Champion Rules

Chapter 56 053: Records are just footnotes, there is only one thing that really matters (Please read on!)

After the first quarter, the Garden was boiling.

Everyone in the audience was shouting.

People pumped their fists, jumped up and down, and hugged each other.

This place is no longer lifeless. It is even crazier than Detroit, which just won the championship ring.

Steve A. Smith took off his glasses and stared at the crazy scene, his fingertips numb.

He didn't remember MSG like this in a long time.

His memories of MSG are of the sparse applause from the stands when Patrick Ewing, in his twilight years, dragged his injured leg to the paint, and the relentless boos when Stephon Marbury missed his shots.
He witnessed Michael Jordan's legendary night of scoring 55 points here, and witnessed Reggie Miller's choking ceremony in defiance of the entire New York City.

These scenes have become the memories of a generation of New York fans, and have also left an indelible shadow in the heart of Stephen A. Smith.

But look at it now, after just one quarter, MSG has been completely transformed!
The fans at the scene were cheering for their winning expert, and New Yorkers gave their love to Lynch without reservation.

Stephen Marbury looked around and some dusty memories were awakened.

He also once ignited New Yorkers' pride into a sky full of stars at Madison Square Garden when he played for Abraham Lincoln High School.

Since then, only Lynch has been able to keep MSG so busy.

Mike Brin was also surprised by the reaction of the New York fans: "Lynch made a brilliant start in a hellish dungeon."

Of course, today's game is not over yet, and New York has not yet firmly grasped the victory.

The Knicks started the second quarter with a 7-point advantage, and most of the main players from both teams returned.

Shaquille O'Neal, who scored zero points in the first quarter, sank into the low post and showed great aggressiveness right from the start.

Kurt Thomas fought the giant beast in close combat like a bullfighter, using perpetual motion-like resistance to disrupt the shark's positioning.

This defensive stalwart doesn't have to worry about physical fitness, because when his jersey is soaked with sweat, Nazir Mohammed on the bench will immediately take over the baton and continue the shark's nightmare with the same crazy entanglement.

In other words, there is no round or second that the Sharks can play easily in the low post.

But if it were just Kurt Thomas and Nazir Muhammad, they would not be able to limit the Sharks. What really made O'Neal feel uneasy was the ghost of No. 20 who followed him like a shadow.

Given that Haslem doesn't pose much of an offensive threat, Lynch is always roaming around the outside of the paint with his long arms, making the route to the Shark's pass fraught with danger.

And when the basketball struggles to reach the Shark's hands, Lynch's double-team will be formed at milliseconds.

Although the Knicks' interior defense is not as good as the iron fortress built by the Pistons' two Wallaces, the tacit cooperation between Lynch and the other two hard-working centers has successfully suppressed O'Neal's destructive power within a controllable range, making it difficult for the former penalty area overlord to create huge waves.

The Sharks' score won't remain zero today, but he certainly won't be able to kill the game.

O'Neal struggled once again, struggling in the twilight of his days as a low-post giant.

Seeing that the Shark was struggling in the interior, Wade decisively signaled his teammates to open up space and decided to take over the situation himself.

Compared to the shackled Shark, the Knicks didn't have a better way to deal with Wade tonight.

Lenny Wilkens replaced many people to defend Wade, but Stephen Marbury had no intention of competing with him. The old legs of Alan Houston and Anfernee Hardaway seemed like dead wood nailed to the floor in front of Wade.

Grant Hill is the best player on the Knicks to defend Wade. He has rich experience, excellent defensive pace and defensive focus.

But facing Wade in his prime, perfect positioning and prediction still seemed beyond his ability.

A player like Wade, sometimes even if you give him two steps, he can still get to the bottom without any lubrication.

That's what happened in this round. Grant Hill has controlled the defensive distance to the extreme, with his eyes fixed on No. 3.

But the moment Wade accelerated, Grant Hill blocked him at the fastest speed, but was still half a beat late.

Lynch quickly came to assist in defense, and Wade used his abnormal upper limbs to push Lynch away in the air, then took advantage of the opportunity to pass the ball to the Shark who was temporarily out of the double-team.

O'Neal forced his way to the basket, and without Lynch's double-teaming, Kurt Thomas was like a piece of meat on the chopping board facing the Shark with the ball.

The Sharks finally scored, but everyone knew that the Knicks' real trouble was the Black Lightning wearing No. 3.

"Damn." Lynch began to miss the big guy from Shanghai who loved eating tomatoes.

It was a fact that the Knicks couldn't defend Wade. In Europe, in the Olympics, Lynch had never encountered anyone who was "undefensible." But in his first official NBA game, he encountered such a person.

This is why the NBA is the highest level of basketball.

