Chapter 125

At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 27:27. All seven players on the Pistons scored points, with Zhou Yi leading the way with 8 points from 3 of 5 attempts. Such a high number of attempts was quite different from Zhou Yi’s usual performance, and the impact of this change was evident, forcing the Spurs to focus more attention on him.

John Kuester offered some praise. At this stage of the game, it was already quite remarkable for the Pistons, while the Spurs’ performance could be described as above par. Although the entire Spurs team had shown renewed vigor this season, they still couldn’t hide the issue of their older age.

The Spurs performed exceptionally well in the first quarter, especially Ginóbili’s ability to drive inside and shoot from outside, which left Maddie, who was tasked with defending him, almost overwhelmed. Seeing his unrestrained performance on the court, John Kuester considered having Zhou Yi defend him, as only Zhou Yi’s speed could keep up with his rhythm. However, this was just a thought—given that Zhou Yi was already stretched thin guarding Parker, he wouldn’t have the energy to also deal with Ginóbili. If Parker were freed up, the Spurs’ backcourt duo could put the Pistons in a desperate situation.

Maddie’s preferred substitute was Ben Gordon, but that would result in too short a lineup on the perimeter. John Kuester dismissed this option. When his gaze fell on Jody Meeks, he made up his mind.

Jody Meeks, a rookie last year standing at 193 cm, was not only aggressive offensively but also strong defensively among the Pistons’ guards. John Kuester had always wanted to give him more playing time, but his lack of rhythm in games had been a concern. Now, at last, he had a chance to show himself. With the Pistons’ current lineup, Jody Meeks was the most suitable player to defend Ginóbili—both physically capable and with good defensive awareness.

“Ding”—Zhou Yi’s layup missed, but it resulted in a foul on Duncan. The Auburn Hills Palace erupted in noise.

“Swish, swish”—Zhou Yi’s free throws remained steady.

On the Spurs’ offense, Richard Jefferson received an inside pass from Tim Duncan and attempted a three-point shot from beyond the arc. But with a “clang,” his shot missed as Greg Monroe grabbed the defensive rebound.

On the Pistons’ offense, Zhou Yi drove to the baseline and passed to Andre Iguodala at the top of the key. After receiving the ball, Iguodala feinted before taking a mid-range jump shot.

Unfortunately, Andre Iguodala’s shot also missed, and Tony Parker secured the defensive rebound. Ginóbili tried the same tactic again, charging straight into the paint from the baseline, but this time, as he was about to take a three-point shot, a muscular figure was already waiting in his path. Having observed the entire quarter from the sidelines, Jody Meeks had managed to figure out some of his strategies. Facing Ginóbili’s strong pressure, the referee’s whistle signaled his presence, though such a call was difficult to make—offensive fouls are often hard to determine. The referee didn’t hesitate to call an offensive foul. With home-court advantage, the home team generally has an edge, not because of the referee’s bias, but due to some ambiguous calls made to please the home crowd. Although Jody Meeks was just a rookie, and a bench player at that, his performance in this game earned cheers from fans everywhere. He successfully defended against Ginóbili, stopping several of his breaks, and with the other starting guard performing poorly, the Spurs’ offense was hindered. Without choice, Popovich called a timeout. With weak outside shooting and Tim Duncan struggling under Greg Monroe’s tight defense, the Spurs had little chance to score, while the Pistons pressed hard—Greg Monroe and Zhou Yi’s coordination helped them score an 8-2 run. The Spurs are one of the league’s most consistent teams not only because of their solid starting lineup but also because their bench players are irreplaceable. Needless to say, players like Matt Bonner, a master three-point shooter, and other bench players may not stand out usually, but they step up whenever the team needs them. Chapter 317: Cutting Down the Spurs. Gary Neal and Matt Bonner were brought in. The former is a key player the Spurs are focusing on developing, hoping to find a suitable replacement for Tony Parker. Gary Neal lived up to the Spurs’ expectations—though a first-year rookie, he performed exceptionally well and was selected for the Rookie Challenge. The latter is a veteran with years of experience, a reliable three-point shooter. As a power forward, he has a three-point shooting percentage of 40.8%, a rate typical of top-tier three-point shooters. Popovich’s substitution move was a mix of gains and losses.

