Westbrook exploded down the floor and finished a fast break layup to tie it at 2–2.
The whole sequence took barely four seconds. He grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball straight up the court, and went right through the defense.
On the floor, Draymond Green shook his head in frustration after failing to stop him at the rim. Lin Yi walked over and gave him a light pat on the head.
"Don't stress about it," Lin Yi said calmly. "Even Tyson probably isn't stopping that one."
He knew how dangerous Westbrook was on the open floor. Once the Thunder guard got moving, he was basically a small tank with a full head of steam. Choo-Choo
Lin Yi then glanced toward Chris Paul.
"Chris," he added with a half smile, "you're getting cooked on both ends right now."
Paul had no comeback. If his earlier layup had gone in, Westbrook would never have had that fast break opportunity.
On the Knicks' next possession, the Thunder made their intentions clear. They were not letting Lin Yi take over easily tonight.
Serge Ibaka pressed up in front of him to deny the entry pass. When Paul finally lobbed the ball toward Lin Yi, Thabo Sefolosha rushed over instantly, forming a hard double team.
Lin Yi stayed calm.
He had already read the Thunder's defensive plan, so forcing a shot made no sense. If they wanted to trap him early, he was perfectly fine letting his teammates do the scoring for a while.
Tony Allen suddenly cut toward the rim.
Lin Yi lifted the ball with one hand and flicked a quick pass inside.
Allen caught it in stride and finished the layup.
2–4.
Tony Allen already had four points in the opening minutes, unexpectedly becoming the Knicks' main offensive threat.
On the Thunder sideline, coach Scott Brooks frowned.
Is this guy serious?
Most players under a double team immediately panic and try to protect the ball. Lin Yi looked completely relaxed, calmly directing traffic while two defenders were on him.
Still, Brooks told himself the plan was working. The goal tonight was simple. Keep Lin Yi from scoring.
If he could not get going offensively, the Thunder would have a chance.
The Thunder attacked again on the next possession.
With Ibaka setting a strong screen, Kevin Durant finally slipped free from Tony Allen's relentless defense.
But shaking Allen did not solve the problem.
Marcus Morris switched over immediately, stepping right into Durant's path.
Durant stared at Morris and smirked slightly.
Even the quickest defensive rotations always leave a tiny gap.
Durant almost wanted to shout toward the Knicks bench.
Do you still think I only shoot pull-ups?
Sorry. These days, you can call me Kevin "Magic" Durant.
Durant whipped out a flashy no-look pass.
In his mind, he had already pictured the arena reacting. Gasps, applause, maybe even a highlight replay.
Half a second later, Madison Square Garden did explode with noise.
Just not for Durant.
Lin Yi had read the pass perfectly and jumped the passing lane, snatching the ball cleanly.
It was his second steal on Durant already.
Durant froze for a moment.
…
Lin Yi had baited him.
He had deliberately left a passing lane open, waiting for Durant to take it. Once Durant committed, Lin Yi was already moving.
Now that he had the ball, he was not about to slow down.
Lin Yi pushed the dribble up the floor himself.
Ibaka sprinted back desperately, trying to catch him. In that moment, Ibaka probably wished his arms were two feet longer.
Lin Yi crossed the Thunder three-point line and switched the ball smoothly from his left hand to his right.
Ibaka lunged and nearly lost his balance on the fake, barely recovering his footing.
Then he blinked.
The ball was gone.
Where did it go?
For a split second, Ibaka honestly felt like he was watching a magic trick.
Fans from the upper seats saw it clearly.
As Lin Yi started a move that looked like a behind-the-back dribble, his right elbow suddenly redirected the ball.
An elbow pass.
Pure White Chocolate style.
Tony Allen, who had been trailing the play, caught it perfectly and finished another easy layup.
2–6.
Courtside, Spike Lee grabbed his head in disbelief.
No matter how many times he watched Lin Yi play, moments like this never got old.
Early in the season, Knicks fans had given Lin Yi a nickname.
The Maestro.
Madison Square Garden erupted again.
Honestly, most fans no longer cared whether Lin Yi extended his streak of forty-point games tonight. One pass like that was already worth the ticket.
"MVP! MVP!"
The chants rolled down from every section of the arena.
The Knicks cheerleaders in their short cheongsams increased their energy in the dance routine.
