I Seem to Have Stolen Your Three-Pointer!

Fifteen minutes before the game.

The broadcast cut to Curry and Su Yan. Their pinpoint three-point shooting drills left the fans calling it unbelievable.

Before that.

The broadcast had also shown David Lee and Monta Ellis, the two teams' core stars.

At the commentary desk.

Reggie Miller watched Curry and Su Yan on the big screen and smiled. "Lately, there's been quite a bit of buzz around whether these two rookies, Su Yan and Stephen, are potential stars of the Small Ball Era.

Both are accurate from three.

Stephen put on a mythical performance in last year's NCAA March Madness.

Those pinpoint threes made his opponents' scalps tingle.

He looked incredibly skinny, yet he used his three-point shooting to help Davidson College, which had never made it to March Madness before.

Reach the Elite Eight.

That was truly unbelievable. It will certainly be a great story in a future documentary about Curry's career.

What about Su Yan?!

He's also incredibly impressive.

As an undrafted player, he joined the New York Knicks as a 'pretty face' and got an opportunity to play.

Then, in his NBA debut.

He drained eight three-pointers without a miss, then hit a step-back three-pointer to beat Thunder's Big Three at the buzzer, orchestrating an epic twenty-point comeback.

That was so cool.

Then... in the second game, Su Yan knocked down another seven three-pointers, hitting at least seven threes in back-to-back games.

Even League Top Shooters like Ray Allen, Peja, and Lewis had never done that.

Su Yan was the first player this season to accomplish it.

That's truly impressive too!"

"Yes, yes."

The other commentator, 'Clyde' Drexler, nodded with a smile. "Su Yan and Stephen are both outstanding in the realm of three-point shooting.

It's a shame.

Stephen has yet to prove that his three-point shooting is just as accurate on the NBA stage.

We need to give him time to adjust as well.

Hopefully tonight, he can have a three-point shootout with Su Yan and bring a rain of threes down on Oracle Arena!

It will definitely be a great sight.

And besides Stephen and Su Yan, the clash between core stars David Lee and Monta Ellis will surely be exciting as well.

So, who will be the one smiling in the end?!

Let's look forward to the start of the game together."

Reggie Miller played along. "It's bound to be thrilling. The game is about to begin, so don't change the channel."

Before the game.

The two commentators continued to build anticipation.

Boom!

Not long after.

Amid the arena's blazing atmosphere, both teams finished warming up, and their starting lineups took the court.

Golden State Warriors starting lineup: Point Guard: Stephen Curry, Shooting Guard: Monta Ellis, Small Forward: Corey Maggette, Power Forward: Vladimir Radmanovic, Center: Antawn Jamison.

New York Knicks starting lineup: Point Guard: Chris Duhon, Shooting Guard: McGrady, Small Forward: Su Yan, Power Forward: Harrington, Center: David Lee.

"Jump ball!"

The jump ball between David Lee and Antawn Jamison.

Jamison stood only 203 centimeters tall, yet he could play center and averaged 7.3 rebounds per game.

What made him even more impressive was his outside three-point shot.

A center who could shoot threes?

That would be commonplace in the future, but in this era, it was exceedingly rare. Yet Jamison had developed that skill.

It made him a perfect fit for the three-point-loving Warriors.

Of course.

He held no advantage in the jump ball.

Slap!

David Lee tipped the ball first, winning the Knicks the opening possession of the game.

Duhong brought the ball up.

While dribbling with a crossover in front of him, he silently searched for scoring and passing opportunities before suddenly dropping low and accelerating into a drive.

He dished it to David Lee under the basket on the other side.

With his back against Jamison, David Lee prepared to go one-on-one in the post. Radmanovic came over to help, and David Lee had been waiting for this moment.

He first passed it to Harrington up top, who quickly swung it to Su Yan at the right side of the top of the key.

Was it an open look?

Not quite.

Monta Ellis was nearby and could rotate over immediately.

But Su Yan seemed not to care at all. The instant he caught the ball, he raised his hands and fired a three-pointer like an arrow.

"Looking to get blocked!"

Ellis had been watching him the whole time.

From this close, as long as Su Yan dared to shoot, he dared to block it.

But... the basketball had already flown over his fingertips, far beyond his reach.

"Wh-what a quick release!"

Ellis was startled. Having failed to block it, he hurriedly turned back, only to see the ball pierce the net and send ripples flying.

"Wooow~ Su Yan's three-pointer is still as accurate as ever."

"Hehe, Su Yan's three-point release is way too fast. You can't give him even an inch of space, and you can't hesitate for even a second on defense!"

The commentators exclaimed.

"Hmm?!"

Curry frowned slightly when he saw it.

Others might not care, or might not notice anything unusual, but he could tell.

He knew his own shooting form too well.

Su Yan's shot now, whether it was the one-motion release or that lightning-fast shooting speed—

It was all similar to his.

Interesting.

Curry looked at Su Yan, intense interest filling his eyes.

[Warriors 0:3 Knicks]

Possession changed hands.

Curry brought the ball up. As soon as he reached the middle of the top of the key, Monta Ellis gave him a look, and Curry somewhat helplessly passed the ball to him.

Was he demanding the ball? Or was this court bullying?

Su Yan noticed the subtle detail in the passing exchange between Curry and Ellis.

Clearly... Ellis's behavior and expression when demanding the ball were filled with dissatisfaction toward Curry.

The reasons were easy enough to understand.

First, Curry had yet to prove himself this season. He had not become the Warriors' second option as the fans had hoped.

Right now, the team's second option was Corey Maggette.

Second, Curry and Ellis were the same type of player. Everyone understood that two tigers could not share one mountain.

Third, Ellis was definitely stronger at the moment. There was no question about it. He wanted to lead the team to a bigger stage.

With the team's seventh overall pick, they could have selected some other talented rookie to support him.

Instead of a potential competitor.

The key was... Curry had yet to prove himself.

In the first ten games of the season, Curry had posted 14 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals in his debut. Other than that barely passable performance, in the next nine games, he had scored in double figures only once. In the other eight games, his scoring had all been in single digits, and he had not even averaged two made three-pointers per game.

One-for-zero, one-for-three, two-for-six—awful Three-Point Percentages like those were everywhere.

To be honest, it was unbelievably bad.

Calling it unbearable to watch would not have been an exaggeration at all.

Looking only at these ten games, if you told someone that Curry would one day become the greatest shooter in NBA history, the king of the Small Ball Era...

Then people would laugh their teeth out.

They might even look at you with the pitying gaze reserved for an idiot.

So... Ellis really found it hard to like Curry.

Curry was having a miserable time too. He did not want to be Ellis's backup, and the reason his three-point shooting was so poor...

On one hand, it was indeed because he had not adapted to the intensity of the NBA.

On the other hand, more often than not, he could only take difficult three-pointers that he had no choice but to shoot after Ellis's isolation failed and he passed the ball to him.

The so-called bailout shots.

The success rate spoke for itself.

He had not wanted to go to the Warriors in the first place. His ideal team had been the Knicks, but Coach Don Nelson had snatched him up first.

Tonight.

Just like before, he trailed behind Ellis and could only force up difficult shots.

The Knicks were also targeting him defensively.

That only made Curry play even worse.

But Su Yan was different. Many of his shots came from opportunities created for him through repeated screens.

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Three-pointers fell one after another.

The two promising rookies of the Small Ball Era, who had drawn attention because of the TNT roundtable, were both shooting threes.

But.

Their levels were worlds apart!!!