Chapter 23

Not long after the start of the second quarter, McGrady returned to the game and paired up with Zhou Yi in the backcourt, an move that proved to be quite effective. Jeff Teague on the court was completely helpless against Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi wasn’t hesitant at all against Jeff Teague; his mindset had changed significantly after yesterday’s game. “Swish!” Zhou Yi hit a three-pointer, and on the next attack, while Jeff Teague was defending him, Zhou Yi assisted McGrady to score. Then, Zhou Yi intercepted a pass from Joe Johnson, who had just entered the game, to the interior players. After stealing the ball, he launched a fast break and scored with a dunk. With this dunk, the Pistons finally took the lead—this was the first time they had led their opponents in the game so far. The Eagles’ head coach, Larry Drew, had no choice but to call a timeout; if things continued like this, the Eagles would fall further behind. “Good job, Zhou,” Bynum said smilingly to Zhou Yi as he walked over. At that moment, Kuster also came over, patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder, and said with a smile, “It seems you’ve recovered from yesterday’s setback. Good, keep playing like this—be tough!” “Yeah, I know!” Chapter 115: 10-Point Lead “Awesome, really awesome!” Bynum exclaimed excitedly as Joe Johnson’s three-pointer hit the backboard again. His outburst left the referee speechless; he couldn’t call a technical foul and could only glare at him as a warning. Bynum wisely shut up but still muttered under his breath in delight. Zhou Yi quickly drove the ball to the front court, facing Jeff Teague. Jeff Teague was heavier than Zhou Yi, but in previous confrontations with him, he felt his strength wasn’t as great as Zhou Yi’s. So he had given up trying to compete with Zhou Yi in terms of strength, knowing he couldn’t win. Although he had always thought his strength was strong, when faced with someone truly strong, he was helpless. Now, he focused more on disrupting Zhou Yi’s attacks and cutting off his passes.

Jeff Teague’s playing style seems to have elements of Monta Ellis – someone whose offense leaves opponents speechless and whose defense leaves teammates frustrated. Of course, Jeff Teague hasn’t yet reached Ellis’s level. Although he can’t stop Zhou Yi, he is extremely precise in blocking his passing routes. He always manages to position himself right between Zhou Yi and the open players for the Pistons, making it difficult for Zhou Yi to orchestrate attacks, but it still doesn’t stop him.

“If you’re blocking my passes, then I’ll just have to take it myself!” Zhou Yi muttered to himself as he looked at Jeff Teague, then suddenly made a crossover step and dashed toward Jeff Teague’s left side. Though Jeff Teague was mainly focused on blocking Zhou Yi’s passes, he couldn’t focus solely on that; he had to raise his hands while closely guarding Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi quickly moved inside, close to Jeff Teague, suddenly took the ball in his left hand, then took a big step, covering half of Jeff Teague’s body length – that was Zhou Yi’s toughness. Overall, it was quite good; at least he had an advantage over this opponent.

Zaza Pachulia, who was inside, saw Zhou Yi charging in and quickly stepped forward to block him, spreading his arms to defend. By then, Zhou Yi had already fully entered the paint. Before entering, he had looked around and seen that his teammates weren’t in position, so he knew he’d have to handle it himself.

Zhou Yi prepared to jump, but just as he took his second step, Pachulia had already jumped up. Zhou Yi suddenly stepped back and dodged, avoiding Pachulia in mid-air, before jumping up. By then, Jeff Teague had also rushed over, trying to steal the ball from Zhou Yi’s hands. As Zhou Yi was still in mid-air, he switched the ball from his right hand to his left. Thanks to training with McGrady over time, his left-hand skills had improved significantly. With a smooth left-handed reverse layup, the basketball bounced off the backboard before reluctantly falling through the net. By then, Jeff Teague behind him had lost his balance and collided with Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi now naturally knows how to protect his body, especially after seeing Ben Gordon and Wilcox get injured. Upon landing, Zhou Yi let his back hit the ground first and slid for a distance before stopping. At that moment, the referee’s whistle blew again—Pachulia had committed a foul, and Zhou Yi had to take a free throw. Zhou Yi couldn’t help but punch the ground in excitement; that shot was great!
“That was an absolutely amazing shot!” McGrady rushed over first, pulled Zhou Yi to his feet, and said excitedly.
“Heh, it was okay!” Zhou Yi replied with a smile.
McGrady excitedly punched Zhou Yi’s chest and said, “Go ahead, you must win this game.”
“Mm,” Zhou Yi nodded in response.
“Heh, this kid has grown a lot since the last game. Now he’s truly brave in battle, heh…” Cooster sat on the bench, nodding in satisfaction, even his gaze toward Zhou Yi had changed.
“It seems he really deserves to be nurtured by the team,” Cooster murmured, looking at player number 37 on the court.
Zhou Yi took the free throw, and it went in. Since coming off the bench, he had performed outstandingly. Thanks to Zhou Yi’s great play, the Pistons managed to take the lead again and widened the score gap to 7 points.
Jeff Tigge made three consecutive feints, but Zhou Yi didn’t fall for any of them. Recently, McGrady had been training with Zhou Yi regularly, and feints were a must-practice skill for Zhou Yi every day. After all, McGrady was a master of feints, so ordinary feints could hardly trick Zhou Yi anymore—except for those truly exceptional feint experts, like “The Truth” Pierce.
Jeff Tigge adjusted his rhythm and dashed toward Zhou Yi’s right side, and Zhou Yi naturally followed closely. Just as Zhou Yi stepped forward, a human shield appeared in front of him—Pachulia. By the time Zhou Yi got past Pachulia, Jeff Tigge had already tried to lay up, but fortunately, his attempt missed, and Durham Porter grabbed the rebound.

