During the timeout.
Just as LeBron had anticipated, Coach Gentry instructed Blake Su to be more aggressive and assertive offensively.
Soon enough.
Play resumed.
Nash caught the ball at the top of the arc and handed it off to Blake Su. Artest trailed him out as usual, eyes wide, locked onto Blake Su as if he wanted to swallow him whole.
Thump, thump, thump!
Blake Su caught it and casually dribbled through a crossover, retreating slightly with the rhythm. Then—
A full step beyond the three-point line, without any warning, he pulled up.
"What?!"
Artest jolted. His elite defensive instincts kicked in instantly, and he lunged forward. But Blake Su, armed with the [Peak Curry Three-Point Shot], released it too quickly.
There was simply no time to react.
By the time Artest fully registered it, the ball was already gone.
A deep three.
Whoosh—
The ball tore through the air and snapped the net under Artest's stunned gaze.
Three points.
"Great shot!"
Dragić roared from the bench, George pumping his fist. This was exactly what the Suns needed—strong, decisive scoring to lift the team's morale.
Smack!
On the court, Artest slapped the back of his head hard, reminding himself not to be careless. He couldn't treat Blake Su like a traditional center and underestimate his perimeter shooting.
Next possession.
Artest squared up again against Blake Su at the top of the arc. He thrived on freezing opponents' offense, yet tonight he hadn't gotten that satisfaction against Blake Su.
Now, he locked in even harder, determined to stop him.
But—
Just a step beyond the three-point line, Blake Su merely glanced at him, drew back like pulling a bowstring, and fired straight over the defense of the "league's top enforcer."
Swish!
Another three.
"You're still shooting?!"
This time Artest was fully prepared. He snorted and exploded upward with all his strength, contesting fiercely. His athleticism made the challenge intimidating.
Yet Blake Su's release speed was no exaggeration. At 215 centimeters (7 feet 1 inch) with his long arms, his shot was extremely difficult to contest.
Swish!
Even with Artest fully locked in, Blake Su got it off cleanly.
"Damn it!"
"How is that possible?!"
Shocked and frustrated, Artest turned back again—just in time to see the spinning ball drop cleanly through the net.
Another three.
"Wow—"
"Blake Su hits back-to-back threes! A center, guarded by defensive ace Ron Artest, knocking down two straight from deep—unbelievable!"
In the stands.
Even David Robinson, the seasoned "Admiral," couldn't help opening his mouth in surprise at the sight of two consecutive threes.
But—
Almost as soon as he finished speaking.
On the very next possession.
Blake Su brought the ball up the left side. Artest stared him down, and Gasol, who had been watching from the wing, stepped up to apply even more pressure.
Then—
Blake Su showed no mercy. Nearly two meters behind the left side of the arc, he drew back and launched again.
"What?!"
Even with intense defense from Artest and Gasol, neither imagined that, with the team still trailing by so much, a center would dare take that shot.
They rushed to contest—
Too late.
"A super-deep three?!"
Robinson's eyes widened in disbelief as the ball soared high through the air.
Swish!
Clean.
Three straight threes—including one outrageous bomb from way downtown.
Coming out of the timeout, Blake Su single-handedly ignited a 9–2 run, cutting the deficit to seven.
"Incredible!"
"Blake Su's shooting is ridiculous. Even many guards—no, even many pure shooters—aren't this accurate. He's unbelievable!"
Robinson was full of praise.
"Exactly!"
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar looked equally astonished. "With that height and that accuracy? That's unguardable. And the key point—he's a center. A center shooting like this? It's absurd."
Robinson and Kareem had come at Olajuwon's invitation. Having known little about Blake Su before tonight, their shock was genuine.
Heh.
Olajuwon smiled.
"Blake Su is indeed a center with a unique offensive style. But… it's exactly this kind of three-point barrage that gives the Suns a real chance tonight."
"That's true."
"Absolutely."
On the court—
Boom!
The previously quieted home crowd erupted again.
Just as "The Dream" had said, even with the deficit still at seven, Blake Su's rain of threes had restored the home momentum.
Bang, bang, bang!
At the left arc, Curry faced Kobe again. A series of crossovers and rhythm changes, a fake drive into a step-back—
Three up.
His release was lightning quick. Kobe, half a beat late, couldn't get a hand on it.
Swish!
The ball traced a perfect arc and dropped cleanly through the net.
Change of possession.
On the left low block, Kobe backed down Carter. Shoulder fakes, a sudden spin, rising high—
A picture-perfect fadeaway.
Swish.
"Your fadeaway isn't even that smooth, and I'm already dizzy watching it!"
A Lakers fan sitting courtside watched Kobe's wrist snap down and stared at his retreating silhouette in pure admiration.
Cool.
But the Suns, their confidence restored, refused to let Kobe seize momentum.
Carter, receiving a drive-and-kick from Blake Su, attacked the rim again.
Boom!
A two-handed dunk.
It didn't have the violent, posterizing brutality of his prime, but it was filled with confidence.
The Suns attacked from the perimeter. The Lakers pounded the paint. Back and forth they went.
With 28.5 seconds left, the deficit was five.
Lakers ball.
At the top of the arc, Kobe faced Blake Su.
He didn't rush. He milked the clock down to ten seconds, called for a screen, accelerated, drove to the right side of the free-throw line—
Sudden stop.
Swish!
Fadeaway jumper. Good.
Kobe, after hitting the shot, almost fired off some trash talk at Blake Su—but reconsidered.
9.3 seconds left.
The Suns inbounded quickly.
Blake Su caught it and pushed forward, accelerating in an S-curve to shake Artest. He settled near the top as Frye stepped up to screen.
Whoosh!
Blake Su burst past Gasol toward the right arc. Kobe rotated over to help.
3.1 seconds.
Blake Su stopped sharply, then—
Swish!
Over Kobe's contest, he launched a fadeaway three. The ball flew over Kobe's fingertips as the red light flashed.
Swish!
Buzzer-beater.
A fadeaway three over Kobe's defense—an incredibly difficult shot.
Blake Su grinned, turning toward the bench as he said,
"My fadeaway's nothing special, yet you're already stumbling—"
"Tch."
"This kid."
Kobe understood immediately, laughing as he gave Blake Su a playful slap on the backside.
...
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