Chapter 69

In the first three minutes of the second quarter, both teams played cautiously, scoring only three goals in total. Van Wever of the Celtics hit a three-pointer, while Glenn Davis scored once with a powerful drive to the basket. On the Pistons’ side, James Posey also made a long-range shot.

5 minutes and 43 seconds into the second quarter, Pistons head coach John Kuester called a timeout. After the timeout, Zhou Yi substituted Will Bynum in, McGrady replaced Austin Daye, who had just taken Ben Gordon off the court, Tyshawn Prince replaced James Posey, and Charlie Villanueva replaced Samuel Dalembert.

On the Celtics’ side, most of their key players returned to the court. With the Pistons in possession, McGrady orchestrated the offense. He drove with the ball and assisted Charlie Villanueva, who scored with a mid-range jump shot. LaDanian Lord rushed into the Pistons’ basket and scored with a layup. Zhou Yi used a crossover move to create half a body of space between himself and Lord, then shot a jump shot that also went in.

The game was intense, with both teams shooting at a high percentage. Paul Pierce made a brilliant pass to Ray Allen, who scored 3 points with a jump shot from just inside the arc.

After another 3 minutes, John Kuester substituted McGrady with Will Bynum, forming a twin-point guard lineup with Zhou Yi. LaDanian Lord dribbled across half-court, ignoring his defender and passing the ball directly to Ray Allen. But as the ball was still in the air, a gust of wind blew—it disappeared, leaving only the white back of jersey number 37.

After stealing the ball, Zhou Yi immediately launched a fast break. He rushed into the opponent’s half and scored with a layup. “Zhou, keep going like this—speed up the offense!” John Kuester shouted at Zhou Yi on the court. Zhou Yi glanced at him and nodded.

Faced with Zhou Yi’s defense, LaDanian Lord performed two dribbles under his arm, then used a sudden behind-the-back dribble to create half a body of space. He then accelerated his drive and stopped abruptly in front of the free-throw line to shoot a jump shot. However, his shooting form was poor—the ball hit the front of the rim and bounced into Greg Monroe’s hands.

Receiving the pass from Greg Monroe, Zhou Yi quickly advanced toward the front court.

LaDainian Tomlinson quickly chased after him, but Zhou Yi started first, and his speed wasn’t much slower than Tomlinson’s. So it wasn’t until Zhou Yi had already penetrated to the Celtics’ basket that Tomlinson caught up.
Zhou Yi flicked the ball, which flew straight to Will Bynum in the right corner. Bynum took a shot from three points—unexpectingly, he was in such hot form that the shot went through cleanly.
Tomlinson dribbled with his left hand and used his right shoulder to push Zhou Yi aside. Seizing the opportunity, he broke through from that position. His agility and speed were already fast; although his agility might not compare to Zhou Yi’s, Zhou Yi was now out of position.
Though it seemed complicated, it all happened in an instant on the court. Tomlinson had broken through Zhou Yi’s defense and headed straight into the Pistons’ paint. The other four Pistons players weren’t in a hurry as they watched Tomlinson approach.
That’s because John Kuester had studied beforehand that Tomlinson’s shooting was extremely unreliable. By the end of the second quarter, Tomlinson had only made one shot. And since the start of the game, he had attempted six shots. With such a low shooting percentage, he really didn’t dare to shoot again. After breaking through to the paint, seeing Kevin Garnett open up, he passed the ball directly to him.
Kevin Garnett took on Greg Monroe alone and scored with a backdoor jump shot.
The Pistons attacked—Zhou Yi made consecutive breaks and then passed the ball behind him to Will Bynum. Ray Allen was defending Bynum, but Bynum didn’t give Allen any respect at all, shamelessly using his speed advantage against the older player.
Bynum accelerated immediately,sweepinging Allen behind him, then rushed into the paint and scored with a float shot.
Tomlinson dribbled across half-court and then passed the ball to Paul Pierce. Pierce drove with the ball and passed it back to Tomlinson. Tomlinson suddenly pulled back while dribbling,sweepinging Zhou Yi aside, and scored by driving to the basket with the ball.
On the Pistons’ side, Tychon Prince caught a pass from Zhou Yi at the baseline, attempted a jump shot against Paul Pierce’s defense, but missed. Pierce grabbed the defensive rebound.
After getting the ball, Pierce passed it long to Tomlinson, who was already moving toward the basket.