After catching the ball, Zhou Yi rushed down the court to launch a fast attack. In the blink of an eye, he reached the half-court line. Jeff Teague from the opposing team had already switched to defense, but he didn’t know whom to guard, as McGrady and Daye were also coming with Zhou Yi. The two stopped just beyond the three-point line, watching Zhou Yi who had just reached the half-court line and the two shooters behind him. Jeff Teague’s focus shifted to those two players. Yet he still didn’t give up on guarding Zhou Yi, but he had to abandon him next as Zhou Yi passed the ball. Seeing Zhou Yi pass, Jeff Teague immediately stopped guarding him and turned toward McGrady, but he didn’t expect the ball to go straight into McGrady’s arms or Daye’s arms as he thought—it flew straight toward the basket instead.

It turned out Zhou Yi hadn’t intended to pass. At this moment, he needed a more certain offensive move. In his view, he was the one with the best form on the court right now. Zhou Yi stopped abruptly just beyond the three-point line, then, to Jeff Teague’s surprised gaze, he jumped up and gently pushed the basketball toward the basket ahead. The ball traced a low arc through the air—this was McGrady’s shooting style, one McGrady had taught Zhou Yi. The moment Zhou Yi shot, he knew it would work; the ball indeed slammed straight into the basket.

“Score!” Zhou Yi excitedly punched his chest with his fist. The lead had now widened to 10 points. With a “beep,” the referee’s whistle sounded after Zhou Yi’s three-pointer went in. The Eagles’ head coach, Larry Drew, called for a timeout.

Chapter 116: The Amazing Seven Consecutive Shots

After the timeout, both teams’ starting players returned to the court one after another. Bynum replaced McGrady, forming a backcourt of two point guards with Zhou Yi.

“Roar!” Monroe shouted loudly, grabbing the basketball and slamming it hard against the basket! “Crack!” The basket let out a painful screech, and the entire backboard shook violently. If this had happened at the Auburn Hills Palace, such an electrifying dunk would have driven the fans in the arena crazy. But since it was at the Eagles’ home court, the Phillips Arena, there was no such uproar—only silence, complete silence. Occasionally, some Pistons fans cheered, but their faint cheers were instantly drowned out by the silence. Yes, that’s right—the cheers were silenced by silence.

“You kid, so excited today!” Bynum chuckled as he patted Monroe’s shoulder.
“That’s definitely the best dunk I’ve ever seen in a game!” Prince also had a playful side; seeing Monroe’s amazing dunk, he was speechless with amazement.
Monroe smiled as he accepted his teammates’ praise and quickly ran back to the other half of the court with them. When he reached Zhou Yi, he said with a smile, “That shot? It was your pass that made it possible!”
“The most important thing is that you got the ball into the basket, hehe,” Zhou Yi said excitedly as he bumped shoulders with Monroe.
Joe Johnson shook his head, showing a faint wry smile. “Alright, it’s just a dunk. No matter how impressive it is, it’s only two points. You can’t win this game with dunks alone—we’re still two points behind them!”
“Exactly, that’s right. It’s just two points—nothing to worry about!” Larry Drew, sitting on the sidelines, nodded after hearing Joe Johnson’s words.
After catching a pass from Josh Smith, Bibby calmly crossed over to the other side of the court. Facing Zhou Yi, Bibby became serious, because from previous preseason games and matches against the Pistons, he knew he couldn’t take this Chinese kid lightly.
Sure enough, under Zhou Yi’s intense defense, Bibby made a mistake with his dribbling. After stealing the ball, Zhou Yi rushed to the Eagles’ basket within seconds. Just as almost everyone thought he was about to pull off a spectacular dunk, Zhou Yi simply scored with an easy layup—the ball went right in.
“It actually went in like that?!” That was the first reaction in many people’s minds, including Bynum and McGrady…
“How did this kid suddenly change? He used to love showing off,” Bynum said, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Dunks are exhausting. I try to conserve energy. But when it’s time to dunk, I won’t hold back,” Zhou Yi said with a smile, noticing Bynum’s confusion.
Bynum shrugged helplessly and laughed, “You’re something else.”
“Bang,” Joe Johnson shook his head in frustration. It was already his seventh miss of the game, despite only taking 9 shots in total. Alben grabbed the rebound and quickly passed it to Bynum.
Bynum and Zhou Yi rushed toward each other’s half of the court, ready to launch a fast break. After several coordinated moves, Zhou Yi caught Bynum’s pass and easily hit a jump shot.

