Champion, please stay!

Chapter 226, Section 224: A Decisive Strike!
The Knicks were definitely the most watched team in the NBA at the beginning of 2010.

The Knicks, a team from a major city with the best record, lost to the Lakers the day before yesterday, but the game was very exciting. In the first two and a half quarters, Yi Shui led a fierce attack and went head-to-head with the Lakers, making it highly entertaining. Although they were suppressed in the last quarter and a half, the Knicks still had some bright moments on offense.

Tonight's game is attracting even more attention than the 'Big Apple vs. Angels' game, because the most intense and crazy high-scoring duel this season so far was the 140-135 run-and-gun showdown between the two teams at Madison Square Garden a month ago.

Not only were the Knicks in the spotlight for these two games at the beginning of the new year, but they were also the most watched team throughout January.

When Yi Shui looked at this month's schedule, he felt his scalp tingling. When the schedule was drawn up, 12 of the 16 matches were against opponents that were predicted to be in the top eight of the East and West, and most of them were predicted to be in the top four of the East and West.

And this was exactly what Stern did intentionally.

The other two most talked-about teams, the Lakers and the Cavaliers, have many popular games scheduled for December.

In January, during the NFL playoffs, NBA viewership inevitably declines. Stern deliberately scheduled a bunch of popular games for the Knicks, a team with an attractive playing style and the Yi River, hoping to boost their ratings.

The Lakers are likely to coast through January, as Kobe and Gasol's playing time was reduced after Christmas last season.
The Cavaliers, with LeBron James, generate a lot of buzz, but their games are mostly unwatchable. Their defensively focused games are best suited for months when fans are more enthusiastic about watching, but in January, it's difficult to boost viewership.

The game between the Knicks and the Suns is about to begin. When the starting lineups of both teams came on the court, the live pay-TV viewership on major TV stations had already exceeded 1500 million. As long as the game is not one-sided, it will likely surpass the Knicks' away game against the Lakers the day before yesterday.

The Suns' starting lineup remained unchanged, while for the Knicks, D'Antoni changed the starting lineup tonight to Curry, Hughes, Yi Shui, David Lee, and Swift.

Gibson was placed on the inactive list tonight. In the last game against the Suns, this rookie was quite a liability whether he was matched up against Stoudemire, Jordan, Frye, or Lopez.

The match started at 8 p.m.

When it comes to the jump ball, we still have to look to the former second overall pick!
Swift beat DeAndre Jordan to win the jump ball, giving the Knicks the first possession!

Yi Shui received the ball at the high post, made a one-on-one drive, attracted a double team from the flanks, and then passed it to Hughes, who then passed it again.

Curry used a screen to run to the position where he could initiate a one-on-one attack, and received the ball on the right high post before hitting a long two-pointer.

He continued his hot streak from the night before last, making 6 out of 10 mid-range shots!

Just like the last time they played the Suns at home, D'Antoni had no intention of controlling the pace of the game, and his tactical arrangements focused on speed and simplicity.

When the Suns went on offense, Nash didn't probe them at all and immediately led the team into fast-paced mode.

The showdown has begun again!

Youth is their greatest asset. Facing the Suns, the league's best offensive team, the Knicks' fast break scoring at the start and their offensive threat in the latter part of the first quarter were clearly superior to the Suns'.

When Stoudemire and Jordan were both on the court in the first half of the quarter, the Suns' offensive firepower was comparable to Yi Shui and Swift. However, in the second half of the quarter, when Jordan went to the bench to rest, Stoudemire and Lopez were no match for the combination of Yi Shui, Birdman, and Harrington.

However, the Suns have a much stronger shooting lineup than the Knicks.

Nash, the most accurate three-point shooter this season, averages 2.1 three-pointers per game with an impressive 46.1% success rate. Steve Kerr, the much-hyped 'super role player shooter,' has a career three-point percentage of 45.4%, but only averages 0.8 three-pointers per game.

Richardson, Frye, Dudley, James Jones, Big Q... Under Nash's orchestration, the Suns' outside shooters, except for Barbosa whose playing rhythm was disrupted by O'Neal and who has not yet regained his shooting touch, all had a three-point shooting percentage of over 38%. Even Hill averaged 0.5 three-pointers per game with a 42% shooting percentage.

The Suns have a 41% three-point shooting percentage, the best in the league!