On the broadcast, Wang Meng could barely contain himself.
"This is ridiculous. Lin Yi doesn't just score. He passes like a guard. This man is simply ridiculous."
Yang Yi laughed.
"That's pure talent. When Magic Johnson coached the Lakers, he once scolded Nick Van Exel during practice and said, 'Why aren't you passing? Your teammate is wide open.' "
"Van Exel didn't even understand what Magic meant. Later, an assistant coach told Magic something. He said, 'Earvin, not everyone can see the floor like you.'"
Durant's expression darkened, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
The Thunder had prepared all week for this game. In Durant's mind, if they kept doubling Lin Yi, eventually the scoring would slow down.
What's so special about a fancy pass anyway? Durant thought. It still counts for only two points.
On the court, Durant quickly called for another pick from Westbrook. He rose into a quick jumper before the defense could reset.
The shot clanged off the rim.
Lin Yi grabbed the rebound and immediately pushed the ball across half-court.
The Thunder sprinted back on defense and killed the fast break.
Lin Yi slowed his dribble.
Then suddenly the ball disappeared from his hands again.
Even Marcus Morris, who had been running beside him, looked confused.
The ball had somehow arrived in his hands.
Morris paused for half a second.
Well… I'm open...so–
He rose from the high post and knocked down the jumper cleanly.
Swish.
2–8.
After the shot dropped, Morris pounded his chest three times.
Madison Square Garden exploded once more.
The slow-motion replay on the big screen made the play even crazier.
Lin Yi had slowed down and clearly looked ready to pass to Chris Paul on the left side. The moment the ball left his hands, however, it changed direction with the flick of his wrists and zipped to Morris on the right.
A pass reminiscent of Pistol Pete's
Lin Yi had used it before, but seeing it live was something else entirely.
2–8.
On the Thunder bench, Scott Brooks stood up and called a timeout.
. . .
The Thunder's plan for the night was simple.
If they swarmed Lin Yi with aggressive double teams, he would not be able to shoot comfortably.
At least in the first quarter, the strategy seemed to work. Under constant pressure, even Lin Yi struggled to find clean scoring opportunities.
But Lin Yi adjusted almost immediately.
If they were going to take away his shot, he would simply run the offense instead.
Within a few possessions, he shifted gears completely, moving the ball around and directing teammates like a floor general. Three sharp passes later, the Knicks' offense was flowing smoothly again.
On the sideline, Mike D'Antoni watched the sequence with a grin.
He leaned back slightly and joked to one of the assistants, "At this rate, I might tell the media after the game that Tony Allen can lead the league in scoring if he keeps playing with Lin."
Just as the Thunder called a timeout, several members of the Anti-Lin Alliance, coaches and analysts who had spent weeks studying how to stop him, were watching the game from home.
Rick Carlisle stared at the screen quietly.
Constant double teams are not the answer, he shook his head. These people don't learn.
One principle had already been established through plenty of painful experience. Within what people called the Lin Yi Rule, there was a guideline that every team eventually learned.
Unless necessary, do not double-team Lin Yi casually.
The reason was simple.
He was too good at breaking them.
Lin Yi's height gave him a massive field of vision. When he shifted into playmaker mode, he became even more dangerous than when he was scoring.
Across the country, Gregg Popovich was also watching.
He shook his head slightly.
The Thunder's double team is sloppy, he thought. Trapping him in the middle of the floor instead of forcing him toward the corner. Scott Brooks hasn't changed.
In Popovich's view, the idea itself was not wrong. The timing and positioning were the real issues.
Besides, the Thunder had Serge Ibaka, one of the few defenders with the size and athleticism to at least challenge Lin Yi one-on-one.
Why not follow the Lin Yi Rule properly?
Let him score if he has to.
If you can keep him under fifty percent shooting, that's already a win. Focus on shutting down everyone else.
And Westbrook against Chris Paul?
Physically, Westbrook clearly had the edge. Paul was never going to bully him in isolation.
Popovich was not trying to nitpick, but in his mind, the Thunder were wasting their talent.
They had Kevin Durant, one of the most efficient scorers in the league, yet their offense often looked chaotic.
This team isn't going far if they keep playing like this, the old coach thought.
. .
Back on the court, the Thunder gathered during the timeout.
Scott Brooks still had not found a real solution, so he did what he usually did with this young roster.
