The Best Point Guard

Su Xi was a bit outsized.

In that game, Antonio scored 48 points.

His touch was on fire.

However, thanks to Su Xi repeatedly taking on Andre Miller in isolation and hitting the clutch shots in the final moments, the Knicks kept their winning streak alive.

At this point, everyone was stunned.

Before the season started, everyone thought the Knicks’ winning streak was a fluke, but now they were playing better and better, showing more and more resilience.

Were they really going to keep this streak going?

Did they actually think they could break the franchise record with this roster?

Next, the Knicks arrived in Oakland to face their opponents, the Golden State Warriors.

Under the leadership of the "mad scientist" Old Nelson, the Warriors had completely transformed this season. They had ridden a style of all-out offense to sixth place in the West. Many believed the Warriors’ playstyle was very likely to put an end to the Knicks’ winning streak.

It was a classic case of unorthodox methods beating the master; it all came down to who was one step ahead.

But before the game started, Isaiah Thomas told the media, "We don’t plan on getting into a chaotic mess with them. We’re going to play with some strategy."

The Warriors’ starting lineup: Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, and Adonal Foyle.

Aside from Davis, their burly point guard, the lineup was full of lanky players.

On the Knicks’ side: Su Xi, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Tony Battie, and Eddie Curry.

The three perimeter players were all officially listed at 193 cm. As for their actual height... Su Xi, at 192.6 cm barefoot, was clearly a smidgen taller than the others.

The game began with the Warriors getting possession, and Baron Davis immediately took off running. After being cast off by New Orleans, the former "Hornet King" had become even more fearless, as if he had to prove he was still an All-Star.

But his first drive to the basket was swatted away from behind by Su Xi. In terms of height, wingspan, and strength, Baron Davis was completely outmatched. His athleticism was now in decline; he couldn’t even match Su Xi’s leaping ability, which used to be his specialty.

Su Xi ran a pick-and-roll with Tony Battie, then passed to Quentin, who shot from beyond the three-point line and drained it.

The Knicks started initiating their offense with the pick-and-roll, radiating out from Su Xi across the half-court.

But the Knicks’ strategy at this point was definitely not just a pick-and-roll offense.

Instead, it was a system that initiated with the pick-and-roll, finished with the Triangle Offense, and had a sprinkle of the Princeton offense mixed in.

If the pick-and-roll between Su Xi and Tony Battie didn’t create a good look, Su Xi would go into isolation, or pass to Eddie Curry for an iso, or hand it off to Crawford, who would be roaming the weak side, for an iso. Sometimes Crawford would even cut along the baseline, while Quentin constantly ran back and forth along the three-point line.

After this period of drilling and practice, the areas where each player excelled and the chemistry they had built together began to emerge.

The best of the best plays were selected and solidified into their set offense.

No one had expected the Knicks to be able to build a tactical system while simultaneously winning games.

In contrast, the Golden State Warriors were a bit lacking. They had the system first and were now trying to build chemistry around it.

Sometimes, this inevitably led to situations where they were forcing a square peg into a round hole.

The two teams went back and forth.

The first half was a lively affair.

With both sides playing minimal defense, the first-half score of 78-77 set a new season record.

The TV commentators were calling it unbelievable.

This was, after all, still a very conservative era in basketball. If it were the San Antonio Spurs and the Pistons playing, that would have been the final score for the entire game.

After the game moved into the second half, Su Xi clamped down on Davis even more tightly, which brought the Warriors’ offense to a standstill for a time.

The Knicks, meanwhile, played a steady and calculated game—in Isaiah Thomas’s words, they "played with some strategy."

In the end, the Knicks won with a final score of 135-128.

After the game, Old Nelson personally came over to shake Su Xi’s hand. He said to him, "If you came to our team, we’d win the championship outright. You’re wasting your talent on the Knicks."

Su Xi just smiled and complimented Old Nelson on his great haircut.

After a brief chat, the Knicks headed to their next stop: Sacramento.

