The Best Point Guard

Pat Riley was on the bench, firing up his team. He encouraged his players and shouted motivation at Wade, praising him as the best guard of the new era. He was convinced Wade could shut Su Xi down.

At the same time, he was also stoking O’Neal’s competitive fire.

At a time like this, even the best coaches had only one thing left to do: get their superstars fired up.

Tactics, on the other hand, became secondary.

Gary Payton sat nearby, his mind somewhat detached. He didn’t seem very interested in what was happening before him; his thoughts were drifting. He felt this scene was incredibly familiar.

Déjà vu.

That’s right, it was just like the Finals against the Pacers back in the day. The coaching staff had cheered on O’Neal and Kobe in the exact same way, hoping they would unleash their true dominance.

However, that series had destroyed Gary Payton’s dream of a championship.

Now, after all this time, he was witnessing the same scene all over again.

An inexplicable sadness washed over him. ’Don’t tell me I’m going to be eliminated even earlier this time?’

Unlike the other Heat Team players, he was a pessimist.

If these ambitious young guys on the Heat Team had experienced as many failures as he had, they’d probably be just as pessimistic.

He was here to ride a superstar’s coattails to victory.

But he was starting to think he had backed the wrong one.

Although it was unfair to Miami to be thinking such things now, it was like a woman fantasizing about Su Xi while in bed with ’Miami’. This wasn’t unheard of in the United States; Su Xi was the dream lover of women across the nation. Many would close their eyes and imagine it was Little Sheep Su Xi swooping in.

Gary Payton was on good terms with Su Xi; after all, he was the one who taught Su Xi how to play defense.

He thought, ’If I get eliminated by Su Xi again this season, I’m definitely going to ride his coattails next season.’

’These other superstars are useless.’

BWEEET!

The whistle blew, and the game resumed.

"Gary, let’s go!"

Pat Riley held out his hand and gave Gary Payton a hard high-five. He encouraged Payton to double-team Su Xi aggressively, not to let him get into a rhythm and score easily.

Gary Payton was jolted. No matter what, he had to give it his all right now.

The game continued.

The Heat Team sent out: Payton, Wade, Posey, Haslem, and Moning.

They were still letting O’Neal rest for a little longer.

The Knicks’ lineup was: Su Xi, Crawford, Ariza, David Lee, and Zach Randolph.

The Knicks had guessed the Heat wouldn’t bring O’Neal back in so quickly, so they planned to launch a wave of fast breaks.

The whistle blew, and Su Xi swiftly dribbled the ball up the court.

Upon reaching the frontcourt, as Gary Payton came up to defend, Su Xi went right at him, cutting in from the top of the arc.

Su Xi knew Payton’s defense like the back of his hand, as if he were looking in a mirror.

And so, with one sharp burst of speed, he completely left Payton in the dust. Payton was powerless to stop him.

Under the new rules, his pestering, hands-on defense was no longer effective, especially against someone like Su Xi.

Su Xi drove into the paint. The iron-willed Moning quickly slid over, planted his feet, and prepared to draw a charging foul.

But Su Xi leaped up, executed a perfect reverse layup in mid-air, gliding past Moning and easily laying the ball into the basket.

As for Haslem trailing behind, he couldn’t even graze Su Xi’s palm. What a joke, thinking he could bait Su Xi for a chase-down block?

Su Xi showed intense aggression from the get-go. Afterward, he switched his focus to keeping up with Wade.

Wade’s offense was extremely aggressive, and he had a rich arsenal of scoring moves.

He attacked from the wing, using a screen from Haslem to quickly drive into the paint and draw a defensive foul on David Lee.

It was David Lee’s first time playing in such a high-intensity playoff game, and he was still very nervous.

Su Xi patted the back of his head and told him, "Good play. Don’t be afraid of the contact."

This was a huge encouragement for David Lee.

Su Xi didn’t just encourage him with words. Back on offense, he ran a pick-and-roll with David Lee, then passed him the ball for an assist on a jump shot from the free-throw line.

It was an effective way to boost his confidence and help David Lee quickly adapt to the playoffs.

After that, the Heat still had Wade leading the charge.

The Knicks, on the other hand, focused on a fast-paced attack.

Su Xi wasn’t trying to do everything himself; he got his teammates involved.

Neither team’s shooting percentage was particularly high.

Isaiah Thomas shouted from the sideline, "Jack! Finish them! Finish them!"

He was urging Su Xi to forget his teammates and go one-on-one, just like Wade.

After all, Su Xi’s performance in the third quarter had been spectacular.

But Su Xi didn’t do it, because he felt that everything was still under his control.

Five minutes into the fourth quarter, Miami subbed in O’Neal, shifting into their strongest form.

The Knicks didn’t immediately follow suit with a lineup change, sticking with the same five players.

With Shaquille O’Neal on the court, the Heat Team fed him the ball.

He posted up on Randolph.

Everyone in Miami thought O’Neal would have no problem dominating Randolph. Randolph wasn’t known for his defense, and while he was big, he wasn’t particularly tall and had a short neck.

O’Neal should be able to overpower him cleanly and decisively.

But the moment O’Neal backed into Randolph, the words that came out of Randolph’s mouth made O’Neal’s skin crawl.

"Hey, Shaq, I like how meaty you feel. I just love playing with a behemoth like you. Right now we’re playing with our backs to each other, but maybe one day we should go to the bathhouse and whip ’em out face-to-face! Swing it around! Bro!"

Randolph sounded cheerful.

O’Neal, however, had his inner demons.

He backed Randolph down, took a step and a half, and was in position for a smooth turnaround layup.