On the Eagles’ side,Al Horford took on Big Ben alone and scored by using a clever spin to drive to the basket. Zhou Yi controlled the ball and quickly passed it to Bynum after halftime. Bynum drove with the ball, and Prince set a pick-and-roll; Bynum seized the opportunity to rush into the Eagles’ paint. ButAl Horford and Josh Smith were waiting there, ready to confront Bynum. Bynum came up with a quick backpass, delivering the ball to Zhou Yi, who was lurking just beyond the three-point line. Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment, then shot from three—swish—the ball went straight through the net.

“Damn, this kid’s shooting form is insane!” Joe Johnson stared at Zhou Yi in amazement. Thinking of his own poor shooting form, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Bibby drove and passed the ball; Josh Smith caught it and charged straight into the paint for a one-handed dunk. With a loud thud, the ball flew through the net, shocking everyone in the arena—even Josh Smith was speechless. Monroe quickly secured the rebound and passed it long to Zhou Yi, who was already near the middle of the court. After catching the ball, Zhou Yi moved like lightning to the opponent’s basket and easily scored.

“Damn, his shooting form is absolutely insane! Haha…” Bynum couldn’t help but lick his thick lips, staring at Zhou Yi with admiration.

Seeing Zhou Yi’s excellent form, the Pistons generously passed the ball to him. Zhou Yi didn’t disappoint them—he made all three of his subsequent shots, including one three-pointer, with the other two coming from drives to the paint, one of which even resulted in a foul against the opponent, earning a free throw.

Statistically, Zhou Yi had already made 7 consecutive shots, which was truly amazing for a rookie. His outstanding performance helped his team score a 19-8 run, sending a powerful wave of momentum against the Eagles.

60-44, the Pistons led by 16 points at halftime. Notably, 26 of the Pistons’ 60 points came in the first quarter. In other words, the Pistons scored 34 points in the second quarter, 22 of which were scored by Zhou Yi. His stunning performance caught the attention of everyone in the arena.

“You all are idiots! Just standing there watching them score—look at what you did in the second quarter! You let that Chinese rookie score 22 points. Now almost half of the Pistons’ points came from Zhou Yi. Tell me, Mike, Jeff, what the hell did you do on the court? In the second half, no matter what tactics you use, you must stop him completely. If we can contain him, we’ll definitely win. Do you understand?”
“Yes!” The Eagles’ players, spurred by head coach Larry Drew’s furious outburst, replied in unison.
…
“The first half was excellent, especially from Zhou. Keep this up, and try to crush the Eagles in the third quarter, turning the entire fourth quarter into garbage time. Now, let me explain the tactics for the second half. Today, the Eagles’ outside play wasn’t good, and Joe Johnson’s form was terrible. So they’ll definitely focus on the inside in the second half…” Coach Koester continued to explain his tactics with a bright smile on his face.
The halftime break passed quickly, and the second half was about to begin. What would happen in this suddenly volatile second half?
Chapter 117: At Least Not Much Worse Than Him
As soon as the second half started, the Eagles gave the Pistons a tough start. After Bynum passed the ball to Prince, Prince turned carelessly, not expecting Bibby to make a quick steal and gently push the ball out of Prince’s control.
With the ball in hand, Bibby took a simple step-back jump shot and scored—46:60.
Bynum took control of the ball and drove fast. The somewhat aging Bibby couldn’t keep up with Bynum’s pace, but he managed to block Bynum’s fast break using his years of experience.
“Old man, that’s it!” Bynum sneered, suddenly turning and blocking Bibby behind him as he rushed to the basket. But Josh Smith was already inside. Bynum wasn’t afraid. Zhou Yi’s strong performance had ignited the fire in him, and he was full of determination. Although he and Zhou Yi were good friends and he would congratulate Zhou Yi if he did well, he also had a competitive spirit, so he wanted to perform at least not much worse than Zhou Yi.

