The Best Point Guard

Chapter 382: Chapter 119: [I Suddenly Thought of Something Funny]

A triple-team by three superstars.

A triumphant smile crept across Su Xi’s lips.

He was ecstatic.

He slipped into the circle of three defenders and stopped on a dime. He pump-faked a shot, drawing them in even tighter. Then, Su Xi found the perfect angle and launched the basketball through the wall of defense.

This was the pinnacle of his Super Spatial Sense talent.

The ball left his hands smoothly.

Su Xi couldn’t contain his grin.

His Super Offensive Talent was stirring within him.

CLANK!

As expected, the ball clanked off the rim.

Pierce charged under the basket. With Big and Little O’Neal boxing out their opponents, he leaped up and tipped the ball into the hoop.

An easy score.

"Three of you couldn’t even block my shot. You guys are too soft."

Su Xi couldn’t resist a bit of trash talk to provoke the three superstars.

"Did you fucking make the shot?" Garnett shot back, annoyed.

"Does it matter if it goes in? For super scorers like us, bricking shots is normal. Just getting the shot off is impressive enough," Su Xi said proudly.

Garnett gritted his teeth, infuriated by Su Xi’s shamelessness.

On the next play, Kobe took on Su Xi one-on-one.

Su Xi knew all of Kobe’s moves. The moment Kobe stuck out his ass, Su Xi knew what kind of shit he was about to pull.

But knowing what was coming and being able to stop it were two different things.

Countless people in the NBA had studied Kobe’s offensive game, but to this day, a true "Kobe Stopper" had yet to emerge.

Kobe drove to the basket, came to a screeching halt, and then hit a step-through jumper.

CLANK!

Kobe finally bricked a shot.

O’Neal grabbed the rebound and passed to Su Xi. "That’s all you, Jack. You’re the Kobe Stopper."

O’Neal loved giving out nicknames. He’d given himself a whole series of "Big" titles, he’d dubbed Wade "The Flash," and he’d named Pierce "The Truth"... Now he was calling Su Xi the "Kobe Stopper."

Su Xi couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

He brought the ball past half-court, settled at the top of the arc, and then directed his teammates to their positions, spreading the floor.

O’Neal knew this feeling all too well. He was already jockeying for rebound position.

Just as Su Xi had said, it felt like he was back with his old crew.

Su Xi was still playing one-on-one, still driving into Garnett’s defensive zone, still drawing an angry Tracy McGrady over to double-team him.

As for the three defenders, Kobe was itching to give Su Xi a little "parting gift."

Garnett and Tracy McGrady both had a bit of a personal grudge against Su Xi.

They defended him with a vengeance.

The harder they tried, the happier Su Xi became.

He even intentionally drove deep into the lion’s den... walking right into an ambush.

Then, he spun, twisting left and right as the trap tightened. Finally, he launched a ridiculously exaggerated fadeaway jumper... and got the ball airborne. Tracy McGrady and Garnett—two long-armed freaks—plus Kobe, the short-armed one, all went up for the block... but Su Xi still got the shot off.

If not for his Super Bird’s Super Spatial Sense talent, that shot would have been swatted into the stands.

"Little Sheep Su Xi has the balls to take a shot like that?" Wade was speechless on the bench. He turned to LeBron James, his face a mask of shock.

’Is there anyone in the entire ’03 class more audacious than Little Sheep Su Xi?’

James felt the same way, and a sense of smugness even crept into his heart. ’Go ahead, showboat! Keep playing like that. Sooner or later, you’ll throw away everything you’ve got.’

CLANK!

Another predictable brick.

Shaquille O’Neal pushed past Yao Ming and tipped the ball into the hoop.

A familiar feeling, an easy putback.

O’Neal was perfectly comfortable with this "back-at-the-old-job" style of play.

What made him even happier was Su Xi’s reaction. Su Xi beamed at him, his smile blindingly bright, and said, "Shaq, you’re unbelievable."

This was what O’Neal wanted.

’It’s the same stubborn solo act,’ O’Neal thought. ’Kobe, why the fuck can’t you be more like Little Sheep Su Xi? At least this kid knows to toss me a compliment.’

’You, on the other hand, you brick a shot and still act like you’re God’s gift to basketball, like your miss was a deliberate backboard pass, a charity case for me to clean up.’

’Look at this kid.’

O’Neal gave Su Xi a big thumbs-up and bellowed, "Jack, you’re one of a kind! Even your bricks are a thing of beauty!"

Su Xi laughed even louder.

Because just then, his Super Offensive Technique, which had been stagnant for a long time, had just ticked up a point, reaching 86.

