Chapter 264: Chapter 60: Who Says the Pacers Are Bound to Lose?

He liked this call.

Artest’s defense had been extremely aggressive all night, which led to foul trouble but also made life miserable for the Pistons’ perimeter players.

Now, with Artest, their perimeter defensive lockdown, fouled out, and Su Xi’s return still uncertain, two massive holes had been blown wide open in the Pacers’ once-solid perimeter defense.

Carlisle quickly subbed in Eric Williams to fill the gap.

However, on just his second possession on the court, Eric Williams lost track of Prince, who drained a three.

The Pistons led by 5.

There were 4 minutes and 18 seconds left in the game.

Due to the fast pace of the game, Su Xi’s stamina still hadn’t recovered enough for him to play at peak efficiency. But he had been asking Carlisle to put him in for the last two minutes.

Carlisle had initially refused.

But now, he had no choice but to tell Su Xi to get ready.

He wanted to give Su Xi one more possession to rest.

He instructed Kenny Anderson to slow the pace. Anderson brought the ball past half-court, where Billups swarmed him with aggressive pressure, practically throwing his entire body at him.

A younger Anderson might have blown past him with a single crossover.

But he was older now. Pressured by Billups, his only option was to quickly turn his back to protect the ball.

Just then, Prince saw his chance and darted over. He wrapped up Anderson, and just as Anderson was hugging the ball with both hands to call a timeout, Prince forcibly ripped it away.

The Pistons completed the double-team and steal. On the ensuing fast break, Billups shoved the off-balance Kenny Anderson to the ground and then stepped over him.

This drew a tidal wave of boos from Conseco Fieldhouse.

But the Pistons didn’t stop their two-man fast break. Billups assisted Prince in the frontcourt for a dunk!

SLAM!

Prince’s thunderous dunk fired up the Pistons players, and their entire bench erupted.

Their morale was sky-high.

A 7-point lead.

Only 3:59 left in the game.

The Pacers’ top defensive stopper, Ron Artest, had fouled out.

The Pacers’ top scorer and franchise cornerstone, Jermaine O’Neal, was playing timidly, shrinking from the fight.

This situation... no matter how you looked at it, a Pacers loss seemed inevitable. A defeat on their home court was imminent.

So, an incredibly hyped-up Rasheed Wallace let out a roar and shouted at Su Xi on the sideline, "You’re gonna lose, rookie! Don’t you fucking think you can do everything. You’re a joke!"

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs-up and then flipped it upside down.

Caught up in the heat of the moment, his actions were pure provocation, a sneer plastered across his scruffy-bearded face.

His actions drew a volley of furious curses and boos from the crowd; the people of Indiana were known for their hot tempers and for holding a grudge. The head referee quickly ran over and issued Rasheed Wallace a technical foul.

This made Rasheed Wallace immediately clutch his head and roar in disbelief, and Larry Brown rushed over to protest the call.

But the protest was futile.

"The Pacers only have one timeout left, and they’re completely on the back foot. Even with the free throws from this technical foul, their chances of winning are close to zero."

"I always say, the regular season record isn’t everything. The regular season and the playoffs are two different worlds. When we won the championship back in my Houston days, we weren’t the number one seed either."

"The playoffs are a superstar’s stage. The more critical the moment, the more you need a superstar to come to the rescue."

"If you were to ask Larry Bird right now who he’d rather have leading his team on a charge—Little Sheep Su Xi or LeBron James—I believe he would give you a very clear-cut answer."

"And that’s why, even though all those celebrity-obsessed fans trot out stats to argue that LeBron James shouldn’t be co-Rookie of the Year with Little Sheep Su Xi, the real experts still back LeBron James."

Kenny Smith rambled on eloquently during the timeout.

He was saying even more than Carlisle was on the bench.

Carlisle was talking to Su Xi. "No pressure. If we lose, it’s on me."

He was a very, very good coach.

But Su Xi’s expression was grim, radiating a murderous intensity.

BEEP!

The whistle blew, and the game resumed.

As Su Xi checked into the game, he glanced over at the Pistons’ bench. His eyes met Larry Brown’s. The Pistons coach gave him a confident smile and casually crossed his legs.

He didn’t believe the Pacers had any chance of a comeback.

Nor did he believe Su Xi could pull off any miracles.

’Miracles don’t exist in this world,’ Larry Brown thought. ’And if they do, then I, Larry Brown, am the one who snuffs them out.’

