Chapter 32

The second quarter ended with Brandon Roy’s attempted three-pointer missing, leaving the score at 51:44 in favor of the Pistons, who led by 7 points. Zhou Yi played for about 16 minutes in the first half, hitting 8 out of 11 shots and 4 out of 4 three-point attempts, scoring 21 points—19 of them in the second quarter—his outstanding performance truly astonishing.

Chapter 134: Kenny, My Butt Is Waiting for You

“Zhou, do you think you can secure this away-game victory?” a woman with golden wavy hair handed a microphone to Zhou Yi.

“As long as we do what we’re supposed to do, I don’t think there should be any problem,” Zhou Yi replied simply.

“What about your own performance? Do you have anything to say?”

“I think it was okay, but I feel I could have done better.”

“Great, thank you for your cooperation!”

After the interview, Zhou Yi slowly headed toward the locker room.

…

Soon, the second half was about to begin, and players from both teams gradually made their way onto the court.

“In the second half, we need to play more aggressively. I know this game isn’t easy, but I really hope our efforts won’t be in vain. I don’t want to say much nonsense—In the second half, we need to combine inside and outside attacks. It’s difficult to defend Lamar Odom, so Ben Wallace and Samuel Dalembert will form a double tower to contain him. As for the outside, James Posey will defend Brandon Roy, with everyone else doing their respective jobs. Do you all understand?” John Kuester said seriously.

“Understood,” they replied in unison.

When the game started, the Pistons indeed used their double-tower lineup: Ben Wallace, Dalembert, Prince, James Posey, and Will Bynum. The home team, the Trail Blazers, had Lamar Odom, Marcus Camby, Nicholas Batum, Brandon Roy, and Andre Miller.

Right from the start, Brandon Roy continued his strong form from the first half, scoring two consecutive points. But James Posey immediately stepped up his defense, preventing Brandon Roy from scoring in the next few attacks.

Dalembert on the Pistons’ side helped ease the offensive pressure on the outside players. It was tough for Lamar Odom to defend Dalembert, who managed to score two points against him as well.

Later, Andre Miller received a pass from Brandon Roy and hit a three-pointer after jumping over Bynum’s defense.

Bynum drove with the ball, stumbled and nearly lost it, but fortunately passed it to Durham Porter inside. Although the pass wasn’t perfect, Porter caught it. Then, relying on Lamar Odom, Durham Porter used his size and skill to turn around and shoot a hook shot, adding 2 more points.

Although Bynum likes to joke around, he’s also very smart in games. He repeatedly used his speed to break through Andre Miller. Though Miller is experienced, chasing after Bynum quickly drained his stamina, allowing Bynum to make several breakthroughs. And whether he scored himself or passed to his teammates, those attempts all succeeded.

In no time, nearly 7 minutes had passed in the third quarter, and then the Trail Blazers’ head coach, Nate McMillan, called a timeout. He called the timeout not only to make substitutions but also because the Pistons were performing very well at that point, and he wanted to disrupt their offensive rhythm.

After the game resumed, Zhou Yi came on court. Holding the ball, he hesitated for a moment on the perimeter before deciding to take care of it himself! With his good form from the first half, he wanted to see how his form was now. Slowly lowering his center of gravity, he suddenly stepped forward and rushed toward Andre Miller’s left side. Seeing Zhou Yi coming, Andre Miller knew his breakthrough was fierce, but believing in his years of experience, he thought he could block him.

So he stepped back, ready to stick close to Zhou Yi at any time. Although a hard defense would surely not stop Zhou Yi’s breakthrough—his speed was comparable to Bynum’s—he thought it would be easier if he focused on staying close to Zhou Yi. But this move was already within Zhou Yi’s prediction. Seeing Andre Miller step back, Zhou Yi didn’t break through. Instead, he stopped abruptly, took a simple step back, jumped beyond the three-point line, and gently released the basketball.

