The Best Point Guard

He had been waiting for this day for far too long.

However, the unexpected arrived before the surprise he was hoping for.

Not long after the second half began, Ilgauskas suddenly stopped during a non-contact run, bent over, and clutched his ankle.

Cleveland quickly called a timeout. For giants, the biggest worries are their ankles and knees. They have enormous bodies, and their joints endure far more pressure than those of ordinary players.

Ilgauskas was helped off the court to rest.

Although he insisted it was just a minor twist, Mike Brown didn’t dare to be careless. He had the team doctor examine him immediately and then had him quickly helped out.

You have to be doubly, triply careful with giants.

This was how the Lakers treated Yao Ming now. Not only did they have Yao Ming lose weight to maintain his flexibility, but they also had him take strategic rests every so often. They rarely used Yao Ming in back-to-back games.

This was the difference between a team with a deep understanding of centers and one focused on short-term gains. The Lakers knew how to use their best assets at the most crucial times. Moreover, Kobe wasn’t comparable to certain other superstar perimeter players; he wouldn’t get jealous that Yao Ming got to rest a few more games than him, and he certainly wouldn’t claim it was a team he had to carry all by himself.

Ilgauskas heading to the bench was good news for the Knicks.

The Cavaliers replaced Ilgauskas with Gooden.

David Lee immediately rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He might not have been able to defend the 221-centimeter Ilgauskas, but Gooden? He could handle him.

At the same time, Su Xi moved to face James, taking on the task of defending LeBron James himself.

James’s first drive was stopped by the combined efforts of David Lee and Su Xi. James quickly passed the ball, but he telegraphed his intent too early. Su Xi read it perfectly. The instant James released the ball, Su Xi shot forward and slapped it, knocking the basketball off its trajectory.

Stephen Jackson was the first to get to the loose ball. He threw a long pass to Su Xi, who charged down the court with the ball. He drove into the paint and faked a layup, baiting James into jumping for the block.

But Su Xi easily dished the ball to a trailing David Lee, who caught it and threw down a flying dunk.

The Knicks completed the fast break.

Su Xi’s ability to seize opportunities remained unmatched.

The Cavaliers regrouped, but Su Xi was still matched up against James.

Su Xi’s pestering defense gave James a lot of trouble, even with the league’s new defensive rules.

Drew Gooden’s screens were nowhere near the quality of Ilgauskas’s; after all, their weight wasn’t in the same class. Plus, David Lee had the advantage of youth against Gooden.

As a result, the Cavaliers’ previously silky-smooth offense became stagnant.

The Cavaliers had no choice but to feed the ball directly to O’Neal and let him play one-on-one.

O’Neal’s one-on-one against Channing Frye was effective. He quickly created space with his body, but as he turned for the layup, Frye fell to the ground on contact.

The referee called an offensive foul on O’Neal.

O’Neal was extremely frustrated.

He couldn’t believe this noodle-like player had just gotten the better of him.

The Cavaliers came up empty on two straight offensive possessions.

The Knicks came back down the court, and Su Xi drove into the paint for an and-one.

The defensive foul was on O’Neal.

That was his fifth foul.

The Cleveland home crowd erupted in boos and curses, all directed at the referee.

But Su Xi calmly sank the free throw.

Mike Brown had no choice but to take O’Neal out of the game.

Losing his two great centers was like losing Jerusalem for James.

He had to lead the team to pick up the pace.

But when it came to run-and-gun basketball, the Knicks were the experts.

The third quarter ended quickly.

The Knicks went from being down by 5 to leading by 9.

Su Xi’s personal score also climbed to 51 points.

This disheartened James, and a gloomy atmosphere settled over the Cavaliers’ bench.

Before the game, they had all been talking about easily crushing the Knicks.

But the scene playing out before them was all too familiar; history had repeated itself time and time again.

On TV, Larry Brown spent half the quarter cursing out the referee.

At the same time, he kept saying how lucky the Knicks and Little Sheep Su Xi were.

He just refused to admit that the Knicks were the stronger team. He insisted that if the game were played "normally," the Knicks would have already surrendered.

