The Best Point Guard

For Su Xi, dealing with him was like eating a piece of cake.

With Su Xi breaking through, his teammates in other positions also benefited, and their efficiency skyrocketed.

In the second quarter, the Cleveland Cavaliers slowed the pace of their disastrous defeat.

But they were still down by 19 points at the half.

During ESPN’s halftime show, the silence was deafening. Larry Brown and Mike Brin were nearly speechless, with only Reggie Miller shouting, "I’ve been saying it! I’ve been saying it all along, LeBron is no match for Goat Su Xi! Why does everyone assume the first pick should be better than the eighth pick? Physically, LeBron has a slight edge, but they’re basically in the same tier. But when it comes to skill, LeBron is lagging far, far behind."

"All of LeBron’s commercials and slogans talk about his huge improvements. And yes, he’s improved a lot. But what about compared to Jack? The media is always saying Jack wastes his time on women, that he has endless tabloid scandals. But... come on, man! Let’s be fair."

"Look at Jack’s evolution over the years, look at his achievements on offense, look at his ball-handling, his defense, his diverse scoring techniques. Now, what weaknesses do you think he has left? Oh, you’ll say he’s not as tall as Jordan. But is that his weakness? No, that’s a weakness for the players who are 6’8" and can’t guard him!"

Reggie Miller was just relentlessly laying into him; he was absolutely going wild.

It got to the point that ESPN cut to a commercial break early.

They have a great relationship with James—they’re even affectionately known as the "James Channel"—but now, a traitor had emerged on the James Channel.

Halftime was an agonizing ordeal for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had to figure out exactly why they were trailing by so much and what they should do next.

Mike Brown could figure out why they were behind, but he didn’t know what to do about it. What’s more, he had no idea how to voice his conclusions.

Because his conclusion was that LeBron James hadn’t shouldered his responsibilities as a leader. He hadn’t won his matchup against Su Xi—he hadn’t even managed a draw. He had been unilaterally crushed.

In contrast to the torment in the visiting team’s locker room, the home team’s locker room felt like a party. Zach Randolph was enthusiastically praising Jerome James, calling him the Knicks’ last warrior, a man of Sparta, a hero who would dare to fight lions and tigers with a sharp blade.

He even theatrically placed a beauty pageant crown on Jerome’s head and had Little Jerome present the "award."

Jerome and his son were both thrilled.

The emotional value was off the charts.

Of course, Tony Battie, Crawford, and the others also received praise. This team was never short on compliments.

Even Eddie Curry earned high praise for his timely towel-handing.

"My biggest worry right now is, what if the Cavaliers only last four games? My suspension won’t be over yet," Zach Randolph said with a hint of sorrow.

It was a happy problem to have.

Eddie Curry was even sadder, as his suspension was longer.

’We can’t just let the Knicks and the Cavaliers go to a Game 7, can we?’

’That would just make James proud, and his fans would go crazy praising him, saying he’s on the same level as Little Sheep Su Xi.’

So, the mere thought of such a suggestion disgusted him; he would never actually say it out loud.

Not a single Knicks player wanted to see James keep trying to leech off Jack’s fame.

BEEP!

The second half began, and the game continued.

The Cavaliers made almost no adjustments.

Because Mike Brown had no idea how to adjust. Was he really supposed to bench James? Just having him handle the ball less was already the boldest move Mike Brown could make.

He didn’t want to lose his job.

At the Knight Club, many things were decided by James’s word alone.

James attempted a three-pointer, as it was one of the few offensive moves Su Xi couldn’t completely shut down. James was taller, after all.

But... CLANG!

It missed.

Tony Battie grabbed the rebound and passed it to Su Xi. Su Xi pushed the ball up the court, ran a pick-and-roll with Jerome James, and quickly drove into the paint. He went straight at Drew Gooden, knocked him off balance, and passed the ball with his left hand to a trailing Ariza, who caught it and threw down a ferocious dunk.

This left James, who was trailing the play and looking for a block, with no opportunity to act, and he ended up losing his defensive position.

Su Xi always seemed to be one step ahead of James, always outside the scope of his predictions.

The game went on.

The suspense quickly evaporated.

Although the Cavaliers had played exceptionally well in the first two rounds, looking good on both offense and defense, tonight, they were playing no better than a lottery team.

Because James had been neutralized.

And the Cavaliers were a team built entirely around James. When James played poorly, the entire team followed suit.

"To be honest, James’s skill level isn’t even on par with last season’s Jack. The Pacers last season were also a one-man team with Jack, and you all saw how that turned out."

Reggie Miller was on TV speaking the hard truths again.

His hard truths were becoming more and more grating, and also more and more beautiful.

Grating to the ears of James’s supporters, but beautiful to the vast majority of fans.

At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks were up by 27 points.

In the fourth quarter, James suddenly exploded, leading his team on an 8-0 run with the help of the head referee.

But right after, Su Xi answered back in the exact same way.

Every move James had, Su Xi had too.

And every move James didn’t have, Su Xi still had.

Was there any suspense left in their matchup?

121-96.

That was the final score.

LeBron James had been dominant for most of the playoffs, and the press releases were already hyping him up as an unparalleled talent, comparable to Jordan, a force who could dominate an entire era.

But when he came up against Su Xi, even with the Knicks missing half their key players, they still easily blew him out.

All his previous accolades had become nothing more than stepping stones for Su Xi’s legend.

’To be honest, even I hadn’t expected the Cavaliers to be such an easy opponent,’ Su Xi thought.

’Turns out, to beat the Cavaliers, all you have to do is shut down James. You don’t even have to tie their hands and feet; they’ll do it themselves.’

Mike Brown didn’t dare make the right decision. He didn’t dare relegate James to a supporting role.

So, even though he knew they were going to lose, he just stood by and watched it happen.

He made almost no tactical adjustments in the second half.

He would definitely take the blame.

But he wouldn’t lose his job.

When you work for the King, you have to be prepared to be the scapegoat.

In fact, the ability to be a scapegoat was even more important than actual coaching ability.

After the game, Su Xi gave an interview.

Facing the ESPN cameras, he was very direct.

"Winning the first game is no big deal for us. We’ve been sweeping our opponents. That’s what the number one team in the league is supposed to do."

"I’m not going to comment on LeBron James’s skill; I don’t like to critique other people. I won’t comment on Cleveland’s strength either, and I’m not interested in their previous winning streak. We’re only focused on ourselves. As for how they’ll analyze their loss tonight, that’s their job."

"The absence of Zach Randolph, Eddie Curry, Jalen Rose, and Nate Robinson has left a big hole in our lineup. But it’s fine. We’re still the number one team in the league. Don’t forget, we were number one even before Zach joined us," Su Xi said with a laugh.

"What’s going to happen next? You should ask the Knicks fans. We’re all here to serve the fans."

"Winning the championship has always been our goal. I told everyone that on the first day of training camp this season, but unfortunately, nobody believed it."

"And now, I’ll say it again: our goal is the championship. As for whether you want to believe it or not... that’s up to you."

Su Xi spread his hands, a playful smirk on his face.

Successful people like him always enjoyed looking at this absurd media world with a mocking gaze.

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