Chapter 21

In the second quarter, Zhou Yi continued to play, with McGrady as his partner on the backcourt. The Celtics had already substituted Rondo out, and at this point, their player playing at the power forward position was the young Nate Robinson. Zhou Yi drove the ball continuously, then suddenly used a crossover to get rid of Nate Robinson. But just as he was about to lay up, a large hand appeared. A cold glint flashed in Zhou Yi’s eyes as the ball went to McGrady, who immediately shot it from a high position—making the shot. After high-fiving McGrady, Zhou Yi quickly retreated to defend. Nate Robinson took control of the ball and passed it to Glen Davis. Glen Davis tried to lay up, but a not-so-large hand came from behind and swatted the ball away. The ball flew over the baseline, and Glen Davis stumbled forward due to inertia, looking embarrassed. At that moment, the commentator announced the culprit behind that block. “Zhou… Yi!!” Cheers erupted from the crowd for this young player! The home fans cheered loudly, some even waving Zhou Yi’s No. 37 jersey. “That was amazing! So cool, a beautiful block!” On the bench, Bynum stood up excitedly, waving a towel at the court. Chapter 111: Closing the Gap With the support of nearly 22,000 fans, the Pistons’ bench outperformed the Celtics’ bench 12:4 at the start of the second quarter, quickly narrowing the score to single digits. The Celtics’ bench was stunned. Doug Rivers thought, “What the hell? I thought I could secure a win at the Pistons’ home court and achieve two consecutive victories.” So he immediately called a timeout. Seeing Rivers call a timeout, Coach Kuster on the Pistons’ bench couldn’t help but show his signature smile—though it vanished quickly as Rondo and Pierce returned to the court. “I don’t believe Rajon and Paul can keep playing like this,” Kuster thought to himself. By this time, almost 3 minutes had passed in the second quarter. Rondo replaced Nate Robinson, while Pierce replaced Marquis Daniels. Pierce hadn’t performed well in the first quarter, so he had been substituted early, and now he had mostly recovered his strength.

Macy moved to his spot, using Villanueva’s screen to get himself directly at the 45-degree angle on the left wing, just one step away from the three-point line. Zhou Yi saw this and thought there was no need for words—he immediately passed the ball. Macy caught it without hesitation and took a quick jump shot. Before the Celtics players could react, the ball was already in the basket. This long-range three-pointer sent the nearly 22,000 spectators in the arena into a frenzy of screams, with chants of “T-MAC” echoing continuously. Macy simply smiled, clapped hands with Zhou Yi beside him, and quickly retreated to the back.

Celtics’ Glen Davis passed the ball, and Randolph caught it. Randolph dribbled slowly toward the front court and passed it to “The Truth” Pierce as soon as he arrived. Knowing that Pierce was frustrated after a poor first quarter, Randolph didn’t hold onto the ball but gave it to Pierce so he could perform well and regain some face after the first quarter’s loss.

Villanueva was guarding Pierce. As Pierce broke through, Villanueva kept retreating, trying to cut off his path. But Pierce’s seemingly casual breakthroughs were actually very steady. Seeing Villanueva’s flawed defense, Pierce couldn’t help but chuckle. Pierce was one of the best at faking moves in the league—his feints weren’t fast or complicated, but they were extremely convincing. After using a shoulder fake to deceive Villanueva, Pierce grabbed the ball and prepared to shoot.

But just as the ball was released, that not-so-large hand appeared once again right above it! The owner of that hand was, of course, Zhou Yi.

“Great block! Awesome! Zhou, do it again—block them!” Bynum shouted loudly from the sidelines. The referee glared at Bynum, clearly signaling that if he kept making noise, he’d get a technical foul. Bynum noticed the referee’s look and immediately became quieter.

“Great play, Teacher Xu. What’s your opinion on Chinese player Zhou Yi’s performance?” Yu Jia asked Xu Jicheng while watching the game.

“Zhou Yi’s ability to assist in defense and his agility are quite outstanding. His physical conditions limit his defensive skills, but his defensive awareness makes up for that,” Xu Jicheng explained with a smile.

“Hmm, I agree with you.”