By this time, Zhou Yi had also returned to defense. Seeing LaDanian Londo approaching, Zhou Yi took a deep breath. Although LaDanian Londo wasn’t very strong at shooting, his smooth playmaking still posed a significant challenge to Zhou Yi. Watching Londo rush over quickly, Zhou Yi quickly crouched down into a defensive stance, determined not to let Londo score easily. Having succeeded in the previous attack, Londo’s confidence had grown significantly. Facing Zhou Yi, he didn’t dare be careless in the slightest. With two quick steps and a dribble-based spin, he passed by Zhou Yi like the wind, but Zhou Yi quickly closed in, preventing Londo from breaking through. However, Londo threw the ball backward, and it landed in the hands of Ray Allen outside the left three-point line. Allen feinted, tricking Will Bynum into jumping, before shooting the three-pointer. With a swish, the ball went in! Zhou Yi sighed helplessly—Will Bynum was so easily deceived. Holding the ball in both hands, Zhou Yi neither shot nor passed it but glanced at Londo before stepping forward toward him. How could Londo not realize he had fallen for Zhou Yi’s trap? “Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, trying hard to pull back his arm, but it was easy to extend but hard to retract. Londo still slapped Zhou Yi’s arm, but by then, Zhou Yi had already passed the ball to his right hand, aimed, and thrown it—the ball went through the net just as the referee’s whistle blew. Zhou Yi stepped to the free-throw line. Usually highly accurate, he stumbled this time, barely getting the ball into the net. “Phew…” Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief. So far, his free-throw scoring streak continued—he had already made 87 consecutive free throws. On the Celtics’ end, Paul Pierce attempted a tough three-pointer, which surprisingly went in. Only 34 seconds remained in the first half, meaning both the Pistons and Celtics had one more chance to attack. During the Pistons’ attack, Zhou Yi moved around the top of the key with the ball, spotting Will Bynum in an open spot and quickly passing the ball to him. To Zhou Yi’s disappointment, Bynum’s open jump shot missed, but Tyler Hansbrough secured the offensive rebound.

The ball returned to Zhou Yi’s hands once again. He glanced at the 24-second timer—now, this final time belonged to them. So, Zhou Yi began to move the ball steadily. LaDainian Tomlinson naturally understood Zhou Yi’s intentions and tried to steal the ball from him, but Zhou Yi always managed to keep control of it. After calculating the time, seeing that only 10 seconds remained, he suddenly sped up and charged toward the Celtics’ interior. With a clever bounce pass, the ball ended up in Tyler Hansbrough’s hands. After catching it, he pushed aside Kevin Garnett’s defense and scored with a dunk. The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers! The Celtics still had 2.1 seconds left for an attack, but they failed to make use of it, and the first half ended with Paul Pierce’s missed shot. Chapter 236: The Pistons in Crisis Halfway through, the Pistons still led the Celtics by 19 points, 64–45. This 19-point advantage was very fortunate and crucial for the Pistons. Under the leadership of head coach John Kuester, Zhou Yi and his teammates returned to the locker room excited and happy. Leading the Celtics by 19 points in the first half was enough to excite them greatly. But what Zhou Yi and his teammates were thinking now was that since they were in good form and lucky today, why not win the game? Why not extend their winning streak to 20 games? That would surely make the fans in Detroit even happier. Zhou Yi completely dominated LaDainian Tomlinson in the first half, scoring 9 points and giving 7 assists. If this momentum continued, a double-double for him today wouldn’t be a problem. Meanwhile, LaDainian Tomlinson scored only 4 points and provided 5 assists in the first half. As Zhou Yi and his teammates chatted happily, the halftime break was coming to an end. “Guys, the second half is about to start. Go and crush those old guys from Boston. We don’t need to show them any respect,” John Kuester said to Zhou Yi and the others with a smile. Hearing John Kuester’s words, the Pistons’ players burst into laughter. Soon, the second half began. The starting lineups for both teams were the same as in the first quarter. Pistons: Zhou Yi, Tracy McGrady, Tashawn Prince, Greg Monroe, Ben Wallace.

Celtics: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins.
From the start of the game, both teams launched intense attacks.
Celtics’ Kevin Garnett kept attacking the basket inside, scoring repeatedly and adding 7 points in just two minutes.
On the Pistons’ side, Tracy McGrady and Tashaun Prince took turns shooting from beyond the three-point line, also hitting several shots. Overall, the two teams scored roughly the same amount in the third quarter.
Next, Celtics’ Rajon Rondo and Pistons’ Zhou Yi engaged in a 2-minute back-and-forth battle.