His comment, however, reminded Reggie Miller of something. Miller said with a smile, "So, do you think the Cavaliers will surrender?"

"Why would the Cavaliers surrender? They’re only down by 9! They still have Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James, this is their home court! They have no reason to surrender! They should just finish off the Knicks!"

Larry Brown declared confidently.

But then, the buzzer sounded.

And the result left him stunned.

The Cavaliers put in their entire bench lineup.

The Knicks, on the other hand, were still ready for a fight, with Su Xi leading the starters back onto the court to continue the battle.

As soon as he was on the court, Su Xi hit a three-pointer.

The Cavaliers’ bench didn’t move an inch.

Su Xi then stole the ball from an opponent and scored on a layup.

Still, Mike Brown remained unfazed.

After Su Xi sank another and-one, the Cavaliers still showed no reaction.

Su Xi understood. The Cavaliers had surrendered.

By this point, the Knicks were already leading by 15 points.

Su Xi felt there was no need to play anymore, so he subbed himself out too.

Someone on the Cleveland bench breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t want Su Xi to break any scoring records tonight.

They didn’t want to be the team that let Su Xi set a new single-game scoring record.

What if Su Xi went on an unstoppable rampage, dropping seventy or eighty points, or even breaking Kobe’s single-game scoring record for an active player?

How humiliating would that be?

Besides, the Cavaliers had no guarantee of victory. O’Neal already had five fouls, and Ilgauskas was at the hospital. At this point, what was there to fight for?

’To help Su Xi become the top single-game scorer among active players?’

Historically, the Cavaliers had learned this lesson the hard way.

So, when James suggested they stop playing, Mike Brown agreed immediately.

’We’re not playing anymore?’ O’Neal, on the other hand, was a bit surprised.

But Mike Brown told him in a very firm tone, "Use this game to get some good rest. Let the Knicks have their moment. Let them be arrogant for a while. We’ve already achieved our strategic objective, which is proving they are no match for us. When the playoffs come, we can destroy them with confidence."

It seemed Mike Brown had been infected by some of LeBron James’s spirit.

But his words seemed to have convinced O’Neal.

O’Neal had suffered similar setbacks before, too.

Su Xi returned to the bench, and Isaiah Thomas asked him, "Jack, you were about to hit 60 points. With the hot hand you had tonight, you could have easily dropped another 20. You should have given them a humiliating loss."

?

It took a moment for Su Xi to realize. "Nah, forget it," he said. "Maybe next time."

Su Xi wasn’t the type to deliberately chase after things like that.

Perhaps that was also why James and the others had decided to give up.

Would they have dared to do the same thing if they were up against Ricky Davis?

BZZZT!

Garbage time always flies by.

In the end, the Knicks crushed the Cavaliers with a score of 137-115.

This result was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Only Reggie Miller gave a thumbs-up, praising Larry Brown effusively. "Larry, you truly are an expert among experts, a walking encyclopedia of the basketball world. You were spot on. You said the suspense would be gone after three quarters, and sure enough, the Cavaliers gave up right after the third quarter."

Larry Brown’s face turned red from Reggie Miller’s sharp, sarcastic remarks. He stammered for a moment before saying, "It was a strategic forfeit. Let the Knicks get complacent first, then deliver the fatal blow in a crucial game."

Reggie Miller laughed.

He didn’t argue with Larry Brown.

In any case, the laughter from the audience watching at home was intense.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Thomas was being interviewed by ESPN.

He was asked for his thoughts on the victory.

Isaiah Thomas answered nonchalantly, "My thoughts? This is normal, isn’t it? We always win these matchups, so there’s no surprise. The only thing worth mentioning is... it was really smart of them to give up after the third quarter. They knew Goat Su Xi had a ridiculously hot hand tonight, and they didn’t want Goat Su Xi to drop eighty or ninety points, so they initiated garbage time themselves. They knew Goat Su Xi is a decent man."

"But what they did was not very decent. After all, they were only down by 9 points. Who declares garbage time when you’re only down by 9 with a whole quarter left to play?"

Isaiah Thomas had a sharp tongue; he didn’t care about saving face for the Cavaliers and directly let the sarcastic comments fly.

The utmost mockery!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!