Basketball miracles

Chapter 96 [Go and kill Sebastian Shaw]

After a brief warm-up, Pat Riley announced that the players could train freely.

At this point, the players can play one-on-one games or practice shooting on the sidelines. Shaquille O'Neal even plans to have people perform a robot dance for a show – they can do whatever they want.

Ralph Sampson and Kelvin Knight wanted to practice one-on-one with Xiao Tu, but he politely declined. "Sorry, my job on the court isn't one-on-one, I don't need to practice that."

He was unwilling to fight one-on-one and had a valid reason, so no one else could force him to do it and they had to find someone else.

Xiao Tu was well aware of his flaws in ball-handling and offensive skills, and he didn't give anyone else a chance to show off.

I need to practice my skills. My Lakers teammates can practice with me when I get back to Los Angeles. All-Star training is not a good opportunity at all.

Only a fool would challenge you to a one-on-one match. If I win, what's the point of going around saying I can beat two ordinary All-Stars in a one-on-one?
If I lose, I'll feel bad, and you'll just have something to brag about.

Basketball games and wars have similarities; momentum can influence a player's performance. Xiao Tu's goal is to win the All-Star Game MVP, and he has been building momentum since arriving in Indianapolis, determined not to do anything that would lower his morale.

Xiao Tu's reward for winning the Slam Dunk Contest is a golden treasure chest, and the reward for predicting the All-Star MVP will definitely be the same. For the grand prize, he'll treat the All-Star game like the NBA Finals, giving it his all!
He occupied half of the court to practice shooting diligently, preparing for the game that evening.

Opportunity favors the prepared mind; he wanted to score a lot of points and have a breakout performance.

Among the Western Conference All-Stars, only Xiao Tu was practicing three-pointers with the help of staff, which seemed quite unusual. Riley didn't stop him, knowing he would need it in tonight's game.

On the evening of February 10th, the All-Star Game kicked off at the Mountain Man Dome Arena.

During the player introductions, Xiao Tu displayed overwhelming popularity. As the players took the stage one after another, Xiao Tu, being the top vote-getter, was the last to appear.

When introducing Xiao Tu, the DJ added a series of titles to him: "First-time All-Star selection, All-Star vote leader in his rookie season, NBA's best dunk champion, this season's rebounding champion and Rookie of the Year. Number 24 from the Los Angeles Lakers—Sebastian Shaw!"

After listening to the introduction, Xiao Tu slowly ran out of the player tunnel to make his official appearance, enjoying the applause of more than 40,000 fans in the arena! The Mountain Man Dome Arena seemed to have become Xiao Tu's home court, and the Lakers fans in front of the TV felt a little magical.

Many star players felt uncomfortable seeing this, especially those in the Eastern Conference, who were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Larry Bird and Isaiah Thomas have both won All-Star Game MVP awards, but they have never been as popular as Xiao Tu, showing a huge difference in popularity.

Today, Thomas had lunch with Magic Johnson and tried to sow discord during their conversation. He said that Xiao Tu's rise was too rapid and suggested that Johnson suppress him, otherwise his core position would be threatened in the future.

Thomas put on an act of "I'm doing this for your own good," but Johnson wasn't buying it at all. It wasn't that Johnson saw through Thomas's hypocrisy, but rather that Thomas only thought about women, not men.

If Johnson wins the regular season MVP this season, he will become more laid-back and won't lack individual honors.

During warm-up, Xiao Tu performed a windmill dunk and an alley-oop one-handed slam dunk, earning a lot of applause. Before the game even started, the Western All-Stars' morale had completely overwhelmed their opponents.

Xiao Tu may lack experience and honors, and may not be considered a superstar, but there is no doubt that he is the most popular.

The starting five for the Western Conference are: Johnson, George Gervin, Sampson, Xiao Tu, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Eastern Conference starting lineup: Isaiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Moses Malone.

Both teams boast impressive lineups, but what fans don't know is that the Eastern team is riddled with problems this year.

First of all, Bird and Dr. J had a grudge; they fought during the regular season, and Malone even helped restrain Bird. These three wouldn't even speak to each other when they met.

Secondly, the Eastern Conference roster is unreasonable, extremely unreasonable.

Eastern Conference coach KC Jones already made a fool of himself when arranging tactics. As the Celtics' head coach, he didn't want Bird to go toe-to-toe with a powerhouse like Xiao Tu right from the start.

It's normal for Bird to win; he was the double MVP last season. It would be embarrassing if Bird couldn't stop Xiao Tu and allowed him to score several times in the paint.

Jones doesn't want Bird to become the biggest background character, so he has to arrange for someone else to match up against Xiao Tu at the start, thus weakening Xiao Tu.

