He fell short in size, strength, defensive experience, and judgment.
That was only natural. What could a little six-foot-four guard possibly bring to a matchup against a DPOY?
But during a game, nobody cared about that.
Especially in today's league, where the pick-and-roll reigned supreme.
The cruelest reality was that if you were undersized, you would constantly find yourself singled out and targeted.
So what if you were a defensive ace like Marcus Smart? So what if you were a powerful, physical guard like Donovan Mitchell?
Without high-level wing and interior defenders behind you, certain stars could still target you whenever they wanted!
At least, if the Knicks were the ones exploiting those matchups, Chen Xi would attack Smart or Mitchell all the same.
For Chen Xi, playing against them might not have been fundamentally different from playing against any other small guard...
That was today's league.
It was no longer about going head-to-head, center against center, guard against guard.
Now it was all about the pick-and-roll, all about feasting on mismatches!!
Back to the game.
Before the Nets Team could adjust its defense, George could comfortably take Shamet one-on-one at least once more.
He held the ball on the wing, facing the basket.
He jabbed from the triple threat, then put the ball down and drove with a direct step.
He powered two steps inward through his defender.
He stopped abruptly, gathered, turned, and threw in a shot fake.
Then he lowered his center of gravity, bumped his defender once more, and rose smoothly into a slightly leaning mid-range jumper.
The shot went in cleanly.
9–9.
The teams were tied again.
George had once again made the most of his opportunity.
On to the next possession.
The Nets were on offense.
Having tasted success, Harden tried initiating another