The Best Point Guard

Chapter 397: Chapter 127: This Doesn’t Seem to Be an Epic Eastern Finals Showdown

Anticipation for the O’Neal and Wade duo soared to new heights.

At this time, people inevitably started comparing them to the Indiana Pacers.

All sorts of predictions began to surface.

Although the Heat had a lot of momentum, only forty percent of predictions favored them to win, while sixty percent believed the Pacers would come out of the East.

After all, the Pacers were the defending champions, and their strength had not diminished this season.

While the Heat were strong, with a superstar center and a superstar guard, it was still their first season together and they were just beginning to build chemistry.

"I didn’t lose to the Pacers in last season’s Finals because I couldn’t dominate the paint. I’m going to use this series to prove whose fault it really was that we lost."

Shaquille O’Neal was usually all laughs and jokes, but before heading to Indiana, he made a powerful statement.

He wanted to prove himself.

For him, this wasn’t just about this season’s record; it was also about who should bear the responsibility for last season’s Finals defeat. He wanted to use this series to put a definitive end to the Chapter with Kobe.

Kobe called Su Xi late at night. He and Su Xi talked for half an hour, with Kobe revealing all of O’Neal’s habits and weaknesses.

This information was somewhat useful, but not overly so.

O’Neal had been playing for so many years that everyone knew his weaknesses, but that didn’t stop him from dominating the paint... Everyone knew what moves he was going to use, but what could you do if you couldn’t stop them?

’That was the power of an all-time great: You know how I’m going to attack, and I know that you know how I’m going to attack, but I’m going to do it anyway, and you still can’t stop me.’

...

The day before the Miami Heat and the Pacers played in the Eastern Conference Finals, the San Antonio Spurs easily defeated the Phoenix Suns 97-91 at their home court in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Suns, who routinely scored over 110 points in the regular season, found their run-and-gun offense firing mostly blanks against the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs controlled the game from start to finish.

This game all but decided the winner of the West.

「The next evening at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.」

Conseco Fieldhouse was roaring, and the eyes of the entire basketball world were focused here.

This game was extraordinarily significant.

It would determine the sovereign of the East.

Before the game, Larry Bird had an intimate conversation with Pat Riley, who had personally come down to the court tonight. There was no tension between them; instead, they chatted enthusiastically, their conversation even tinged with excitement.

For them, it seemed there were things more worthy of discussion than the game itself.

TWEET!

The whistle blew.

The game began.

When Su Xi took the court, the arena erupted in unified chants of "MVP!"

The player in the league today most deserving of the MVP title was Su Xi, as he was the regular-season MVP and last year’s Finals MVP.

The Pacers’ starting five were: Su Xi, Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, and Jeff Foster.

The Miami Heat’s starting lineup was: Dwyane Wade, Damon Jones, Eddie Jones, Haslem, and Shaquille O’Neal.

Little O’Neal won the tip-off against Big O’Neal.

Su Xi brought the ball past half-court, with Wade defending him.

After a quick crossover, Su Xi aggressively drove inside.

Su Xi’s ability to penetrate and score was no worse than Wade’s.

But their styles of getting past defenders were slightly different.

Wade’s game was a combination of explosiveness, speed, and agility, plus top-tier ball-handling skills.

Su Xi’s was the same three, but with superhuman strength added to the mix.

Su Xi simply bulldozed past Wade, not using much finesse.

He charged to the basket at full speed. Haslem tried to block him, but Su Xi slipped right past his side, leaped, and slammed the ball into the hoop with one hand.

Simple and brutal.

This was the difference between the Pacers and the Pistons. The Pistons didn’t even have a perimeter player who could drive into the paint and create scoring opportunities.

On the other end, Su Xi was guarding Wade. Although the way fouls were being called this year had diminished Su Xi’s defensive prowess, with the rules favoring the offensive player...

...even without using his hands, Su Xi’s footwork allowed him to stay glued to his opponent.

Wade’s drives weren’t as unstoppable as they had been against the Pistons.