Bynum feinted, waiting until Josh Smith got close before shooting the ball he had in his hands. A crisp “thwack” sound was heard. Immediately afterward, another “swish” of the whistle came through the air.
Josh Smith committed a foul, and to Bynum’s even greater delight, his shot also went in. Bynum excitedly waved his fist, then looked at Zhou Yi with a smug expression. Zhou Yi smiled helplessly and shrugged his hands.
Bynum took a free throw, but unfortunately missed it, failing to secure a two-plus-one.Al Horford grabbed a rebound in the backcourt and passed it to Bibby to organize the offense.
Bibby drove with the ball, but it suddenly hit his foot and flew out of bounds. Prince’s long arms came in handy at this moment—he lunged forward, swatted the ball back, and Bynum got it.
Bynum quickly made his way back to the basket again, but by then Josh Smith was already in position inside.
“This guy is so fast!” Bibby, who was defending Bynum, was only filled with surprise. Despite trying his best to keep up, he simply couldn’t.
“Kid, you’re too naive!” Josh Smith roared and slapped him across the face.
Just moments earlier, Bynum had not only scored a shot in front of him but also forced him to foul—Josh Smith’s face showed clear frustration.
However, Bynum showed no sign of fear at all. Instead, he sneered, as if he had expected Josh Smith to react that way. He pulled the ball back toward his chest with both hands, then twisted his body, changing his posture in mid-air.
“What amazing air control!” Josh Smith felt like he was about to fall and could no longer stop Bynum. Though he still couldn’t figure out what Bynum intended to do, he still swung his hand.
“I was waiting for you to foul!” Bynum smiled, allowing Josh Smith’s hand to hit his own without dodging.
“Thwack!” Just as Bynum had expected, Josh Smith’s slap landed hard on his arm, and the referee’s whistle sounded immediately. But there was something Bynum hadn’t anticipated—Josh Smith’s strength was immense. Using the force of his fall, he pressed Bynum’s hands down tightly, preventing him from taking another three-point shot. Bynum was forced to the ground.
“Impressive. Truly worthy of being the former dunk king!” After landing, Bynum looked at Josh Smith, secretly admiring him.

“Josh Smith is still very strong—don’t underestimate him!” Dabben stepped up to Bynum and whispered. “I’ve faced the Eagles before, but I’ve never directly confronted Josh Smith. Well, I get it now; I won’t play like that next time!” Bynum slowly walked to the free-throw line. His free throws were solid—he made both. In the following rounds, both teams focused more on defense. The game stalled, and whoever could break the deadlock first would gain an advantage. Fortunately for the Pistons, they still led by 12 points, so they remained calm and methodical. The Eagles, on the other hand, became anxious due to constant pressure from the Pistons and poor shooting form, especially Joe Johnson, known as the “King of the Eagles.” At 7:11 in the third quarter, both teams made substitutions. With a 16-point lead, the Pistons switched to their bench players, while the Eagles kept some starters hoping to narrow the score. When Bynum went to the bench, he bumped into Zhou Yi and said with a smile, “How was it? Not bad, right?” “Great! Why did you suddenly play so aggressively?” Zhou Yi asked with a laugh. Bynum snorted and replied, “At least I’m not that much worse than you!” Hearing this, Zhou Yi rolled his eyes, ignored Bynum, and headed back to the court. Larry Drew was extremely frustrated. Before the game, he had been confident that his team could win easily, thinking the Pistons were just a second-rate team that had suffered two losses and was low on morale, while his own team was on a 5-game winning streak since the start of the season. But now, his team was being overwhelmed by such a weak opponent. What annoyed him the most was that his players allowed that Chinese rookie to score 22 points in the second quarter—wasn’t that a slap in his face? Larry Drew stared gloomily at the figure in number 37, thinking to himself, “If only I could bring this kid to my team; it would definitely help us win the championship this year! Uh, what am I thinking? He’s just a rookie. Maybe it’s just luck. I must be overthinking it.”

Bibby tried to attack from the right side along the baseline, but was tightly held by Zhou Yi, almost going over the baseline. However, Bibby was experienced and reacted quickly, passing the ball in the air to Josh Smith. After catching the ball, Smith broke through and dunked with both hands—this time the ball didn’t fly out of the basket but smoothly went in.
“Damn, it finally went in,” Josh Smith said with relief.
But Josh Smith’s powerful dunk didn’t wake up the Eagles’ players; instead, they performed even worse. Describing their play as “just going through the motions” wasn’t an exaggeration.
Seeing their team perform so poorly, the home crowd was extremely angry, with some extreme fans even leaving the arena early.
Zhou Yi dribbled under his body repeatedly, then made a clever turn to get past Bibby. As Joe Johnson was about to come over to help defend, McGrady stepped forward and blocked Joe Johnson’s path, setting up a clever screen for Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi didn’t waste this opportunity—he broke through from the middle and immediately dunked, as a response to Josh Smith’s previous two-handed dunk.
Chapter 118: Slaying Again
“Nice! This guy is showing off again. Damn, he said he’d save his energy earlier, but here he is, performing again?” Bynum laughed loudly from the bench.
“You’re really stupid. Didn’t you see Josh Smith’s dunk earlier? This is Zhou Yi responding to him—his goal is to completely crush the Eagles’ morale and boost ours,” Prince replied while drinking water, sitting next to Bynum.
“Heh, I see!” Bynum chuckled and continued watching the game.
“Trying to trick me with this?” Zhou Yi sneered, stepped forward, stretched out his right hand, and without jumping, disrupted Bibby’s shot. Clearly, thanks to his special training with McGrady, Zhou Yi could easily see through Bibby’s fake shooting move.
Seeing his intention exposed, Bibby wasn’t panicked at all. After dribbling under his body, he quickly moved to the right, then jumped up, ready to take a jump shot.
Although Zhou Yi almost immediately tried to move left to continue defending, he was blocked by Joe Johnson, who was stuck behind him.

