"Beep, beep!"
As soon as the score was tied, D'Antoni called a timeout.
There was one minute left in the third quarter.
Stoudemire and Anthony looked completely calm. The tie did not shake them at all. In their eyes, taking back the lead was only a matter of a few offensive possessions.
But D'Antoni felt differently.
Looking at Blake Su, Curry, and George, and seeing the energy and grit these three young players were showing tonight, he suddenly felt a strange pressure. Something about the situation felt wrong.
"George, you're playing great!"
"Great defense, George!"
"Wow, George, your defense is incredible. You've been amazing tonight!"
On the Suns' bench, Nash, Carter, Blake Su, and the others kept praising George's defense. George scratched his head, thrilled by the compliments.
His hunger to defend burned even stronger.
...
After the timeout, the Knicks had the ball.
Anthony held it at the top of the arc, facing George again. He backed him down hard, absorbed contact, then used a half spin and burst of speed to shake him off.
"Whoosh!"
He attacked the rim.
But Blake Su rotated over in time and disrupted him. Anthony's layup missed, but Stoudemire read the play and leaped.
"Boom!"
He slammed in the putback.
Suns ball.
Nash brought it up to the top of the arc. Blake Su came over to set a screen. Nash went around Billups, glanced back at Blake Su as if he were about to pass it back.
"Whoosh!"
Instead, he accelerated straight into a layup.
"Clang!"
Unfortunately, it did not fall.
Stoudemire secured the rebound and passed to Anthony to push the break. After using a screen to shake off Curry, Anthony once again found himself matched up with George and powered his way to the basket.
"Swish!"
This time, he scored.
There were 21.3 seconds left.
Blake Su inbounded from the corner. Nash caught the ball and advanced to the top of the arc. On the final possession, he did not rush. He slowly dribbled and ran down the clock.
Billups stepped up, trying to pressure him and keep Nash from organizing the offense comfortably.
"Whoosh!"
Nash swung the ball to Curry on the wing, but Anthony, who had been watching closely the whole time, suddenly darted out, cut off the pass, and knocked the ball out of bounds.
There were 13.4 seconds left.
Suns sideline ball.
Nash inbounded near midcourt. Curry cut down toward the corner, and Blake Su used the movement to curl out for the catch. The moment he received the ball, he saw Billups standing in front of him.
"Whoosh!"
He took one quick step to the right, rose over Billups' defense, and fired a three.
"Swish!"
A clean hit.
Nothing but net.
10.2 seconds remained.
Stoudemire inbounded from the baseline to Fields. Everyone was moving toward the frontcourt when Fields passed to "Melo" Anthony, who was turning back to ask for the ball.
Almost the instant Fields let the pass go, his eyes widened.
"W... watch out!"
Before Fields could finish, Anthony, unaware of the danger, caught the ball and turned, only to run straight into Curry, who had burst out from the side.
"Smack!"
Quick, precise, ruthless. Curry stripped the ball straight out of Anthony's unsuspecting hands.
"Ah!!"
Anthony's eyes went wide as he finally reacted. He was about to dive for the ball, but Curry caught it and immediately whipped a side pass to Blake Su at the left wing.
"Step!"
Blake Su, who had rushed over at the first opportunity, caught it one step beyond the three point line and raised his hand for another three.
"Swish!"
Dead center.
Nothing but net.
"Whoa!"
"Blake Su has hit two straight threes. Anthony was careless on that play. There are still 5.7 seconds left, and it's still Knicks ball. Stoudemire will inbound again.
"He goes straight to Fields.
"Look, Curry is charging again. This time he wants to steal one from Fields too. Does he get it? No. After seeing Curry pick Anthony's pocket, Fields is ready for it. Wow!
"As Curry lunges at him again, Fields goes straight up into a shot, and Curry's hand hits his arm.
"The whistle blows.
"Is this a shooting foul or an ordinary foul? If it's a shooting foul, that means three free throws. Uh... the referee ultimately calls it a common foul.
"But since the team foul limit has already been reached this quarter, Fields gets two free throws. This time, Curry tried to gamble and got burned."
Mike Breen called the sequence at full speed.
"That's right."
Van Gundy smiled and nodded, then added, "But risk and reward always go together."
"True."
On the court, Fields stepped to the free throw line.
First shot.
"Clang!"
No good.
Second shot.
"Clang!"
Still no good.
"Smack!"
Blake Su grabbed the rebound.
"Beep, beep!"
Alvin Gentry immediately called a timeout. There were 5.1 seconds left, which was still enough time for one more offensive possession. They had to fight for it.
...
After the timeout, Curry inbounded from the sideline.
Using George's screen, Blake Su curled out to catch the ball. The moment he received it, he rose as if to shoot a three. Fields' eyes sharpened, and he jumped to contest.
But even though he jumped, he held back, only trying to bother the shot without giving Blake Su a chance to draw a foul.
What he did not know was that Blake Su had been aiming to draw the foul from the very beginning. The instant he saw Fields leave his feet, Blake Su went straight into him in a shooting motion.
"Beep, beep!"
The whistle sounded again.
This time, the foul was called on Fields. Blake Su had successfully drawn a three point foul.
"Shit!"
Fields roared and rushed toward the referee, twisting his body and arms to show that he had moved out of the way. Blake Su had leaned into him. He had not fouled.
But the referee ignored him.
Blake Su stepped to the free throw line.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Blake Su, who was not exactly known for his free throw shooting, made all three tonight.
There were 4.4 seconds left.
Anthony took the ball, dribbled across half court himself, and threw up a super long three from near midcourt. It missed, and the third quarter came to an end.
...
At halftime, Stoudemire glanced at the scoreboard.
That single glance left him stunned.
"Wait. Didn't I just make that putback? Weren't we up by two? How did we suddenly end up down by seven? What happened?!"
"What's going on? Down by seven?!"
"What just happened?!"
The home Knicks fans were just as confused.
At that moment, one Suns fan shouted in excitement, "Oh my god, Blake Su... Blake Su scored 9 points in just 9 seconds. Two threes and three free throws, 9 straight points!"
Buzz!
The words spread through the entire arena in an instant.
"Boom!"
The whole building erupted in a thunderous roar.
...
Meanwhile, inside the ESPN studio.
"Good heavens!"
Mike Breen clutched his head, eyes wide, and shouted excitedly, "The Suns went from down 2 to up 7 in only 9 seconds. Blake Su scored 9 points in 9 seconds and singlehandedly delivered a 9 to 0 run.
"That sequence from Blake Su was absolutely explosive!"
"Wow!"
Van Gundy was just as fired up. Then his eyes suddenly widened, as if a thought had struck him. He clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "Nine points by himself in 9 seconds. Did Blake Su just create the 'Blake Su Moment' at Madison Square Garden?!"
...
...
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