Returning to the Position of Eastern Number One

The timeout ended, and the game continued.

Su Yi stepped up to the free-throw line and took the pass from the referee.

Aimed, shot!

"Swish!" "Swish!"

Two for two, scoring 2 points.

The score became 5 to 5!

Su Yi had scored 5 straight points, instantly helping his team tie the game.

"Su!" "Su!" "Su!"... In an instant, the fans at the Quick Loan Center Arena erupted with deafening cheers.

The fans hadn't expected that in just the first possession, the home team could erase the deficit. His scoring ability was simply explosive.

This was the true engine of our Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the NBA, scoring has always held a core position in the stats.

Of course, other stats matter too, but scoring is in a league of its own.

The core of any team, his scoring ability must be number one!

Even in any award selection, scoring is ranked first.

After all, the condition for winning a basketball game is scoring more than the opponent.

The more Su Yi displayed his explosive scoring ability on the court, the more he won over the fans' hearts.

If this continued, the Cleveland Cavaliers fans would gradually lean toward Su Yi.

As for LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers fans would gradually see LeBron James as Su Yi's right-hand man.

Similar to Scottie Pippen beside Michael Jordan.

(LeBron James: You're the Pippen! Your whole family are Pipiens! (•́へ•́╬))

After the free throws ended, the Cleveland Cavaliers still held possession of the ball.

When Devin Brown came up to Su Yi again, his mouth wouldn't stop running, and he kept ramming Su Yi with his body.

Su Yi couldn't help but feel glad he was physically strong; he really wasn't afraid of this kind of body contact.

In fact, Su Yi even fought back against Devin Brown frequently, opening his mouth to retort: "Thanks for those two free throws just now. You're really too kind."

His tone was dripping with sarcasm.

Sometimes a sarcastic tone sounds worse than outright cursing.

Devin Brown's temper flared up again in an instant. Without a second thought, he raised his elbow and drove it into Su Yi.

Su Yi noticed it immediately and originally planned to dodge.

But then a thought struck him—why not draw another foul on Devin Brown?

Su Yi took Devin Brown's elbow head-on, fell to the ground with the momentum, and then clutched the spot where he'd been elbowed.

"BEEP BEEP!"

The referee's whistle sounded again, calling another foul on Devin Brown.

"Fuck! This is attempted murder! Ref, our team isn't playing anymore. We're done. We only have one Su!"

On the sidelines, Mike Brown had clearly seen Devin Brown land an elbow directly into Su Yi's abdomen. On top of the earlier flagrant foul, and the game had barely started.

One violation after another against their core player, Su Yi.

No way Mike Brown was letting that slide.

"Boo! Boo! Boo!"

Not only Mike Brown, but the fans at the Quick Loan Center Arena also booed, raining down a storm of disapproval at Devin Brown's actions.

Devin Brown looked speechless. Why was it that when he elbowed Su Yi, the referee didn't react at all, but when he elbowed Su Yi, the result was completely different?

This was way too double-standard.

Devin Brown immediately went to argue with the referee, and his emotions were running high.

"BEEP BEEP."

The referee didn't indulge Devin Brown at all. He made a direct ejection gesture and sent Devin Brown out of the game.

"ROOOOOOAR!"

In an instant, the entire Quick Loan Center Arena's fans applauded the referee's decision.

Su Yi hadn't expected that by trying to fleece the sheep, he'd ended up shearing it clean off.

Fuck!

Devin Brown walked toward the player tunnel with a face full of displeasure.

As for the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul, he was even more displeased. He could feel that this game had completely slipped out of their rhythm.

They had started the game with a 5-0 run, riding a wave of momentum and holding an absolute advantage.

But with Devin Brown's string of reckless plays, their advantage turned into a disadvantage, and their morale kept plummeting.

In contrast, the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing at home, were riding high on morale.

Right after that, Su Yi stepped up to the free-throw line to execute his shots.

LeBron James watched as the free throws that usually belonged to him were given to Su Yi, and couldn't help feeling a surge of displeasure.

Clang!

Su Yi missed the free throw.

Su Yi shook his head slightly—it seemed free-throw practice needed to be bumped up on the agenda; a rating of 74 was nowhere near enough.

In critical moments, free throws were absolutely crucial.

How many teams in NBA history had been overturned because they missed free throws?

On December 9, 2004, Tracy McGrady reached the peak of his career with 13 points in 35 seconds, leading his team to a comeback.

As impressive as McGrady was, it was still the opponent giving him the chance—they kept clanking shots from the free-throw line.

Otherwise, McGrady couldn't have pulled off that 13-points-in-35-seconds feat.

Next, the Cleveland Cavaliers rushed to inbound from the sideline. The ball came out to Larry Hughes, who dribbled to the top of the arc.

Su Yi immediately started moving without the ball, sprinting full speed from the left baseline along the end line toward the right baseline. Rasual Butler, who had just subbed in, hurried to follow.

The next second, Su Yi made a sudden stop and quickly cut back.

In an instant, Su Yi shook off Rasual Butler.

Larry Hughes immediately passed the ball to Su Yi.

The man arrived as the ball arrived.

Su Yi had just reached the left baseline position, caught the ball cleanly, then quickly adjusted, jumped, hung in the air, kicked his legs, and released a three-pointer.

The motion was fluid from start to finish—smooth and decisive.

The ball traced a graceful arc through the air.

Swish.

Su Yi nailed another three-pointer.

The score became 8 to 5!

Su Yi had scored 8 straight points, instantly leading the team to change the game's rhythm.

For the rest of the game, the Cleveland Cavaliers, under Su Yi's leadership, kept the New Orleans Hornets suppressed.

In fact, the New Orleans Hornets inexplicably started clanking shot after shot in the first quarter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers seized this golden opportunity and stretched the lead to double digits by halftime.

If it weren't for LeBron James wasting several wide-open looks, the lead would have been even larger.

After a brief halftime break, the New Orleans Hornets adjusted. Under Chris Paul's organization, they launched a fluid, seamless offense, gradually cutting the deficit.

Fortunately, with one minute left before the end of the third quarter, Larry Hughes and LeBron James each came up with a steal, successfully sparking a 4-to-0 run.

That pushed the lead back to 8 points.

By the fourth quarter, the situation grew even more tense. Mike Brown didn't dare to pull his starters.

The New Orleans Hornets had come out fierce in the second half, and he felt that if he subbed out the starters, the game would be lost.

As the game clock ticked away, the Cleveland Cavaliers held firm to their 8-point lead. The New Orleans Hornets grew anxious.

Clang! Clang!

Peja Stojakovic and Chris Paul both missed their three-point attempts. The Cleveland Cavaliers capitalized, stringing together defensive stops and fast breaks to push the lead to double digits.

That completely crushed the New Orleans Hornets' last hope.

Bzzzz!

With the sound of the final buzzer, the game officially ended.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the New Orleans Hornets 109 to 95, winning by 14 points.

They secured their second straight victory.

Their overall record now stood at 15 wins and 5 losses!

They reclaimed the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Su Yi once again scored 30+ in this game, putting up 31 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, leading the team to victory.