He dribbled all the way to a spot just inside the right side of the free-throw line, then pounded the ball and came to an abrupt stop. A push dribble change of direction flowed into a between-the-legs pullback, followed by a floating-ball Hesitation Bait Buddha, then a second burst of speed.
With a fluid change of pace and probing fakes, he made Kawhi's feet hesitate.
Seizing the opening, Chen Xi immediately accelerated again, charging two steps into the lane before taking another diagonal step-back to create space.
As he pounded the ball, he quickly shifted to the side of the baseline. Then he leaped off both feet and launched a difficult pull-up jumper to finish the play.
Chen Xi released the ball cleanly.
The next instant, Kawhi's huge hand came up in front of Chen.
It was quick, but still too late.
Swish~~
The crisp sound of the ball brushing through the net came from behind Leonard, announcing the failure of his defense.
He landed without expression.
Just from his face, it was impossible to tell that Leonard's mindset had changed at all.
Or perhaps he truly hadn't been affected.
After all, it was only natural that he couldn't stop Chen Xi from making a shot like that.
Forcing him to take more of those difficult shots wasn't necessarily bad defense.
By comparison, what might have worried Leonard more was the score between the two teams.
After Chen scored again, it was now 7–2.
The Knicks had taken a five-point lead right out of the gate.
On the sideline, Coach Spo watched the game with his arms folded, just as expressionless as Kawhi.
But beneath his calm exterior, there was a trace of worry.
In theory, the Knicks hadn't run many complicated plays to start the game. They had gone