The Best Point Guard

But Miller couldn’t say much right now.

The game wasn’t over yet.

Miller was confident in Su Xi. He believed Su Xi could perfectly handle the Heat; he had that much faith in his clutch ability.

If Wade was a killer.

Then Su Xi was that killer’s daddy.

He could pull out and finish off the killer just by shooting on the wall.

BEEP!

The whistle blew, and the final battle began.

Wade hounded Su Xi all over the court, but Su Xi just ran to the sideline, used his body to box Wade out, and easily received the ball.

As soon as he got the ball, Su Xi wasted no time.

He immediately tore down the court. Wade’s explosiveness and speed were both top-tier.

But when Su Xi got a head of steam, all Wade could do was give chase.

In the blink of an eye, Su Xi charged toward the basket. Full of momentum, he made a beeline for the paint, ignoring O’Neal’s position. Once he crossed the free-throw line, he gathered the ball, took his steps, and launched himself ferociously into the air.

O’Neal, surprisingly, hesitated. He was afraid of jumping too early and being left hanging, because he had witnessed Su Xi’s violent explosiveness in their last encounter.

He was clearly psychologically scarred, lacking the imposing, world-conquering aura he once had.

As the saying goes, hesitation is defeat. In an instant, Su Xi was flying right at him. O’Neal saw his chance and quickly launched himself into the air, trying to block the shot with everything he had. But just then, Su Xi dropped the ball down. Randolph leaped up, grabbed it... and... BOOM!

The sneak attack!

The instant Randolph slammed the dunk home, the backboard lit up red, the final buzzer sounded, and the game was over.

102-101.

The Knicks took the lead by one.

In the final moments, Su Xi drove deep into the heart of the defense all by himself, drawing both Wade and O’Neal into a double-team jump. And at that exact moment, he assisted the newly-acquired Randolph for the game-winner.

That was Randolph’s 31st point of the game.

It was also the first game-winner of his career.

A game-winning dunk, no less.

He was as ecstatic as a 300-pound kid. He ripped off his jersey, roaring in excitement as he sprinted all over the court; his teammates couldn’t even hold him back. Like a crazed wild boar, he charged from one corner of the court to the other and even did a knee-slide celebration, nearly taking out a sideline photographer.

Randolph never dreamed he would reach a career high on his very first night with the Knicks.

He felt absolutely incredible.

The moment he finished the dunk, his dopamine, endorphins, and adrenaline surged to their absolute peak.

He had never felt a rush like this in his life.

Watching his wild celebration, Su Xi even felt a pang of ’regret.’ He muttered to himself, ’Look at him, acting like he’s never seen the world. If I’d known, I would’ve just gone for the double-clutch layup myself.’

"The buzzer-beater! That’s a true buzzer-beater! Randolph has gotten off to a fantastic start in his first game with the Knicks, completing an incredible game-winning play! With Su Xi’s help, his dunk was clean and powerful! He left Miami no time on the clock! He has destroyed every ounce of passion in the American Airlines Center Arena! He’s like a bucket of ice-cold water, extinguishing the celebratory bonfires on Miami’s beaches! Tonight, Wade failed to defend his home court!"

Reggie Miller stood up and shouted to the audience all across America.

He was thrilled, ten times more excited than Larry Brown had been earlier.

They were in the middle of an unspoken competition.

This made Larry Brown extremely uncomfortable.

After Miller had been shouting for over a minute, he finally chimed in languidly, "So Little Sheep Su Xi knows fear after all. I thought he was going to dunk on O’Neal again."

If O’Neal heard that, he’d probably want to strangle him. ’Why don’t you shut the hell up? It’s easy for you to provoke Little Sheep Su Xi when you’re not the one getting dunked on.’

On that last play, O’Neal had already felt threatened enough.

He even felt that if Su Xi had actually gone for the dunk, he wouldn’t have been able to stop him.

’Thank God he passed.’

"I think the league should investigate this trade between the Knicks and the Trail Blazers," Mike Brin suddenly said. "I suspect there might have been some under-the-table dealings. There’s no reason for the Trail Blazers to send Randolph to the Knicks. Randolph is even better than anyone imagined—he was the league’s Most Improved Player before!"

