The Best Point Guard

What’s a dominant player? It’s someone on the court who cannot be stopped by any defense.

Can Jordan be stopped?

Can Bird be stopped?

Can Magic be stopped?

Can O’Neal be stopped?

Now, can Su Xi be stopped?

If anyone asked Stephon Marbury, he would definitely say: "Fuck you. You think you can do better? Get out there yourself."

The entire Madison Square Garden Arena was a roaring cauldron, boiling over with noise.

And along the sidelines, voices mocking and cursing Marbury were everywhere.

Marbury felt like he was about to boil over himself.

His emotions were running high.

If Marbury were a gambler, he’d be the type to be cautious and extremely conservative when winning. But once he started losing, he’d throw caution to the wind, his eyes would go red, and he’d bet the house to chase his losses.

This type of gambler is the most likely to lose everything.

The Pacers inbounded the ball again.

Stephon Marbury brought the ball past half-court, surrounded by a storm of boos and a chorus of curses.

Marbury was trying to control his breathing.

Seeing how miserable he was, Su Xi surprisingly felt some empathy and didn’t try to mess with his head.

But Marbury was the kind of guy who didn’t need anyone else to mess with his head; he’d get tilted all on his own.

Just as the Pacers started to run a play, he suddenly drove inside, then abruptly pulled up for a jump shot... Su Xi was stunned. He knew the Pacers’ opening sets very well and was busy directing his teammates’ defensive positions.

Who knew Marbury would go off-script, acting decisively, and crisply knocking down a pull-up jumper... SWISH!

He actually made it.

Making the shot wasn’t the main thing; after scoring, he actually bowed to the crowd.

Wasn’t that a taunt?

The Knicks fans’ anger flared instantly. The boos and curses grew even more frantic, turning the entire arena into a giant barrel of negative energy, ready to explode at any moment.

The security guards on the sidelines grew especially tense, afraid some red-faced, thick-necked fan would get emotional and rush the court to punch Marbury.

To be honest, the security guards themselves wanted to rush in and punch Marbury. The guy was just that provocative.

Who do you think you are, Reggie Miller?

Su Xi watched Marbury, his eyebrows raised high. He wasn’t quite sure why Marbury was doing this.

But now, all the pressure was on him.

When Su Xi got the ball again, the entire arena erupted in a unified chant of "Kill Marbury! Kill Marbury!"

Even Crawford, who was inbounding the ball to Su Xi, reminded him, "Get him back for us, Jack."

Nobody loves Marbury, huh.

What on earth had Marbury done to become so universally hated?

Su Xi brought the ball past half-court. He had no choice but to keep taking on Marbury one-on-one. He used a quick drive into a sudden stop, then turned sideways and bumped Marbury. As Marbury stumbled back, Su Xi, as if his feet were greased, quickly executed a slashing move to the basket. He attacked the paint again, and Little O’Neal collapsed the defense.

Su Xi pulled up for a floater... SWISH!

It’s good.

On the other end, Su Xi decided to just lock down Marbury and ignore everything else.

Marbury was truly stubborn. Even with Su Xi focusing all his defensive attention on him, he still dared to drive, and he even refused a screen.

He drove inside the three-point line, quickly getting to his sweet spot. He was very good at the mid-range pull-up jumper.

But this time, Su Xi stuck to him like glue. He tried to spin a few times but couldn’t shake him. Su Xi originally thought he would pass, as Artest and Jackson had already moved to the right spots.

But the guy insisted on breaking from the play, even attempting a turnaround jumper... SMACK!

Su Xi’s hand sent the basketball humming through the air.

The ball was swatted far out of bounds.

The whole arena erupted, the cheers like a nuclear explosion, the energy was staggering.

"You can’t play like this."

Su Xi couldn’t help but advise Marbury.

He genuinely didn’t want Marbury to stubbornly go his own way and break the hearts of his Pacers teammates. The Pacers had worked so hard to achieve what they had, and he didn’t want it all to crumble because Marbury couldn’t earn his teammates’ trust.

Su Xi felt more for the Pacers than Marbury did.

After all, the Pacers were the result of his blood, sweat, and tears.

But Marbury was already tilted; he couldn’t think straight.

He even shot Su Xi a glare, thinking Su Xi was taunting him.

