Hot Potato Master—The Game-Tying Three

After the timeout, both sides sent their starters back onto the court.

As for Su Yi, he was still subbed in, paired with the four core starters: Larry Hughes, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, and Big Z!

Su Yi's job from here on out was very simple—on offense, he camped in the corner, while his defender, Josh Smith, naturally stuck to him like glue.

He wouldn't give Su Yi any chance to shoot from outside, determined to completely freeze him out.

Little did he know, he had fallen right into Mike Brown's trap.

In Mike Brown's view, this was a straight one-for-one trade between Su Yi and Josh Smith!

As long as Su Yi was on the court, Josh Smith couldn't rotate for help defense.

And everyone knew Josh Smith was a master of help defense—through the first three games of the season, he averaged 2 steals and 3 blocks per game.

He was one of the Atlanta Hawks' defensive anchors.

Without Josh Smith, the Hawks' defensive quality would take a nosedive.

Sure enough, the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, started scoring frequently.

But the Atlanta Hawks answered right back, and for a while, both sides were locked in a stalemate.

The Hawks couldn't extend their lead, and the Cavaliers couldn't close the gap.

"Bzzzz."

As the halftime buzzer sounded.

56 to 51!

The Atlanta Hawks led the Cleveland Cavaliers by 5 points heading into the second half.

Back in the locker room, Su Yi plopped down in a corner and sank into thought. His only real strength—deadly accurate outside shooting—had been neutralized.

What else could he do now?

Wait, that wasn't right. Mike Brown had sent him out even knowing he was completely locked down—there had to be a reason.

That's when it clicked. Mike Brown had kept him on the floor for a purpose!

What purpose?

Su Yi's mind raced.

Two and a half seconds later, he suddenly figured it out.

It was to tie up Josh Smith!

Wait?

In that instant, Su Yi seemed to find a way to deal with Josh Smith.

He quickly stood up and asked an assistant coach for the first-half stat sheet.

When he saw that Josh Smith had played all 24 minutes of the first half, Su Yi suddenly knew exactly how to handle him in the second half!

A grin crept across Su Yi's face, revealing a devilish smile.

Josh, I'm going to run you ragged in the second half.

The brief halftime break ended, and both teams returned to the court for the decisive second half.

Su Yi sat on the bench, quietly watching and studying Josh Smith.

Without him on the floor, Josh Smith focused on guarding LeBron James and frequently rotated to help on the other Cavaliers, disrupting multiple Cleveland offensive possessions.

With Josh Smith's aggressive defense, the Atlanta Hawks gradually stretched their lead.

"Timeout!"

Mike Brown couldn't take it anymore and called a quick timeout.

During the timeout, he immediately subbed Su Yi back in, sending Josh Smith to the corner.

Sure enough, as soon as Su Yi stepped onto the court, Josh Smith had no choice but to follow him to the corner.

But after just two possessions, Su Yi started moving constantly without the ball, not only forcing Josh Smith to chase him but also disrupting the Hawks' defensive structure.

This opened up plenty of opportunities for the rest of the Cavaliers.

Gradually, the momentum shifted. The Cleveland Cavaliers chipped away at the lead, bit by bit.

After three quarters.

The lead was down to 3 points.

One possession away.

Huff... huff... huff...

Having played the entire three quarters, and especially after being forced to run nonstop in the third, Josh Smith was gasping for air.

Seeing this, Su Yi couldn't help but smirk.

Then, as he wiped his sweat, Su Yi caught a glimpse of LeBron James, two seats away, picking up a stat sheet to look at.

Before long, a wide smile spread across LeBron James' face.

Damn.

So this guy was already paying this much attention to his own stats back in his 1.0 era?

No wonder the old-timers always say: three years old predicts eighty!

So all of this was traceable even in the 1.0 era.

It's just that in the 1.0 era, he didn't go overboard with it, plus there were plenty of positive reports, so not many people noticed these little details.

As a qualified LeBron Hater, Su Yi silently pulled out his little notebook and jotted down this scene: In the 1.0 era, LeBron James was already very particular about his stats!

The brief timeout ended, and both sides made player rotations, while Su Yi was still sent onto the court.

Su Yi went up, so of course Josh Smith had to go up too!

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Su Yi could clearly feel that Josh Smith's movements were half a beat slower.

But even half a beat slower, his baseline was still there, and it was something Su Yi could only hope to match.

Su Yi had to keep draining Josh Smith's stamina.

And with no offense directly involving Su Yi, the Cleveland Cavaliers' bench was having a pretty rough time.

Although Su Yi's off-ball movement kept stirring up the Atlanta Hawks' defense and created opportunities, they couldn't capitalize, clanking shot after shot.

Luckily, the Atlanta Hawks were also clanking shot after shot.

