Chapter 267: Chapter 62: [The Pistons’ Smug Calculation]

Rashid Wallace was suspended. It wasn’t because of an additional penalty; he had triggered the league’s automatic suspension rule.

In the NBA, accumulating seven technical fouls during the playoffs results in an automatic one-game suspension. During the regular season, the threshold is sixteen.

This was the price Rashid Wallace paid for his fiery temper. Larry Brown and the Pistons’ management lambasted the league, with Joe Dumars even firing a direct shot at the top brass: "This is blatant favoritism toward the Pacers." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Furthermore, they filed an appeal over the officiating in the final moments of Game 1.

Of course, the appeal was denied.

...

Su Xi, Carlos Boozer, and Jason Kapono had a pleasant day together. Su Xi drove them around to see the sights in Indiana, and they were frequently recognized by the locals. Many Pacers fans gave Su Xi a thumbs-up, praising his incredible performance on Friday night.

The fans see the truth. Pundits can only sway those who just look at the box score. Statistics can be very misleading... even though Su Xi’s numbers were excellent.

But any fan who actually watched the game knew just how astonishingly dominant Su Xi was in the final moments on Friday night.

The stats couldn’t capture that killer instinct, that bravado of a lone warrior penetrating deep behind enemy lines to deliver the fatal blow.

Carlos Boozer and Jason Kapono were also welcomed by Pacers fans; some even invited them to join the team.

Ah Ka and Ah Bu gladly accepted the invitations, though of course... they knew it was impossible.

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals arrived on Monday night.

Before that, the Los Angeles Lakers and their ’Fab Four’ lineup had secured a road victory in Minnesota. O’Neal established a devastating dominance in the paint. His colossal stat line of 32 points and 24 rebounds made life miserable for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the key, silencing any rumors that O’Neal was past his prime.

O’Neal’s powerful performance also turned everyone’s attention to the East: between the Pacers and the Pistons, who could possibly stand up to Shaquille O’Neal?

The Pistons had the Wallace Brothers, who looked like they could at least limit him to some extent.

The Pacers, on the other hand, had stockpiled a number of big-bodied centers. These guys weren’t very useful in most situations, but everyone knew that if the team made it to the Finals, they would be immediately thrown into the fray.

And whether it was the media or the fans, the general consensus was that if the Lakers reached the Finals, they would be unstoppable against any team from the East. Both the Pistons and the Pacers were expected to fall before their seemingly invincible offensive firepower.

In a way, when looking at the grand scheme of the entire league, the Eastern Conference matchup seemed less important. The Lakers winning the championship felt like a foregone conclusion.

Otherwise, wouldn’t Carl Malone and Gary Payton have teamed up for nothing?

...

On Monday night, the Pistons deployed a new lineup. The Turk, Melt Oku, joined the starting five, forming a new ’Twin Towers’ with Ben Wallace.

Rashid Wallace sat on the sidelines in baggy jeans and a T-shirt several sizes too large, looking like a menacing bodyguard.

He was seen as having been humiliated by Su Xi last Friday. Su Xi had essentially stepped over him to claim victory. His taunt before the Pacers’ final timeout was described by netizens as "the key that unlocked Little Sheep Su Xi’s bloodlust." He clearly didn’t want to be that kind of trigger.

Some Pacers fans even sarcastically claimed he should be awarded the MVP for the previous game.

Of course, others felt he should get a preemptive MVP award for tonight’s game as well.

Rashid Wallace being on the bench was a massive strategic loss for the Pistons. They were forced to deal with a crucial missing piece in their frontcourt.

This greatly unleashed Little O’Neal’s offensive prowess. On the Pacers’ first possession, Little O’Neal faced Oko with the ball. He used a beautiful pump fake to get Oko off his feet, then spun baseline, drove into the paint, and slammed the ball through the hoop with his left hand.

At that moment, Su Xi knew. ’Tonight’s in the bag.’

And as it turned out, he was right. Little O’Neal was a supremely talented superstar power forward. No one could deny that he had long since surpassed other All-Star forwards like Chris Webber, Nowitzki, and Rashid Wallace to become the third-best power forward in the league.

He possessed a rich and nuanced offensive skillset. As long as he wasn’t facing an extremely high-intensity defense, he could efficiently put up a stat line of 20+ points, 10+ rebounds, 4+ assists, and 2+ blocks per game.

Oko clearly couldn’t provide that level of intense defense. And if Ben Wallace focused his defensive attention on Little O’Neal, Su Xi would slice in from the top of the arc like a bolt of lightning.

And tonight, Artest had finally emerged from the controversy of his domestic abuse incident—at the hands of his wife. His mindset was calm, which was evident from the two consecutive three-pointers he drained in the first quarter.

Consequently, Su Xi played for five minutes in the first quarter before returning to the bench to rest. He didn’t check back in until there were four minutes left in the second quarter.

The Pacers maintained their lead the entire time.

When Su Xi returned, he widened the lead even further, and the Pistons’ defense was challenged on all fronts.

Larry Brown wracked his brain but couldn’t find an answer, resorting to plugging one leak by creating another. Soon, both defensive walls came crumbling down.

By the fourth quarter, the game’s outcome was no longer in doubt.

The Pistons held on until the seventh minute of the quarter, when Larry Brown subbed in Milicic.

When discussing the elite players of the 2003 rookie class, Milicic was rarely mentioned. He wasn’t even selected for the All-Star Rookie Challenge. The young European center couldn’t even crack the Pistons’ basic rotation.