He passed the ball to Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal caught the ball and had just started to dribble. Before he could even back down Foster and finish with a hook shot, Stephen Jackson lunged at him, going for the steal. O’Neal was forced to quickly gather the ball and pass it back out to the perimeter.

Eddie Jones had just received the ball when Artest was already closing in on him.

He quickly passed it.

Before Damon Jones could even catch the pass, Little O’Neal slapped it away.

He threw it downcourt.

Wade and Su Xi broke into a hundred-meter dash down the court.

Their speeds were nearly identical, their explosiveness neck and neck.

But in the end, just as they reached the ball, Su Xi used his strength to shoulder Wade aside and, thanks to his slightly longer wingspan, secured control of the ball.

Su Xi continued his drive into the paint and was about to jump when Wade wrapped him up, stopping the play with a foul.

Su Xi went to the free-throw line.

SWISH!

SWISH!

He made both free throws.

4-0 to start the game.

At this point, people finally realized something.

"Why do I feel like Indiana is handling the Heat so easily?"

Charles Barkley said, "I originally thought this would be a clash of titans."

The implication was: the Pacers were just too strong.

But the Heat had just emerged from a grueling battle.

How were the Pacers making it look so easy?

The Pistons’ players and coaches watching on TV were also bewildered.

The game continued. Wade drove to the basket and missed the layup, but O’Neal grabbed the rebound and finished with a powerful dunk.

But the Pacers quickly answered back.

Su Xi passed to Little Ao, who absolutely schooled Haslem.

An easy bucket.

The Pacers’ starting five had elite-level talent at every position.

As for the Miami Heat, they only had an advantage at one position, and the overall talent level was uneven. The two Joneses were practically dead weight.

The game continued.

The Pacers controlled the tempo of the game the entire time, and the point differential slowly grew.

The Heat managed a few small runs, but after every one of their runs, the Pacers would immediately answer with a bigger one.

Su Xi was the one pulling the strings for the Pacers. He wasn’t putting up a flashy performance or making incredible superstar plays like O’Neal or Wade.

He just played a steady, solid game, patching things up here and there, and suddenly the Pacers were up by double digits.

Charles Barkley said, "Little Sheep Su Xi is playing like a perimeter version of Tim Duncan right now. His game is very fundamental. But no one can stop his initial move. Once he makes his move, the opponent is passively sucked into a meat grinder, and the Pacers’ elite soldiers capitalize on their openings and just beat them down."

This was a very fair assessment.

Su Xi was strong, but with the Pacers, he was even stronger.

Larry Bird mused on the sidelines: ’If Jack doesn’t want to leave, looking across the entire East, who could possibly challenge the Pacers?’

But now, Su Xi had been silent on the matter of his contract extension. He had even responded to the rumors about Megan Fox, but hadn’t said a word about re-signing.

Larry Bird had already guessed Su Xi’s intentions. The journey of the Pacers and Little Sheep Su Xi had come to an end.

Moreover, Su Xi would be a completely unrestricted free agent.

He could sign with any team he wanted.

Of course, by signing with the Pacers, he could theoretically earn a higher salary. Therefore, Larry Bird’s current plan was a sign-and-trade.

That way, it would be the best of both worlds.

He had just been discussing this with Pat Riley.

He was probing Pat Riley: ’That was a great pick with Wade. Is he on your untouchables list?’

Pat Riley, that wily old fox, replied, "Dwyane Wade is the pride of all of Miami. We all hope he becomes the guardian of the American Airlines Center Arena. You want him? It’s impossible. Unless you’re willing to trade Little Sheep Su Xi for him."

In the blink of an eye, the game was at halftime.

The Pacers entered the locker room with a 56-43 lead, up by 13 points.

This left the fans at Conseco Fieldhouse feeling very relaxed. During the halftime break, one fan told a TNT camera, "We overestimated the Miami Heat. I originally thought they would give us a lot of trouble. Their seven-game series with the Pistons misled us. Or maybe, the Pistons have just declined that much."

This comment successfully sent the fans in two different cities into a rage.