Under Zhou Yi’s close defense, even Tony Parker was tough to handle, let alone Gary Neal. Earlier, Zhou Yi had used a press defense against Parker, but once Gary Neal came on, he committed himself fully to a man-to-man press defense. Under Zhou Yi’s defense, Gary Neal almost had his pass intercepted; just after halftime, he passed the ball, and Matt Bonner hit a three-pointer from the right wing. Watching Popovich make two substitutions in a row, John Kuester was so jealous he wanted to strangle him. As soon as the Spurs’ bench players came on, they immediately showed their worth—Matt Bonner and Gary Neal hit three three-pointers in a row, helping the Spurs take the lead before the end of halftime. To prepare for the second half, Zhou Yi was taken off at the halfway point of the second quarter to rest. The Pistons’ bench players, Will Bynum and Ben Gordon combined for only 11 points throughout the second quarter. Their poor performance set the tone for the quarter, with the Pistons temporarily falling behind 51:56. The Pistons struggled to defend “The Dagger” Ginóbili, and though Jody Meeks had strong defensive skills, experience told him that you can’t expect a rookie with limited talent to stop an elite scorer. In the second half, the Spurs continued to play with their starting lineup and barely managed to gain a score advantage. Popovich certainly wouldn’t give up this advantage easily; no matter how good their bench players were, it was still the starters who could be relied on at critical moments. Taking advantage of the chaos at the start of the quarter, Ginóbili once again executed his tricky three-step layup, driving the ball into the basket. Jody Meeks, who was defending him, was a step slow; with his speed, he could only watch helplessly as Ginóbili scored. Jody Meeks didn’t get much playing time, so he cherished every opportunity and always gave his all. He knew well that his weakness in offense made the coach hesitant to use him frequently. As the team’s leader now, Zhou Yi naturally had to keep an eye on the players’ conditions. He didn’t miss Jody Meeks’ distracted expression and stepped forward to gently pat his shoulder and comfort him a bit. Actually, he really didn’t take the opponent’s sudden attack too seriously. With Ginóbili’s skills, there were very few players in the league who could truly defend him. Relatively speaking, it was already quite impressive that Jody Meeks had managed to push him to that extent in the first half.

After resting for most of the first half, Zhou Yi was now full of energy. After catching the ball, he steadily carried it across the half-court. From the few encounters earlier, Tony Parker realized just how difficult it would be to steal the ball from Zhou Yi. His own fast pace, which he usually relied on, didn’t seem to give him any advantage against him. As Popovich had advised him, it was unrealistic to completely contain a player like Zhou Yi—at least not when it came to him. Instead of worrying about that, it was better to focus on disrupting his passing routes. Zhou Yi’s playmaking was crucial to the Pistons’ strong offensive performance this year; he kept the otherwise disorganized team tightly united.

As the footsteps grew louder, Parker became highly focused. The confrontation between the two in the first half was evenly matched. Although Zhou Yi defended him tightly, he didn’t make things easy for Zhou Yi either. After hitting two three-point shots, Parker didn’t give an inch in his defense of Zhou Yi. Both were among the fastest players in the league. With both players being matched up against each other, the situation favored the Spurs, given their overall strength. Even without Parker, they still had several reliable players. On the Pistons’ side, if Zhou Yi was contained, their outside offense would almost come to a standstill, leaving them dependent on Greg Monroe’s inside play.

John Kuester understood Popovich’s strategy. Since Zhou Yi wasn’t very effective on the court, he decided to replace him halfway through the second half. This substitution seemed like a complete abandonment of the outside offense, but its effects became apparent in the second half. With his physical advantage, Zhou Yi gradually gained the upper hand in the head-to-head battle with Parker.

This time, Zhou Yi didn’t pass the ball. About a meter from the three-point line, he stopped moving and assumed a shooting stance. Such a sudden attempt at a shot would likely only be seen by spectators from other players, but he was facing Parker. Even before Zhou Yi stopped moving, Parker became alert due to his body language. The moment Zhou Yi raised the basketball, Parker’s lightning-fast speed was on full display once again before the Pistons’ fans.

This time, Zhou Yi chose the right timing and position for his shot. And judging from the smile on his lips, it was definitely the right decision. His shooting speed was already well-known in the league.

