Basketball miracles

Chapter 148 [Creation]

McHale slowly made his way back on defense, his back hunched over as Xiao Tu tormented him, his steps faltering as if he were on his way to buy oranges. Future fans of McHale who only watch him from behind will likely be moved to tears.

Xiao Tu saw... and wanted to beat him up repeatedly.

Coach KC Jones is still not making any substitutions. The Celtics simply don't have anyone else to replace in the paint, and bringing in fringe players at this point would only make things worse.

In the Lakers' half-court offense, Magic Johnson still passed to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the left low post, as instructed by Pat Riley. This time, the Celtics' formation collapsed, and Abdul-Jabbar passed to Shawn Xiao in the high post.

Xiao Tu received the ball without feinting, and directly dropped the ball to his right with his left hand to change direction and get past McHale. He took two big steps into the penalty area, jumped, and glided for a distance before slamming the ball down with his right hand! 95 to 62.

Bird jumped to help defend from the side, but it had no effect whatsoever. Parish was too slow to jump to help defend under the basket.

Stockton exclaimed, "Shaw scored 40 points after that signature dunk. Once he gets going, the opponents can't do anything about it."

Heinson exclaimed, "If Shaw had continued playing in the final quarter, today's stats would have been phenomenal. There's still a long time left in the third quarter."

KC Jones has stopped calling timeouts, letting the Celtics players play freely. He knows calling timeouts is pointless; the deficit is too large to be resolved by personnel adjustments.

Whether or not Xiao Tu can be contained depends entirely on the players' luck; Xiao Tu was unusually strong today.

Xiao Tu was at ease on the court and knew that Jones was not a coach who was good at adapting to changes on the court and rarely made effective adjustments on the defensive end.

In a parallel universe, Jordan scores a playoff career-high 63 points, while Jones sits courtside as a mere spectator, completely unable to find a way to limit Jordan's performance. Even Danny Ainge is getting thoroughly outplayed, yet the coach still assigns him to one-on-one defense, treating him like a defensive expert.

Dennis dribbled the ball up the court without a screen, forcefully drove past Johnson, and scored a layup. Scott tried to help defend but couldn't jump in time, and his hand lightly touched Dennis's body, resulting in a foul.

Dennis made the free throw for a three-point play, outperforming Bird in this game. 95-65.

He played for the SuperSonics, Suns, and Celtics, and was selected to the All-Star team five times, making him quite famous.

In a Lakers half-court offense, Xiao Tu ran to the right low post to receive the ball, drawing a double team, and immediately passed the ball back to Johnson at the 60-degree angle.

Dennis's gamble on a steal failed, and his defender was too slow to get back on defense. Johnson responded with a mid-range jumper just inside the three-point line. 97-65.

Xiao Tu delivered his 8th assist, demonstrating his understanding of the core principle: drawing the defensive focus and passing the ball after opening up the offense is more effective at assisting teammates than directly orchestrating the pass.

In the Celtics' half-court offense, Bird couldn't penetrate on the perimeter and had to protect the ball and find teammates. Ainge also struggled to receive the ball on the right wing because McHale, a key low-post offensive option, was being contained; his teammates were hesitant to pass when he received the ball with his back to the basket.

Why send it to McHale?
If he takes a few more shots, Xiao Tu's block count will reach double digits in this game.

McHale isn't usually this bad, but today he was completely overwhelmed by Xiao Tu's momentum, and the pressure on the defensive end affected his offense.

Finally, Parish made a strong turnaround jump shot, which missed under Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's interference, and Johnson grabbed the rebound.

The Celtics' tactics were so dull they were practically nonexistent. McHale's post-up game was better than Parish's, and limiting him meant the Celtics didn't just score fewer points in a single game; their offensive and defensive strategies simply failed.

Xiao Tu set a screen first, then ran to the right corner to receive a pass from Johnson. He caught the ball and immediately jumped for a three-pointer. McHale didn't expect him to shoot so decisively, and only raised his hand to contest the shot.

The opportunity arose, but unfortunately the ball bounced off the rim, and Bird grabbed the rebound.

The Celtics' fast break failed to materialize. Xiao Tu quickly ran back to his own half after shooting a three-pointer, but McHale still didn't get a chance to shoot. He received the ball but couldn't squeeze into the paint and passed it out again.

Parish missed a mid-range jumper from the left baseline, and Xiao Tu grabbed another rebound, his 18th.

He passed the ball to Johnson, who was receiving it, and the Lakers launched a fast break.

This time, Magic Johnson didn't look for a screen. He dribbled directly from the right side to the basket, drew Parish's help defense, and then passed the ball behind his back with his right hand to the middle.

Xiao Tu forcefully pushed past McHale to cut into the paint, received the ball, took a step up, and slammed it home with both hands! 99 to 65.

By the time Parish turned around, Xiao Tu had already taken off, and he couldn't cover him in time. McHale stood behind Xiao Tu like a fool, not jumping.