The Kings were in a slump. Adelman was still stubbornly clinging to his Princeton offense, and Chris Webber had been traded to Philadelphia and was now as round as a ball.

The Kings were the opponent for Su Xi’s first-ever regular-season game. He had gotten off to an unprecedented start in that match, getting a super quadruple-double and leading the team to victory while James was injured.

Because of that, Su Xi had a soft spot for the Kings.

He played for two quarters and then sat out, because there was no point. The Kings had already fallen apart; they couldn’t stop the Knicks. Even without Su Xi on the court, they were helpless.

Adelman was a so-called "famous coach" in name only; his Princeton offense was nothing to write home about. It wasn’t he who made the Kings great, but that group of Kings players who made him famous.

The Knicks secured an effortless victory. Next, they would head to Phoenix for a true run-and-gun showdown.

Currently, almost all basketball commentators were saying the Knicks played a run-and-gun style and were the best fast-break team in the East.

And the Phoenix Suns were the best run-and-gun team in the league.

The two teams had faced each other once before, and the Knicks had won by a fluke. But now, the Phoenix Suns were hitting their stride.

Everyone favored the Suns to win.

This was because the Knicks hadn’t faced any truly strong teams along the way. Most of their opponents had been bottom-feeders, giving the Knicks the opportunity to build their streak.

"The Knicks’ winning streak will end in Phoenix. The Suns will kill the Knicks with true run-and-gun basketball."

ESPN eagerly published their latest prediction.

Furthermore, their current lead analyst, Larry Brown, also forcefully declared, "In reality, the Knicks are carried by Su Xi’s individual talent. They might look like they’ve established some set plays, but compared to the Suns, they are miles apart."

"Phoenix’s roster is more well-rounded than the Knicks’. While neither team plays defense, the Suns are slightly better in that regard. I’m backing the Suns to win."

At this moment, it felt like the entire league was gunning for the Knicks.

Everyone felt the Knicks didn’t deserve so many wins, and everyone thought they were the ones who could beat the Knicks and end their streak.

When this sentiment reached Phoenix, it became especially heated.

The fans there, in particular, were still extremely unhappy about last season’s regular-season MVP results.

The day Su Xi arrived in Phoenix, he saw a news report on TV that made him fume: "Little Sheep Su Xi is a thief. He stole the regular-season MVP from Steve Nash."

Su Xi couldn’t stand it.

’They’re calling me a thief? I fucking won that MVP fair and square. How the hell was Nash more deserving of the regular-season MVP than me? My stats were better than his, and my team’s record was better than his. I even won the championship in the playoffs. How is it that he’s the one who "should have" won the regular-season MVP?’

"Jack, we have to take down the Suns."

That evening, Isaiah Thomas also went to Su Xi’s room. "I’ve already been bragging all over the place," he said. "I told everyone I was going to lead this team to the longest winning streak in New York Knicks history."

Su Xi couldn’t help but ask, "What is the Knicks’ franchise record for the longest winning streak?"

"Eighteen consecutive wins, way back in ’69," Isaiah Thomas said. "The Knicks won the championship that season."

"We’re still a few games away."

"Two more to tie," the Smiling Assassin said.

"That shouldn’t be a problem," Su Xi replied.

With Su Xi’s assurance, Isaiah Thomas felt confident.

But he still reminded him in a low voice, "The Suns are still very strong. Their run-and-gun system is already very mature."

"We’re not going to play run-and-gun with them. We’ll play a little tactical game with them," Su Xi said.

"A tactical game?" The words hit Isaiah Thomas like a boomerang. He thought to himself, ’Do we really have tactics?’

As the head coach, he had no confidence in that at all.

Lately, his work had been focused on something else entirely: trading away Antonio Davis.

Antonio Davis had become a bad apple on the Knicks, always exuding an air of negativity around the team.

He still had some trade value because his multi-million dollar contract was about to expire. Teams hoping to free up cap space were flocking to him, especially since he could still play a bit.

It was just that... they wouldn’t get any good players in return for him.

Thomas had a bit of a headache.