After reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, Chen Xi turned and walked to the left side of the free-throw lane, waiting for Alexander to take his shots.
He knew perfectly well that the last play had been an undeniable foul.
His reaction had been a little too quick—so quick that his mind had failed to rein in his movement before his body reached out. It was a little hard to keep a straight face over that...
Looking at it another way, Alexander really did seem to have developed his own style of drawing fouls.
That style might not have been particularly appealing, and it certainly wasn't one Chen Xi liked much, but regardless, if it put points on the board, it worked.
Different players had different styles. If that was the path he had chosen, then let him keep walking it.
After Alexander sank both free throws, the New York Knicks went back on offense.
Chen Xi received the ball again, dribbled into the frontcourt, and faced Barrett's defense.
He used a stationary between-the-legs crossover to adjust his rhythm, then tried to run another pick-and-roll with Horford.
He immediately ran into Davis's hard hedge and Barrett's relentless pursuit, trapping him.
Chen Xi decisively jumped and passed to Horford on the other side.
Horford stayed very composed after catching the ball.
Instead of immediately shooting during his brief opening, he moved toward the weak side to set up a dribble handoff with George, giving him a screen and an easy route to attack the rim after receiving the ball.
Paul George caught the ball and accelerated into the paint. With Westbrook coming over to help, he used his long strides and reach to take two graceful, rhythmic Euro steps, then easily finished a layup near the rim.
The Knicks