The Best Point Guard

Cavaliers fans and James fans watching on TV all thought Reggie Miller was humiliating James.

But Reggie Miller didn’t care. He used to play against James like that on the court, so now that he was in the commentary booth, was he supposed to sing his praises?

Lies don’t hurt people; the truth is what cuts deep.

If LeBron James had the skills, then he should post up Su Xi, right?

Why wasn’t he backing down Su Xi, who was lighter and shorter than him? Was it because he didn’t want to?

The game continued.

LeBron James was relegated to a supporting role on the wing. Snow handled the ball distribution, demonstrating his veteran composure. He ran a brilliant play with Hughes, who finished the possession with a jump shot.

Afterward, Su Xi once again posted up James on the wing. He shook James with his nimble footwork and hit a fadeaway jumper, scoring again.

If people used to say that Su Xi and James had similar playstyles—both breaking down the defense by attacking the paint and assisting teammates...

...then tonight, Su Xi was operating at the pinnacle of technical skill, defeating James with the most difficult ways to score.

"How can you even compare to Jack?"

Crawford, standing nearby, couldn’t help but say this to James.

He thought comparing James to Su Xi was a joke.

This was a huge insult to James. James got the ball back at half-court, ran a pick-and-roll with Gooden, and after quickly shaking Su Xi, drove into the paint.

But he was going for a powerful dunk.

He was full of momentum, like a flying tank.

Normally, no one would try to block a dunk like that from James.

Because it wasn’t worth it.

But he had run into Jerome James.

Jerome had been through tanking seasons, been through times when he had nothing left to lose. Now, he was back on the path to glory. He had nothing to lose and only wanted to gain more.

His son, Little Jerome, was watching him from the sidelines.

He wanted to show his son, and he wanted to show the whole world, why one must be brave.

THUMP!

Jerome challenged James in mid-air.

Jerome instantly felt like he’d been hit by a locomotive. His body sank involuntarily, but in that moment, he viciously pushed down with all his might.

James’s body was forced down as well.

Jerome had enough body weight.

James had no choice but to fling the ball up, hoping to draw a foul.

But, the instant he released the ball, he saw a shadow fall over him.

’Here we go again. Does it ever end?’

Su Xi snatched the ball right out of the air.

He was the oriole waiting behind the mantis.

Su Xi and Jerome’s teamwork was flawless. Su Xi turned and threw a long pass downcourt to Crawford, who was already on the fast break. Crawford caught the ball, used his signature double behind-the-back dribble to shake his defender, and scored the layup.

The Knicks widened the gap even further. They were absolutely pummeling the Cavaliers.

This was completely unbelievable... What was the pre-game prediction again? The Cavaliers would easily beat the Knicks?

Easily beat them with what?

With all of James’s turnovers?

Madison Square Garden Arena erupted.

They felt so vindicated.

The team’s performance was beyond their wildest dreams. They felt an intense sense of pride and relief. ’Finally! Finally... it’s our turn.’

On the court, the Knicks’ morale was also burning brightly, growing stronger and more vibrant with each passing moment.

In contrast, the Cavaliers began to look lost and tense.

Their passing and cutting were no longer as confident. With Su Xi locking down James, they had to rely on the other four players to initiate the offense.

Drew Gooden hit a shot.

It was a much-needed basket for the Cavaliers.

But on the other end, Su Xi went one-on-one with James. Hughes was forced to double-team him, so Su Xi passed to Crawford, who hit a three-pointer.

The Cavaliers’ defensive system was falling apart, unable to cover everything.

"Right now, the Cavaliers’ biggest liability is James. On offense, he can’t create an opening, and on defense, he’s getting torched by Goat Su Xi. Maybe if the Cavaliers sub him out, they’ll still have a chance to beat the Knicks."

Reggie Miller continued his snarky commentary on TV: "Back in the day, we were always happy to play the Cavaliers. We knew the so-called ’Chosen One’ couldn’t beat Little Sheep Su Xi at all. Jack has an answer for everything James does. James is strong, but Jack is strong too. James is fast, but Jack isn’t slow either. James is explosive, and so is Jack. On top of that, Jack’s defense is better, he’s more agile, and his defensive technique is far superior."

"LeBron only has three advantages over Jack: he’s taller, he’s built stronger, and he’s a Black American."

Every word from Reggie Miller was a dagger to the hearts of James’s supporters.

And they had no way to refute him.

Because that’s exactly how James was playing on the court.

Miller’s words proved true. James started to disappear, and the Cavaliers started to score.

But the Knicks’ scoring was even more ferocious.

At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks were up by 15 points.

If the viewers at home had just woken up, they would have had to rub their eyes in disbelief.

After all, every basketball expert had predicted an easy win for the Cavaliers.

What? How could they be wrong again?

Had Goat Su Xi slapped their faces swollen again? Was that why their predictions were all wrong, causing what should have been a favorable game for the Cavaliers to turn into an uphill battle?

In the second quarter, James finally recovered a bit. He frequently used pick-and-rolls to drive to the basket, creating some damage.

At the same time, he had Hughes switch to defending Su Xi.

Hughes was a defensive specialist, but he was equally incapable of defending the post-up.