In the first quarter, the Knicks shot 10-for-20, including 2-for-6 from three-point range, and 8-for-11 from the free-throw line, scoring 30 points. The team had a 50% field goal percentage and 11 free throws in the quarter. Overall, their shooting accuracy and offensive power were better than the Suns' 9-for-21 shooting.

But the Suns made 6 of 11 three-pointers in the quarter!

Moreover, their free throw shooting was exceptionally good; DeAndre Jordan made all three of his free throws in the first half of the quarter, and the team made all seven of their free throws in that quarter.
In the final moments, Goran Dragic, who came off the bench, hit a three-pointer off a screen, giving the Suns a 31-30 lead over the visiting Knicks!
Dragic, a player from the same draft class, has made things difficult for Yi Shui in both of their encounters this season.

The media says Dragic is Nash's successor, but Yi Shui estimates that the Suns' management doesn't have that idea. Dragic's playing style is completely different from Nash's, and his playmaking talent is far inferior. At most, he's at the level of Duhon or Hughes.

But he has an exceptional scoring talent and is very good at creating shooting opportunities, which is similar to Nash.

In other words, Dragic's fundamentals are not good enough yet, so he can't make the most of the opportunities he creates. But once he gets into a good rhythm, he can go on a scoring spree.

In the second quarter, Gentry began to utilize his outside shooting threat to strengthen his inside offense.

D'Antoni, Cheeks, and Mark Jackson all anticipated this and consciously adjusted their lineups and defenses to counter it, but the results were not good.

Webster is slow, Barnes is excellent in one-on-one defense but relatively average in switching, Curry and Duhon are short, David Lee is slow, Swift is impulsive... The main problem is that the Suns' cuts and passes in half-court offense are too good. The league's top offensive team, the Knicks' mid-to-low defensive team, trying to limit the Suns' team offense when their long-range shooting is on fire is nothing short of wishful thinking.

The Knicks struggled with their three-point shooting tonight, and the Suns' strategy of 'mindlessly collapsing' to the basket in half-court offense proved very effective.

In the second quarter, the Suns scored both inside and outside, racking up 33 points in the quarter, while the Knicks fought back but only managed to score 25 points.

At halftime, the Knicks, playing away, trailed the Suns 55-64 by 9 points.

In the third quarter, the Knicks' long-range shooting finally caught fire after the halftime break!
This brings us to D'Antoni's role. Despite only making 4 of 13 three-point attempts in the first half, he still emphasized a comprehensive offensive and defensive strategy.

Yi Shui also encouraged his teammates to seize opportunities when they arise.

With the Suns continuing their hot offensive streak from the second quarter, scoring 16 points in half a quarter, the Knicks not only didn't fall further behind when the official timeout came in the third quarter, but actually narrowed the gap by two points, scoring 18 points in half a quarter!
The Knicks narrowed the gap to 7 points, 73-80!
After the official pause, both teams rotated their rosters.

The Suns brought in a lineup of Nash, Jason Richardson, Big Q, Frye, and Stoudemire.

The Knicks brought in a lineup of Curry, Hughes, Webster, Yi Shui, and Ben Wallace.

The Suns were on offense. Nash and Frye ran a pick-and-roll and then passed the ball to Stoudemire via Richardson.

Stoudemire cuts in to receive the pass, takes a step along the three-second line and jumps, ready to slam dunk! He needs to stop the opponent's momentum!

Yi Shui's team stretched out to defend the pick-and-roll, but Nash brought them to the high post, leaving them unable to collapse and block the defense. However!

Ben Wallace has made his move! He leaped high and slapped Stoudemire's dunk off.

After sealing the cap, the two grappled and both fell to the ground.

Webster, who had moved inside, held off Frye and won the ball, then passed it to Hughes.

Initiate a fast break! Four against four!
The Suns' defensive transition was quite targeted!
When a particularly outstanding team emerges, it will always be imitated, especially by strong teams with similar styles, who often imitate it before weaker teams.

The Knicks have undoubtedly been an outstanding team this season. Despite having a roster primarily composed of role players with limited functionalities, they have achieved the best record in the league, and their offensive and defensive tactics have been widely praised.

During the offseason, D'Antoni was heavily criticized for the team's poor performance in the second half of last season and for being outmatched by the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, he has been vindicated this season and is now being called the 'league's greatest offensive mastermind'.

Phoenix fans call D'Antoni a traitor for this reason.

