Su Xi watched, stunned, in front of his TV.

’Where was this before?’

’O’Neal, when did you get so humble?’

’And Kobe, you were on the phone with me constantly, even came all the way to Indiana to recruit me, saying stuff like you’d build a system with two leaders, that Los Angeles was big enough for two superstars.’

’The two of you split up and now you’re both being so polite. Why were you at each other’s throats when you were together?’

’What was the point?’

Su Xi thought, ’This must be what they call meeting the right person at the wrong time.’

...

The suspense between the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons carried over to a seventh game.

Because the Pistons won the sixth game.

The Pistons defeated the Miami Heat 77–71.

They used their vast experience to drag the Heat into a grinding half-court battle, and from there, it was a matter of course for them to secure the win. Wade was hounded by Prince from start to finish. Showing his youth, Wade only managed 10 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal on poor shooting.

Young players have their ups and downs.

The media said this was perfectly normal. They were very forgiving of Wade, calling it the growing pains of a young player, and everyone firmly believed Wade would play a crucial role in Game 7.

Su Xi watched, stunned. He asked Miller, "Since when did the basketball media get so sentimental? They’re actually coddling Wade."

"They’re just not so sentimental with you, brother," Miller said to Su Xi while sipping from a baby bottle.

Miller had recently gotten into health and wellness regimens.

He had decided to play for two more seasons, and his agent had already started negotiations with the team.

What he was drinking now was breast milk, which he had specially purchased.

After winning one championship, Miller now wanted a second. The reason he wanted to extend his contract was that he wanted a third and a fourth.

Given Miller’s legendary status in Indiana, the Pacers would pay him for as long as he wanted to play, and at a salary starting with the full mid-level exception.

Artest teased him: "You’re what they call an old rogue who refuses to die."

Miller was completely unfazed. He always believed he would play an important role in crucial games and didn’t feel old at all. He even kept emphasizing in the locker room, "After drinking breast milk, I feel like every cell in my body has been rejuvenated."

"Just think about what you’ve done, my dear Jack. When you step into the limelight, you have this ’I’m going to teach all the media here a lesson’ look on your face. It’s going to be hard to fix your relationship with them." Reggie Miller spread his hands, indicating the relationship between Su Xi and the media was beyond repair.

"It’s fine. I don’t care about that stuff," Su Xi shrugged.

"If I join the commentary world after I retire, I’ll put in a good word for you. Maybe I can change your public image," Miller added.

Su Xi laughed. "You joining the media? Wouldn’t that cause a bloodbath in the industry? What network would dare to hire you?"

"Who knows," Miller shrugged. "At least I won’t be any worse than my sister."

Miller’s sister was a sideline reporter for TNT, a real veteran.

"Phoenix or San Antonio, who’s going to win?" Su Xi asked Miller.

The two opponents for the Western Conference Finals had been decided: a showdown between the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs.

In Artest’s words, Su Xi was already thinking about the opponent after the next round. Once they made it out of the East, they had to be prepared in advance.

"Which team do you want to play?" Miller asked Su Xi.

"The Spurs," Su Xi said firmly. "The San Antonio Spurs are incredibly strong. If we can face them and beat them, that would be something worth bragging about for my entire career."

"What about the Suns? Wouldn’t beating the Phoenix Suns be an accomplishment? You bastard, you just snatched the regular season MVP from Steve Nash and now you’re not interested in them?"

"The Suns would be an easy matchup for us," Su Xi said, spreading his hands. "If the Phoenix Suns make it to the Finals, it’ll be too boring."

Miller shook his head, making the sign of the cross over his chest. "Then I’d better start praying for the Suns right now. I want an easy championship. I don’t want to go looking for a thrill like you, you madman. That shit isn’t thrilling at all. You’re like a mouse licking a cat’s..."

...

The seventh game between the Heat and the Pistons drew the attention of basketball fans around the world.

The hype for this game surpassed any other in this year’s playoffs. After all, most of the playoff series so far had been blowouts, with the Rockets-Mavericks series being the only one that was even slightly competitive.

But compared to the Game 7 showdown between the Heat and the Pistons, that was nothing more than the flicker of a firefly.

Su Xi sat in front of his TV and watched the game.

The game was incredibly intense. Both teams’ fighting spirit was exceptionally strong, and both came out giving one hundred percent.

Wade was unstoppable from the start, crazily driving into the paint and scoring the first basket against Ben Wallace’s defense with a do-or-die attitude.

At that moment, his entire body was knocked to the ground by Ben Wallace.

But even as he was losing his balance, he chose to throw up the shot instead of protecting himself.

He crashed heavily to the floor, and Su Xi could feel the pain even through the TV screen.

But Wade tenaciously picked himself up and walked to the free-throw line.

He was a new-generation player with backbone.

Su Xi admired him.

Even though his grades were terrible and he had a reading disability.

But that didn’t stop Su Xi from befriending him.

The Pistons, on the other hand, adopted a team-based offense. Their play was cohesive and methodical. It had to be said, Larry Brown really knew his stuff. If you gave him the right players, he could coach the details to perfection.

The two sides went back and forth, locked in a tight battle.

Even as a spectator, Su Xi could feel the tense, kill-or-be-killed atmosphere on the court.

After the first quarter, the score was 25-26.

Both teams were shooting at a high percentage.

For the Pistons, this was already a high-scoring game.

So, the ESPN commentator said, "This is bad. The Pistons might lose. If the Pistons can’t hold their opponent’s total score under 85 points, their probability of winning is very low."

Then in the second quarter, for the entire period, the Heat scored 16 points and the Pistons scored 15.

It was a classic case of "killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own."

But the ESPN experts said the Pistons’ probability of winning had now increased.

Watching these experts and their seemingly logical analysis on TV, Su Xi finally understood why they could sound so reasonable and yet so absurd at the same time.

Because the NBA has a massive database, and a lot of the time, they are just reading from the script of the data.

Of course, data is scientific.

But the fucking game isn’t entirely scientific.

A game is also a clash of hearts, a battle of wills, a random combination of various accidents... Even though all that eventually gets reflected in the data and is later corrected for in the massive database.

But data doesn’t explain everything.

Su Xi was a player who always defied ’existing data.’ He constantly deviated from the massive statistical models. In other words, he was always creating miracles, always proving the experts wrong... making their predictions fall flat.

’So how could our relationship possibly be any good?’

After the second half began, the Heat launched another fierce assault. O’Neal went all out, demolishing the Double Wallaces in the paint.

He scored 14 points and 6 rebounds in that quarter alone, an utterly dominant performance.

Keep in mind, the entire Pistons team only scored 19 points in the third quarter.

With that quarter, the Heat established a 7-point lead.

In such a slow-paced game, the Heat’s lead looked very promising.

However, the Miami Heat also planted a hidden danger for themselves.

O’Neal was subbed out with 1:35 left in the third quarter, saddled with 4 personal fouls.

That foul count was both safe and not so safe; it would play a very, very critical role in limiting O’Neal’s usage in the fourth quarter.

Stan Van Gundy’s eyebrows were furrowed high on his forehead right now.

Because... late in the fourth quarter, the Pistons would definitely "Hack-a-Shark."

So the Shark had to have a massive output in the first half of the quarter.

But if the Shark entered the game early and picked up his fifth foul, he would definitely have to be used conservatively.

Su Xi listened to the experts’ analysis on TV.

His eyebrow cocked, and he thought: ’You call that a problem?’

But soon enough, the experts’ prediction came true.

’I guess the experts aren’t completely useless after all.’

...