Chapter 281: Chapter 68: A Sweep Is Just a Routine

Facing Little O’Neal, who had once been his backup, Wallace still held a psychological advantage.

There’s a Chinese proverb: "When fortune smiles, the world is on your side; when luck runs out, even heroes are shackled."

Little O’Neal was indeed not good at playing from behind. When facing strong opponents, he would try to do too much, and his defense would suffer for it.

But now... they had the wind at their backs!

When playing with a lead, Little O’Neal was a god!

He not only held his ground against Wallace but also perfectly predicted the direction of his spin. As Wallace went up for a left-handed floater, Little O’Neal swatted at the ball... His fingertips altered its trajectory, sending it flying past the basket.

Foster secured the rebound.

He passed to Su Xi, who brought the ball past half-court. As he drove for a layup, Prince wrapped him up from behind, ball and all.

A foul.

Su Xi stepped to the free-throw line.

Just then, Little O’Neal, who was slowly walking over from the half-court line, suddenly said to Rashid Wallace, "How was I ever your backup?"

It wasn’t trash talk, but a question that came from the heart. For the first time, he felt that Rashid Wallace’s spin moves were completely ordinary.

Rashid Wallace’s post-up game could only be described as average. He leaned more toward being a stretch power forward, a man born in the wrong era. If he had entered the league 20 years later, he absolutely would have been a superstar.

At that moment, a poetic thought swelled in Little O’Neal’s heart: ’My little boat has already sailed past a thousand peaks.’

SWISH!

SWISH!

He sank both free throws.

The Pacers were off to a dream start.

No one expected the Pacers to dominate the Pistons like this. Even the most optimistic Indiana fans wouldn’t have dared to indulge in such a wild fantasy before the game.

But for Su Xi’s supporters, this was the ultimate vindication.

"All those people saying Jack can’t do this and Jack can’t do that need to wake up, otherwise they’re going to have a whole lot of asses to kiss in the future..."

Barkley declared triumphantly on TNT.

Kenny Smith was deflated.

Although he paid lip service to the idea that the game had just begun and the Pistons had plenty of opportunities to prove themselves.

But in reality, anyone with eyes could see the Pistons were shell-shocked and were inevitably falling apart. They might get a few chances to adjust during the game, but they weren’t going to gain the upper hand strategically.

Their current system was unable to contain Su Xi at the number 2 spot.

Larry Brown and his coaching staff had no answer for Su Xi’s off-ball movement, and they certainly hadn’t expected him to be so precise with his shooting tonight.

Su Xi was subbed out to rest six minutes into the first quarter, seemingly still struggling with his stamina issues.

But with Su Xi’s sudden offensive explosion, Larry Brown couldn’t be sure: ’Does Little Sheep Su Xi truly lack stamina, or is he deliberately hiding his strength?’

He was from China, and the whole world knew that the Chinese never laid all their cards on the table; they were masters of holding something in reserve. They would only unveil their deadliest weapon when it was a true life-or-death struggle.

Just like tonight, when everyone thought the Pacers were a spent force, Little Sheep Su Xi moved to the shooting guard spot. He then used his off-ball movement and precise three-pointers to completely shatter the Pistons’ home-court momentum.

After Su Xi left the court, Larry Brown organized his team to mount a comeback, starting on the defensive end.

It had some effect. The Pacers’ lead stopped growing as quickly, and the Pistons started to sink a few shots of their own.

But the Pacers were still riding a wave of momentum.

A sweep was right in front of them, and every player was fired up.

The Pistons players, on the other hand, were inevitably showing signs of a mental collapse.

In fact, a small portion of the crowd at The Palace of Auburn Hills had already begun to head for the exits, having arrived full of excitement only to leave in dejection.

The first quarter ended: 42-23.

The Pacers had scored more points in the first quarter than they had in some entire halves before, signifying a total collapse of the Pistons’ defensive system.

Then, the second quarter began.

Su Xi didn’t enter the game.

But Reggie Miller started sinking threes.

The Pistons still couldn’t cut into the lead.