But with such little time, Parker naturally wouldn’t think too much. His mind was simple: at all costs, he had to prevent Zhou Yi from making this shot. As Parker jumped to try and block the ball, Zhou Yi’s smile grew even brighter. His upper body rose gradually before suddenly stopping, his feet firmly planted on the floor. Looking up at Zhou Yi, Parker felt a surge of frustration—he knew he had been tricked, especially when he saw Zhou Yi jump again. “Ding” The referee’s whistle sounded just in time. Before his body fell, Zhou Yi lightly swung his left hand, and the orange basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air. Though the shot was taken from a difficult angle, its trajectory made it clear it was a good shot. “Bang” Parker’s anxious heart finally settled. If Zhou Yi had scored a 3+1, the Pistons might have taken the lead. For Zhou Yi, three free throws meant an increase of three points to his score. Offense and defense switched. The Spurs’ backup power forward, Antonio McDyess, tried to attack inside but was stopped by Greg Monroe, with Samuel Dalembert grabbing the defensive rebound. Zhou Yi dodged Parker with two quick changes of direction—this was already his third successful breakthrough of the quarter, each one easier than the last. This time, just two changes of direction gave him the opportunity. The Spurs responded quickly, with McDyess and Duncan both coming in to pressure Zhou Yi from both sides. Faced with double-teaming, Zhou Yi showed no signs of nervousness and didn’t pass the ball either; instead, he continued charging straight toward the paint. He made contact first with McDyess. Seeing the nervous expression on the latter’s dark face, Zhou Yi felt proud—being able to make even a renowned defensive player nervous gave him reason to be proud. Zhou Yi suddenly sent his right hand behind his back. He had often used this backpass move after breaking through. McDyess quickly shifted his focus to that possibility, hesitating slightly. That was exactly the opportunity Zhou Yi needed. With a simple motion, he deceived McDyess. Now, the only one standing in Zhou Yi’s way was the Spurs’ leader, Tim Duncan.

His trust in McDyess’s defensive abilities slowed Duncan down in covering the extra defender, but that slight delay turned out not to be too bad. If he and McDyess had both rushed to cover at the same time, Duncan’s reliance on Zhou Yi’s ability to find openings in chaos would likely have led him to be deceived by Zhou Yi’s back passes. However, that delay allowed him to keep a clear view of Zhou Yi’s movements.

Zhou Yi also felt regret inwardly. After breaking through Parker, he noticed the Spurs players coming to cover him. With two defenders approaching, Duncan seemed to be a bit faster. He hadn’t expected Duncan to trust his teammates so much, which instead put him in an unfavorable position.

Instead of attacking decisively, Duncan stood firm under the basket. Given their current distance, Zhou Yi didn’t dare to stop abruptly and shoot—a quick block from Duncan was always possible. With his full speed, Zhou Yi seemed unable to bring himself to stop, and the tightly guarded basket left no room for him to insert himself. His path seemed to lead straight to the baseline.

Just two steps later, Zhou Yi reached the baseline with no angle left. As his right foot was about to cross the line, the Spurs’ bench erupted in cheers. Zhou Yi’s earlier tactic of drawing fouls had frustrated them for a long time, so seeing his mistake imminent brought them great relief.

At the moment he was about to cross the line, Zhou Yi pushed off the floor with his right foot and soared into the air.

Duncan was quite pleased with his successful defense, but Zhou Yi’s move completely took him by surprise. From his current position, flying over the baseline was inevitable—unless he could fly backward, which was impossible. Thus, Zhou Yi’s action became truly baffling.

With a roar, Zhou Yi unleashed the strength he had built up, and his body suddenly stopped mid-air. Slightly to the right, his right hand, holding the ball, reached out from behind the basket and made a gentle throw.

“Swish”—that wonderful, familiar sound filled Zhou Yi with excitement.

The entire crowd was stunned. Many people instinctively opened their mouths wide, and even the DJ seemed to forget his duties. The O’Banion Pavilion fell silent.

Someone started clapping first, and soon the arena turned into a sea of joy. Such a bizarre score thrilled the fans, who cheered even louder. The morale of both teams shifted, and the balance of victory gradually tilted in favor of the Pistons.

Bobovic sighed helplessly and called a timeout; it seemed he had indeed underestimated Zhou Yi. He hadn’t expected Zhou to be such a skilled player at creating momentum. Thinking of his own team, which also had a master like Ginóbili at creating momentum, he was used to Ginóbili disrupting the opponent’s interior play. After each of Ginóbili’s outstanding performances, he had enjoyed the advantages that came with it.

However, so far in this game, under Jody Meeks’ defense, Ginóbili had performed terribly, hitting just six of his fourteen attempts—this included three successes in the first quarter. The Pistons’ bench players all stepped forward to shake hands with Zhou Yi one by one. In those two minutes, Zhou Yi’s performance was absolutely superb. Not only did he help the team tie the score, but his two outstanding individual performances also dealt a heavy blow to the Spurs’ morale.

The Spurs’ timeout didn’t bring much change to their team. Relying on their outside shooting, the Pistons gradually widened the score gap. In just the third quarter, the Pistons hit six three-pointers, ultimately winning 101–90.

