Chapter 46

In just over 5 minutes of play in the first quarter, Dwight Howard scored 9 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 2 blocks. His performance was absolutely insane; if not for his foul trouble, he would have once again dominated the Pistons’ front line, and it would have been the Magic leading by 10 points instead of the Pistons.
“That’s absolute dominance!” Those words suddenly popped into Zhou Yi’s mind for no reason.
Dominance—simple in theory, just three words—but how hard is it to achieve?
Watching Dwight Howard gently dribble with his right hand while pushing past Samuel Dalembert behind him, Dalembert tried to make a move but found space ahead. Dwight Howard spun around and dodged him, causing Dalembert to lose his balance and crash into him. Yet Dwight Howard only swayed slightly before shooting a hook shot with his right hand—easily making the basket—while the referee blew the whistle at the same time. Dwight Howard shook his neck as if it had all been easy.
The free throw missed. Haha, Dwight Howard’s free throws were still terrible. Tyler Hansbrough grabbed the defensive rebound.
James Posey caught a pass from Will Bynum and scored easily, keeping the lead.
Vince Carter rushed to the paint and forced a foul on Tyler Hansbrough, who made both free throws, keeping the score difference around 10 points.
Charlie Villanueva’s three-point attempt missed. Dwight Howard grabbed the rebound and passed it to Chris Duhon. Then, Dwight Howard set up a pick-and-roll for Chris Duhon, who rushed to the paint.
Seeing Dwight Howard without the ball also moving back toward the paint, Samuel Dalembert gulped involuntarily. Just as he prepared to confront Dwight Howard head-on, the latter had already jumped in front of him.
His incredible explosive power and superhuman jumping ability instantly became the focus of the game. When he caught the ball from Chris Duhon in mid-air, Samuel Dalembert was stunned, watching as this black superhero leaped right in front of him and completed a dunk. Seeing the swaying basket and the creaking backboard, Samuel Dalembert was still shaken.
“Roar!” Coming down from the basket, Dwight Howard kept pounding his chest to show off his strength.

Zhou Yi could sense that although they still led by 10 points at the moment, the Magic’s overall momentum had been boosted by Dwight Howard. Perhaps Howard’s energy had infected his teammates, as the Magic became more aggressive, scoring 8-2 against the Pistons in just 3 minutes. By the time there were 6.5 minutes left in the first half and John Kuester called a timeout, the score gap had narrowed to just 4 points. The Pistons’ momentum was suppressed, while the Magic grew more confident. It was evident from Howard’s final assist to Vince Carter for a three-point shot that he was in full flow. “Zhou, Tracy, come on out!” Seeing the situation on the court, John Kuester had to make another adjustment, bringing in Zhou Yi and Tracy McGrady in hopes they could stabilize the game. “Yes,” Zhou Yi stood up, placed his towel on his seat, and followed McGrady onto the court. What they needed to do now wasn’t to overwhelm the opponent but to stabilize the situation, as it was very dangerous for the Pistons. As Zhou Yi dribbled, he kept an eye on his surroundings. His defender at the moment was Jamal Nelson, not Chris Duhon—Duhon had already left the court for a break after the timeout. Zhou Yi squared his shoulders, passed the ball to his right hand, and charged inward. When he thought he could easily slip past Jamal Nelson, he was surprised to find that the guy held his ground! Zhou Yi was confident in his speed, but that didn’t bother him much, as his passing was quite precise. The ball was accurately passed to Tyler Hansbrough, who took a jump shot just inside the free-throw line and scored. “Don’t worry, we’ll get one back!” Seeing Ryan Anderson looking frustrated, Dwight Howard walked over and patted his shoulder. Jamal Nelson was a typical pseudo-point guard who preferred to drive to the basket instead of passing to his stronger interior players, only to get blocked by Zhou Yi. Ryan Anderson grabbed the offensive rebound and handed it to Dwight Howard, allowing him to attack inside. Samuel Dalembert couldn’t stop Dwight Howard, who slowly moved toward the paint, with Tyler Hansbrough immediately rushing over to help defend. But this left Rasheed Lewis unguarded.

Dwight Howard glanced around and locked eyes on Rashard Lewis, who was lurking just beyond the three-point line. He prepared to pass the ball to that open spot. But as soon as he passed, the ball didn’t reach Rashard Lewis’s hands—it was intercepted by Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi successfully penetrated the paint and completed the fast break with a one-handed dunk. Thanks to Zhou Yi’s performance, the Pistons once again widened the score gap to 8 points. However, the Pistons’ luck ran out for a while, as the Magic started to gain momentum. After Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis each hit a three-pointer, and “The Beast” scored from inside, the Magic took the lead after three consecutive failed Pistons attacks. “Time out!” John Kuester had no choice but to call a timeout, as the Pistons would fall further behind if they continued. “Zhou, I’m giving you control of the game! You have full authority to make decisions. Tracy, you’ll focus on supporting from the wings, mainly feeding Zhou. Ben, I’m assigning you the task of guarding Dwight—that jerk. With your experience and physical strength, I believe you can contain him. Greg, you’ll help guard Dwight, but also be ready to move and seize offensive opportunities. Taishan and you, pay attention to overall defense and help defense. That’s all I have to say. Everyone, give it your all and secure this home victory for us,” said John Kuester. “Yes.” But as soon as the game resumed, McGrady made a mistake. His pass was stolen by Vince Carter, who scored a layup, pushing the lead back to 3 points. Before the Magic could celebrate, Zhou Yi stopped abruptly in front of Jamal Nelson and hit a three-pointer, tying the score at 49:49. With Zhou Yi leading the charge, the Magic’s offense stalled. Fortunately, veteran Jason Williams scored a layup at a critical moment, breaking the deadlock. Although the Pistons couldn’t contain the Magic inside defensively, they performed well offensively. On the next offensive drive, Zhou Yi passed skillfully to McGrady, who hit a jump shot to add 2 more points, giving the Pistons a 55:51 lead of 4 points. Dwight Howard failed to score inside, and Zhou Yi grabbed the defensive rebound before driving straight toward the Magic’s half-court.