Gentry, the head coach of the Suns, one of the league's top offensive teams, did not shut himself away from the city's media attention. Instead, he actively studied the Knicks' playing style this season, and even their defense.

Due to the Suns' roster issues, they can't replicate the Knicks' team defense, but their targeted double-teaming is much better than it was a month ago.

In this defensive transition, Richardson did a good job of fronting Curry's follow-up long-range shot, and his strong-side blocking of Yi Shui was also very effective.

However, such a defense has both advantages and disadvantages.

Curry feigned calling for the ball on the perimeter, seized the opportunity, created a rhythm difference, and cut in!

Hughes waited patiently, seized the opportunity to pass the ball, Curry cut in to receive it, drove to the inside and made a flying layup... and it went in!
It also drew a foul from Nash when he came back to defend!

With Curry making the free throw amidst boos, the score reached 76-80, and the Knicks narrowed the gap to 4 points.

Ben Wallace's block and Curry's 2+1 play brought the Knicks back to level terms after this one possession!
Moreover, the Knicks' offensive momentum was boosted by their 18 points in the first half of the quarter and this block and fast break 2+1 play.

In the next 5 minutes, the Knicks scored a whopping 17 points!
As for the Suns... it's hard to say what their shooting touch will be like.

In the first two and a half quarters, the Suns made 13 of 23 three-point attempts, with 6 in the first quarter, 5 in the second, and 2 in the third and a half. Nearly half of their 80 points came from three-pointers.

If you're in a good shooting mood, you should take advantage of it and shoot more, that's fine. But if you stay in a hot streak for too long, you'll develop a dependency on it. Once your shooting mood drops, your offense will collapse drastically!
In the second half of the quarter, the Suns made only 1 of 5 three-point attempts. In terms of momentum, they were suppressed by the Knicks, who scored 21 points in 7 minutes. Their mid-range shooting percentage was only 2 of 5. In 5 minutes, they only scored 7 points from the field and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, for a total of 10 points!
Including that block and fast break 2+1 play, the Knicks went on a 20-10 run in the second half of the quarter.

单节38比26，尼克斯队以93比90反超太阳队3分进入末节！
However, the Suns are the strongest offensive team after all. After the break, led by Nash, the Suns' offense rebounded in the first half of the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points.

What Nash did was actually very simple—control the game and keep things in order!

Tonight, the Knicks displayed a long-lost youthful spirit, and playing against such an opponent could easily lead to their collapse.

Nash displayed the shrewdness of a 14-year veteran.

The Knicks' hot offense in the third quarter couldn't maintain its momentum, and their aggressive drives led to a drop in shooting efficiency, resulting in only 12 points in the first half of the quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, the score was 105-103, with the Knicks holding a slim two-point lead going into the official timeout!
...

The official pause has been lifted.

The Knicks brought in a lineup of Curry, Hughes, Yi Shui, David Lee, and Birdman.

The Suns, on the other hand, brought back their starting lineup of Nash, Richardson, Hill, Stoudemire, and Jordan.

Yi Shui stepped onto the court, looking at the notification that 'Snake Heart (Fake)' was activated, and sighed inwardly at how strong the Western Conference powerhouse was. They played much better than the night before, winning the third quarter by 12 points, but were still dragged into the crucial moments by the Suns...

On the other side, Nash, Stoudemire, Hill, DeAndre Jordan... each of them was eager to win tonight and avenge the defeat they suffered a month ago in the holy land of basketball!
The second half of the game began, and the two teams were locked in a close battle.

In the earlier team battle phase, both teams were able to find ways to exploit each other's defensive weaknesses, and their offense relied on their long-range shooting touch, so neither side was confident they could suppress the other.

When it comes to the stage of star players competing against each other, weaknesses are minimized.

Because if mid-range and long-range shooters like Hill, Richardson, and Hughes catch the ball and shoot into open spaces, they might not be able to make the shot. DeAndre Jordan and Birdman also have a hard time getting easy baskets at this point, and both sides are collapsing their defense.

It's expected that star players will be double-teamed or receive help defense.

It all comes down to which team's star player can make the shot despite being double-teamed!

Nash hit a long two-pointer with a stop-and-shoot jumper after a screen; Yi Shui received the ball at the high post, turned and shot directly.

Nash set a screen and passed the ball to Stoudemire, who made a fadeaway jumper over the help defense at close range; David Lee went down to the low post and passed the ball to Curry, who was fronted and cut in, and Curry made a floater.