The other forward in the East is Dr. J, Kyrie Irving, who is 198cm tall and weighs around 90kg. He is a star player nearing retirement and an idol to countless people. Jones couldn't possibly assign the slender Dr. J to guard Xiao Tu; a veteran would definitely be humiliated in a mismatch defense, and his fans would be furious. Therefore, Jones chose what seemed to be the safest matchup arrangement.

Before the game, he told Jordan, who was 198cm tall and weighed only 88kg, "Go and shut down Sebastian Shaw."

Jordan gave Jones a bewildered look: "Me?"

Ralph Sampson won the jump ball and accurately tipped it to Magic Johnson. The Western Conference All-Stars launched a quick attack to start the game, with Xiao Tu driving straight to the basket.

Before the game, Riley devised a tactic.

Johnson delivered a powerful through ball between the two players with one hand. Xiao Tu received the ball on the right wing, took three steps, turned 360 degrees, and slammed it down with both hands! 2-0.

The atmosphere in the stadium was instantly ignited, with fans standing up and cheering wildly.

Jordan couldn't help but let his mind wander, sensing that he was in big trouble today. Unfortunately, his premonition came true right from the start, leaving Xiao Tu completely exposed and relegated to the background.

Jordan wasn't omnipotent. Without the butterfly effect, Jordan's performance in his first All-Star game was terrible. With the Bulls, Jordan was a rising star, enjoying unparalleled status and unlimited shot attempts. With the Eastern Conference All-Stars, he was just a rookie, and nobody took him seriously.

Moses Malone, the best player in the East at protecting the rim, was in charge of the jump ball, but he was slow to get back on defense.

Larry Bird was closest to Xiao Tu, and he didn't jump to watch him score; it was obvious he couldn't stop that kind of powerful dunk. Defending Xiao Tu should be the job of a strong, athletic player, not someone like him who's good at playing on the floor.

Dick Stockton, Tom Heinson, Rick Barry, and Bill Russell were the four commentators for this game.

Heinson spoke first: "Shaw completed a fast break in less than 3 seconds and delivered a perfect dunk, taking the lead from the start!"

Barry laughed, "Looks like he didn't get enough dunks yesterday. Young people really have a strong desire to perform."

Stockton said, "The audience didn't get enough of it. Dunks are the most exciting way to score. Shaw was more popular than Magic Johnson in the All-Star poll because of his dunks."

Russell exclaimed, "His physical attributes are unbelievable; he could very well dominate the league in the future."

Bill Russell, the "Lord of the Rings" and a retired Celtics legend, wouldn't pour cold water on Xiao Tu by saying he's inferior to players of his era. He knows that saying so would invite ridicule from fans; Wilt Chamberlain had already made that mistake.

They definitely can't beat Xiao Tu in dunking; the NBA used to be all about layups and shooting.

Russell once had a spectacular layup attempt from just outside the free-throw line. He still shudders when he thinks about it, because he was wearing canvas shoes and landed on one leg; if he had lost his balance, he could have been seriously injured.

Back then, Russell thought it was normal to play like that because basketball techniques were still in the exploratory stage and not standardized. Everyone played with wild imaginations, daring to try any move they could think of.

The Eastern Conference All-Stars were on offense, and Xiao Tu was assigned to guard Jordan. This was a forced matchup; George Gervin had approached Dr. J to catch up, and Sampson was too tall to keep up with the guards, leaving Xiao Tu to guard Jordan.

Bird dribbled against Sampson one-on-one, faked several shots on the right side of the basket, and then scored with a mid-range jumper from the corner. 2-2.

The audience applauded only slightly. Bird's jump shot was not particularly entertaining; he relied on simple technique to create space for his shot.

In the Western Conference offensive, the players set up a half-court offense, with Johnson and Xiao Tu running pick-and-rolls in the middle.

Their pick-and-roll combination was nearly unstoppable in the regular season and remained incredibly effective in the All-Star Game. This was because the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference was the 185cm tall, 82kg "Smiling Assassin" Isiah Thomas.

Xiao Tu blocked Thomas, and if Jordan didn't switch on defense, Johnson could immediately drive to the basket.

Jordan hesitated when switching on defense, fearing Xiao Tu's cut. Johnson dribbled into the paint from the left, drawing Bird's help defense before passing to Sampson, who was cutting along the left baseline. Sampson caught the ball, took a step, and slammed it home with one hand! 4-2.

Moses Malone has a good awareness of help defense, but he lacks the ability to do so effectively. Expecting a 208cm center with the wingspan of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to help defend a 224cm big man is too much to ask.

(End of this chapter)