In this game, the Pistons had strong performance across the board. Five of their nine players scored in double figures, with Greg Monroe scoring 28 points—the highest in the game—and also grabbing 13 rebounds. In his matchup against Duncan, he outperformed his opponent in every statistic, showing that Tim Duncan was truly getting older.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, scored 25 points and provided 9 assists. Undoubtedly, his number of assists wasn’t high, but leading the team to victory was more important than anything.

Before the game, although the media favored the Spurs—after all, they were in great form and a traditional top team in the league—there were also many who supported the Pistons. Yet, few expected such a decisive victory. The Spurs had been on a strong run, winning eight games in a row. On ESPN’s strength rankings last week, they were second only to the Lakers.

At the post-game press conference, Bobovic was quite resigned to the loss. After summarizing his team’s performance, he praised the Pistons highly. Zhou Yi and Greg Monroe were among the players he commended, especially Zhou Yi’s two outstanding performances in the third quarter, which he called the turning point of the game.

In addition, he also spoke highly of Jody Meeks, saying that as a rookie, his fighting spirit on the court was admirable.
Chapter 318: The Big Three Arrive
After the game against the Spurs, the Pistons traveled to Cleveland the next day to face the Cavaliers. After four quarters of play, the Pistons easily defeated the Cavaliers 109:87 away from home.
Zhou Yi played only 28 minutes in this game but managed to post a triple-double—13 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists—while committing just one error and having no fouls. Such efficiency was truly astonishing. It was also Zhou Yi’s second triple-double this season; the first came in a game against the Miami Heat.
After the decisive win over the Cavaliers, the Pistons returned to Detroit. They would take a day off before hosting the Miami Heat at home.
“Good morning, viewers. Welcome to Court Five on a Saturday morning. We are now broadcasting live the game between the Pistons and the Heat, the third encounter between these two teams this season. The Pistons won both previous meetings. In this game, the Heat will surely give it their all to avenge those losses. Coach Zhang, what’s your opinion on this game?”
“As far as I know, this game is just as highly anticipated as the Christmas Battle. Not only is China broadcasting it, but major American TV networks have also abandoned other games to cover this one. After all, both the Pistons and the Heat are top-tier teams with championship potential. So, in my view, both teams will definitely give 200% effort to win this game,” said Coach Zhang, referring to the materials in his hands.
“Well, that’s indeed the case. Alright, the game has already started. Let’s turn our attention to the court now…”
Amidst the cheers of the fans, the starting players from both teams stepped onto the court, while the jump ball players, Greg Monroe and Chris Bosh, went to the center to prepare for the jump ball.

In this game, the Pistons’ starting lineup saw changes. Darvin Ham didn’t play due to a recurrence of his old injury. Surprisingly, Greg Monroe was moved to the center position, with Taylor Hansbrough as the power forward. It was Taylor Hansbrough’s first start since joining the Pistons. Andre Iguodala remained at small forward, Tracy McGrady as the shooting guard, and Zhou Yi as the point guard.

For the Heat, their three star players were all on the court this time, unlike their last game against the Pistons when only LeBron James played.

The Heat’s starting five were: Joel Anthony at center, Chris Bosh at power forward, LeBron James at small forward, Dwyane Wade as the shooting guard, and Mario Chalmers as the point guard.

The referee walked to the center of the court with the basketball. After looking at the players from both teams, he blew the whistle, and the ball was thrown into the air at the same time. Greg Monroe and Chris Bosh immediately jumped after the ball, reaching for it.

With a soft “thump,” Greg Monroe’s fingertips touched the ball before Chris Bosh’s, and he gently passed it to his teammate Zhou Yi.

“Good grab,” Zhou Yi said, seizing the ball right away thanks to Greg Monroe’s effort. This rebound won it for the Pistons, boosting their morale significantly.

The Heat players defended quickly, taking their positions and waiting for the Pistons to attack.

After Zhou Yi crossed half-court, Greg Monroe and Taylor Hansbrough started competing for position under the basket, while Andre Iguodala and McGrady kept moving around to break free from their defenders and create shooting opportunities.

McGrady started moving from beyond the three-point line. With Greg Monroe’s screen, he got away from his opponent and moved back to the left wing at the zero-degree angle, gaining a shooting chance. The ball landed in his hands almost immediately.

After catching the ball, McGrady turned, jumped, raised his arm, and shot a three-pointer as his opponents couldn’t react in time to help defend. The ball met the hoop just as expected, going through cleanly.

3-0 — McGrady gave the Pistons a strong start to the game.