These words made the Trail Blazers’ General Manager, Pritchard, want to burst into tears.

He had watched the entire game with mixed emotions, and he was one step away from slapping himself twice across the face.

With Randolph hitting the game-winner, he already knew that Trail Blazers fans would forever etch his name on their pillar of shame. Furthermore, the ’Biggest Dumbass GMs in History’ list would definitely include his name.

He really wished there *had* been some under-the-table dealings.

The problem was, there was absolutely nothing.

’I got nothing but Antonio Davis’s expiring contract, and I even had to pay 200,000 for Nate Robinson’s buyout!’

’Davis’s contract is up next year, and there’s no guarantee he’ll re-sign.’

’That’s basically the same as... me f*cking trading Randolph and 200,000 USD for a pile of air.’

’No, I even threw in a 2007 draft pick on top of that.’

’I just hope there aren’t any super rookies in 2007.’

’I hope we play well next season.’

Pritchard was now wallowing in misery.

’Who could have guessed Randolph would suddenly get this good?’

’Randolph assaulted his head coach, twice! That should have made his contract pure garbage!’

’On top of that, he had a long rap sheet and all sorts of negative press.’

’The media treated him like a pariah; no other team wanted him. The owner ordered me to trade him to avoid getting stuck with his nearly 100-million-dollar contract.’

’His original plan in trading with the Knicks was to take advantage of their "dumb money" reputation and quickly pass off the hot potato.’

But after just one game, Randolph completely changed everyone’s perception of him.

’I feel like I’ve been scammed.’

Pritchard thought to himself.

At that very moment, Su Xi was on TV saying the exact same thing: "I feel like I’ve been scammed."

"I originally thought Randolph was a completely degenerate player. When he was traded here, I was even ready to buy a helmet for Isaiah Thomas. Who knew... he would actually play this well? And his professional attitude has been a huge surprise."

"During halftime, he was in the locker room engaging in sincere self-criticism, saying there were many areas where he hadn’t played well. In the third quarter, he sat on the bench studying our tactics, and then in the fourth, he played a crucial role. He’s really... if he’s not in the All-Star Game this year, I’m blaming all of you Knicks fans."

"I’m not just trying to get him votes. It’s because... he deserves it."

Su Xi said with a very serious expression on camera.

The moment Su Xi said this, Knicks fans and Su Xi’s personal fans immediately sprang into action.

Just then, Su Xi pulled the bare-chested, dark-skinned wild boar over. "Come on, Zach, say a few words. Talk about your performance tonight and how it feels to hit the game-winner."

"HUFF!"

"AWESOOOOOME!!!!"

Zach Randolph roared at the camera, his breath fogging up the lens.

He thoughtfully wiped it clean with his jersey.

Then he took the microphone and said, "Thank you, Goat Su Xi! Thank you, New York Knicks! Thank you, Mr. James Dolan! Thank you to my Knicks teammates, to the management, and to all the fans who support the Knicks! I did it! I never thought I’d one day be on such a positive and uplifting team! This is the best professional game I’ve played in my entire life! I hit the first game-winner of my career, and it was a dunk!"

"The Goat passed me the ball, and God made sure the clock ran out. It was... like divine intervention!"

"I love the Knicks, and I want to stay here forever!"

Randolph said, his voice thick with emotion.

He looked like he was about to cry.

In front of his TV, Pritchard was already crying.

’Damn it, they’re clearly putting on a show just to screw with me.’

’You son of a bitch were wreaking havoc in Portland, you even assaulted the coach twice. How the hell are you so polite now that you’re with the Knicks?’

’And you have the gall to be polite now?’

Pritchard really wanted to cry.

Randolph said to the camera, "I’m going to get better and better, and I’m going to help the Knicks get better and better."

Pritchard turned off the TV. He couldn’t take any more.

He turned it off just in time.

Because a reporter was asking Randolph, "What would you say is the biggest difference between the Knicks and the Trail Blazers?"

"The Trail Blazers were like a gang. Here, we’re a team. We’re a family."

...