Nash pushed the fast break forward, Hill received the pass and made an alley-oop layup for Stoudemire; Yi Shui drove hard to the basket, drawing a foul on DeAndre Jordan and making both free throws...

官方暂停后接近4分钟时间，太阳队6次出手进了4球，其中纳什有一球突到近距离打成2+1，拿到9分！
For the Knicks, they had 6 offensive possessions, shooting 3-for-5, plus Yi Shui drew a foul on one possession and made both free throws, for a total of 8 points.

The Knicks maintained a slight one-point lead at 113-112.

When it was the Suns' turn to attack, the Knicks' hard-earned lead vanished... Nash used a screen to pull up and shoot, hitting a three-pointer!
The Suns have taken a two-point lead, 115-113!

At this moment, people seemed to see Nash six years ago, before he joined the Suns, when he was selected for the All-Star team and the All-NBA team by scoring with his one-on-one skills!

The Knicks called a timeout with 1 minute and 45 seconds remaining!
After the timeout, the Knicks did not make any substitutions and continued to play with the same lineup, while the Suns also stuck with their starting lineup.

The Knicks inbound the ball in the frontcourt, executing D'Antoni's team offensive strategy.

The positioning and passing were excellent, but when Curry made his baseline run, circled the cones, and finally passed the ball, veteran Hill anticipated Hughes's intention to make the pass on the wing, moved into position in time, and blocked the passing lane!

Hughes was left open and hesitated whether to take the shot himself; the opportunity had come, but he was afraid he would miss.

At this moment, Yi Shui, who had used his own threat to set a screen for Curry, rushed from the left side of the free throw line to the right 45-degree angle. Seeing this, Hughes felt relieved and didn't need to hesitate. He quickly passed the ball to Yi Shui as he ran out of the three-point line.

On the Yishui side, although DeAndre Jordan, who had just switched to defend the pick-and-roll, couldn't keep up with him, his intention to take the blame and move into position was too obvious. Stoudemire immediately rushed out from the right elbow area.

When Yi Shui received the ball and turned to face the basket, Stoudemire was already right in his face.

At that moment, with his 'Fake Snake Heart' activated, he remained remarkably calm and composed. In an instant, he assessed the space to raise the ball, decisively jumped, raised the ball over Stoudemire, and launched a three-pointer...

Just a second before being knocked over by Stoudemire, Yi Shui successfully threw the ball!

He caught the ball, stopped abruptly, turned, and shot immediately, triggering 'Braking Genius' and compensating for the lack of power during the jump; facing Stoudemire, he had a height advantage, triggering 'Tower Sniper' and compensating for the rhythm disruption caused by the pull-up shot... Most importantly, another bonus of 'Tower Sniper' was the probability of having a hot hand, and this shot triggered it!
The moment of decisive victory!

As the whistle blew, Yi Shui's three-pointer swished straight into the basket.

The referee confirmed the basket was valid, the release point was outside the three-point line, and Stoudemire committed a foul, resulting in a 3+1!

Despite the boos, Yi Shui calmly made the free throw, bringing his personal score to 30 points and helping the team take a 117-115 lead!

After the Suns called a timeout, Stoudemire went one-on-one against Birdman, and despite being double-teamed by Birdman and Yi Shui, he faced the basket, took a step back, and made a layup to tie the game.

But then David Lee followed up with a low-post turnaround hook shot that went in!

When it was the Suns' turn to attack, Nash drove to the basket after a screen, then suddenly stopped two steps inside the three-point line and attempted a jump shot... It missed!
Nash, who scored 8 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the second half of the quarter and had a total score one point higher than Yi Shui, finally couldn't carry the team anymore!
Turning back, Yi Shui received the ball at the high post and went one-on-one. Hill defended him very hard, even getting close to Yi Shui's face when Yi Shui took a step to the side to shoot. But Yi Shui raised the ball and made a precise high-post jump shot right in front of the basket!

Yi Shui leads Nash 32-31!

The Knicks extended their lead to 4 points, 121-117!
In the transition, Nash received the ball and quickly advanced the ball, trying to force a transition, but their mobility was not as fast as the opposing lineup, and even after fighting so hard, he could no longer break through and was forced into a positional battle.

Nash didn't hesitate to take the crucial shot. After using a screen, he took advantage of the opportunity to step back and shoot a three-pointer. Yi Shui rushed to block the shot, but probably didn't even manage to interfere. However, the ball still didn't touch the rim.