In the past four minutes, both sides only managed a 4-4 tie!

Mike Brown, on the losing side, immediately made substitutions, quickly sending in the starters.

As for the starting point guard Eric Snow, he remained seated on the bench.

In Mike Brown's view, their team didn't even need a point guard, since the ball was always in LeBron James' hands.

Eric Snow: ￣□￣｜｜

So it became LeBron James dribbling at the top of the arc, with Su Yi and Larry Hughes on the wings in the corners, and the twin towers inside both running out to set screens for LeBron James.

LeBron James used the double screen, accelerated, and charged straight toward the Atlanta Hawks' interior.

He was fast!

Then he leaped high and finished with a one-handed dunk.

"Ahhh!"

After completing the one-handed dunk, LeBron James screamed wildly at the camera.

The Atlanta Hawks took the chance to inbound quickly, turning it into a 5-on-4. After a few passes, the ball reached an unguarded Josh Smith cutting through the middle.

Josh Smith grabbed the ball, took long strides, and charged toward the basket.

One step, two steps, he pushed off his left foot and leaped high.

In midair, he slammed the ball viciously toward the rim.

Boom!

With a loud crash.

Josh Smith completed a beautiful one-handed dunk!

Answer Ball!

A solid response to LeBron James' one-handed dunk just now.

Su Yi sighed. (´ο｀*)))

Score two, then give up two = 0

The gap stayed at three points.

Next came the Cleveland Cavaliers' offensive pattern—LeBron James screens, LeBron James drives to the basket, LeBron James passes the hot potato...

The efficiency was okay, but they just couldn't close the gap.

It remained a three-point difference.

Time ticked away, and soon the game reached the final minute, with the Cleveland Cavaliers holding the ball.

LeBron James held the ball at the top of the arc, dribbled for seven or eight seconds, then called for a screen.

Big Z quickly ran over to set a pick for LeBron James.

LeBron James used the screen, accelerated to shake off his defender, and drove inside.

After a full game, the Atlanta Hawks players were used to LeBron James' style.

They quickly collapsed in and double-teamed LeBron James.

Seeing this, LeBron James flicked his wrist and passed the ball to an unguarded Larry Hughes in the corner.

Larry Hughes caught the ball, dared not make any adjustments, and shot quickly.

The moment Larry Hughes released the ball, the 24-second shot clock expired!

"Clang!"

The shot missed.

Zaza Pachulia securely grabbed the rebound, then passed the ball to Claxton.

Claxton slowly dribbled the ball across half-court.

At this moment, they were leading by three points, so there was no rush at all!

After crossing half-court, Claxton passed the ball to Joe Johnson on the side.

Joe Johnson went one-on-one against Su Yi.

Su Yi immediately lunged at him, giving Joe Johnson full physical pressure.

Joe Johnson held the ball steady, completely unfazed by Su Yi's defensive pressure.

He fended off Su Yi's contact while looking for an opening to drive.

But the two were tightly pressed together; whenever Joe Johnson tried to make a move, Su Yi shut him down.

Su Yi simply wouldn't let Joe Johnson gain any speed.

If he sped up, a single crossover might let him blow past.

Seeing this, Joe Johnson couldn't help but step back and launch a three-pointer.

Tonight, Joe Johnson was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Su Yi immediately leaped at him, stretching his long arms high, but he still couldn't stop Joe Johnson's shot.

The ball sailed over Su Yi's head, flying toward the basket under the gaze of the entire arena.

With a clang, it missed.

For an instant, the Cleveland Cavaliers players breathed a sigh of relief.

They still had one last chance to attack!

Big Z securely grabbed the rebound, then passed the ball to LeBron James.

LeBron James dribbled the ball across half-court.

As soon as he crossed half-court, Su Yi began moving nonstop without the ball, with Josh Smith hot on his trail.

LeBron James, at the top of the arc, kept checking the remaining time.

10, 9, 8...

At 8 seconds, LeBron James called for a screen.

Big Z immediately ran out to set a pick for LeBron James.

LeBron James used the screen to drive inside.

But the Atlanta Hawks didn't collapse this time—if he wanted two points, they'd give it to him!

LeBron James drove all the way to the basket, then leaped high.

In midair, he tossed the ball to Su Yi, who was running to the left corner.

Su Yi, hot potato!

The moment Su Yi caught the ball, the Hot Potato Master skill triggered!

In that instant, Su Yi felt the rim was as wide as the ocean.

Without any adjustment, he quickly jumped, leaned back, raised his arc in the air, and released the shot.

Josh Smith, lunging at him, couldn't block Su Yi's high-arc, leaning three-pointer.

The ball traced a parabola through the air.

With a swish, it went in as the game clock expired.

Su Yi nailed this game-tying three-pointer, helping his team even the score.

94 to 94!

The game was heading to overtime!