But this is not something to be ashamed of. A healthy Wade's breakthrough is an unsolvable proposition for the league.

Lynch now only needs to do one thing, and that is to make himself undefensible.

Grant Hill's nightmare is over, which also means the beginning of Udonis Haslem's defensive purgatory.

Haslem's characteristic on the defensive end is that he is very tough, but when your speed, size and strength are not advantageous, the so-called iron-blooded style is nothing but a candle in the wind.

Lynch ran to the frontcourt and shuttled through the muscle jungle like early KD, looking for opportunities to catch the ball and shoot.

Haslem had a hard time moving amidst layers of screens, and when Lynch received the basketball delivered by Hill in time at the mid-range sweet spot on the right side, Haslem had already been left far behind.

Eddie Jones, who was rushing to make up for the defense, jumped up desperately, but found in despair that Lynch's shooting point had already exceeded the horizon that his fingertips could reach.

"brush!"

Lynch's tactical sense derived from the European youth training system makes it difficult to track his off-ball movement. Although his jump shot lethality has not yet reached KD's terrifying level, it is enough to nail Haslem to the pillar of shame.

"Damn it! This damn wimp can only sneak around the screen and do some tricks!" Haslem was furious.

Wade patted him on the back, his face filled with helplessness. "That's enough. Lynch dunked a lot on you today."

Haslem:
Thank you so much for reminding me!
Wade's soul-searching attack left Haslem speechless, and he could only stare at Lynch's constantly changing score data on the scoreboard.

People discovered that today was not a duel between Lynch and the Shark, but a duel between Lynch and Wade.

As many commentators predicted before the start of the season, the Eastern Conference is a battlefield for young top talents to fight.

There's no room for face-saving maneuvers here; you'll just have to fight your way through other equally talented opponents.

Lynch almost destroyed Haslem. He could get space to catch and shoot by running without the ball, he could create damage through unreasonable breakthroughs, and he could test the Heat's defense with 3-4 pick-and-roll.

Wade's ironclad defense and Marbury's passive and lazy confrontation turned the much-anticipated 1-4 pick-and-roll into a dud, but unexpectedly gave birth to the deadly cooperation of the golden pair of Lynch and Hill.

Grant Hill is a pick-and-roll master who can always accurately find a breakthrough path the moment the pick-and-roll is formed.

He can break through the basket with the help of screens and pass the ball in time when he is surrounded. His mind is always clear and he controls his mistakes better than some point guards.

At first, the Sharks were able to actively protect the rim, fending off several attacks from Lynch and Grant Hill. However, as the Sharks' passive consumption on the offensive end grew, the giant's defensive footwork became increasingly sluggish, and Lynch and Hill's efficiency in attacking the basket became increasingly higher.

When Hill became the Knicks' second battering ram, Haslem had to make a desperate decision in the pick-and-roll: temporarily let go of Lynch to delay Hill.

But Lynch's jump shot felt very good today, and he kept hitting the outside jump shot after the pick-and-roll with Hill.

He may not have been able to fully realize Korver's shooting talent, but even if he only realized half of it, the stability of his catch-and-shoot jump shot is incomparable to before.

The score was gradually widened, and in the fourth quarter, Wade was already starting to breathe hard.

His breakthrough was invincible, but the offensive pressure put on his shoulders by the Heat tonight was too heavy, and the entire team's offense was dependent on him.

He tore through the defense time and time again, but found in despair that he was completely unable to lead the Heat to overtake the score.

Every time he completed a finish with great difficulty, Hill only needed a pick-and-roll to assist Lynch to make an easy shot.

In the ninth minute of the fourth quarter, when Hill broke through again and assisted Lynch to hit a long-range shot, Lynch's score had reached 33 points - he was the sixth player in NBA history to score 30 points in his debut.

All the sweat shed during the summer now turned into bullets, leaving the Miami Heat covered in wounds.

The Heat were trailing by 11 points, and Wade was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

He called another screen, ripped Hill, but was blocked by Lynch as he attacked the rim.

"Why are you slow, man? Is the accelerator stuck?" Lynch sneered in Wade's ear after completing the block.

Wade is still fast, of course, but he's a bit slower than before. But that tiny difference is the difference between a goal and a block.

The Knicks attacked with the fans roaring in the stands. The camera panned across the sidelines, and Knicks coach Lenny Wilkens was rubbing circles on his temple with his index finger. Unbeknownst to the Miami Heat, he had already issued the order to end their run.

After this instruction, the Knicks did not continue the 3-4 pick-and-roll. Lynch directly held the ball on the perimeter with his right index finger raised to the sky.

Kurt Thomas pulled out to cover Lynch.

