Chapter 49

At the start of the second quarter, Mo Williams was sent onto the court by head coach Byron Scott. With the first quarter ending at 42–26, the Cavaliers were 16 points behind their opponent. Byron Scott believed that since the second quarter had just begun, the other team wouldn’t send in their starters, so he decided to use Mo Williams, the starting point guard, to try and narrow the score gap.

Now that Mo Williams had regained his energy, he was ready to step in and perform well while Zhou Yi was absent. But when he came on court, he was stunned—Zhou Yi was also on the court.

“Damn!” Both Mo Williams and Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott couldn’t help but curse.

Neither of them expected Zhou Yi to return to the court at this moment. They thought the Pistons wouldn’t send in starters like Zhou Yi until at least 5 or 6 minutes into the second quarter, but now…

Facing Zhou Yi, Mo Williams was already in trouble. In his panic, he mishandled the ball, and Zhou Yi, of course, didn’t miss this opportunity—immediately stealing the ball from him. Then he drove with the ball toward the Cavaliers’ half-court.

“Thud”—the basketball hoop let out a frustrated scream as Zhou Yi hung straight from it, gripping the rim before jumping down.

“Zhou… Yi, Zhou… Yi…” The crowd started shouting his name, while his teammates watched with smiles—they were used to Zhou Yi’s tactics of stirring up the fans’ emotions.

Another “thud” sounded, but this time it wasn’t a dunk—it was a miss by a Cavaliers player. Charlie Villanueva naturally grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to Zhou Yi.

After reaching the Cavaliers’ half-court, Zhou Yi passed the ball to Will Bynum. He then set up a pick-and-roll with Bynum, who quickly passed the ball to him. Without even looking at Anthony Parker, who was guarding him off position, Zhou Yi took a jump shot. As Anthony Parker watched him shoot, he couldn’t help but feel disdain—his defense had been so tight just moments earlier. As a player famous for his defense in the league, if he could still score under such conditions, then he deserved to die!

But just as he showed a look of disdain, a wave of gasps came from behind him, followed by thunderous applause from the entire crowd. The DJ on site shouted Zhou Yi’s name loudly.
“Did he make it in?” Anthony Parker watched in disbelief, muttering to himself.
Zhou Yi couldn’t hear the fans’ cheers on the court and simply retreated quickly.
Taylor Hansbrough, guarding Antoine Jamison, performed excellently, successfully blocking Jamison’s jump shots. Samuel Dalembert, who came in as a substitute for Ben Wallace, grabbed a rebound and quickly passed it to Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi caught the ball and rushed toward the opponent’s basket once again, this time with veteran Samuel Dalembert coordinating with him. Just like with Taylor Hansbrough—a pick-and-roll, then Zhou Yi darted away as Dalembert passed the ball. Ignoring everyone in front of him, Zhou Yi shot a three-pointer. By the time the basketball went back through the hoop, the fans in the stands were already going wild!
“A 20-point lead,” Zhou Yi said excitedly, waving his fist at the scoreboard.
The fans greeted the new ruler of the Auburn Hills Palace with their roaring voices, while Zhou Yi spread his arms, defending while accepting their admiration. At this moment, he was truly the strongest!
Watching Zhou Yi, the Cavaliers’ players could only shake their heads helplessly.
……
“Hahaha…” Zhou Yi leaned on his leg and happily walked toward the locker room with his teammates.
At the end of the first half, the Pistons led the Cavaliers 68–41, by 27 points. If nothing went wrong, the Pistons would almost certainly secure the win.
It was clear that the Pistons’ performance in the first quarter had scared the Cavaliers, so in the second quarter, they continued to lag behind, passively enduring everything.
Zhou Yi wrapped a towel around his head and entered the hallway to the locker room. He needed to rest now—his exertions from earlier had nearly exhausted all his energy.
Zhou Yi played for nearly 18 minutes in the first half. Yet his stats were astonishing: 34 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals.
With 32 points in just the first half, Zhou Yi’s performance completely conquered everyone in the arena.
The halftime break ended quickly, and the second half began.
Zhou Yi and the others walked onto the court, chatting as they went.

