The Best Point Guard

Don’t mind all the noise LeBron James was making, with a swarm of media hyping him up. They were saying he’d ascended to the throne, that in his third season, LeBron James had found his "Scourge of God."

But when it came to predicting the Eastern Conference champion, no one would bet their reputation on putting the Cleveland Cavaliers on the list.

Everyone knew the Cavaliers were nowhere near the level of the Heat or the Knicks.

And even if the Detroit Pistons made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they were a tiger without its teeth. If they couldn’t even sweep the Cavaliers, what right did they have to be considered on the same level as the Heat and the Knicks?

What league were they in?

The Heat Team widely believed they had been humiliated by the Knicks, and especially by Isaiah Thomas.

So, their morale for this game was particularly high.

Shaquille O’Neal was like a completely different person. He had also put on a pair of white compression tights, which was ridiculous... A big, hefty, black superstar center wearing what looked like pantyhose.

What kind of getup is that?

Even Zach Randolph couldn’t help but ask, "Shaq, aren’t those a bit tight?"

O’Neal completely ignored him, pretending he didn’t hear.

SLAP!

O’Neal won the opening tip for the Heat Team, giving them the first possession.

Gary Payton brought the ball past half-court and then passed it to Wade.

The Flash was fired up too. He drove straight into the paint, and with Su Xi defending him, he crashed head-on into Eddie Curry. He was sent reeling from the impact, but he still tossed the ball up... SWISH!

The basket was good, and the referee called a foul.

Su Xi couldn’t help but wonder, ’Are they just handing out whistles that easily now?’

The head referee said nothing.

Wade completed the three-point play.

On the next possession, Su Xi charged down the court and made a sharp drive into the paint himself. He bumped Mourning out of the way in mid-air and laid the ball into the basket.

But the head referee’s whistle remained silent. He just signaled that the basket was good.

Why?

The head referee didn’t explain.

But Mourning was grinding his teeth in frustration.

Because Wade had bounced off Eddie Curry, whereas Su Xi, on his drive, had directly knocked the tough-as-nails Mourning out of bounds.

How could he possibly call a foul on that?

That would be too disrespectful to a veteran.

The game continued. Wade went for another strong drive, but this time Su Xi blocked his path. He passed to Payton, who then fed it to O’Neal.

O’Neal powerfully backed down Curry, turned, and was about to go for a monster dunk, but Eddie Curry pulled him down.

O’Neal went to the free-throw line.

He made one of two.

Less than a minute into the game, Curry already had two fouls. Isaiah Thomas subbed him out for Jerome James.

Fouls were never a problem for the Knicks; they had stockpiled a large number of quality big men.

In hindsight, although Isaiah Thomas’s coaching skills were lacking, he was very prescient, making these forward-thinking arrangements even before acquiring Su Xi.

O’Neal missed both free throws.

The Knicks got the rebound. Su Xi pushed the ball up the court and passed to Hardaway, who shot from beyond the three-point line... SWISH!

Miami actually gave Hardaway a step of space when he shot.

Hardaway drained the golden shot.

Next, Su Xi stuck close to Wade, but Wade scored on a pull-up jumper.

Su Xi came right back with a turnaround jumper.

The Knicks were still playing without any discernible system on offense.

Su Xi’s one-on-one plays were unpredictable, and the players’ shot selection was just as random.

But Pat Riley was furious.

Because they were still trailing, and the gap was only getting wider.

The Knicks got the ball to Su Xi, and Su Xi scored. They got it to Hardaway, and Hardaway scored. They got it to Randolph, and Randolph schooling Mourning one-on-one was like slicing melons and chopping vegetables. They passed to Ariza, and even Ariza managed to score.

Even that good-for-nothing Jerome was put to use, finishing an alley-oop.

In the last game, the Miami Heat only lost by 11 points for the entire game.

The first quarter ended.

22-33.

There was nothing wrong with Miami.

So where was the problem?

"Are the Knicks really this good? I feel like their offense is just a bunch of random plays. There’s no pattern to be found."