So Su Xi couldn’t be bothered with him anymore.

Stephen Jackson inbounded the ball directly to Little O’Neal. Little O’Neal set a screen for Artest, handed the ball off, and Artest took the jumper... SWISH!

It’s good.

That was the foundation of a two-time champion.

The Knicks’ defense wasn’t yet good enough to shut down their chemistry.

After Artest’s basket, the Knicks continued their push forward.

Su Xi once again tore through the defense single-handedly, then assisted Tony Battie, who hit a jumper from the free-throw line.

On the other end, Marbury used a screen from Foster. He drove to the basket and was double-teamed. He passed to Little O’Neal, who went up for a layup... SMACK!

Su Xi leaped up from behind, snaring Little O’Neal’s shot with both hands and pinning it against the backboard.

Little O’Neal had a miserable look on his face. He looked at Su Xi and thought: ’Boss, why do you keep picking on me?’

Su Xi gave him a brilliant smile.

The game continued.

Carlisle was in a tough spot on the sideline.

First, he couldn’t figure out the Knicks’ offensive strategy. It was hard to say what system they were running. Motion offense? Didn’t look like it. Pick-and-roll? Not really. Run-and-gun? Nope. Triangle offense? NO. UCLA offense? Not that either. And it was miles away from the Princeton offense.

The Knicks were just improvising wildly, completely reliant on Su Xi. If Su Xi could score, he’d take the shot himself. If he saw an open teammate, he’d pass to them.

Second, the Pacers’ offensive system was starting to break down. Stephon Marbury was still tilted. Although he wasn’t directly challenging Su Xi’s defense one-on-one anymore, his shot attempts far outweighed his playmaking.

He was passing the ball, yes, but his passes had nothing to do with the Indiana system. In fact, they were disrupting Indiana’s championship system.

His playstyle was a bit like Su Xi’s.

But he didn’t have Su Xi’s ability, and Su Xi’s basketball IQ was leagues beyond his.

When Su Xi initiated the offense, he had multiple plans in his mind, constantly observing his teammates’ movements.

But when Marbury attacked, he had only one plan: put the damn ball in the hoop. If that failed, he’d just chuck the ball to whichever teammate happened to be open.

Comparing the two, even if the Pacers were superior to the Knicks across the board, it wasn’t enough to hold them up.

After all, a train’s speed depends on its locomotive.

In the blink of an eye, the Knicks were up by 5, and the lead was still growing.

By the time the first quarter was nearly over, the Knicks were already ahead by 9 points.

Madison Square Garden Arena was in an uproar.

On the TNT Network, Charles Barkley was ecstatic, booming, "Who dares to say Stephon Marbury is better than Su Xi now? That Marbury can lead the Pacers to a championship? Who dares to say you can just swap in any All-Star point guard and the Pacers will still win the title?"

"See that? That’s the difference! Su Xi is Su Xi wherever he goes, but the Pacers without Su Xi are not necessarily champions."

As the United States’ number one Su Xi stan, Barkley was often criticized by his colleagues for hyping him up.

But he always managed to find opportunities to savagely prove his colleagues wrong.

Just like tonight.

His partner, Kenny Smith, said, "One game might not prove anything. But Marbury definitely lacks some chemistry with the Pacers. As the engine, he can’t get the Pacers to perform at their maximum potential like Su Xi could."

The Pacers are like a terrifying race car with a perfect chassis and a perfect drag coefficient.

You just need to drop in an above-average engine, and it will perform exceptionally on the track.

Before, everyone thought Su Xi might just be a pretty good engine.

But now, after the first quarter...

Especially after the contrast with Marbury.

People were discovering that Su Xi must be a super engine with terrifying performance.

But it seemed that realization came a little too late.

SWISH!

As Su Xi hit a three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, the Knicks’ lead stretched to 12 points.

In a single quarter!

The defending champions were playing no differently than the Toronto Raptors.

The Knicks’ bench was jubilant.

Everyone’s spirits were high.

The mood in Madison Square Garden Arena was even more electric.

They were especially thrilled watching Su Xi completely dominate Marbury again and again.

And as Marbury walked to the bench, many fans around him hurled insults, with countless middle fingers raised in his direction.

Marbury’s anger reached its peak.