"Wow!"
Van Gundy stared at the roaring arena and exclaimed in shock, "A poster dunk over Pachulia. He just flattened him! Blake Su... Blake Su's play was absolutely brutal!"
"Tsk..."
Mike Breen couldn't help swallowing, clicking his tongue in amazement. "Savage. Absolutely savage. Blake Su is sharp like a blade!"
The Hawks' bench erupted.
"What was that?!"
"Blake Su is insane!"
"This 'monster rookie' with both explosive power and insane bounce... Blake Su... he's unbelievably strong!"
The bench players all stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with shock and even fear. Their mouths hung open so wide it looked like they could fit a lightbulb inside.
That vicious poster dunk from Blake Su completely shattered the Hawks' confidence. Pachulia was immediately pulled out, pressed onto the bench by head coach Larry Drew, and never allowed back on the floor.
It wasn't that he wasn't capable.
It was that they were afraid Blake Su would destroy his mentality, break him physically and mentally, and leave him unable to play at all going forward.
The crowd roared.
Blake Su's series of humiliations against Pachulia, capped off by that final brutal poster dunk that sent him crashing to the floor, gave the visiting Suns a complete momentum advantage over the Hawks.
And they showed no mercy.
With Blake Su and Curry, combined with "Captain Canada" Steve Nash orchestrating the offense, the Suns unleashed a 17 to 7 run in the third quarter, stretching the lead to over 20 points.
The game was blown wide open.
In the final quarter, the Hawks, playing at home and still without Al Horford, struggled for a few minutes before Larry Drew called a timeout.
He subbed out all five players.
That was a clear surrender.
In the end, Blake Su knocked down 7 three-pointers and posted a dominant all-around stat line of 40 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks, leading the Suns to victory.
Three straight wins.
...
That night.
The news of the Suns beating the Hawks for their third straight win didn't cause much of a stir. However, Blake Su's dazzling individual performance during the game sparked major discussion.
Especially those plays where he toyed with and dunked over Zaza Pachulia.
Fans watching couldn't help but feel thrilled.
The next day.
The discussion didn't slow down. Fans kept talking about Blake Su's spectacular solo performance, while repeatedly mocking Pachulia as nothing more than a poster victim.
Media outlets didn't miss the trend either.
Article after article, paired with photos, highlighted Blake Su's smooth and dynamic play, while Pachulia appeared again and again as the background figure.
It was simply miserable.
But that still wasn't the end.
The NBA's ability to jump on trending moments might come late, but it never misses.
Just as fans were deep in discussion, the NBA released yesterday's Top 5 Plays.
As soon as it dropped, fans began summarizing it.
"No. 5. 'The Essence of the Behind-the-Back' Crawford. A silky behind-the-back dribble to shake off Blake Su and go for the layup. However, Blake Su recovered and chased him down for a ferocious chase-down block off the backboard, taking the fifth spot."
"No. 4. Blake Su against Pachulia at the same position. Three consecutive wide crossovers, each one sending Pachulia off balance. After completely toying with him, he knocked down a mid-range jumper."
"No. 3. Once again Blake Su against Pachulia. With dazzling, butterfly-like dribbling, he dropped him to his knees and calmly hit the mid-range shot."
"No. 2. Blake Su snatched the ball midair, completed the steal, drove straight into the paint, and finished with a thunderous poster dunk over Pachulia, sending him crashing to the floor."
"No. 1. Still Blake Su, still against Pachulia. As a center, in a single possession, he broke Pachulia down twice and finished the layup. Like he was possessed by 'The Answer' Allen Iverson, Blake Su paid tribute with that move and claimed the top spot."
As soon as the Top 5 video was released, it instantly blew up among fans.
"Oh my God!"
"My eyes. What did I just see? Blake Su took all five Top 5 plays by himself? He turned it into his own personal highlight reel?!"
"No way, that's fake!"
"Realer than gold!"
"One player sweeping all five Top 5 plays. That's historic, right? I don't think anyone has ever done that!"
"My God. Making the list is one thing, taking all five is another. But the key is... Blake Su is a center! How is he pulling off ankle-breakers, dropping defenders to their knees, and even shaking someone down twice in one play?"
"Terrifying!"
"Sorry, but Su God has never been a traditional center. You can think of him as a rhythm master in a center's body!"
"With that height, that kind of handle, that speed, plus that explosive power and vertical. His talent is just absurd!"
"Haha, Blake Su didn't just become strong overnight."
"Exactly. He's always been strong. But honestly, instead of saying Blake Su is amazing for sweeping the Top 5, it's more accurate to say... Zaza Pachulia, the ultimate poster victim, is just too miserable."
"Hahaha!"
"Facts!"
"Getting toyed with repeatedly, getting dropped to his knees, and even getting broken down twice in one possession by a center.
That's rough.
Absolutely brutal.
Just tragic."
"In one Top 5 video, Pachulia shows up four times as the poster victim. That's not just bad. That's next level misery."
"Tsk... among all the poster victims I know, I'd call Zaza Pachulia the greatest."
"If only Blake Su's chase-down block on 'K6' Crawford could have been Pachulia instead. That would've been perfect. Too bad it couldn't happen."
"Crawford. If I could, I'd gladly give this highlight to Zaza."
"Hahaha!"
"..."
The discussions raged on.
Fans praised Blake Su's dazzling and masterful performance while relentlessly mocking Zaza Pachulia as the ultimate poster victim, even feeling a little sorry for him at times.
As for Pachulia himself, after seeing the Top 5, he was so angry he could explode.
But maybe he should actually buy a pack of Huazi cigarettes and give it to Blake Su as a "thank you."
Because that play. The one where he got broken down twice in a single possession.
It would not only be talked about now, but just like Allen Iverson's legendary double crossover on Antonio Daniels, it would appear in highlight reels for the next 5, 10, even 20 years or more.
It would keep him on screen forever.
Immortal in the worst way.
Shouldn't he be thanking Blake Su?
...
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