As Bibby took a shot, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the helpless Zhou Yi, moved his wrist slightly, and released the basketball. Just as the ball was about to fly out, a large hand quickly appeared from behind Bibby and swiftly blocked it with a slap.
“Thwack!” The large hand firmly controlled the basketball and effortlessly brought it into its holder’s arms.
“Tracy?!” Bibby knew who it was the moment he saw the hand. Being able to snatch the ball from him at the peak of his jump was simply unbelievable.
At that moment, after blocking Bibby, McGrady was in high spirits and drove down the court with the ball.
“Great!” Zhou Yi rushed forward to the front court.
McGrady, moving fast, quickly crossed half-court. By then, the Eagles had four players on that side: Zhou Yi, Villanueva, Austin Daye, and Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson stood firmly in front of the three-second line, waiting for McGrady.
McGrady showed no signs of passing; he kept driving fast, his steps growing more urgent. Seeing McGrady approaching, Joe Johnson became furious. So far, he had scored 11 points—fair enough—but he had taken 16 shots, hitting only 4 of them.
“Heh!” When McGrady was still half a step away from Joe Johnson, he suddenly shouted loudly.
“Okay!” Joe Johnson immediately stood still, waiting for McGrady to crash into him. But instead of jumping, McGrady feinted left and effortlessly slipped past him.
“Hey!” McGrady shouted again, jumped in place, and easily dunked the ball with one hand.
“Sigh, just look at how well their team is playing!” said a home team fan, sighing dejectedly.
“Yes, why have the Eagles, who had five consecutive wins earlier, ended up like this?”
“Don’t be discouraged. Our team will definitely fight back. Don’t you remember in the fourth game how the Eagles were also down by over ten points in the fourth quarter but still managed to turn things around? The third quarter isn’t even over yet—it’s too early to give up!” retorted a home team fan immediately.
“He’s right. The home team will definitely catch up. We should believe in them. Let’s cheer for them!”
“Okay.”

Suddenly, deafening cheers from the crowd filled the air. Hearing these cheers, the home team’s players were shocked, as if waking from a dream.
“Guys, we absolutely can’t lose this game. Counterattack now…” Joe Johnson, who was usually serious, suddenly shouted at his teammates.
After hearing their captain’s words, the Eagles’ players were filled with fighting spirit, and their earlier lethargy vanished instantly.
“Put out their fire of counterattack,” McGrady also shouted at his own players.
“Okay,” the Pistons’ players replied in unison.
“It’s time to fight!”
Joe Johnson roared and dashed toward Zhou Yi with the ball in his right hand. Seeing him coming, Zhou Yi quickly shifted his defense to chase after Joe Johnson. Suddenly, someone bumped into him from the side, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Fortunately, since he was in a crouched position, he didn’t fall far and only suffered a mild bump, though it still made him uncomfortable. At that moment, the referee’s whistle blew. “Bibby’s screen is a foul!” was the referee’s decision.
“Yay! Great job, Zhou,” McGrady said with a smile.
The Pistons attacked, with Zhou Yi controlling the ball and organizing the offense.
Halfway through the second half, Zhou Yi glanced at the timer. The third quarter was almost over, with only 1 minute and 13 seconds left. He took a deep breath, scanned the court again, and suddenly moved like lightning toward the Eagles’ interior players. Bibby quickly stuck close to Zhou Yi, but just as he tried to get even closer, he was blocked by a strong figure. Bibby looked up and saw Villanueva. Using Villanueva’s screen, Zhou Yi effortlessly made his way to the basket, but Josh Smith was already guarding it.
Zhou Yi resolved in his mind and charged forward bravely, ignoring Josh Smith completely. Josh Smith was furious at being ignored by such a younger player, so he lunged at him angrily. Zhou Yi sneered—this was exactly what he had been waiting for.

