Carlisle looked at Su Xi, then at the court.
Su Xi was resolute.
Carlisle was helpless.
But in the end... he didn’t offer any grand platitudes. He just patted Su Xi on the shoulder. "Protect yourself."
It was this late in the Finals. Who didn’t want to win?
The Pacers’ only path to victory was to put Su Xi on the court.
As Pacers fans watching on TV saw Su Xi walk resolutely toward the scorer’s table, their hearts swelled with emotion.
An entire season had gone by; everyone knew about Su Xi’s stamina issues.
"We can’t do without Jack now..."
In front of his television, Larry Bird let out a long sigh. He could feel Su Xi’s resolve.
He didn’t say anything sentintal to the owner. He just watched the screen in silence, his gaze firm. He knew that if it were him, or if it were Jordan... they would make the exact sa decision.
They were cut from the sa cloth.
"Can we still win? Larry, can Jack still pull off a miracle?" the Pacers owner asked Larry Bird, his voice lacking all conviction. He sounded like a faithful parishioner kneeling in church, praying for his wish to co true.
It was a question filled with doubt.
The Lakers were just too powerful.
"The ball is round," Larry Bird said.
But he felt that sounded a bit weak, so he lifted his head, straightened his back, and added, "Have faith in Jack."
As Su Xi neared the scorer’s table, Big Williams held out her fist for a bump. "You got this, Jack," she said.
Su Xi nodded.
As the Pacers inbounded the ball, Su Xi entered the ga, replacing Reggie Miller.
Kenny Anderson was still the one to bring the ball past half court, but with Su Xi now on the floor, the defensive pressure on him eased considerably.
He calmly dealt with Derek Fisher at the top of the arc.
Kobe Bryant, however, latched onto Su Xi, defending with his usual relentless tenacity.
’He knew Su Xi would try to make a statent with his first play back in the ga. Once he gets going, he could easily spark a powerful coback. He has to be stopped.’
But Su Xi’s off-ball movent was just too unpredictable.
He seed even harder to track than Reggie Miller. The key difference was that when Reggie Miller ran into a defender, he would try to run around them.
Su Xi, on the other hand, would just muscle his way through. No one could stop him.
As he cut quickly into the paint, Kobe grew anxious, readying himself for Su Xi to reverse direction and pop back out.
But to his surprise, Su Xi barreled straight into the paint and forced his way past Luke Walton.
Poor Luke Walton had no room to maneuver.
Seeing Su Xi shove past Luke Walton and drift left, Kobe quickly picked up his pace and rushed to cut him off on the left side.
However, just as Kobe committed to the left...
Su Xi muscled his way back out again. He was treating Luke Walton like a public restroom, going in and out as he pleased.
Poor Luke, who hadn’t even regained his footing, was knocked aside once more.
He felt as if he’d been trampled twice by a bull.
He threw his hands up in frustration, trying to get a call from the ref.
But the head referee wasn’t indulging him.
’This is just off-ball movent.’
’Besides, you’re a damn big man who can’t even hold his ground, whose fault is that? Don’t think I’m gonna give you a call just because your dad is Bill Walton.’
Su Xi sprinted to the top of the arc. Kenny Anderson quickly executed a hand-off, passing the ball to Su Xi while also setting a screen on Fisher. Su Xi shot without hesitation... Kobe’s desperate lunge was more than a beat too late.
The basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air... SWISH!
It was a bullseye.
The Pacers clawed back three points.
Su Xi’s return had an imdiate impact.
YES!!
In front of his TV, Larry Bird pumped his fist. He loved Su Xi. Su Xi had that rare quality—the tougher the situation, the more damn precise he beca. Bird absolutely adored that swagger.
Similarly, Big Wei and Xiaowei were doing the sa thing courtside. They were genuinely thrilled by Su Xi’s performance. It was a shared passion.
As fellow athletes, they could feel the intensity of that clutch shot on a personal level.
anwhile, Su Xi had already thrown himself into the next battle.
He moved to the shooting guard position, not shying away from his responsibility. Though everyone was worried about his stamina, when Artest signaled that he wanted to switch defenders, Su Xi simply pointed toward the left corner.
He didn’t have the strength to talk to Artest.
Artest got the ssage and quickly moved in that direction.
Seeing Su Xi defending him personally, Kobe didn’t hesitate for a second. He imdiately called for the ball from Fisher.
The other Lakers, including O’Neal, instinctively cleared out.
This was Ga 4. The Lakers players knew better than anyone who the Pacers’ real ace was. They all believed that if they could just drain Su Xi’s stamina, the ga was already half-won.
On the sideline, Carl Malone was rubbing his hands together in anticipation, repeatedly asking Phil Jackson to put him in.
"I have to take down Little Sheep Su Xi," he growled, gritting his teeth. His hatred for Su Xi was bone-deep.
Phil Jackson didn’t agree imdiately. He wanted to observe a bit longer.
Kobe Bryant was isolating for a one-on-one. Su Xi defended with total concentration, focusing all his talent, energy, and experience on the man in front of him.
He put imnse pressure on Kobe. His strength made Kobe uncomfortable; at this point in his career, Kobe hadn’t bulked up yet, and Su Xi’s power made it difficult for him to establish position.
But Kobe was incredibly skilled and had a slight height advantage.
He executed a perfect spin move on Su Xi. Kobe’s coordination was superb, his flexibility was excellent, and his core strength was imnse.
The old Su Xi would have been completely unable to stop that. But now, his own coordination was bordering on elite, and his flexibility was arguably the best in the entire league.
And with Gary Payton’s elite defensive instincts added to his arsenal, he perfectly anticipated Kobe’s spin move and cut him off a step ahead.
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