The exhausted Wind Child pays homage to the young Serpent, spitting out three hits!
David Lee held off DeAndre Jordan and grabbed the defensive rebound. Jordan immediately grabbed David Lee, committing a tactical foul.

The Suns executed their play very well, but David Lee made both free throws, making it a 6-point difference with only 9 seconds left for the Suns!
Gentry called a timeout and brought in a lineup of Dragic, Nash, Richardson, Frye, and Stoudemire.

The players didn't want to give up, and head coach Gentry also wanted to believe in a miracle.

Just after the timeout, Dragic, who was expected to make a big impact, faced Duhon's defense and missed a three-pointer when his teammates spread the floor!

Yi Shui secured the defensive rebound against Stoudemire. When he landed and stood firm, there were only 5 seconds left in the game. Stoudemire still chose to hug Yi Shui, committing a tactical foul.

Yi Shui walked to the opposite free throw line amidst the boos and jeers of the fans. He was not intimidated by the boos, nor was he careless because of the 6-point lead. He focused on shooting and made both free throws steadily!
The point difference has widened to 8 points!
The Suns captain made a long pass, and Nash received the ball just past the center circle and took a shot... but it missed.

The ball bounced off the backboard and returned, but no one went to grab it. Soon, the red light came on.

The Knicks narrowly defeated the Suns 125-117!

……

After the final whistle blew, the away team's substitutes rushed onto the field to celebrate the victory with their teammates!

Yi Shui glanced at the task in a moment. After Nash hit a three-pointer off a screen and scored 8 consecutive points to help the Suns take the lead, his heart was in his throat when he went into a timeout.

Thankfully, the 'fake snake heart' helped him quickly calm down when he stepped onto the court, allowing him to make a decisive attack! He sank that 3+1!

Double kill against the Sun team, mission 'Wind Stop' completed, skill 'Charge Ahead' acquired!
Even before he had mastered the skill, Yi Shui had already thought of it during the official timeout in the final quarter.

The Suns couldn't push their fast breaks in the second half of the quarter, and neither could the Knicks; the main reason was this.

He didn't take many shots tonight, making 11 of 21 field goals, including 4 of 10 three-pointers, plus 8 of 10 free throws, scoring the second-highest 34 points of the game. But he played an exceptionally long 43 minutes, only resting for 3 minutes at the start of the second quarter and 2 minutes at the start of the fourth quarter.

除了34分，还有11板7助攻2抢断2盖帽。

At that time, he was thinking that if there was a skill called "Charge First", even if he was limited by his physical strength and his fast attack success rate was not high, he could still take the lead and create better opportunities for his teammates to follow up.

The other mission, 'Emperor and King,' was also completed, but it almost failed.

"Mission: Emperor and King".

You played against the Suns, scoring 46 and 34 points in the two games, while Stoudemire scored 35 and 36 points in the two games. You won.
Stoudemire had 5 and 2 dunks in the two games, while Amar'e Stoudemire had 3 and 3 dunks in the two games, resulting in a Stoudemire victory.

Congratulations on receiving the reward: a 10-hour all-around training double efficiency card.

This task was accomplished thanks to Ben Wallace's huge block on Stoudemire after the official timeout in the third quarter!

Without that block, Stoudemire would have tied him in dunks, and the mission would have failed. The goal was to surpass Stoudemire's total points and dunks in both games.

He won tonight and got 5 hours of shooting practice cards and 5 hours of passing and ball control practice cards. He also has 3 hours of shooting practice cards, 2 hours of rebounding practice cards, 2 hours of passing and ball control practice cards, and 1 hour of interception practice cards. But you can never have too many of these; the main training programs during the offseason will never be enough.

There are spare training cards for non-core training subjects, such as rebounding, interception, and passing, but for now, they can only be used up. There are no training cards left for the core training subjects, so we have to continue training those subjects.

Yi Shui was happy that all the tasks were completed, but he was even happier about the fact that they had swept the Suns team!

This means that they have the ability to consistently defeat top teams in multiple encounters! This is something they couldn't do last season!

With their victory over the Suns, the Knicks improved their record to 28 wins and 5 losses, solidifying their position as the league's best team.

On the other side, the Wind's Sons are about to crack. Their opponents lost to the Lakers the day before yesterday and won tonight. Their record is now 26 wins and 8 losses, half a game behind the Lakers' 26 wins and 7 losses!

(End of this chapter)