Champion, please stay!

Chapter 257, page 255: The only option is to go up and finish them off.
Yi Shui didn't expect to score 50+ points in two consecutive games.

After all, he only had 21 points in the first half. Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the third quarter, the opposing team's Van Gundy launched an extreme attack, trying to establish a decisive victory in one fell swoop... To be honest, if it were another team, they might have been overwhelmed by the Magic in one fell swoop.

It was only because the Knicks adhered to the philosophy of 'if we can defend, we'll win; if we can't, so be it,' that they weren't crushed by the opponent's 21-10 run in the first half of the quarter. Instead, they were thinking of taking advantage of Howard's substitution to deliver a powerful blow to the opponent.

Yi Shui was also very satisfied with D'Antoni's on-court adjustments tonight. When the opponent went on a scoring spree, he didn't panic but immediately tried to find a way to counterattack.

Against Howard, Yi Shui thought his performance in the first three and a half quarters was really impressive. In 30 minutes, he made 9 of 15 field goals and 11 of 15 free throws, scoring 29 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

但最后半节时间，2投0中，最终数据17投9中，拿到29分17板1助攻3盖帽。

Howard was actually very aggressive in the final moments, but sometimes when he held his position in the low post, Nelson and Carter wouldn't pass him the ball.

If the Magic play against a team with a strong interior presence, and those two don't pass the ball, Yi Shui wouldn't think there's a problem. But when Howard plays against Chandler or Birdman, he can overpower them and dominate them... In short, after several matchups, Yi Shui always felt that the Magic's two guards, especially Carter, seemed to look down on Howard.

Yi Shui opened the system and looked at the progress of the new task. His record against the Southeast Division teams other than the Wizards was 6 wins and 7 losses. He still had 1 game left to play against the Bobcats and the Magic.

The next day, the 29th, the Knicks hosted the Jazz in a back-to-back game at home.

The Jazz narrowly defeated the Celtics on the road yesterday, improving their record to 44 wins and 26 losses, currently ranking seventh in the Western Conference.

Both games were back-to-back, both were hard-fought battles, and tonight the Knicks' offense was clearly in better form than the Jazz's.

首节比分30比24，尼克斯队取得6分优势，第二节比分26比24，半场打完时尼克斯队将领先优势扩大到8分，56比48领先爵士队。

In the third quarter, Yi Shui found his rhythm and dealt a heavy blow to the Jazz. In 9 minutes of playing time, he made 5 of 7 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 13 points!
Relying on Yi Shui's high post control, Chandler and Birdman, who took turns on the court, both shot 3 for 4. Birdman also drew a foul on a putback dunk and made both free throws. The two of them combined for 14 points in the quarter.

With Curry hitting a three-pointer, David Lee scoring 4 points, and Hughes adding 2 points on a fast break, the Knicks outscored their opponents 36-26 in the quarter.

After three quarters, the Knicks extended their lead to 18 points, 92-74 over the Jazz!
At the start of the fourth quarter, D'Antoni fielded a lineup of Chalmers, Webster, Barnes, Gibson, and Birdman to conserve energy for his core players.

Tonight, due to fatigue, their defense was so terrible that the opposing team only scored 74 points in three quarters. Everyone thought the game was over... and then they crashed out.

The Jazz found their rhythm in the final quarter, going on a 21-7 run against the Knicks' garbage-time lineup, narrowing the 18-point deficit to 4 points and bringing the score to 95-99!

D'Antoni had already started bringing up his starters when the gap narrowed to 10 points, but the opponent's performance was too sudden, and their defense had been consistently poor tonight. Now, they can't tighten up their defense.

Fortunately, after the official timeout, the Jazz's offensive firepower decreased, while the Knicks' offensive performance also improved.

At 11 minutes and 41 seconds, Yi Shui moved around to the high post, received a pass from David Lee in the low post, stopped abruptly to receive the ball, turned around and made a long two-pointer, making it 109-106, and the Knicks regained a 3-point lead!
In the past 5 minutes, Yi Shui, Curry, and David Lee, who have regained their offensive rhythm, have been trading blows with their opponents.

After the timeout, the Jazz fielded a lineup of Deron Williams, Wesley Matthews, Kyle Korver, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur.

For the Knicks, Cheeks took over the playboard and substituted Duhon, Hughes, Barnes, Yi Shui, and Chandler into a pure defensive lineup.

The Jazz inbounded the ball from the center line, and the Knicks were prepared to wait for the Jazz to run down the clock and defend either Deron Williams or Mehmet Okur, one of the two All-Stars, to shoot a three-pointer.