At that moment, Zhou Yi took action, but the ball wasn’t thrown toward the basket—it was directed to the right side of it. Durham Porter had already coordinated with Zhou Yi and rushed under the basket from the right side, leaping with all his might at the same time Zhou Yi shot. After realizing Durham Porter’s intention, Horford also jumped up, trying to organize the defense. But it was too late; despite being hindered, Durham Porter managed to catch the ball and slam it into the basket, causing it to emit a pained cry. Soon after, the referee’s whistle blew again—Horford had committed a defensive foul.
The entire arena was in shock, as the dunk was absolutely stunning. It was this shot that lifted the morale of all the Pistons players to the highest level, while crushing the Eagles’ morale to its lowest.
……
“Haha, today’s game was really awesome! We beat them by almost 30 points! Haha, I’m so thrilled!” Bynum laughed heartily in the visiting team’s locker room.
Zhou Yi could hardly hide his joy and said happily, “Yeah, today’s game was truly satisfying. We finally ended our two-game losing streak and stopped our opponents’ five-game winning streak as well, hehe…”
Everyone chatted happily in the locker room, filled with joy. Outside the locker room, Kuster also smiled slightly but didn’t go in instead, choosing to leave slowly.
Chapter 119: The Bobcats Arrive
After their decisive victory over the Eagles, the Pistons had a short day off. Next, they would face the Charlotte Bobcats, who were coming to challenge them.
The Bobcats had a poor record so far, with a win rate far below 50%. They had 1 win and 3 losses in four games, and even that win came against the weaker Nets.
However, Zhou Yi was very optimistic about this version of the Bobcats team. After five seasons of development, under the leadership of team captain Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats achieved their first-ever playoff appearance in their short history during the 2009–10 season, finishing seventh in the East with a record of 44 wins and 38 losses.

Their frontcourt is strong, featuring “The Cat” Gerald Wallace and “The Captain” Stephen Jackson. The duo is highly offensive and solid defensively, especially Gerald Wallace, whose rebounding skills are on par with those of a top-tier center. On the point guard side, Raymond Felton’s departure has given rookie DJ Augustin ample room to develop, and his performance meets the expectations of a point guard. Perhaps the Bobcats’ most urgent need is to strengthen their frontcourt—they’re too weak there, with Kwame Brown and Nazr Mohammed not performing up to par.

At 7:30 p.m. in 2010, the game took place as scheduled at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pistons’ home court. Before the game started, something unfavorable happened to the Pistons: Austin Daye sprained his right foot during practice and couldn’t play, leaving the Pistons even more stretched thin in their lineup. Fortunately, the injury wasn’t serious, and he could play in the next game. For this match, the Pistons used the same starting lineup as in the previous game: center Ben Wallace, power forward Chris Wilcox, small forward Tashawn Prince, shooting guard Tracy McGrady, and point guard Will Bynum. On the Bobcats’ side, the lineup was center Nazr Mohammed, power forward Boris Diaw, small forward Gerald Wallace, shooting guard Stephen Jackson, and point guard DJ Augustin.

At the start of the game, the visiting Bobcats took control, scoring a 6-0 run against the home team Pistons. But the Pistons quickly responded. Amid the cheers of their home fans, Will Bynum began to shine. McGrady passed the ball to Prince, who then passed it to Bynum. Bynum caught a jump shot while in motion, scoring the Pistons’ first two points of the game. With a thud, after Jackson’s jump shot missed, Prince grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to McGrady. McGrady drove fast with the ball, while Bynum rushed toward the opponent’s half. At that moment, the only one defending was DJ Augustin. McGrady and Bynum kept passing the ball back and forth, with Bynum finally finishing the fast break. Seeing Bynum already in such high form surprised Zhou Yi quite a bit. “Heh, this guy is in such good form today. I’ll tease him hard when he comes off the court, heh…” Zhou Yi murmured with a smile.

Zhou Yi sat on the sidelines, watching Bynum on the court, and had to admit that the guy had far more experience than he did. His shooting skills were indeed better—whether it was mid-range shots, long-range shots, or shots under pressure. Although Bynum’s offensive power was strong, his overall game awareness wasn’t as good as Zhou Yi’s, nor were his organizational skills or defense.

Watching Bynum confidently control the ball on the court, Zhou Yi couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. But he also understood that he still didn’t meet the standards to be a starter. Though he was stronger than Bynum in terms of ability, the key issue was his lack of experience—he hadn’t fully adapted to the NBA’s competitive atmosphere, as evidenced by his average number of mistakes and fouls. Yet this also fueled his ambition. After all, becoming a starter was every rookie’s dream. He resolved to improve his basketball skills, address his weaknesses, and gain more experience.

“I still need to get stronger. As long as I get stronger, nothing will be a problem.”

“Yay!!” Just as Zhou Yi was lost in thought, he was suddenly awakened by the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Looking up, he learned from Daye that Bynum had once again delivered a great performance. After grabbing a defensive rebound in the backcourt, he broke through DJ Augustin’s defense in one smooth move, scored 2 points with a layup, and thanks to these 2 points, the Pistons finally tied the score at 8-8.