“Dude, it seems like you’re going to be firmly remembered by the Cleveland guys after today,” Maddie said with a laugh, patting Zhou Yi’s shoulder.
“I will, I’ll make sure they remember me,” Zhou Yi replied with a smile.
Zhou Yi kept his word—within the first 4 minutes of the third quarter, he seemed possessed, hitting consecutive jump shots and layups. Even under double coverage from Anderson Varejao and Antoine Jamison, he forced his way to the basket and dunked.
“Hey, man, give me a chance to show off too!” Will Bynum and Greg Monroe said jealously beside Zhou Yi.
“Hehe, I will, but you guys need to run to your positions first. I’ll pass the ball to you,” Zhou Yi replied with a smile.
Will Bynum and Greg Monroe didn’t perform well in the first half—Greg Monroe because of Antoine Jamison’s presence, and Will Bynum due to limited playing time.
Will Bynum reluctantly passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who was standing inside the paint, wishing he could just squat down and draw circles while cursing Zhou Yi.
With Zhou Yi’s help, Will Bynum’s energy instantly changed—he actively rushed to his position and tried to get the ball.
One of the commentators on the broadcast desk frowned, sensing something was off. “Strange, why isn’t Zhou Yi attacking now? He keeps trying to assist his teammates. Isn’t he planning to score more than Kobe’s 81 points?”
The other commentator glanced at Zhou Yi’s stats and replied without hesitation, “He’s already scored over 40 points, and with his scoring ability, he can score even more. But in my opinion, Zhou Yi isn’t just aiming for assists. It seems he wants his teammates to score in the simplest and most reliable way, making the Pistons’ offense smoother.”
“Huh? I see!” the first commentator said, realizing it suddenly.
Antoine Jamison, seeing that Zhou Yi had ignored him again and wasn’t concerned about help defense, stood in front of him along with Mo Williams, raising their hands high to block all of Zhou Yi’s shooting paths.
But in that split second, Zhou Yi slammed the ball to the floor. The ball passed through the gap left behind as Antoine Jamison and Mo Williams jumped!
Greg Monroe caught the ball in the open space ahead and dunked it with a loud shout!

“Amazing! Zhou Yi’s shot was absolutely incredible!” In the live broadcast of the Court TV, Coach Zhang spat out loudly, yet he didn’t draw any criticism from the attentive viewers.
At the Auburn Hills Palace Arena, two commentators stared wide-eyed at the repeated replays, too shocked to speak.
“Unbelievable…”
“Incredible…”
“So awesome…”
Sitting on the coaching bench, John Kuester watched this astonishing scene, his enthusiasm growing even more: “Zhou, do it a few more times—Pistons’ return to glory is just around the corner!”
After Zhou Yi’s shot, the Cavaliers’ already low morale plummeted even further.
Greg Monroe, having scored a dunk, grew more and more aggressive, completely overwhelming Antoine Jamison, who wasn’t giving his all. Will Bynum also had a solid performance thanks to Zhou Yi’s clever passes.
By the end of the third quarter, the Pistons led 101–69, a 32-point advantage.
Greg Monroe achieved a near-double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds. He was thrilled to have pulled ahead in his matchup against former star Antoine Jamison and even taunted him before leaving the court: “See? That’s what real skill looks like!”
Antoine Jamison rolled his eyes and replied disdainfully, “Do you really think you did all that by yourself? If I had a teammate like Zhou, I’d feel guilty even if I scored only 20 points in a quarter.”
Excited as he was, Greg Monroe ignored Antoine Jamison’s mockery. He and Will Bynum, who scored 11 points in the third quarter, walked back to the bench arm in arm, completely unfazed by Antoine Jamison’s words.
With a 32-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 101–69, it was clear the game was essentially over.
In that third quarter, Zhou Yi scored an astonishing 17 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds.
By the end of three quarters, Zhou Yi had set a Pistons record, scoring a staggering 51 points—his name would now be etched in history.
Scoring 50+ in just three quarters as a rookie, Zhou Yi far surpassed all other rookies. He was the first rookie in this class to reach 50+. In fact, Zhou Yi had a chance to reach 50+ earlier—during the game against the Kings, his teammates helped him score 48 points because it was his birthday, earning him the envy of many rookies and the attention of many players.

The break at the end of the third quarter passed quickly. John Kuest has been leaning more and more toward a stream-of-consciousness coaching style lately; during the timeout, he didn’t even bring out the tactical board, only continuing to praise his players and motivate them. When the whistle blew, both teams returned to the court, and the fourth quarter began again.