Unexpectedly, Deron received the ball, dribbled for only a few seconds, and then hurriedly set a screen for Boozer to launch an attack!

After using a screen, Deron attempted a shot against Yi Shui's defense... but missed!
Matthews rushed to the right side of the three-second zone, grabbed the offensive rebound, and Chandler and Yi Shui both pulled out with the opposing inside players, giving Matthews an opportunity.

After Matthews got the ball, he looked around and finally found someone to receive it. Korver ran half a circle around the top of the arc, came to the right 45-degree angle, received the ball, and shot a three-pointer over the chasing Barnes... and it went in!
The Knicks called a timeout! There are 8 seconds left!
The 18-point lead was wiped out, and Yi Shui felt an itch on his scalp. However, he was puzzled by the opponent's offensive choice on this crucial play—Deron Williams! One of the best point guards! Did he lack the confidence to take a buzzer-beater?

In terms of the result, the Jazz played very well in this offensive rebound and drive, but the fact that Matthews hesitated to shoot after grabbing the offensive rebound at close range and almost failed to pass it out clearly shows that this offensive play was not orchestrated by Sloan.

After the timeout, Yi Shui brought Curry, Duhon, Webster, Hughes, and others onto the court.

On the other side, Sloan brought in a defensive lineup of Deron Williams, CJ Miles, Matthews, Kirilenko, and Okur.

Sloan looked at the five players on the opposing team's court. He knew that the opposing team would definitely bring in their best lineup for the final possession, but he didn't expect them to be so aggressive, even abandoning their inside game!
"Uh……"

As Sloan watched Yi Shui walk onto the field and brush past Okur, an ellipsis popped into his mind.

The Knicks are on offense. Hughes inbounds the ball from the frontcourt and calmly lobs it to Yi Shui, who is positioned on the right side of the top arc against Kirilenko.

Curry, Duhon, Webster, and Hughes spread out at the bottom corner and 45-degree angle on the wings respectively. Yi Shui received the ball and went one-on-one against Kirilenko!

At this moment, Yi Shui seemed oblivious to the cheers and shouts of the fans in the stadium; his eyes were fixed solely on his opponent and the basket! 'Snake Heart (Pseudo)' triggered! Concentration greatly increased!
With 3 seconds left on the countdown, Yi Shui moved and pulled the ball to the left.

Kirilenko quickly followed... and got caught off guard!

Yi Shui simultaneously leaped up with his left foot, offsetting the force of his right foot's push-off. He pulled the ball back sharply with his left hand, and as both feet landed, he used his left foot to propel himself forward two steps to the right, grabbed the ball, and launched a long two-pointer towards Matthews, who had been blocking him from the right at a 45-degree angle...

As the ball reached its highest point, the red light came on, the long whistle blew, and the falling ball plunged into the basket...

首节9分、第二节6分、第三节13分、末节8分，易水出战37分钟，20投12中，其中三分球5中3，加上9中9的罚球，拿到36分10板7助攻1抢断3盖帽。

He led the Knicks to a narrow 111-109 victory over the Jazz, preventing a comeback!

The fans in the stadium went wild. The ups and downs were so exciting! They needed nitroglycerin. Thankfully, they won in the end.

The Emperor's buzzer-beating mid-range jumper sealed the victory!

Yi Shui was surrounded by teammates, coaches, and some fans on the sidelines. The reporter from CNN couldn't squeeze in, so under the direction of the commentator in the studio, he went to interview Deron Williams, who was walking towards the players' tunnel.

Deron Williams was the best performer in the final quarter, scoring almost twice as many points as Yi Shui. He went 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, and added 1-for-2 from the free-throw line for 15 points. Following the commentator's instructions, a reporter asked Williams why he didn't run down the clock in the final quarter, arguing that it would have prevented Yi Shui from having a chance to win and potentially force overtime. The Jazz went on a 35-19 run in the final quarter, putting them in a favorable position for overtime.

Deron Williams broke down on the spot: "I'm not like Yi! I can't always shoot like him. I need to score 20 points and get 10 assists every game. I've already done enough..."

After complaining for a while, Deron Williams realized he had lost his temper and explained, "I can't accept the coaching staff's tactical arrangements this time. It made me shoot over opponents who are so much taller than me. I could only take the shot before they could react..."

...

The next day, around noon, Yi Shui woke up in her hotel room, carefully parted her white thighs, and felt very hungry.

The skill 'Golden Spear' can accelerate the body's recovery after clapping.

It has an automatic protective device that never falls over, providing 100% protection against poison.