As expected, the Shark chose to retreat as usual and did not save the ball. Lynch used a single screen to move sideways to create half a step of space and then made a mid-range jump shot. Lynch's shooting with the ball was unstable, but it does not mean that you can leave him open like this on a night when Lynch is in hot form.

"brush!"

"Damn, where is Shaq!?" Lynch spread his hands.

Shaq was suffering because he turned the ball over a possession later while being double-teamed by Lynch and Kurt Thomas.

With a 12-point advantage, Lynch used the same trick again, holding the ball himself and then calling a pick-and-roll.

"Damn it, damn it!" Shark thought of the damn Sacramento Kings, the team that was best at using pick-and-roll to punish Shark.

He had to move out and switch to Lynch in the pick-and-roll.

But under Lynch's speed, the Sharks' extended defense was useless.

"boom!"

He watched Lynch pass by him and score a one-handed dunk, and his dignity was being torn away.

That's right, Lenny Wilkens' strategy to end the game was to let Lynch attack the Shark who was running out of energy.

This is a cruel strategy for the Shark, as he will be defeated head-on by Lynch without any excuse.

Spike Lee's eyes widened. Lynch already had 37 points, and the game would still take some time to end.

What the fuck.
Wade made the shot in this round, but they were still trailing by 13 points. Wade seemed to be pouring a cup of warm water on the burning forest.

Haslem decided to directly pressure Lynch and prevent Lynch from dribbling calmly.

Seeing this, Lynch passed the ball to Hill, and then cut into the penalty area with the help of Kurt Thomas's off-ball pick-and-roll.

Facing the shark's obstruction, Lynch turned his back and raised his right arm like the goddess of victory holding a torch.

He actually wanted to back up the Shark!

"I'm going to kill you!" The Shark used all his strength to push Lynch out. Lynch was pushed half a step away from the penalty area, but he quickly stabilized his center of gravity and received the ball from Hill.

The moment he caught the ball, Lynch turned around and broke through!
He had to be quick because Haslem was coming to double-team him. Once he was double-teamed, Lynch's back-to-back moves were no longer effective.

O'Neal was passed by one step again. The face-saving inside giant stretched out his huge palm in desperation to grab the fluttering No. 20 jersey, but Lynch still broke free and scored a layup.

At the same time, the referee blew the whistle.

Lynch, who has already scored 39 points, is about to take the free throw!

The fans at Madison Square Garden are not just excited, they are nervous.

The whole of New York is waiting for the birth of that milestone that is destined to go down in history.

Before the opening game, Knicks fans had already raised their expectations for Lynch, but Lynch told them: "You are still too damn conservative."

Lynch stood at the free throw line, next to him was Shark who was arguing with the referee and Wade whose eyes were already dull.

Number 20 watched all this with a calm expression. It was as if the world had been muted, leaving only the silence between the basket and Lynch.

Under normal circumstances, a rookie encountering such a scene would definitely be filled with joy and excitement, unable to hide his smile, and might even disregard victory for the sake of records.

But Lynch is no ordinary rookie.

He was the Caesar who swept across Europe at the age of 18.

He is an Olympic champion who conquered the basketball world.

He didn't come to play in the NBA, he came to conquer the NBA.

On the most dazzling stage in the world, Lynch shot the extra free throw.

The moment the basketball entered the net, the Heat was extinguished.

Amid the cheering fans and the opponent's desperate timeout, Lynch walked off the court and head coach Lenny Wilkens slapped Lynch hard on the back.

"Congratulations, Lynch, you've set a new record. No player in NBA history has ever scored 40 points in their debut. Oh, that's two records, and the youngest player in history to score 40 points."

Lynch tilted his head back and drank the Gatorade. He knew that all of this was just footnotes, and there was only one thing that really mattered.

"I'm glad we won."

Young Caesar replied calmly.
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(I must quibble in my own defense. I've seen some fathers worry about the game becoming forced into a tense situation, with the protagonist then forcing a last-minute goal. Please, I already eliminated this in my previous book. In fact, this book, from Europe to the Olympics, except for the European final against Barcelona, ​​which required describing Lynch's transformation, every game was very clean and simple: win when you should win, lose when you should lose. Even though the match against Argentina went down to the wire, I resolved it in just one chapter. There's no such thing as an Act I, Act II, or Act III. So fathers, don't worry too much, and don't make wild guesses. Just read on.)
(Of course, this doesn't mean that every game is either a draw or a loss. I can only say that even if the game is tense, even if there are buzzer-beaters, I won't write about it at length.)
(As for the worry that the protagonist is the kind of good guy who swallows his anger, has Milicic been forgotten?)

(Finally, I would like to thank all the fathers for their support. I beg for rewards and votes. I kowtow!)
(End of this chapter)