McHale knew that even if he jumped, he wouldn't be able to block the shot and would only be able to foul, and might even get a 2+1 play, so he simply didn't jump.

Heinson shook his head and sighed, "The Celtics are completely crushed. They can't catch up, and they can't stop Shaw. Shaw has already scored 42 points, tying Magic Johnson's highest single-game score in the Finals." Stockton said, "The last rookie to have such a great performance in the Finals was Magic Johnson. Shaw's performance today was even better than when he played center; he completely dominated the game."

Heinson said, "If Shaw wins the championship, he will break Magic Johnson's record and become the youngest Finals MVP in history."

1980年总决赛湖人对阵76人的第六场，魔术师顶替受伤的贾巴尔出任中锋，砍下42分15篮板7助攻3抢断1盖帽的超级数据，带领湖人夺冠。

Xiao Tu's stats in his very first game have already surpassed Johnson's best performance. He has a higher chance of winning the award, without needing a star teammate to get injured and give up possession.

At the start of the season, the Lakers' strategy was for Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to draw double teams and then pass to Xiao Tu for a shot. Now it's the other way around; Xiao Tu draws double teams, creating easy scoring opportunities for Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson.

The Celtics are on offense. Dennis handles the ball and orchestrates the offense. Bird cuts along the baseline on the right side, and Parish screens Worthy off the ball, triggering a play. Bird shakes off his defender and receives a high lob pass from Dennis, finishing with an alley-oop reverse layup. 99-67.

This offensive play demonstrates just how tight the Lakers' defense is, and Bird made two of his career top 10 plays in this game.

The Lakers executed a triangle offense, with Xiao Tu running to the right baseline corner, and Johnson lobbing the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the low post at a 60-degree angle.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's isolation plays posed a significant threat, but McHale dared not step back to help defend, fearing that Xiao Tu would receive the ball and shoot a three-pointer.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar calmly executed a move against Parish in a one-on-one situation, dribbling two steps to the baseline before turning and hooking the ball in, making it 101-67.

Heinson was utterly disappointed with the Celtics' performance: "The Lakers' Big Three all played exceptionally well today, and the point difference was heading towards 40 points. What were Bird and Parish doing?"

Stockton laughed, "Their attention is all on Shaw. If he's allowed to shoot like he did in the first half, he might even break Elgin Baylor's all-time scoring record in the Finals."

Heinson remarked, "Some people are truly born for big occasions; he doesn't seem nervous at all."

Xiao Tu was not nervous at all, not even a little bit.

If he plays poorly, no one will blame him as a rookie. If he plays well, he will be the brightest star of the season.

It's all beneficial and harmless; he just needs to use his strength.

Xiao Tu played very selflessly in the second half. After the opponents started to double-team him, he didn't necessarily want to break the historical single-game scoring record, but instead wanted to achieve a triple-double.

Xiao Tu is just a rookie. It's not too late to challenge scoring records after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retires. A super triple-double would be just as impressive.

Riley likes Xiao Tu, but he can't let him take 30 or 40 shots the whole time while he plays and the others watch.

Unity and selflessness have always been the Lakers' winning formula.

McHale stepped out beyond the three-point line to facilitate the pass, and Xiao Tu left him two meters away to double-team Bird on the right. Bird passed the ball to McHale, whose mid-range shot from a step inside the three-point line missed, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar grabbed the rebound.

McHale's shot was a bit too far away, and he didn't dare take another step forward, fearing that Xiao Tu would pounce out and seriously interfere.

Johnson launched a fast break, a 3-on-3 situation in the frontcourt. Xiao received the ball in the middle, drawing the attention of two players before passing it to Worthy on the left flank, who slammed it home with one hand! 103-67.

Xiao Tu delivered his 9th assist, and Lakers fans applauded wildly.

Stockton said, "The Lakers are likely to break the record for the largest margin of victory in NBA Finals history today. The previous record was set in 1978 when the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics 117-82 in Game 6."

Heinson said, "If they continue playing like this, the Celtics will definitely lose by more than 40 points. They not only can't defend, but their offensive efficiency has also dropped."

Stockton said, "The Celtics' offensive rhythm was disrupted, and McHale couldn't score a single point against Shaw's defense."

Then, the Celtics made another mistake. Bird received the ball on the right baseline but was double-teamed. He then made a wide lateral pass to Parish on the left baseline, but Parish failed to catch it properly, and the ball went out of bounds.

During a Lakers half-court offense, Worthy passed the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Bird touched the ball out of bounds, prompting KC Jones to call another timeout.

As the players left the court, the cameraman gave a close-up shot of Commissioner David Stern, who was watching the game from the stands. Stern was all smiles; the one-sided nature of the Finals didn't seem to affect his mood.

Xiao Tu's explosive stats are the most crucial factor; the NBA now has a superstar. As long as Xiao Tu doesn't suffer a serious injury, the NBA will have no shortage of talking points for the next decade or so.

(End of this chapter)