Seeing Zhou Yi’s shot, Andre Miller could only helplessly look up at the trajectory of the ball in the air. But he didn’t believe Zhou Yi could still make a three-point shot, not believing his form was still so good. So he shouted at Marcus Camby inside, “Marcus, watch the rebound!”

The basketball gently spun into the basket, rotating three or four times above it. But obviously, Zhou Yi no longer had the hot hand he had in the first half; after spinning a few times, the ball fell out. Fortunately, Samuel Dalembert, the big man inside, stepped in at a critical moment by pressing on Marcus Camby’s waist. Leveraging his height and long arms, he snatched the ball before Marcus Camby and then jumped high to try to throw it back into the basket.

But seeing that he couldn’t secure the defensive rebound and Dalembert trying to score in front of him, Marcus Camby reached out and committed a foul! Yet Dalembert, with his rich experience, still gently put the ball into the basket. As the ball went in, the referee’s whistle blew, and the entire Pistons team erupted in excitement—this shot was truly beautiful.

“Great job!” Big Ben said, patting Dalembert on the shoulder with a smile. It was rare to see Big Ben smile, but he did so here, showing just how impressive Dalembert’s shot was.

The fans in the arena, seeing the visiting team score again and the score gap gradually reaching double digits, grew anxious. So when Dalembert took his free throw, loud boos filled the air like the sound of drums and gongs.

But this didn’t disturb Dalembert. Having been in the league for 10 years, his composure wasn’t easily shaken.

The free throw also went in. By now, the Pistons had widened the score gap to 10 points. Not only were the home fans growing anxious, but even the home team’s players were becoming frustrated.

Nicholas Batum missed a three-point shot from outside, and Dalembert grabbed the rebound and passed it to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi launched a fast break and passed it to James Posey, who was outside the Trail Blazers’ three-point line. James Posey shot smoothly and scored another 3 points—it seemed the Pistons intended to flood the net with threes.

As the score gap kept growing, the Trail Blazers’ head coach, Nate McMillan, quickly called a timeout.

“Although we lead by 13 points, we must not be careless. They have one of the top scoring guards in the league, so we need to work even harder to beat them,” Kuster said to his players.

At the start of the game, the Pistons’ Ben Wallace was replaced by Greg Monroe, while the Trail Blazers’ Andre Miller was replaced by Armon Johnson.

After being scolded by head coach Nate McMillan, the Trail Blazers players fought desperately against the Pistons. Especially Brandon Roy, who scored 5 points through shots and free throws after the game resumed. While the other Blazers players tried their best, they lacked consistency, leaving Brandon Roy to fight alone. Under Zhou Yi’s coordination, the Pistons thrived, widening the score gap to 16 points by the end of the third quarter. Although Zhou Yi scored only 2 points in the third quarter, he provided 6 assists, being the key factor in the Pistons’ lead. Everyone in the arena, from players to fans, was amazed by Zhou Yi’s outstanding performance, especially Kenny Smith sitting in the commentary booth. “Kenny, my butt is waiting for you!” Buckley joked mischievously at Kenny Smith. Chapter 135: I Give Up—Fully Convinced of My Loss “This kid’s performance really exceeded my expectations. But as you said before, the final result isn’t out yet, so it’s better not to jump to conclusions. If I really lose, I definitely won’t deny it!” Kenny Smith replied seriously. Seeing Kenny Smith take it seriously, Charles Barkley smiled bitterly and said, “I think we should drop it, Kenny. It was just a joke; you don’t need to take it so seriously.” “Heh, I, Kenny Smith, am not the kind of person who breaks promises. You didn’t back out of your bets back then, so how could I?” Kenny Smith’s gaze wasn’t on Barkley but was fixed on Zhou Yi. Hearing this, Barkley shrugged helplessly and shut his mouth, while Reggie Miller also sighed helplessly, muttering to himself, “It seems Kenny is really serious now!”