His overall offensive ability had finally escaped the "middle-income trap" and entered the wealthy zone.

The improvement in his offense was the most direct boost to Su Xi’s overall strength.

Right now, Su Xi just wanted to take advantage of these superstars still being on the court to raise it by another point.

He was even a little annoyed. ’I should’ve gotten in the game earlier,’ he thought. ’Kobe, Garnett, Tracy McGrady, plus Duncan and Yao Ming in the paint... It’s usually so hard to play against any one of them, and now they’re all here in a package deal. I have to take this opportunity to really farm some bricks.’

With O’Neal’s putback, the two teams were tied.

Kobe took on Su Xi one-on-one, but after driving to the basket, he passed to Yao Ming, who easily made the layup.

After Yao Ming scored, Kobe yelled to him, "Great job, Yao! You really are the best center in the league!"

He yelled it so abruptly.

Even Yao Ming was startled. He gave an awkward laugh.

’Kobe’s just using me to piss off O’Neal,’ he thought, knowing it full well.

Duncan, who was standing nearby, had taken psychology in college. He understood Kobe and O’Neal’s current mentality all too well.

It was a classic case of unresolved bitterness after a breakup. Now that they’d reunited, both wanted to prove they were doing better without the other, even intentionally finding a replacement to spite their ex.

O’Neal found Su Xi, and Kobe found Yao Ming.

’Hmph!’

’What do they take us for?’

’A pawn in your little games?’

Duncan thought the two of them were childish.

But soon, on the next possession, Su Xi charged to the basket.

This audacious kid was now challenging a triple-team from Kobe, Garnett, and Duncan.

Duncan went all out.

Garnett was giving it every ounce of his strength.

Kobe just wanted to crush Su Xi.

But Su Xi slipped under Duncan’s arm, forcing up a shot from an awkward angle while trapped. The ball arched high... CLANK! It smacked the front of the rim and bounced high into the air.

O’Neal threw his body into the fray, mustering all his strength to bat the rebound out to the three-point line... Arenas caught it and shot... SWISH!

The three-pointer was good.

The East finally took the lead by one point.

146:145.

Only 1 minute and 1 second left in the game.

"Jack, even your bricks are a thing of beauty," Shaquille O’Neal gushed. "Given time, you’ll definitely become a super scorer like Jordan. You’re the real heir to Jordan’s throne!"

Duncan scratched the back of his head. He’d always prided himself on his professional discipline, on his ability to keep a straight face no matter how absurd the situation. But right now, he was about to break.

’O’Neal really has no filter.’

’Is there anything you won’t say to get a rise out of Kobe?’

"You’re right, Shaq. I’ve been studying the art of bricking shots."

But it was Su Xi who made Duncan snort with laughter. He had actually replied to O’Neal with a straight face.

One was audacious enough to make the outrageous claim, and the other was audacious enough to agree.

Duncan couldn’t hold it in.

Kobe’s face, however, was ashen. He even reminded Duncan to be more serious, as they were in a crucial stretch of the game.

Kobe played it smart.

If Phil Jackson were on the sidelines, he’d probably burst into tears. ’Where was this player all this time?’

Kobe had Duncan set a pick for him. He drove hard to the basket, drew the defense, and hit Duncan with a bounce pass. Duncan cut smoothly to the hoop and laid it in with his left hand.

A move worthy of a former champion swimmer; his layup in the paint was as graceful as a fish gliding through a pond.

Only 45 seconds left.

Neither side called a timeout.

Su Xi brought the ball past half-court and, once again, forced a one-on-one.

This time he drove right, bringing the "love" of Kobe and Garnett along with him, until he ran into Yao Ming.

He continued to fight for survival amidst the defenders, launching the ball from the chaos with an active and precise Super Spatial Sense. As the ball left his hands, his smile blossomed.

Because his Super Offensive Technique had improved from 86 to 87.

Su Xi was desperate to improve.

To think he could get off such a ridiculous shot.

The crowd was filled with boos.

But Su Xi didn’t care.

CLANK!

The ball bricked, and O’Neal leaped up to grab it and slam it through the hoop.

With 29 seconds left in the game, the East led by 1 point.

The West couldn’t hang on and were the first to call a timeout.

O’Neal held out his hand to high-five Su Xi, saying something guaranteed to make Kobe’s head explode: "Jack, if you were my teammate back in the day, we’d have at least six straight championships by now. And I’d have definitely let you have three of the Finals MVPs."

Ahem.

"No need to share, Shaq. Didn’t I just take the championship and the MVP from you guys last year?" Su Xi reminded him amicably.

Pfft.

Duncan laughed again.

Garnett looked at him.

"I just thought of something funny," Duncan explained.