1:01 left on the clock, he looked up at the scoreboard: 119-126.
The Cavaliers were still down by seven.
He had been playing like a beast for the last few minutes.
But on the other side, Su Xi hadn’t been sitting idle.
Not only had he matched him blow for blow, but he had also managed to put the game out of reach.
James was falling apart inside.
But the first thing he did when he got back to the bench was ask, "What are my stats?"
"45 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks."
A team manager told him, "That’s a new record for Cleveland. If you get a 45-point triple-double, you’ll be the first sophomore in league history to do it."
James’s mood brightened instantly.
’A 45-point triple-double... looking across all of NBA history, how many people have done that? And I’m not even twenty yet.’
He then asked, "And what about Little Sheep Su Xi’s stats?"
"41 points, 18 assists, 12 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block."
The manager glanced at the live stat sheet. "He’s already got a 40-point triple-double, a monster one at that. His assists are almost at 20. If he gets two more, it’ll be the first 40-20-10 triple-double in history. The guy’s numbers are insane."
The manager recalled Su Xi’s time with the Cavaliers. In his very first regular-season game, he had set an unprecedented record: a quadruple-double.
When it came to breaking statistical records, Su Xi was a monster.
James was conventionally dominant, but Su Xi was the kind of dominant that flipped the whole table over.
James’s good mood evaporated instantly.
’Why?’
’Why?’
’Why is this kid always targeting me? I’m about to set a historic record, and he just has to one-up me? When the hell did he pad so many assists and rebounds? And his scoring... how did it get so high without me even noticing?’
James couldn’t wrap his head around it.
His mind was reeling. Mike Brown called him over to draw up the final play.
BZZT!
The whistle blew, and the game resumed.
The Cavaliers inbounded the ball to James, and Su Xi moved to guard him.
James accelerated up the court. Ilgauskas came out to the perimeter. According to the play, he was supposed to set a screen for James to take a quick three-pointer.
But James ignored the play, put his head down, and drove past Ilgauskas toward the paint.
Su Xi got caught on the Ilgauskas screen for a moment. By the time he recovered to give chase, it was too late.
As James drove past the free-throw line, he suddenly threw the ball off the backboard. The moment it caromed off the glass, he accelerated, leaped, and was about to snatch the ball and slam it through the hoop... It all seemed to be happening in perfect sequence. The fans in Quicken Loans Arena were already preparing to erupt.
A single finger came up from below and tapped the ball at the perfect moment. The basketball’s trajectory changed, flying back up into the air. James’s surefire self-alley-oop was disrupted by a mere fraction of an inch.
James flew through the air, grabbing nothing.
The ball flew out of the paint. Su Xi leaped up and grabbed it. "Nice one, Reggie."
Su Xi said to Reggie Miller.
Reggie Miller had used his experience—and a strong middle finger—to ruin James’s self-alley-oop.
Mike Brown watched in anguish.
’Why didn’t he stick to the play?’
’Going for a three-pointer there was our only path to victory!’
’You’re feeling it, your shot is on, and you don’t take the three? You drive in for a dunk?’
’The team is down by seven, and instead of shooting a three, you go for a dunk?!’
Mike Brown couldn’t understand James’s decision.
Now, Su Xi controlled the tempo, running down the clock.
Mike Brown watched him weave back and forth, evading defenders. The clock quickly ticked down to 45 seconds. He had no choice but to yell, "Foul! Foul!"
A foul was the only way to stop the clock.
But in reality, it was already too late.
Just as a Cavaliers player lunged at him, Su Xi passed the ball away.
Reggie Miller caught the pass. He was wide open. He rose up for the shot... SWISH!
The three-pointer was good.
The lead stretched to ten points.
seconds left on the clock.
It was hopeless.
Mike Brown knew in his heart that James’s offensive choice on the last possession had been a devastating blow.
Snow quickly brought the ball past half-court. Without a moment’s hesitation—he’d originally looked to pass to James, but James was running into the paint—he made a split-second decision and pulled up for three... CLANG!
The ball clanked off the rim.
James jumped higher and earlier than anyone else for the rebound.
Unfortunately, the ball took a long bounce.
Tony Battie slapped the ball away.
Su Xi got the ball and threw a long outlet pass.
Derek Williams, running the fast break, caught the ball and fired off another three.
SWISH!
Good.
James watched the lead grow to 13 points with only 25 seconds left on the clock. He gritted his teeth in fury.
’I knew it! I knew it, Little Sheep Su Xi.’
’You were just trying to pad your stats for a 40-20-10 game!’
’Such a dishonorable victory!’
’I’m ashamed to even be on the same court as you!’
’You’ll do anything for stats.’
’To think that I, LeBron James, a man of integrity, am even mentioned in the same breath as you...!’
James’s gaze toward Su Xi was filled with a torrent of emotions.
