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Chapter 9: First game Part 5
🕑 Added 2025-04-20 11:00:40 +0000 UTCWas this happening?
Was Davidson letting the Chinese big go one-on-one with me?
No mismatch. No pick-and-roll trickery. Just straight-up isolation.
Griffin scoffed—no way this dude could take him on the dribble.
.......
Lin Yi stood beyond the three-point line, ball in hand. Was he seriously thinking of pulling up from here? Griffin wasn't about to let that happen. He stepped up, got in Lin Yi's face, and denied him the shot.
"Blake's showing his defensive skills! Are the Wildcats serious about this matchup?" Reggie Miller sounded just as skeptical as Griffin felt.
Lin Yi started dribbling.
Griffin braced himself. He's gonna pass, right? Probably to Curry...
But just as Griffin started reading the passing lanes, Lin Yi's dribble picked up speed. Faster. Smoother. Tighter.
Wait a second—
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, watching from the sidelines, both shot up from their seats. They saw it coming before it even happened.
Crossover.
Griffin was too close. He'd stepped up to deny the three, and now? Now he was in trouble.
Lin Yi lowered his center of gravity—way lower than any seven-footer should be able to.
Griffin tried to react, but he wasn't ready. His weight was all wrong. He lost his balance—
—and Lin Yi was gone.
Blake reached out, but there was no chance of stopping it. Lin Yi blew past him like he wasn't even there.
This wasn't some slow-motion, lumbering big man drive.
Lin Yi cut through the paint fast—so fast the Oklahoma defense didn't even react in time. They didn't believe it.
They thought Blake had this covered.
Easy layup.
Seven straight points for Lin Yi.
Score: 36-37.
Oklahoma's head coach, Jeff Kapoor, wasn't about to let this go on any longer.
"Timeout!"
Durant and Westbrook exchanged glances.
"Kev, did you ever think there'd be a guy taller than you doing this kind of stuff?" Westbrook muttered.
Durant just shook his head. "Nope."
........
Meanwhile, Reggie Miller was scrambling for information. "Hold on, hold on—who is this kid?" He turned off his mic and waved at his assistant. "Find me everything you can on this Lin Yi!"
Too bad there wasn't much to find. No scouting reports. No hype. Just height, weight, and "center" listed as his position.
Blake Griffin sat on the bench, fuming.
What the hell just happened?
On Davidson's side, Curry was grinning.
"Man, Lin, I gotta say, my coaching last night paid off. You're killing it!" He patted Lin Yi on the back, shaking his head in amazement.
Coach McKillop smirked. "We keep this simple. If they figure out our pick-and-roll, we let Stephen and Lin go one-on-one. Fewer turnovers. More buckets. Let's push for the lead by halftime."
Meanwhile, the scouts in the stands were losing their minds. They'd been sitting here thinking they had a solid read on everyone on the floor.
And now? They were all cursing McKillop under their breath. Where the hell has this kid been hiding?!
Back on the court, Lin Yi leaned in close to Curry before they resumed play.
"Steph, Blake's gonna adjust. I won't get as many open looks next time. You need to take over more."
Curry nodded.
"McCallan's got my back on defense. Don't worry. If I see an opening, I'm taking the shot."
Lin Yi nodded back.
"Try pulling up from deeper."
Curry blinked.
"Wait. You know I've been practicing deep threes?"
Lin Yi just shrugged.
Curry wasn't sure whether to be impressed or freaked out. But he had been holding back his deepest shots in college—mostly because conventional wisdom said they were bad shots.
It wasn't until Steve Kerr told him later in the NBA, "If you can hit 40% from there, I don't care where you shoot from," that he fully unleashed his range.
Timeout over.
........
Oklahoma ran their set play. Griffin and David Pilson connected on a pick-and-roll for an easy layup.
But before their fans could even celebrate—
Lin Yi and Curry executed a pick-and-roll of their own. Except this time, Curry didn't step inside the arc.
He took a few steps back.
Then a few more.
Then—
Splash.
Reggie Miller nearly dropped his mic. "Are you kidding me?! That was logo range!"
The Oklahoma fans gasped. They still had over 20 seconds left on the shot clock. He just pulled up from there?!
And then the worst part?
It went in.
The Sooners scrambled to answer, but their shot missed. Davidson got the rebound.
Curry jogged up the court. Lin Yi hadn't even set the screen yet—
—and Curry pulled up again.
From even deeper.
Defender in his face.
*Bang. *
Nothing but net.
Score: 42-39. Davidson had the lead.
Lin Yi chuckled.
Curry? He just did his little head shake celebration.
And in that moment, Lin Yi realized something.
Even if Damian Lillard was more clutch, even if Klay Thompson was more consistent—when it came to pure, terrifying shooting?
There was only one Stephen Curry.
And once he got hot?
Not even 2K's game developers could nerf him.
The wave had begun.
And there was no stopping it.
...................
