After a long silence,
Blake Su finally let it go and understood.
He looked at Gentry and said seriously, "Yes. The playoffs are a stage for superstars. I can't become passive just because I'm facing layers of double-teams.
"On the contrary.
"It's precisely because the defense is so intense that I need to be more proactive and more decisive. Only then will every basket I score hit the opponent hard.
"Only then can I break their confidence.
"At the same time, I can inspire my teammates and lead them to become more proactive and more confident!"
"Well said."
Gentry laughed and applauded.
He really had not expected Blake Su, a rookie, to grow so much in such a short time. He was genuinely happy.
Once again, he felt incredibly lucky to have gotten such a treasure in Blake Su.
"Mm-hm."
Gentry nodded with a smile, patted Blake Su on the shoulder, and said seriously, "Keep it up. Take the initiative. The series isn't over yet.
"We're only getting started now."
"Got it."
After his sudden realization, Blake Su nodded heavily and said in a firm voice, "Don't worry, Coach. This series definitely won't end that quickly.
"A 0-3 deficit can't be reversed?
"If that history doesn't exist, then we'll create it."
A determined light shone in Blake Su's eyes. Deep within them, a raging fire seemed to burn.
That was the flame of battle.
That was his hunger for victory!
Were the Suns about to be upset by the No. 8 seed? Was the series about to end?
No. The battle had only just begun!
If the calls with Mia Quinn and Yoona had been encouragement and comfort, helping Blake Su feel less sad after the loss,
then Gentry's words had given Blake Su a completely new understanding of the playoffs.
At the same time... they had also given him a new understanding of himself.
They made him realize that the series was not over yet.
His strength had not run out.
He, Blake Su... still had the ability to turn everything around!
...
The next day.
After the Suns suffered another upset loss to the Grizzlies last night,
the Bulls faced the Pacers, and Derrick Rose, the "Windy City Assassin," once again delivered a dominant offensive performance, leading the Bulls to victory.
Meanwhile, in the matchup between the Mavericks and the Thunder,
the Mavericks, playing on the road, once again had everyone doing their job. They were strong on both offense and defense, and with the "German Tank" and his unstoppable "One-Legged Fadeaway,"
their invincible team offense amazed countless fans and threw the Thunder out of rhythm. Even the "Thunder Trio" lost their composure and missed their chance to win.
The Mavericks won again.
Just like the Bulls, they had now completed the turnaround and taken a 2-1 series lead.
Last came the Magic against the Hawks. Back at home, the Hawks, already holding a commanding 2-0 lead, were unstoppable.
The Magic collapsed completely.
In the end... on their own home court, the Hawks once again won as the lower seed, crushing the Magic and, like the Grizzlies, taking a 3-0 series lead.
They reached match point.
All three matchups were quite exciting, but... none of them could match the shock of the Western Conference's No. 1 seed, the Suns, unexpectedly falling behind the Grizzlies 0-3.
So even the next day, everyone's attention was still on the Suns.
...
That night.
The other matchups continued.
First up was the Heat against the 76ers. Tonight, the Heat kept rolling and once again suppressed the 76ers.
Once again, they clocked out after three quarters.
In the end, the Heat burned through Philadelphia with a 17-point win.
After the game,
Jon Barry said, "Unreasonable. The Heat are simply unreasonable. It's just LeBron, Wade, and Bosh attacking.
"But the 76ers really have no answer."
"Exactly."
Mark Jackson nodded, then continued, "And the key isn't just offense. There's defense too. The Big Three's defense is also extremely tough.
"In the playoffs, a team packed with stars and strong defense is truly hard to deal with.
"Right now... the Heat are exactly that kind of team. As the villains, their regular-season performance may not have been especially dazzling,
"but once the playoffs arrived, their villainous fangs came out. They're charging toward the championship with an unstoppable offensive assault."
On the other side, the Spurs also had the last laugh in their matchup with the Trail Blazers.
The team-first Spurs had their Big Three working in perfect harmony, while the Trail Blazers, without peak Brandon Roy, managed to fight all the way into the final quarter.
But in the end, they still could not hold them off.
With two minutes left, Parker hit a spinning floater, Ginobili slithered to the basket for a layup, and Duncan added a rock-steady bank shot from the low post.
The Spurs... sealed the win.
They also took a 2-1 series lead.
Meanwhile in Denver, the Nuggets faced the Lakers. Even with the advantage of playing at altitude, the defending champion Lakers were still stronger.
"Black Mamba" Kobe used an utterly unreasonable fadeaway jumper to leave the Nuggets with no temper at all.
A team determined to chase a three-peat could not possibly fall in the first round. They knocked down the Nuggets again and won their second straight.
They also took a 2-1 series lead.
Finally came the Celtics against the Knicks. Back at home, even with home-court advantage, the "Stoudemire-Melo" duo still only knew how to score.
They did not know how to win.
In the end... Stoudemire and Anthony put up big numbers, but the team still lost. The Celtics took another game and led the series 2-1.
At this point,
aside from the Suns, and the slightly abnormal Magic, the rest of the matchups were basically unfolding as expected.
Because of that,
even though there was no Suns-Grizzlies game that night,
the next day,
the Suns were still the main topic among fans and the media.
And no wonder.
The Suns had risen against expectations in the regular season to become the strongest dark horse, while "Monster Rookie" Blake Su had delivered a phenomenal season.
Originally, everyone had expected them to reach the Finals.
But now they were about to fall in the first round, and they might even be swept and eliminated by a No. 8 seed upset. The shock to the fans was enormous.
Although, after several days of discussion,
most fans had already accepted that the Suns would stop in the first round, they still... hoped the Suns would not be swept.
That way,
they could watch the Suns, and watch Blake Su, play a few more games.
However... that was only what Suns fans thought. It did not represent everyone, especially not the Grizzlies.
In fact,
after winning three straight games and reaching match point, Grizzlies player Randolph directly declared war on Twitter, saying they would win Game 4 on their home court.
They did not just want to pull off a No. 8 seed upset.
They wanted the most extreme, most painful version of it.
A sweep by the No. 8 seed!