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Lin Yi and ht Okur, a Turkish, stepped into the circle for the tip. On the first jump, Okur feinted but quickly pulled back, clearly wiser after being beaten in their last eting.
The Knicks, unusually, sent their point guard to take the tip, though this was no ordinary guard. At 221 cm with shoes on, Lin Yi drew chuckles from the crowd as he won the ball and called for it back to set up the offense.
"D'Antoni's gutsy tonight," remarked Yu Jia on CCTV. "He's starting Lin Yi as the primary ball handler right from the jump, not just with the second unit like before."
"I don't see any problem with it," Zhang replied. "You watch—Lin Yi's handles aren't overly flashy, but they're plenty good for this role."
On the floor, the Jazz avoided putting Deron Williams directly on Lin Yi; as strong as Deron was, at his size, he'd be lucky to even reach Lin's knees. Instead, Carlos Boozer stepped up.
Lin Yi calmly surveyed the Jazz's tight defense. Sloan's teams were always disciplined, showing no obvious gaps. Lin raised his right hand and called for a pick-and-roll.
Milicic stepped up and screened Okur out high. Okur grumbled, irritated—after years of tornting Yao Ming in Houston with the sa pick-and-roll, he didn't enjoy seeing it used against him.
Milicic executed perfectly, rolling as Boozer squeezed through to recover. Lin spotted the gap and fired a pass. Milicic rose for a soft jumper and drained it as the net snapped.
Lin Yi assist: 1.
The two clapped hands as they ran back. Milicic, once hyped as a big who could shoot and handle, had long since been reduced to a role player under Larry Brown's harsh tutelage. Now, with D'Antoni and Lin Yi giving him confidence, he was rediscovering himself.
On defense, Lin Yi stayed with Deron, forcing the Jazz star to give the ball up before curling into a midrange pull-up—exactly what Lin wanted. The shot clanged off the rim. Milicic and David Lee left the rebound for Lin, who pushed it ahead in stride.
Over on the TNT broadcast, Charles Barkley chuckled. "That's another easy board for Lin Yi. He's gobbling them up already."
Kenny added: "And look how quickly he turns it into offense. With him playing point guard, the Knicks' transition ga the more deadly."
Lin Yi whipped a pass ahead to Gallinari, who pulled up without hesitation for three. The shot fell clean.
Lin Yi assist: 2.
As they jogged back, Gallinari grinned and called for the combo celebration.
Lin threw an imaginary disk while SBC shot it down.
The bench joined in by making the gun sounds and the disk explosion.
The Knicks' chemistry, the modern spacing, and Lin's unique presence were already frustrating Sloan. The Jazz coach frowned, shaking his head. Plus, the bucket celebration didn't help the mood in the arena.
...
" Lin Yi running the point has been pretty fun to watch," Kenny admitted.
"Yeah, he's tall, sees the floor well… A lot of people believe if he were focused purely on scoring, he'd be right in the mix for the scoring title," Barkley added, visibly happy. "And if he pulls off a triple-double tonight, he'll tie Chamberlain's record!"
The Jazz finally broke through on their second possession. Kirilenko slipped free, Matthews ca around the backdoor, and Deron Williams delivered a pinpoint pass. Matthews finished the layup with ease.
anwhile, on the sidelines, Jerry Sloan couldn't quite wrap his head around the Knicks' success this season. From his perspective, their defense was full of basic errors.
So why weren't the Knicks' coaches addressing it?
Sloan looked frustrated and confused.
Back on the court, the Knicks ran their third play—Lin Yi and David Lee in a classic pick-and-roll. Lee used his size to seal off Boozer. Lin tossed a perfect pass, and Lee powered through for the finish.
Another assist for Lin Yi.
His numbers were climbing steadily, and Lin felt confident. D'Antoni was a master at coaching guards. The plays designed for him weren't flashy, but they worked.
His fourth assist ca monts later. Okur tried to post up Milicic, but the matchup wasn't in his favor. Okur turned and went for the hook, only to get stuffed cold by Milicic.
Back to the drawing board, dream over.
In Lin's mory, Milicic had strung together several gas with five or more blocks when he was with the Timberwolves. Okur just didn't have enough muscle this ti.
The Knicks broke out quickly. Lin Yi pushed the ball ahead, and even Belinelli—who wasn't exactly a speedster—was flying. He chose the safe route and laid it in from a pass from Lin, adding yet another assist to his tally.
Sloan had seen enough. He called a tiout and urged his players to tighten up defensively.
The Jazz players were feeling the heat. Even with genuine effort, Lin Yi was creating mismatches and exploiting errors with ease.
Sloan, like Gentry before him, had fallen into the sa trap: overfocusing on stopping Lin Yi's triple-double. In doing so, he disrupted his own team's defensive rhythm.
Andrei Kirilenko's absence was a big blow too—he was the Jazz's best bet at slowing Lin Yi down.
Boozer? He brought intensity, sure, but defensively? Not elite. Lin didn't even bother challenging him physically. He just used his height advantage to exploit the matchup.
Late in the first quarter, Lin Yi grabbed an offensive rebound and dished it to Milicic under the rim—two-handed slam!
To be honest, Lin was starting to see Milicic in a new light. The guy had a bit of bite to him, even if people still labeled him soft.
By the end of the first quarter, Lin Yi had 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Not a bad start. During the break, he recharged a bit, knowing he'd have to pick up his scoring in the second quarter—otherwise, the Jazz might start easing off their coverage.
The fans watching on TV were loving it.
It looked like Lin Yi was about to make history tonight.
But just as the second quarter began, sothing unexpected happened…
...
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