The break between quarters.
The blond girls in the stands shrieked louder and louder.
Who could resist a "pretty boy" who was both talented and handsome?
Some tugged down their dress straps, baring their shoulders; some showed off their ample cleavage; others swayed their hips.
They all wanted to catch Su Yan's eye.
Especially the foreign girls beside Su Yan. Their jealousy and attempts to attract the opposite sex grew more exaggerated by the minute.
And that man they were trying to attract—
There was no doubt it was Su Yan.
The men sitting beside him were certainly getting an eyeful.
Su Yan didn't seem to care. Or maybe... he was too busy to notice.
"Whew... huff, huff..."
He leaned back in his chair, panting heavily. Sweat dripped from his forehead like rain.
Once the defense tightened up,
Su Yan's chances to shoot threes had dwindled. He could force up a shot, but his accuracy would drop. If he missed, he wouldn't make any money.
That wasn't the situation Su Yan wanted.
So he ran hard, played active defense, and went for steals, rim protection, assists, and the like.
Just as the commentators had said, Su Yan played like a "relentless warrior," giving it everything he had.
That effort
won over the fans, the coaches, the commentators, and everyone else.
Of course... Su Yan wasn't pushing himself for their approval. He was doing it to make money.
14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, including four three-pointers.
That was Su Yan's stat line against the double-team. It was... pretty impressive.
And it had earned him a tidy sum.
But it had also worn him out.
As a shooter, he shouldn't have had to work this hard, and his stamina was only average by NBA standards.
Clearly,
keeping up this pace was pushing him beyond his limits.
So when D'Antoni put Su Yan on the floor in the fourth quarter, after the four-minute rotation, to help his teammates close out the game,
Su Yan declined.
He wanted to rest a little longer.
D'Antoni readily agreed. Su Yan's performance so far that night had been nearly flawless, and he was very pleased.
But the moment Su Yan sat,
the Pistons began to rally. After another three minutes of rest, they cut the Knicks' 15-point lead to just 10.
Five minutes remained.
Su Yan checked back in.
"Swish!"
But the Pistons' momentum didn't seem to let up at all. Hamilton used an off-ball cut to get a mid-range shot.
He sank it cleanly.
The Pistons were closing the gap even further.
Meanwhile, Su Yan wasn't getting many chances to shoot threes, and the Knicks' offense ground to a halt for a while.
Things were looking bad.
"Wooow!"
Jon Barry exclaimed, "The Pistons are gaining momentum. They're trying to play with the dominance of a championship team!"
"The Pistons are playing ferocious defense, and the Knicks are on the back foot."
Mark Jackson analyzed the situation too. "For the Knicks to break through, Su Yan needs to get his three-point shot going.
That would kill the Pistons' spirit!!!"
The commentators were right.
The Knicks wanted Su Yan to shoot threes too. They were setting screens and creating chances for him, but the Pistons weren't fools.
They put defense first, and the pressure they applied to Su Yan kept increasing. They were focused on shutting down his three-point shot.
They weren't letting him shoot.
By now, the Pistons had more or less figured out that the three-pointer was Su Yan's strongest weapon on offense.
His mid-range shot, drives, and layups were all a step below.
With a focused defensive game plan, and their defensive skills, the Pistons could put enormous pressure on Su Yan.
So, was there no solution?
D'Antoni seemed to have none. He appeared to have no choice but to let Su Yan draw the defense while his other teammates dealt with the Pistons.
But
Su Yan didn't see it that way.
Even though the defensive pressure was intense and he wasn't getting many chances to shoot threes, his face was still lit with confidence.
They had been in the lead all along, and he'd wanted to save this for when they faced a stronger team.
But it seemed he couldn't wait.
Su Yan narrowed his eyes and decided to reveal the other trump card he had just received: [Off-ball Movement lv1].
The game resumed.
Duhong brought the ball up and looked for Su Yan, but once again, Prince and Stuckey blocked his path.
Chandler immediately went up to set a screen. Su Yan used it, first shaking off Prince, then continuing to fight for position against Stuckey.
He cut in from the left wing toward the basket, then accelerated sharply, appearing to circle out along the baseline.
But instead, he suddenly stopped and reversed direction, curling back up toward the top.
Stuckey bit on the fake for just a moment, but when guarding someone moving without the ball, even that brief lapse in judgment was deadly.
Su Yan used Harrington's off-ball screen as well. Before Jerebko could rotate over, he curled out into the open.
"Beautiful back cut!"
Jon Barry couldn't help praising him.
As soon as Su Yan came free, Duhong, who had been waiting eagerly, passed him the ball.
"Swish!"
Su Yan caught it and fired off another three.
Quick release, smooth shot.
Nothing but net.
[Off-ball Movement lv1] didn't just teach Su Yan how to move. It taught him to think as he moved.
As he ran through his routes, he could shake off defenders, read the court, use his teammates on the fly, and escape the other defenders rotating over.
It created a real opening.
Then... combined with his powerful three-point finishing ability, it made for a perfect offensive play.
Stuckey wasn't slow.
But he still couldn't keep up with Su Yan.
[Off-ball Movement lv1] + [Max Level Three-Pointer].
The combination was perfect for Su Yan right now, making his three-point offense even more threatening and much harder to stop!!!
Even the Pistons' double-team couldn't handle it.
3 minutes and 17 seconds remained.
Su Yan ran along the baseline toward the right side, preparing to curl out. He had almost gotten open, when... out of nowhere, he cut back again.
He ran along the baseline once more, this time toward the left corner.
"Is he crazy?"
Prince had already been struggling to keep up. Seeing Su Yan run back toward him, he was overjoyed.
He hurried to follow.
But... Su Yan slipped away along the baseline, while Prince collided head-on with Harrington, who was waiting for him in the paint.
The left corner.
The ball arrived right on time.
And even if you managed to get open, no one would acknowledge your off-ball movement unless you could finish the play.
Hamilton's off-ball movement was widely recognized as elite. At his peak, he had even given Kobe a serious headache.
But
The reason people truly considered it elite was his mid-range finishing ability, which had earned him the title "Mid-range King."
Curry's off-ball game was also renowned across the league.
He was also the player in the future NBA with the strongest all-around game, both on and off the ball.
Perhaps even without equal.
And the reason he could earn such an impressive reputation was his extraordinary three-point shooting.
Now,
the same was true for Su Yan.
A streak of white light, a vicious arrow piercing the heart.
"Swish!"
Su Yan used his superb off-ball instincts to get another scoring opportunity, and he made the most of it.
Another three-pointer.
Those two three-pointers kept the team's lead in double digits and all but put the game away.
On defense,
whether he was shutting down Stuckey's repeated attempts or failing to stop Hamilton's mid-range shot,
Su Yan gave it everything he had.
Hard work might not always pay off, but without it, he'd never get stats or make money!!!
Before you continue