Next, Bynum made another contribution. He accurately predicted Gerard Wallace’s passing route, intercepted the pass, then rushed to near the opponent’s free-throw line in front of DJ Augustin and scored again with a jump shot. Augustin glanced at Bynum helplessly, thinking to himself, “This guy must have taken Viagra today—how can he be so strong? He’s made 4 out of 4 shots so far, scoring 8 points. The Pistons’ other 2 points also came from his assists. In other words, all 10 points the Pistons scored are directly related to him. Sigh…”

But DJ Augustin couldn’t do much about it. Sometimes when an opponent was in such good form, it was truly terrifying.

DJ Augustin controlled the ball and organized the offense, passing it to Gerald Wallace after halftime. Once he got the ball, Gerald Wallace rushed inside immediately; Prince failed to defend him, and Wilcox hurried out to try to stop him, but Gerald Wallace made an easy pass to Nazr Mohammed. Facing an open basket, Mohammed didn’t hesitate and scored right away, adding 2 points.

After Wilcox tried to force his way inside and got double-teamed, he quickly passed to Prince on the outside. Prince shot a three-pointer, which went in, drawing enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

Then Stephen Jackson tried to answer with a three-pointer, but it missed. Odom grabbed the rebound and passed it to Bynum. Bynum drove with the ball and passed it to McGrady, who drove and passed it back to Bynum. Bynum was now in an open position, so he shot immediately—only for the ball to clang off the rim. Gerald Wallace secured the defensive rebound.

Bynum retreated quickly in frustration, while DJ Augustin let out a deep sigh. “This guy has finally returned to his normal level,” DJ Augustin said, somewhat relieved.

The two teams didn’t switch offense and defense very quickly, but their play was quite entertaining. The scores on both sides kept rising, though not by much, which still kept the fans excited.

Chapter 120: A Tight Battle

However, at 7 minutes and 15 seconds into the game, the Pistons went on a nearly 3-minute scoring drought. It wasn’t until 4 minutes and 43 seconds of the first quarter that McGrady scored with a long-range shot, breaking the Pistons’ scoring slump. During that time when the Pistons kept missing shots, the Bobcats’ offense wasn’t great either, but it was slightly better than the Pistons’. After McGrady’s three-pointer, the score became 18:17, with the Pistons leading by 1 point.

At 4 minutes and 35 seconds of the first quarter, DJ Augustin not only scored with a layup but also forced a foul on Bynum. At that moment, Pistons head coach Coster called for a 100-second long timeout.

“Sigh, it’s my turn to sit out,” Bynum said gloomily as he headed toward the bench.

“Zhou Yi, Greg Monroe, Samuel Dalembert, in!” John Coster looked at the bench and said to them.

Zhou Yi and the others nodded, stood up, took off their coats, and ran excitedly toward the court. The game continued as DJ Augustin took a free throw and made it. After receiving the pass from the backcourt, Zhou Yi rushed ahead at full speed toward the Bobcats’ half-court. “This guy is not ordinary; we need to be careful,” DJ Augustin muttered to himself. There was reason for his concern—before the game, all the Bobcats players had watched recent Pistons games, and DJ Augustin had certainly paid attention to Zhou Yi. Upon closer observation, he found that this Chinese teenager was quite strong, but his experience was extremely lacking, far inferior to his own. “But that’s fine too—it’s interesting!” DJ Augustin smiled at Zhou Yi and chased after him quickly. However, Zhou Yi wasn’t easy to catch. When he reached inside the free-throw line, he suddenly stopped abruptly and took a jump shot, successfully making it. “This guy is really good—right from the start, he gave me a tough challenge and took my momentum,” DJ Augustin thought to himself. Though his face showed no expression, quite a stir arose among the players. Augustin carefully controlled the ball, blocking Zhou Yi with half of his body, then sidestepped and passed the ball, which flashed in his hand before being thrown to Derek Brown, who had just entered the game. Derek Brown shot from inside the three-point line and easily scored 2 points. “Greg!” Zhou Yi used his body to block DJ Augustin, creating space for himself, and casually threw the ball to the upper right corner of the basket. Greg Monroe, who was rushing up behind him, suddenly leaped high and caught Zhou Yi’s pass mid-air, completing a alley-oop dunk. This dunk instantly erupted the crowd, with fans of the home team shouting their favorite players’ names, many of them calling out Zhou Yi’s name. After some time of playing together, Zhou Yi and the team had almost reached perfect coordination. Among them, Greg Monroe and McGrady were the ones who worked most seamlessly with Zhou Yi. Not only did those two feel comfortable playing together, but Zhou Yi also found it easy. Almost all the passes he gave to them turned into assists, which was why Zhou Yi had so many assists. After Monroe scored 6 points in a row, the score suddenly became 26:22, with the Pistons leading by 4 points. At this point, only one minute remained in the first quarter, giving each team at least one more chance to score.

