Following his own rhythm, Doncic drove all the way to the left side of the paint. He lowered his center of gravity on the move, bumped Strus, then stepped sideways, gathered the ball, and rose for a shot close to the rim.
Swish~~
The ball swished through the net.
Two more points gave Doncic his eighth point of the night.
Judging by that pace alone, he didn't seem all that interested in competing for the top spot on the scoring leaderboard.
Back on the Knicks' next possession, Chen Xi, who had already racked up six assists, finally switched into his personal scoring mode.
He dribbled into the frontcourt, waved Strus up for an on-ball screen, and targeted Exum, who was temporarily filling in for Irving.
He took a little hop while dribbling, flowed into a drag step to the right, then followed it with an enormous crossover before using a crossover step to launch his drive.
He easily blew past Exum into mid-range territory, then took a Euro step toward Gobert. Finally, he jumped off one foot, switched hands in the air, and laid the ball onto the backboard.
Smack!!
A sharp sound rang out.
Rudy Gobert's long arm slammed the ball back against the glass.
But it did no good.
The referee on the baseline immediately signaled to the scorer's table.
Goaltending.
Chen Xi had released the ball quickly enough. Even though Gobert had forced his way back into the play with his terrifying reach, he hadn't managed to get to the shot in time.
Once the ball touched the backboard and began bouncing toward the basket, his chance to make a successful defensive stop was already gone.
It was indisputable goaltending.
Under the basket, Chen Xi smiled and pointed at Gobert, then turned to get back on