Su Xi remained on the bench, resting for the entire quarter.

The halftime score was 69-45.

The Pacers’ lead had grown by another five points.

The game had completely lost its suspense.

Many home fans started leaving the arena during halftime, officially saying goodbye to their 2003-2004 season. If they left now, they could beat the traffic. If they waited until the game was over, they’d be stuck in traffic with a terrible mood to match.

From TNT’s aerial shots, you could see that the fans who had been gathered outside the arena were long gone, disappearing like wildebeest during a river crossing in Africa.

During the halftime show, Barkley prematurely congratulated the Pacers on their victory and on reaching the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.

This alone was enough to send the entire state of Indiana into a frenzy.

In his office, Larry Bird was already celebrating wildly, roaring with excitement and repeatedly slamming his hands on his desk.

No one could possibly be more ecstatic than he was at that moment.

He was a born-and-bred Indiana native. The biggest regret of his career was never bringing a championship to his home state. In college, he lost to Magic Johnson, failing to win a title for Indiana State University. Then, during his playing career, he became inextricably linked with Boston.

This season, his heart was in Indiana. He made a huge gamble, trading with Cleveland to acquire Su Xi, the final piece of his puzzle.

Now, they were about to conquer the East. They had entered the playoffs with the best regular-season record in franchise history and were now heading to the Finals with a perfect playoff run... three consecutive 4-0 sweeps.

Across the entire history of the league, only a legendary Lakers team had ever accomplished such a feat.

Bird was beyond ecstatic.

Meanwhile, the silence from Cleveland was deafening.

Their own team’s failure was hard enough to accept, but Su Xi’s success made their despair even deeper.

It led them to wonder: ’Did we really trade away the true Chosen One and keep a false one?’

LeBron James’s high-end plasma TV was smashed again.

It didn’t even make it to the end of the second quarter.

James was so furious that he took a quarterback’s stance and furiously hurled the remote control. It was now one with the television, embedded dead center in the screen.

Though the screen was dead, the speakers still blared with Barkley’s excited voice, making James even more irate.

He stormed off to the training facility. He had to get better. He was going to crush Su Xi in the new season.

He couldn’t wait for this season to be over, for it to end and be forgotten by everyone.

Then, the next season would be a fresh start.

He couldn’t stand seeing Su Xi adored by the masses.

Every time Su Xi made the headlines, someone would inevitably ask: Does Cleveland have any regrets?

’Regret my ass.’

’I’m the real Chosen One!’

...

The second half began, and it was no different from the first.

Su Xi came onto the court and immediately threw down a dunk.

He caught the ball beyond the three-point line, sent Prince flying with a slight shot fake, and then used his explosive first step to charge into the paint. He soared into the air... Both Wallaces were screened off by his teammates, allowing him to complete a powerful, if not particularly high-flying, tomahawk dunk.

Once Su Xi’s threat as an outside shooter was established, his drives and passes became even more deadly.

Magic Johnson’s "triple threat" philosophy is always effective.

The Pistons were completely breaking down.

The score gap continued to widen.

The Pistons’ emotions grew more and more volatile. They found it increasingly impossible to accept such a disgrace, a humiliation that felt like a bucket of shit being dumped over their heads.

Their fouls became increasingly flagrant.

A sore-loser mentality began to spread through the team.

With 1:19 left in the third quarter, Artest drove to the basket and was blatantly shoved aside by Rashid Wallace.

Cursing, Artest started to rush over and confront him.

Su Xi quickly pulled him back.

The referee called a flagrant foul on Rashid.

But Wallace didn’t seem to care, and he wasn’t taken out of the game.

After that, the fouls kept coming.

With victory out of reach, the Pistons began to commit fouls on the Pacers players simply to vent their frustration.

It seemed they were trying to save face this way.

Rick Carlisle made frequent substitutions in the fourth quarter. He was already thinking about the Finals and didn’t want any mishaps now that the game was decided.

He immediately subbed out Artest, keeping the calmer Reggie Miller and Su Xi on the court to see the game out. ^ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

^

[Resuming two updates a day starting tomorrow.]