Su Xi took the ball from Reggie Miller, motioning that he would shoot the technical free throws.

Although Su Xi’s free-throw percentage wasn’t as high as Reggie Miller’s, Rasheed Wallace’s taunt had been directed at him. He had no reason to back down.

SWISH!

SWISH!

Su Xi sank both free throws, cutting the deficit to 5 points.

On the ensuing possession, Su Xi received the pass from Jermaine O’Neal at the top of the arc.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took a powerful stride and drove straight into the paint.

Prince couldn’t handle Su Xi’s powerful drive. For a guard, Su Xi’s strength could be described as immense; moreover, he was as fast as lightning and as fierce as fire. His speed, strength, and explosiveness had all reached the level of ’Super Talent,’ complemented by a flexibility that was a tier even higher.

Prince was already a step behind by the time Su Xi reached the free-throw line.

The Pistons’ defensive system excelled at pressuring the ball and disrupting passes.

They were more willing to let the ball-handler drive, because they had immense faith in their interior help defense. The Wallace Brothers were dominant in that regard.

Su Xi charged into the lane, a picture of fearless, valiant aggression.

Rasheed Wallace slid over quickly, but he was half a beat too slow; Su Xi was already driving past him.

Ben Wallace came flying over from the other side to help.

As Su Xi leaped, Ben Wallace leaped with him, attempting a final block. He wanted to swat Su Xi out of the air.

But in the instant Ben Wallace flew over, just as he was about to collide with Su Xi, Su Xi abruptly switched to a reverse layup in mid-air... His Coordination talent was just shy of the ’Super Talent’ level, but his maxed-out Flexibility played a crucial role. His body practically folded in half.

Furthermore, because he didn’t jump very high...

...it gave him more space and time to maneuver.

Ben Wallace flew right by, grasping at empty air.

As Su Xi straightened his body out, he tossed the ball up... it was an incredible, acrobatic finish... BANK! SWISH!

The ball kissed off the glass and went in.

Su Xi had scored 4 straight points since checking in, instantly cutting the deficit to 3.

That put them within a single possession.

Pistons head coach Larry Brown uncrossed his legs, but his expression remained calm and confident.

He had faith in the Pistons’ system. Besides, with Artest fouled out, the Pacers’ current lineup wasn’t strong enough to mount a serious challenge.

But just as Billups was about to bring the ball across half-court, disaster struck!

Billups, who had ferociously swarmed Kenny Anderson on the previous possession, now found himself facing an even more vicious assault.

Su Xi came at him like a sprinter, instantly wrapping him up.

Billups was a savvy veteran with a strong frame himself.

But Su Xi wasn’t playing fair.

He bumped him so hard that Billups staggered. Afraid of a backcourt violation, Billups quickly gathered the ball, just about to call a timeout.

Su Xi jammed his hands into Billups’s grasp and yanked outwards with brutal force. Billups was pulled forward, ball and all, and he screamed, "Foul! Foul!"

But the head referee didn’t blow the whistle.

With a second, vicious tug, Su Xi ripped the ball free as if pulling a turnip from the ground. Billups stumbled, almost falling over completely.

He looked even more pathetic than Kenny Anderson had on the previous possession.

On the sideline, Anderson clenched his fists, roaring with excitement the moment Su Xi ripped the ball away.

Su Xi raced into the frontcourt. He glanced back—no one was near him.

So he pulled up, shot... SWISH!

He drained the three.

Su Xi had gambled, and he had won.

It was a brazen move. He raised both hands, flashing the "three-point" goggles sign.

Conseco Fieldhouse erupted. It started with one person, but soon the entire arena was chanting: "MVP! MVP! MVP!"

It was a deafening roar like a tidal wave, the shouts of twenty thousand people forging an overwhelming surge of home-court momentum.

In just two possessions since checking in, Su Xi had scored 7 unanswered points to tie the game.

Larry Brown shot up from the bench. He paced the sideline, signaling for his players to maintain their composure.

He couldn’t let his team be the first to panic. He also had Rasheed Wallace drop back to help Billups, instructing them to make a quick pass if Su Xi made a move.

Although Larry Brown still projected an air of confidence, he had to admit Su Xi’s onslaught had thrown him for a loop.

’When did this kid develop such a ferocious scoring burst?’

’I have to shut him down.’