Basketball miracles

Chapter 232 [Determined to Win, But Too Many to Do It All]

Xiao Tu was determined to win this game. If the Heat achieved a better record in the regular season, they would have home-court advantage when facing the Pistons in the playoffs.

This is crucial. When two evenly matched teams go to a Game 7, home-court advantage can very well determine the series outcome. Visiting teams rarely win Game 7s; the players bear immense psychological pressure.

Xiao Tu didn't care what others thought; he considered the Pistons his number one enemy, and the Lakers his second biggest rival.

On the night of the game, the Heat's home arena, American Airlines Arena, was packed to capacity, with tickets in high demand.

This is in stark contrast to the empty arena last season. The Heat's attendance has suddenly jumped from near-dead to the highest in the league, and even 19600 people seem a bit too few.

Almost everyone came to see Xiao Tu's performance; now Wade's fan base is only a fraction of Xiao Tu's.

Unless Wade also puts up superstar numbers, he won't get much support. In the last game, many fans even blamed him for dragging the team down and almost causing them to lose.

In the home team's locker room, Wade was a little nervous again. The Pistons are known for their tough interior defense, and Wade was worried that he wouldn't score in double digits again today.

If something can go wrong, it will, no matter how small the chance.

Lacking confidence, Wade planned to reduce his jump shots and pass the ball more. Faced with pressure, he chose the simplest way to relieve stress and became increasingly willing to assist Xiao Tu.

Wade became the leader because he was the only one who could do it. Now he acknowledges that Xiao Tu is stronger, but their mindsets are different; after all, he hasn't succeeded yet.

In a parallel world, the Heat started with three consecutive losses, losing without any chance to fight back.

With Xiao Tu on the team, the Heat players are no longer afraid of last season's regular season champions, the Pistons, and are confident of achieving a three-game winning streak. Xiao Tu's calm and smiling demeanor gave his teammates confidence.

In fact, Xiao Tu is under more pressure than anyone else. If they can't even beat the Pistons, who had a terrible record in the first half of the season, the Heat's performance this season won't be good.

In the visiting team's locker room, head coach Larry Brown emphasized defensive tactics, instructing his players to play defensively.

Brown felt deeply sorry for Xiao Tu after reviewing his file. He believed Xiao Tu possessed strong individual skills, but unfortunately, he didn't know how to play the game correctly, resorting to reckless tactics on offense. How could a young man not understand the principle that the closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage?

If Xiao Tu had started his professional career with the Pistons, Brown would definitely have made him stop shooting three-pointers and instead shoot from inside the three-point line, which would have given him a better future.

Milicic also loves to shoot threes, which annoys Brown. Unless this big man gives up shooting and actively positions himself and attacks in the low post like a tough guy, Brown will never let him play.

When the Heat players entered the game, the Heat fans didn't boo the Pistons players. They couldn't be bothered to boo, even though Pistons star Chauncey Billups wasn't exactly popular.

Many people think the Pistons are an ordinary team, not because they don't have star players, but because they don't have any big-name stars with high popularity.

When Xiao Tu entered the game, the entire audience applauded and cheered for Miami's new king. The Heat had never signed a superstar scorer since the team's inception, and Xiao Tu had the potential to become the scoring champion, winning over Miami fans in just two games.

Most fans don't understand football, don't care about teamwork, and only want to see star players score high points.

Xiao Tu was like that when he was a football fan in his previous life, so he cared a lot about statistics.

He reads online novels where star players from both sides go on a scoring duel from start to finish. Kobe scores 100 points, the protagonist scores 101 points and hits the game-winning shot for a narrow victory. Many star players who have never scored high points in their entire careers suddenly explode when they face the protagonist. The duels are intense and exciting, and afterwards, they respect each other like brothers.

Xiao Tu waved to the fans with a smile. After obtaining the lotus incarnation from the treasure chest, he possessed an extraordinary aura, giving off an exceptionally reliable vibe no matter what he did.

Wade and Haslem exchanged a glance, utterly shocked.

In the summer, everyone thought Xiao Tu was being unrealistic, oversimplifying the NBA. But Xiao Tu started turning his summer boasts into reality, becoming not only the Heat's leader but also seemingly a superstar.

While both teams were warming up, Xiao Tu silently observed his opponents. He felt that the Pistons were a group of oddballs, and the only handsome guy was the second overall pick, Milicic, who wasn't playing.

Prince's physique is somewhat deformed, too ugly. Xiao Tu feels he can beat him by force, but he will definitely be double-teamed by interior players in the low post, so he still has to rely on his face-up skills.

The two defenders were really unremarkable.

Billups was very strong and didn't look like a good person; he looked like the kind of person who would work with the Mafia to run illegal gambling and fraud schemes.

