NBA: Journey To Become Unplayable. Chapter 126: Knicks vs Nets 4 ( The History Maker)

For Knicks fans and Chinese fans alike, this halfti break felt like forever.

Down by a massive margin, even the local Nets crowd couldn't bother pretending to enjoy the halfti show. The cheerleaders danced, the half-court gas played out—but the energy in the Izod Center was just... gone.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the players ca back out.

But the place was still half-empty. Less than 40% full.

And let's be honest—those who stuck around were die-hard Nets fans. They stuck around...hoping their team could pull off a miracle.

As the folks with drinks and popcorn trickled back in, attendance barely scratched 50%.

"Alright, we're back," Yu Jia said from the booth. "The Knicks are sticking with their starting five for the second half—Lin Yi, David Lee, Harrington, Gallinari, and Larry Hughes."

"The Nets made a few changes," Zhang Weiping added. "Brook Lopez is on the bench. Yi Jianlian's starting at center, Ryan Anderson at the four, Bobby Simmons at the three, Courtney Lee at shooting guard, and Devin Harris at the point."

The cara, maybe getting a little cheeky, cut to Nets coach Lawrence Frank, whose face looked severe. Then, cut to Yao Ming sitting courtside, laughing and chatting with friends.

Naturally, within seconds, Chinese netizens were already pumping out new s of Yao's smiling face.

Coach Frank, on the other hand, looked like he'd aged ten years during halfti.

He'd tried everything. But Lin Yi was simply unguardable tonight. Even the double-team they threw at him in the first half? Lin just dished out three assists.

So what could Frank do now?

His goal wasn't to win anymore—it was just to avoid getting humiliated. He swapped Lopez out and went with a stretchier frontcourt. Maybe they could shoot their way back in.

Lopez had been quiet, just 3 points and 3 boards. He couldn't keep up with the Knicks' pace, and the Nets were getting destroyed in transition.

...

Over on TNT, Barkley was still calm, but Kenny Smith knew behind that facade, Chuck was ready to cash in the promise on him.

Then, boom—Yi Jianlian opened the half with a corner three.

If there was a bright spot for the Nets, it was him. Jianlian was feeling it tonight, and with the Knicks up big, their defense had started to ease up a bit.

It wasn't like the Knicks were tanking on purpose—they were just... letting Lin cook. The whole squad could tell: Lin Yi wanted Jennings' rookie scoring record.

So they gave him room to work.

That three gave Yi Jianlian 12 points on the night.

But Lin wasn't slowing down either.

Off a pick-and-roll with David Lee, Anderson switched onto him—and imdiately got blown by.

Layup. That's 40 for Lin.

Just 10 more to break the record.

Then, after a Nets miss, the Knicks pushed the pace.

Lin Yi crossed halfcourt, took two steps... and just let it fly from way behind the arc.

Splash.

43 points.

He held up his hand like a pistol, blew the smoke from his fingertips—and even the Nets crowd had to respect that one.

"Lin Yi is unbelievable!" Yu Jia shouted. "He's now officially the highest-scoring Chinese player in a single NBA ga, surpassing Yao Ming!"

"Lin's got the range," Zhang Weiping chid in. "Yao dominated inside, but Lin's got that three-point ga."

On the Nets bench, Coach Frank looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Like... what did they do to deserve this?

At this point, the Nets were just leaning on Yi Jianlian and hoping for the best. And to his credit, Jianlian had matured a lot since his early days. Expectations had been heavy on him, and maybe he was never ant to be the core guy.

That's why Lin had always encouraged him to focus on being a strong role player.

Back to the ga—Lin Yi pulled up from nearly five feet beyond the arc.

Clang.

Missed.

Anderson let out a huge sigh of relief—only for David Lee to snag the offensive board and kick it back out to Lin.

Another deep bomb—missed again.

But Lee was on cleanup duty. Grabbed it again. No hesitation. Tossed it right back to Lin.

Third ti's the charm.

Splash.

46 points.

Lin and Lee slapped hands—one of those loud ones that echoed through the despairing hearts of the opponents.

"I promised you boards; you better hit one," David joked as they jogged back.

"Lin Yi is on fire!" Zhang Weiping laughed. "Just bombing away from deep."

"And we still have plenty of ti in the third," Yu Jia added. "Jennings' record is in serious danger."

anwhile, Ryan Anderson was having a crisis.

Every ti he got switched onto Lin, he was just praying.

Even when Lin missed, David Lee was there, fighting like a man possessed on the boards.

Then, Lin pulled up from the wing—again, about a step and a half outside the arc.

BOOM. Nothing but net.

And one.

Three-pointer. Foul. Crowd stunned.

You could hear the gasps through the broadcast.

"That's 50 points if he hits the free throw," Yu Jia said, voice cracking from excitent.

Yao Ming stood up from his courtside seat, nodding like a proud big brother. He knew he was witnessing history.

...

On TNT, Barkley had gone silent.

Kenny Smith? Just shook his head and laughed. "We're gonna need that donkey after all," he muttered.

Then sothing crazy happened.

Lin stepped to the line... and the Knicks crowd started chanting.

MVP!!

MVP!!

The Izod Center was officially Lin Yi's territory.

Swish.

50. In just over two and a half quarters.

"Amazing! Lin Yi's na is going into the history books tonight!" Barkley shouted.

"I need a drink," Kenny Smith muttered. "I should've kissed the donkey at halfti and saved myself the trouble."

But wait...

"Hold on, Charles," Kenny said, looking at the scoreboard. "There's still 6 minutes and 21 seconds left in the third... and D'Antoni hasn't even subbed him out."

Barkley blinked. "You saying what I think you're saying?"

Yu Jia, Zhang Weiping, and millions of fans already knew.

Lin wasn't done yet.

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