He gave them a motivational speech.
"Listen up, guys," Brooks said, clapping his hands. "Only people who go through real pain earn the strength to conquer everything. Only fingers that have bled can play the most beautiful music."
He looked directly at Durant and Westbrook.
"Kevin. Russell. You two are the best backcourt in this league. Bring the energy and drive this team."
To be fair, Brooks was very good at coaching young and talented teams.
Young players often responded well to passion and encouragement.
The problem appeared later. When a team needed structure, strategy, and adjustments, relying on stars to improvise on offense and pure effort on defense did not always work.
If Lin Yi had heard the speech, he probably would have raised an eyebrow.
If you're already dead in hell, how are you supposed to see heaven?
And Mozart's hands did not bleed either.
Yet the man still wrote masterpieces.
After the timeout, the Thunder finally got something going.
Durant hit a jumper to get on the scoreboard.
Tony Allen's defense was elite, but no defender was perfect. Once Durant found a bit of rhythm, his height and scoring versatility became obvious.
In the future, when Durant got hot, it barely mattered who was guarding him.
4–8.
On the Knicks' next possession, Lin Yi once again drew the double team and calmly moved the ball.
Tony Allen finished another play at the rim.
That was already his eighth point of the night.
Four for four.
A Tony Allen who can score and defend?
That version was a nightmare for opponents.
This was the advantage of a team with multiple stars. Role players often found scoring opportunities much easier.
There had even been teams fooled by that effect.
The Mavericks once believed Harrison Barnes from the Warriors was a rising superstar and handed him a max contract.
The result spoke for itself.
Fortunately for Mark Cuban, money was never a problem.
Back on the floor, Durant answered again with a smooth fadeaway jumper.
The Thunder still refused to change their defensive approach.
Another double team came the moment Lin Yi touched the ball.
Lin Yi stayed patient and delivered yet another assist, this time dropping the ball inside for Draymond Green.
Green hammered home a one-handed dunk.
Then he demonstrated, with full enthusiasm, what he believed was the correct way to celebrate.
He pounded his chest hard and roared toward the crowd.
From Green's perspective, if you were going to pound your chest, you had to do it properly. Loud, aggressive, and dramatic enough to scare your opponent.
Whether the Thunder were actually scared was unclear.
But on their next possession, Westbrook made an unusual decision.
He drove halfway into the lane, then suddenly stopped and pulled up for a jumper.
The Knicks barely contested it.
During the 2012–13 season, Westbrook's mid-range and long-range percentages sat around 39.8 percent and 38.7 percent. Good, but not enough to frighten defenses.
On the next possession, he tried again from slightly further.
The Knicks were even less concerned.
Plays like this were rarely efficient. They were basically trading possessions for points below league-average efficiency.
From Lin Yi's perspective, Westbrook's best template was actually someone like Jason Kidd, not Kobe Bryant.
Westbrook was devastating in transition, but in half-court offense, he needed to control his shot selection.
Twelve to fifteen attempts per game would have been ideal. Even if he missed a few, it would not disrupt the entire offense.
Once the number climbed toward twenty attempts, possessions started disappearing.
Durant had a different issue.
Given his efficiency, he could easily take twenty-five shots a game. Yet Durant sometimes had the strange habit of passing when he was hot, then forcing shots when his rhythm was off.
That was why his stat lines often looked extreme. Either he shot something like ten for thirteen, or ten for twenty-four.
It was simply part of his personality.
Sometimes he was not aggressive enough.
Years later, in the Western Conference Finals, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry would take over late in the series. Fans would blame Westbrook for several late mistakes.
But many people quietly asked another question.
Where was Durant in those moments?
If you are the franchise player, you demand the ball and take control.
Even Westbrook would have recognized that Durant had the better shot.
Tonight was another example.
After hitting two straight jumpers, Durant drifted to the side while Westbrook kept firing.
Meanwhile, Lin Yi had completely embraced the playmaker role.
He did not attempt a single shot in the first quarter.
Instead, he handed out nine assists.
When Lin Yi locked into a certain mode, the effect was terrifying.
Opponents felt the pressure.
Teammates loved every second of it.
By the end of the first quarter, the result was already clear.
24–38.
The Knicks led by fourteen, and the much-anticipated matchup was already starting to look one-sided.
. . .
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