Hamilton was a dreadlocked bastard. Ben Wallace looked like a gangster, short in stature, with huge, thick arms.

Mehmet Okur, a Turkish player, has a decent image. Xiao Tu remembers that the Jazz signed Okur to a 6-year, $5000 million contract in 2004, and he was later selected as an All-Star.

Judging from Okur's future reputation, this contract is a great deal, and the Jazz have made a winning bet.

Okur primarily plays power forward for the Pistons, so his stats aren't impressive. He's actually a very good open-play center, standing at 211cm and weighing 113kg. He can hold his own against opponents and grab rebounds, but his jumping ability is poor and his rim protection is average.

Okur barely shot three-pointers with the Pistons, so he didn't become Brown's nemesis, which was pretty smart.

Xiao Tu believes that if the team really can't find a suitable center forward after this season, they can consider Okur.

After warming up, the starters took to the court. The Heat's five players were: Wade, Eddie Jones, Shawn Dwight Howard, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant.

The Pistons' five players are: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Okur, and Ben Wallace.

Ben Wallace and Lamar Odom won the jump ball, giving the Pistons the first possession.

Ben Wallace's official height is 206cm, but without his afro, he's probably only 203cm. However, he has exceptional jumping ability, a 218cm wingspan, and tremendous strength. These characteristics make him an excellent role-playing center with outstanding defense.

Billups dribbled up the court but couldn't break through Wade's defense, so he passed the ball to Ben Wallace, who was positioned outside the three-point line in the middle.

With Ben Wallace left open in the middle, he immediately passed the ball to Hamilton, who was running on the left wing, and then cut inside to the basket. After the initial probing, the Pistons players were certain that the Heat's defensive strategy today was man-to-man.

After a few passes, the Pistons' first play involved Ben Wallace backing down Grant in the low post on the right side.

Larry Brown, who began coaching the Pistons this year, has a major secret to his offense: getting Ben Wallace active on offense. He understands the mentality of Pistons centers better than anyone and believes Wallace wants to score! So Brown usually starts the game by having the offense revolve around Wallace, showing his confidence in him.

Ben Wallace dribbled twice with his back to the basket at a 45-degree angle, his footwork was really good, quite smooth. He turned towards the baseline, raised the ball and faked a shot, causing Grant to raise his arms and shift his center of gravity, then took a step towards the middle and released a jump shot.

"Drink up!" Xiao Tu left Prince open and rushed out from the side, using a volleyball-like motion to slap the ball out of bounds!
Heat commentator Eric Reid exclaimed, "Great play! Shaw delivered a clean block to star center Ben Wallace right at the start of the game!"

Xiao Tu knew that Prince's jump shot percentage was low, and he could drop back to the basket to help defend at any time. He could wait until the ball was in Prince's hands before interfering.

The Pistons inbounded the ball, and Xiao Tu left Prince two meters away, retreating to defend near the paint.

Prince, open on the right side at 45 degrees, didn't shoot a three-pointer. Instead, he took a step inside the three-point line and launched a long two-pointer. The ball bounced off the rim, and Xiao Tu easily grabbed the rebound.

Prince was the only one of the Pistons' starting five who never made an All-Star team. He was the type of player who, at first glance, had a good shooting percentage, but in reality, he was often left open and didn't take many shots.

The Pistons players were very quick on defense. Xiao Tu dribbled to the frontcourt and passed to Wade first, then made an off-ball movement.

Xiao Tu immediately realized that the Pistons were also using man-to-man defense, with Prince as his primary defender. Wade didn't force a shot against Billups, instead passing to Odom, who was positioned beyond the three-point line, to facilitate the offense.

Xiao Tu paused on the left side, then moved to the middle three-point line to receive the ball. He dribbled to the right and, with Odom's screen, entered the three-point line. The Pistons players immediately switched their defense, and Ben Wallace became the defender on Xiao Tu.

Xiao Tu created space by dribbling between his legs and taking a step to his left, actively seeking a double-team from Prince. At this moment, if Odom cuts through the middle, the Pistons' two main defenders will be drawn to Xiao Tu, giving him a good opportunity to attack the basket.

But Odom didn't cut to the basket; he stayed on the perimeter. He's used to playing small forward and prefers to dribble and face the basket himself.

Xiao Tu drew the defense and passed the ball, giving Odom a good shooting opportunity, but his three-pointer from the middle missed.

As Xiao Tu's passing awareness improved, so did his basketball IQ. He could spot missed opportunities by his teammates, but if they couldn't follow his train of thought, he couldn't offer any pointers.

Wade didn't make any cuts either. With Ben Wallace pulled out of the paint by Xiao Tu, his teammates were rushing for the rebound, and even against a floor-bound player like Okur, they might have managed to grab it.

Xiao Tu saw an opportunity, but he was too busy to be in two places at once...

(End of this chapter)