Suddenly, Zhou Yi made a sharp stop, shaking Jamal Nelson aside, then launched a jump shot that went in. Zhou Yi swung his arm forcefully and punched his chest in a dominant gesture before retreating to defend. The home crowd was thrilled to see their team score, and their excitement grew even more after witnessing Zhou Yi’s celebration. “Zhou, MVP, Zhou, MVP…” chants filled the arena. “Damn it!” Jamal Nelson muttered in anger as he watched Zhou Yi easily hit the jump shot. Jamal Nelson stepped forward, using feints repeatedly, but Zhou Yi didn’t fall for them. Not daring to dominate the ball, he passed it to Vince Carter when he saw no chance. McGrady stood in front of Vince Carter, focusing on defense. Vince Carter took on McGrady one-on-one, launched a backshot jump shot, and it also went in. With only 23.1 seconds left in the first half, the Pistons had to use up every second. Zhou Yi slowly controlled the ball across half-court, then adjusted his pace to waste time. When 8 seconds remained, he passed the ball to Greg Monroe in the paint with a bounce pass. His opponent was Rashard Lewis, the so-called “Billion Dollar Man.” Actually, he shouldn’t have been playing at the power forward position; his natural spot was at small forward. Back when he was with the SuperSonics alongside Ray Allen, he played as a small forward. But the Magic spent hundreds of millions on a ridiculous contract to bring him to Orlando, only for him to play as a power forward. Anyone knew he was good at offense but terrible at defense and rebounding. If it weren’t for Hakeem Olajuwon on the Magic’s team, their frontcourt would have been the weakest in the league. Feeling Rashard Lewis pressing against him from behind, Greg Monroe leaned back, lifted his hips, created some space, and immediately turned to shoot a jump shot. Although the shot wasn’t disturbed, Greg Monroe’s form wasn’t great, and the ball didn’t go in. But time wasn’t up yet. Greg Monroe jumped desperately and nudged the ball into the basket with a gentle touch. It was then that the whistle signaling the end of the first half sounded.

At the end of the first half, thanks to Greg Monroe’s last-second layup, the Pistons took a 59–53 lead, six points ahead, into the second half.
Zhou Yi played 16 minutes in the first half, hitting 5 out of 8 shots for 13 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks (all against Jamal Nelson), making him the best player in the first half.
McGrady scored 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists on 3 out of 7 shots; Greg Monroe added 8 points and 6 rebounds.
On the Magic’s side, Dwight Howard hit 7 out of 9 shots for 16 points and 10 rebounds, achieving a double-double in the first half, showcasing his absolute dominance in the paint. Vince Carter scored 10 points with 3 assists, and Rashard Lewis also scored 10 points. Jamal Nelson, who faced Zhou Yi, hit 2 out of 8 shots for just 5 points in the first half. Even more disheartening for the Magic was that Jamal Nelson provided only 1 assist in the first half.
What a fake point guard! This is what a real fake point guard looks like!
The Pistons’ cheerleaders performed their hottest dances on the court for the audience, while the home team’s players were resting in the locker room.
The home fans weren’t bothered at all by their players’ absence from the court; they continued to cheer enthusiastically. Naturally, the most cheers were for Zhou Yi.
Chapter 196: Battling the Magic, First Triple-Double of Career (Part 2)
The halftime break ended quickly, and the players from both teams returned to the court and their respective benches, listening attentively to their coaches’ plans for the second half.
“Fight hard, crush Jamal, and break down their point guard lineup!” John Kuster said, patting Zhou Yi’s shoulder.
Hearing John Kuster’s words, Zhou Yi nodded with a smile before heading back to the court with his teammates.
Soon, the second half began with the referee’s whistle!
A more intense battle is about to start!!!
As one of the teams in the league that shoots the most three-pointers per game and with the highest accuracy, the Magic are no easy opponent. Especially with dominant center Dwight Howard, beating them is truly not easy.

The only way to defeat the Magic is to find their weakness, and Zhou Yi and his coach John Kuest have already identified it: the Magic rely too much on Dwight Howard. So as long as they can keep him off the court, well, the outcome is obvious. But since you can spot their weaknesses, the Magic are also aware of their own shortcomings. Therefore, they take great care to prevent Dwight Howard from getting into a foul trouble situation.