After being blocked by Zhou Yi, Pierce was stunned for about three seconds before reacting. Seeing his shot blocked by a Chinese rookie, Pierce’s expression immediately turned grim. But McGrady, who was nearby, didn’t care about his thoughts; with a quick motion, he snatched the ball back and rushed toward the opponent’s half before Van Weeber could react.

McGrady’s fast breaks were still dangerous, though not as much as in his younger days. By the time McGrady reached the basket, Van Weeber was already there. Seeing McGrady jump, he jumped too and tried to block the ball, but unfortunately, McGrady switched the ball to his left hand and scored with a left-handed layup.

“Ding,” the referee’s whistle sounded. Van Weeber committed a defensive foul, and McGrady got a free throw. After high-fiving McGrady once each, Hansbrough and Durham Porter stepped back, and McGrady stepped to the free-throw line. Taking a deep breath, he shot—the ball traced a graceful arc through the air before sinking through the net.

On the Celtics’ side, Randolph quickly counterattacked. Using his teammate Jermaine O’Neal as a screen, he rushed to the basket and scored with a quick pull-up shot.

Zhou Yi controlled the ball and suddenly accelerated after crossing half-court, catching Randolph off guard. With a sudden change of direction and help from teammate Villanueva, he managed to shake off Randolph’s persistent defense. But by the time Zhou Yi reached the basket, Randolph was already there, reacting swiftly. Seeing Zhou Yi jump, Randolph jumped too and tried to block the ball. Zhou Yi remained calm, spun around, and passed the ball to McGrady at the 45-degree angle on the right wing.

Van Weeber, who was guarding McGrady, rushed out and positioned himself in front of him, ready to defend. McGrady flicked the ball, sending it toward the baseline paint area, where Hansbrough was standing. After catching the ball at the baseline, Hansbrough didn’t hesitate and shot a jump shot, hitting the target.

“The Celtics made a substitution—Ray Allen replaced Van Weeber, while Garnett remained on the bench resting. Coach Doug Rivers sent Ray Allen in so that he and Pierce could lead the bench players well and prevent the Pistons from closing the score gap too much. Seeing Ray Allen enter the court, the Pistons’ head coach immediately replaced Hansbrough with Monroe, who had just been taken off the court not long ago, to pair up with Durham-Porter and defend the paint,” Yu Jia explained while watching the game.

After halftime, Lamar Odom passed the ball to Ray Allen without even looking at his defender, Zhou Yi. But as the ball was still in the air, a gust of wind blew, and suddenly the ball disappeared, leaving only a white silhouette of number 1. McGrady’s fast break clearly caught everyone by surprise, even the Pistons’ players didn’t react in time.

McGrady rushed straight into the opposing half. Glen Davis, who hadn’t run far after passing the ball, was the first to react. He quickly retreated to defend against McGrady’s approach. If McGrady chose to stop abruptly and shoot, he would let him do it; if he tried to drive, he wasn’t afraid to let this once-promising player have his way! But unexpectedly, after rushing to the free-throw line, McGrady rushed toward the basket with the ball in his arms. Davis, with his muscular frame, blocked McGrady’s path. But when his body touched McGrady’s, McGrady twisted his waist, switched from right to left hand, and with a strong pull, the ball bounced its way into the basket. The whistle blew—Davis had committed a foul.

“Time out!” As the score gap widened, Doug Rivers couldn’t wait any longer and immediately called for a timeout, wanting to bring in all his starters early.

“Kevin and Kendrick are in to replace Glen and Jermaine!”

Chapter 112: Confidence Falters for the First Time

After the Celtics brought in all their starters, Koost also quickly substituted his key players, though Zhou Yi and McGrady remained on the court. Currently, the players on the court were: Pistons—Zhou Yi, McGrady, Prince, Monroe, and Big Ben; Celtics—Lamardo, Ray Allen, Pierce, Garnett, and Perkins.

“Huh…” A cold wind blew. Zhou Yi only saw a flash of green jerseys in front of him. By the time he regained his senses, Lamardo was already standing behind him. Such speed and agility caught Zhou Yi off guard for a moment.