The Heat counterattacked, using a strategy similar to the Pistons’ — Dwyane Wade controlled the ball, LeBron James and Mario Chalmers moved around, while Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony competed for position inside.

Yet even so, it seemed the Heat weren’t as tactically adept in this regard as the Pistons; after some scrambling and movement, they failed to find a proper scoring opportunity. So, the ball-handler Dwyane Wade suddenly took off, trying to use his speed to break through Zhou Yi’s defense just as he had in previous games. But this time-tested tactic didn’t seem to work. Dwyane Wade couldn’t break through Zhou Yi’s defense and was tightly guarded by him the whole time. “Damn, this guy’s footwork…” Dwyane Wade thought to himself in shock. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the ball to LeBron James outside. After catching it, LeBron immediately tried to break through, but Andre Iguodala, who was defending him, stopped him from succeeding, so the ball was passed again. The ball returned outside the three-point line, this time in the hands of the Heat’s point guard, Mario Chalmers. Mario Chalmers wasn’t very aggressive offensively, and his defender was McGrady, who had been performing well defensively lately. So if he tried to attack on his own, he was likely to make a mistake or get defended. Therefore, after receiving the ball, Mario Chalmers promptly passed it to Chris Bosh, who had just run to the free-throw line. After catching the ball, Chris Bosh naturally turned and jumped, smoothly pushing the ball with his wrist to shoot a mid-range shot. “Bang, swish.” The basketball hit the backboard and went in. 3:2—the Heat regained 2 points through precise teamwork. Immediately afterward, the Pistons and Heat engaged in two more back-and-forth attacks, but under the opponent’s tight defense, neither side managed to score, keeping the score at 3:2 until the third minute of the first quarter when a score was finally made again. Zhou Yi drove with the ball, using his signature move of feinting left and right to dodge Dwyane Wade and break through, heading straight into the Heat’s penalty area. Joel Anthony, the Heat player closest to him, had no choice but to abandon Tyler Hansbrough and rush over to defend Zhou Yi. As Joel Anthony rushed toward him, Zhou Yi remained calm, smoothly pushing his right hand holding the ball, sending it onto the floor beneath Joel Anthony’s feet. Then, due to inertia, the ball landed steadily in the hands of Tyler Hansbrough behind Joel Anthony.

After getting the ball, Taylor Hansbrough immediately turned and jumped, aiming to finish the attack with a powerful dunk. But as he jumped, Chris Bosh, who was defending Greg Monroe, rushed forward and also jumped with his hands raised. With the offensive route blocked, Hansbrough didn’t force a shot; instead, he retreated and used a rare, clever pass to deliver the ball to Greg Monroe. However, Monroe also failed to score after receiving the ball, as LeBron James and Mario Chalmers quickly surrounded him. Unable to shoot, the ball was passed again. Monroe moved his hands and threw the ball to McGrady, who was unguarded beyond the three-point line. With the ball in hand, Dwyane Wade, the Heat’s only player who hadn’t yet provided help defense, couldn’t stay idle either. Wade hurriedly moved forward and reached McGrady before he could shoot, but all he faced was the ball moving away from him again, as McGrady had already passed it to Zhou Yi, who had an opportunity to shoot. When Zhou Yi received the ball, there wasn’t a single defender within two meters of him. So, he definitely wouldn’t miss this chance. Zhou Yi decisively jumped to shoot a three-pointer and successfully completed the attack, adding three more points for the Pistons. 6:2, with the Pistons temporarily leading by 4 points. Smooth offense, teamwork, selflessness, and confidence—these were the characteristics evident in the Pistons’ recent attack. At first, Zhou Yi controlled the ball; after half a court pass, he handed it to McGrady. After a few quick passes, the ball returned to Zhou Yi’s hands, who brought this clever coordination to a perfect end. Such teamwork and coordination are rare throughout the league—and this is the standard approach of a team-oriented squad, with selfless understanding and cooperation. Playing like this, they can win. Although the game had just started, the Pistons’ fans believed they would definitely win this match. As long as they continued to display such high-level coordination, they would surely win this highly anticipated game. In the following time, both teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle using team tactics. Although the Pistons played well and coordinated well, the Heat weren’t weak either; with their three stars, they fought fiercely against the Pistons.

Whether in offense or defense, the Pistons could not contain the Heat, nor could the Heat defeat the Pistons, so the score between the two teams remained close. With three seconds left, LeBron James failed to make a last-second three-point shot, leaving the score at 27:25 in the first quarter, with the Pistons temporarily ahead by 2 points. Chapter 319: The Intense Battle Continues