Yi Shui felt like he was replenishing himself with something, but fortunately, this skill only affected him and wouldn't have any impact on the other party.

He got up to take a shower, and the two socialites woke up too, following him and launching a sneak attack... They made a ruckus in the bathroom.

The pleasant experience was over. Yi Shui got dressed, took a taxi home, and ordered lunch from a family restaurant near her home on the way.

He scrolled through the news. The hottest topic today was in the NCAA: the Kansas Wildcats and Kentucky Wildcats were both upset yesterday and eliminated from the quarterfinals, while the Duke Dukes, Michigan Spartans, West Virginia Hills, and Butler Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals.

In the NBA... Deron Williams' post-game interview last night has become a hot topic among fans, with both the media and fans mostly attacking him.

Yi Shui was a little annoyed that his last-minute game-winning shot had stolen the spotlight, but he wasn't really surprised by what Delong said.

Having played against Deron Williams in his two years in the NBA and four times, he felt that Williams didn't have the same ambition as Paul to become the best player, nor would he strive to be a leader.

Deron Williams is like... a point guard version of Carmelo Anthony?
After a night's rest, March 31st marked the final day of the Knicks' five-game home run.

Another highly anticipated matchup, this time against the Lakers!

During the morning training session, D'Antoni expressed satisfaction with the team's overall performance.

After playing 3 matches in 4 days and resting for 1 day, it's quite good that I'm in this condition.

Although the game against the Jazz two days ago was almost overturned, the game was very relaxed overall. In the final quarter, Yi Shui and David Lee were the ones who went head-to-head with the opponent. Of the team's 12 points in the second half of the quarter, 8 were scored by Yi Shui alone.

The role players are doing what they're comfortable with, while the tough shots are handled by the three superstars.

At noon, the Lakers arrived at Madison Square Garden. Last night, the Lakers lost to the Bobcats on the road. Today is a back-to-back game, which is good news for the Knicks.

At 7:40 p.m., the players entered the field.

When Kobe entered the arena, he was met with deafening boos and jeers. He paused for a moment, then smiled and high-fived his teammates.

After the opening ceremony, Yi Shui and Kobe were invited by CCTV to give a pre-game interview.

The duel between the two has garnered significant attention not only in the United States but also domestically.

Weiping Bryant asked, "Kobe, Brook has already scored 2492 points this season and is about to become the second player after you to score 2500 points in a single season. What's your opinion on that?"

Kobe didn't answer, but looked at Yi Shui and asked, "You did this on purpose, didn't you? The other night your shooting percentage was 60%, you could have easily scored those 8 points by just taking a few more shots, were you deliberately waiting for me?"

Yi Shui: "No, you're overestimating yourself. I thought I wouldn't even get 30 points that day, but the Jazz not only didn't give up, they wanted to fight back, so I had to go back on the court and hit the game-winning shot."

"..."

Kobe: Damn it, he's even better at pretending than me!
Zhang Weiping continued, "Brook is now averaging 34.6 points per game. Kobe, do you think he has a chance to surpass your current highest active average of 35.4 points per game?"

Kobe: "Brook has that ability, but this season is tough. They only have 10 games left, and they are 0.8 points behind. That means he needs to score at least 35 points in each of the remaining 10 games, and he needs to score more than 70 points in those games to make it happen."

I really hope to see him surpass me. Even if he doesn't do well this season, he'll still have opportunities later. He's the most talented player I've ever seen.

The old blacksmith loved to praise young people, especially after winning his fourth title and overturning the fat guy who was pressing down on him.

Generally speaking, young players get excited when he praises them, but he doesn't expect to see that kind of reaction on Yi Shui's face.

But Yi Shui's reaction was still beyond Kobe's expectations.

Yi Shui: "Wow, Kobe, you're pretty good at math!"

Kobe's face darkened upon hearing this, his teeth grinding together as he forced out a sentence: "What kind of misunderstanding do you University of Connecticut players have about me? I just left school, it doesn't mean I stopped studying!"

The pre-match interview ended unhappily due to issues with educational background.

Yi Shui guessed that Kobe was probably referring to "you guys," and the other person who had also had doubts about Kobe was probably senior Okafor.

After the pre-match preparation time, the starting lineups of both teams came onto the field.

Yi Shui opened the system's task list and looked at it. He had received a task after the last game against the Lakers, but failed. After the defeat, he received a new task, "See you in New York," with the same reward: a fadeaway-related skill.

Looking at the starting lineup on the other side—Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, Bynum—let's go for it!
(End of this chapter)