So far, Zhou Yi and Randolph have only faced each other for 1 or 2 minutes, so Zhou Yi is still getting used to Randolph’s skills. When facingrosses earlier, he didn’t sense such agility fromrosses either;rosses was just very fast. Randolph can be considered the most agile player Zhou Yi has encountered since entering the NBA—no one else comes close. Perhaps only Paul and Nash can compare with him in terms of agility, but that’s just Zhou Yi’s guess, as he hasn’t faced those players yet!

Randolph has improved rapidly. As a fast and agile point guard among the league’s new generation, despite being on a star-studded team, he still shows clear leadership qualities. He has now become the driving force behind the Celtics. With the team’s veteran players struggling to keep up, his growth has significantly reduced the playing time of the “Big Three” and lessened their pressure.

When he first joined the league, Randolph’s shooting skills were criticized as “worse than even a high schooler’s.” But through relentless effort, he has earned recognition from countless fans. For point guards like Paul and Williams, Randolph’s luck and achievements are sources of envy—earning a championship ring in just his second year in the league, something many stars long for. When the Celtics won the title, people praised the “Big Three,” believing Randolph was just a rookie riding on their shoulders and that he had won the championship under their protection. Indeed, the brilliance of the “Big Three” overshadowed Randolph at the time, and his inexperience made it hard to compare him to them. But who could have predicted that this once-doubted rookie would later prove those critics wrong with his actions? Randolph is like a sponge, quickly absorbing all the best qualities from the “Big Three”—KG’s selflessness and defense, Pierce’s indomitable spirit, and Ray Allen’s calm decisiveness. Perhaps he will eventually stand at the peak and look down on those who once doubted him.

After getting rid of Zhou Yi’s defense, Randolph didn’t rush to attack. Although Zhou Yi’s two blocks weren’t aimed at him, they still left a strong impression. Randolph broke through and passed the ball to the outside, where it was quickly handed to Pierce. Pierce used a fake move to deceive Prince and shot a three-pointer, with the ball tracing a perfect arc straight to the basket.

Prince, guarding Pierce, could only shake his head helplessly. He was really stumped by Pierce’s convincing fake moves.

“I guess I need to speed up the offense,” Zhou Yi thought, glancing at the “Big Three.”

Everyone in the league knows that the Celtics have a quite high average age, so as long as they control their pace and force them to play fast breaks, those older players won’t be able to hold up for long. All of the Pistons’ key players, except Will Bynum and James Posey, have now taken to the court. Even with their starters on the field, there’s still a significant gap compared to the Celtics’ starters. Seeing the large score difference, Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and said, “Fast break!” After receiving the pass from Prince, Zhou Yi quickly moved forward. Rondo, who was in the frontcourt, quickly closed in to defend once he saw Zhou Yi approaching the half-court. Zhou Yi dribbled with his left hand and used his right shoulder to push Rondo aside, taking advantage of the opening to break through. His agility and speed were quite good—slightly slower than Rondo’s, but Rondo was already out of position. After breaking through Rondo’s defense, Zhou Yi rushed straight into the Celtics’ paint. Perkins, the Celtics player, saw Zhou Yi approaching and quickly rushed over to help defend. Once inside the paint, Zhou Yi noticed an opening for Prince and passed the ball to him. Prince faced Pierce alone, took a step back, and attempted a jump shot—it missed, and Garnett grabbed the defensive rebound. After grabbing the rebound, Garnett passed the ball long to Rondo, who was already moving back downcourt. By then, Zhou Yi had also returned to defend. Seeing Rondo approaching, Zhou Yi felt somewhat uneasy. Although Rondo wasn’t a strong shooter, his smooth fast breaks still posed a challenge for Zhou Yi. As Rondo rushed toward him quickly, Zhou Yi quickly crouched into a defensive stance, determined not to let Rondo score easily. With two quick steps and a dribble-based spin, Rondo passed by Zhou Yi like the wind, leaving Zhou Yi with no choice but to reach out in an attempt to foul. But Rondo’s speed and agility were too great; before Zhou Yi could even foul him, Rondo completed a skillful layup, increasing the score gap once again.