Upon seeing the alley-oop pass completed by Zhou Yi and Monroe just now, DJ Augustin’s expression immediately turned serious.
“Aleury-oop after a pick-and-roll—this guy is really strong.”
With little time left in the first quarter, Zhou Yi adopted a full-court press. Under his pressure, DJ Augustin almost made a mistake. Fortunately, DJ Augustin had far more experience than Zhou Yi, so despite the difficulties, he seemed to manage to carry the ball to the front court. Terius Thomas pulled up from the paint to set up a pick-and-roll for DJ Augustin, who quickly rushed toward the basket. At that moment, Terius Thomas also rushed back toward the basket. Immediately afterward, DJ Augustin suddenly stopped and took a jump shot on the left side of the free-throw line, but Zhou Yi quickly realized it wasn’t a shot—it was a pass.
“Greg, behind him!” Zhou Yi shouted at Monroe.
But by the time Monroe reacted, it was already too late. Terius Thomas, who had rushed back toward the basket, leaped with all his might, caught the pass from DJ Augustin, and dunked violently, causing the basket to shake violently.
“This guy is too brutal!” was Zhou Yi’s first thought.
“Bleep!” The referee’s whistle sounded for some reason. Zhou Yi looked at the referee and immediately understood what had happened.
It turned out that after completing the dunk, Terius Thomas didn’t land right away but hung on the basket for almost 3 seconds, so the referee gave him a technical foul.
Terius Thomas immediately ran over to explain to the referee that he had grabbed the basket to prevent himself from getting injured. But the referee shook his head and stood by his decision. Terius Thomas continued to talk nonstop, his words clearly intended to provoke the referee. The referee didn’t hesitate and gave him another technical foul, resulting in Terius Thomas being ejected from the game. The Bobcats’ players looked extremely upset. With their already weak front line now missing the tough player Terius Thomas, their front line would become even weaker. The most upset among them was the Bobcats’ head coach, Larry Brown, who had now stood up from the coaching bench with a serious expression.
Because Terius Thomas had received two technical fouls, the Pistons got two free throws. Zhou Yi was the one to shoot. After adjusting his rhythm, he took his first shot—“swish”—and it went in. Then his second shot also succeeded.

After the free throw, possession remained with the Pistons. Villanueva kicked off from the sideline, and Zhou Yi took the ball to organize the team’s attack. After several attempts at breaking through, Zhou Yi failed each time. Villanueva quickly provided coverage, and Zhou Yi used this cover to finally break into the paint and score 2 points with a jump shot.

With only 22 seconds left before the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats’ offense aimed to use up this time and prevent the Pistons from getting another chance to attack. Indeed, DJ Augustin carefully controlled the ball; despite Zhou Yi’s constant interference, Augustin managed to keep it under control. After half the time elapsed, Augustin didn’t pass the ball right away but continued to waste time. It wasn’t until 10 seconds remained that DJ Augustin took action. He blocked Zhou Yi with one hand while dribbling to break through. Suddenly, he made a move to the right, then pulled back sharply, heading toward Zhou Yi’s left side. Clearly lacking experience, Zhou Yi was deceived by DJ Augustin. Having successfully gotten past Zhou Yi’s defense, DJ Augustin, with the cover of teammate Derrick Brown, took a jump shot from the baseline, and the ball went in.

The Pistons had less than 3 seconds left. After receiving the pass, Zhou Yi threw the ball near the center circle—missing not only the shot but also failing to score a field goal or a rebound. However, no one seemed to care.

The first quarter ended with the Pistons leading 28–26, entering the second quarter ahead by 2 points.

Chapter 121: The Battle of the Trapped Cats

The second quarter started quickly, with both teams sending in all their bench players. Pistons: Zhou Yi, James Posey, Charlie Villanueva, Greg Monroe, and Samuel Dalembert; Bobcats: Sean Livingston, Derrick Brown, Gerald Henderson, DeSagana Diop, and Shelon Collins.

Sean Livingston dribbled swiftly past the half-court line, with Zhou Yi closely following. He knew Livingston wasn’t someone to be ignored—selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2004, he had improved every year since then, though injuries had derailed his career. This 2.01-meter tall point guard was hailed as the next “Magic,” proving his remarkable skills—until a serious injury in 2007. It could be said that if he hadn’t suffered that severe knee injury, his achievements would have been even greater.

That’s why Zhou Yi attaches such importance to Sean Livingston. In fact, Zhou Yi gives his best effort against every opponent; he has never underestimated any of them, and that’s what sets him apart. As Sean Livingston saw Zhou Yi charging at him, he calmly threw the ball to the side. Suddenly, a player from the Bobcats appeared in a spot where there was no one before. Zhou Yi quickly realized it was Derek Brown. After catching the ball, Derek Brown took a jump shot and made it. Zhou Yi could only sigh helplessly—the Pistons’ bench defense indeed had some issues and was clearly not on par with the starters.