Mike Brin was completely baffled on the ESPN broadcast.

Larry Brown couldn’t explain the phenomenon either.

Reggie Miller said, "It’s true, you rarely see a team play with such freedom and still have such high offensive efficiency. Normally, a team will establish seven or eight set plays and then make minor adjustments to them. But the Knicks seem to run a different play on almost every possession. I don’t believe this is something from their playbook."

Reggie Miller couldn’t figure it out either.

In the second quarter, Crawford came on the court.

As soon as he was in, Crawford completed a strong drive. With Su Xi creating space with a backdoor cut, Crawford quickly attacked the paint. As he drove, Zach Randolph cleared a path for him. Then, with a double behind-the-back dribble into a hop step, he penetrated deep into the paint and finished with a reverse layup.

O’Neal wanted to go for the block but was screened by Jerome.

The Miami Heat were completely on the defensive.

They managed to score a basket with great difficulty.

On the next possession, Zach Randolph went one-on-one with Mourning. Su Xi made a quick cut behind him, clearing space for his turnaround move. Jerome James also boxed out O’Neal. The moment Randolph spun past Mourning, he had a wide-open view and room to shoot.

SWISH!

A score.

So natural.

So smooth.

So silky.

Every offensive possession was different, yet every offensive possession was the same.

That is to say, after a long period of gelling together, every Knicks player knew their teammates’ ’sweet spots’ and playing styles inside and out. As soon as a teammate initiated their move, the others knew exactly how to coordinate.

On the Knicks, everyone was a protagonist. Everyone benefited from the space created by their teammates’ selfless off-ball movement and unheralded box-outs.

This is why the Knicks, despite clearly lacking a tactical system, could always generate efficient scoring in ever-changing ways.

The ultimate reason, in four words: centered on the individual.

Of course, there was another very important reason.

The Knicks had three offensive players with incredibly strong isolation skills. Su Xi goes without saying, and Zach Randolph was a straight-up BUG at his position. The other was Crawford. Once Crawford got hot, he was a top-tier scorer.

These three formed a triumvirate, relying on each other to create an infinite number of chemical reactions.

Miami’s defense couldn’t find any rhythm or pattern to exploit.

They clearly weren’t making any mistakes, yet the point difference gradually widened.

Wade and O’Neal mounted a strong offensive in the second quarter, with O’Neal drawing consecutive fouls on Jerome. But when Tony Battie came in, the Knicks remained just as unhurried, finding ever-changing ways to put the ball in the hoop.

At the end of the first half, the Knicks were up by 13 points.

You could say the Heat had executed their system to perfection in the second quarter, but they still couldn’t close the gap.

What did that prove?

It proved that they were already a step behind.

Gary Payton reflected on his way back to the locker room. He had played against Su Xi in the Finals once, and back then, he felt his team could win. But now, he felt only one thing: powerlessness.

The Knicks’ roster was clearly nothing special, and their coach was little more than a mascot.

So why were the Knicks able to suppress the Heat, and to do it so easily, so comfortably, looking completely effortless?

Because they had Little Sheep Su Xi.

No, that’s wrong. It should be Goat Su Xi now.

Payton remembered what it felt like to be dominated by Jordan.

He was becoming more and more convinced that Su Xi was the new version of the God of Basketball.

His dominance was perhaps even greater than Jordan’s.

Jordan was the type to press you and beat you until you couldn’t breathe.

But Su Xi was calm, driving the game forward with a smile on his face. Before you even knew what was happening, your doom was sealed.

’Next season, I have to go join Su Xi and ride his coattails.’

’If I keep following Shaq, I’ll never have a chance in this lifetime.’

While Gary Payton was having these thoughts, Pat Riley came up with a plan. "We’re too passive. We’re always trying to guard every single one of them."

"But, as the saying goes, ’it’s better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten.’ We should focus our strength on taking one of them out."

"We definitely can’t stop Little Sheep Su Xi. So, who’s the target?"

Pat Riley pointed to the power forward position on his clipboard. "Shut down Randolph."