"The Grizzlies are known for the defense of the 'Black and White Bears,' but now, even with Gay added in, three guys still can't stop Blake Su's offense.
"Hiss!
"Blake Su, this rookie, is fierce!"
"Hahaha."
"Come on, isn't this kind of offense normal for Blake Su?"
"My god, watching Blake Su attack like this, I just want to say... after his team was pushed to the brink, the 'Monster Rookie' has finally bounced back.
"He's adapted to the playoff stage.
"He's bringing out the ability that made him the 'league's number one center.'"
"Exactly."
"Down 0-3 means they're definitely going to lose? No, no, no. This is only the beginning."
"Go, Blake Su!"
"..."
Blake Su opened the game with eight straight points, and every basket came on a difficult shot.
With one unstoppable attack after another, Blake Su lit up the road arena with explosive cheers. After several gloomy days, Suns fans finally regained their confidence.
On the court, Blake Su's offensive surge still showed no sign of slowing down. He dropped 15 points in the first quarter alone.
At the end of the first quarter.
Grizzlies 21, Suns 26.
The Suns led by five.
It was not a big lead, but for a Suns team playing on the road while trailing 0-3 in the series, Blake Su's inhumanly forceful attacks had already given them control of the game's momentum.
In the second quarter, the benches went at it first.
Over the previous three games, aside from the Grizzlies' bench breaking out last night through Arthur and Sam Young, the second units had mostly been evenly matched.
Or rather, the Grizzlies' bench had held a slight edge.
But tonight, led by Goran Dragić, the Suns' bench was full of hunger on offense. Their confidence kept rising, and they completely overwhelmed the Grizzlies' reserves.
After 4 minutes and 11 seconds of rotation, the Suns stretched the lead to eight.
"Beep, beep!"
Hollins called a timeout.
Both starting lineups returned.
7:33.
At the left high post, Gay attacked Curry on a mismatch. He lowered his center of gravity and drove straight into Curry, absorbing contact with one step before accelerating with the next.
He was about to knock Curry aside.
But then.
"Whoosh!"
Just as Gay used his body to overpower Curry and charge toward the rim, Blake Su suddenly cut in from the side, reaching in quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly.
"Smack!"
He stripped the ball right out of Gay's hands.
"Whoosh!"
With another burst of speed, he grabbed the loose ball and raced toward the frontcourt. Suns fast break.
"Get back!"
Marc Gasol roared.
Conley sprinted back at once, but Blake Su did not even look at him. With a long pass that crossed half the court, he found George in the frontcourt.
George caught the ball, charged into the paint, faced an open rim, and took off from one step inside the free-throw line.
A one-handed tomahawk slam.
"Buzz!"
The heavy, violent dunk made the rim groan nonstop.
"Nice!"
Blake Su and George slapped hands as they headed back. Blake Su's chin lifted slightly, his presence utterly dominant.
5:33.
Facing a double-team from Marc Gasol and Gay, Blake Su attacked instead of passing. He accelerated down the left wing and leaned into Marc Gasol.
"Whoosh!"
A spin move helped him avoid Gay's steal attempt. Then he kept accelerating on the other side, driving to the right low post.
"Screech!"
A sudden stop. He rose up.
With Marc Gasol contesting directly in front of him and Gay pressing tight from the wing, Blake Su still released the ball over four outstretched hands.
"Swish!"
This one went in too.
4:10.
At the top of the arc, Blake Su called for a screen, shook off Marc Gasol, accelerated down the left wing, and drove straight at the basket. But Gay and Allen both rotated over from the wings.
"Step!"
Blake Su ignored them completely.
He rushed into the paint, planted his foot, and sprang up. Gay and Allen also leaped, all three rising at the same time. Height, wingspan, vertical leap.
With all three combined, Blake Su soared like an eagle, trying to dunk through four raised hands. No, with Randolph's two hands waiting under the basket as well, it was six hands.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
Blake Su's extremely violent attempt missed off the rim.
"Beep, beep!"
But the referee blew the whistle.
Allen had pushed Blake Su from the side while he was in the air, causing him to lose balance and his center of gravity. Foul.
Blake Su stepped to the free-throw line.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
He made both.
2:41.
Blake Su kept moving without the ball and finally got a one-on-one chance against Gay at the top of the arc. He faked a drive with one step, then suddenly pulled up.
"Whoosh!"
Right over Gay's defense, he fired a sudden cold-blooded shot.
"Swish!"
Straight through the heart.
Nothing but net.
"Whoa!"
That unreasonable three-pointer sent waves of shock through the arena.
1:05.
Blake Su again. Facing Marc Gasol on the left wing, he accelerated with one step, then spun right to get past him. Gay rushed over to pressure him.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su's gaze sharpened. Another behind-the-back dribble let him slip away, and he launched himself toward the basket.
"Bang!"
He collided with Randolph in midair, hung in the air, leaned back, and banked it in.
The final possession of the second quarter went to Blake Su.
At the top of the arc, he faced Gay one-on-one and ran down the clock. With six seconds left, he started his move. Nothing fancy.
Just a crushing burst of speed.
"Whoosh!"
He shook Gay off by half a step and charged toward the rim. After entering the paint, he gathered from the right side for a three-step layup, with Marc Gasol and Randolph waiting to stop him.
The "Black and White Bears" were guarding the paint.
But Blake Su did not panic at all. He went right at them, gripping the ball in his right hand as he rose into the air. When Randolph came over to contest, Blake Su shook the ball in midair and slipped past him.
At the same time, he drifted sideways in the air to avoid Marc Gasol's block, then scooped a reverse layup from the left side.
"Swish!"
Off the glass and in.
The Grizzlies had only 1.3 seconds left. Conley threw up a full-court three-pointer, but it missed, and the first half came to an end.
"Wow!"
The first half had just ended.
Inside the studio, Mike Breen's mouth hung open as he sank into total shock. "Another 11-point quarter, and every single basket was incredibly difficult.
"Twenty-six points in the first half.
"This is the playoffs. Scoring that much in one half is no small thing. Blake Su, this rookie, is actually playing like it's the regular season. He's just... too fierce."
"Heh."
Van Gundy smiled. "I don't think it's that surprising. Maybe he was trying to get his teammates involved before, or maybe his form just wasn't there.
"In short, over the first three games, Blake Su never truly forced the issue on offense.
"Tonight... he's only playing at his normal level. And it's exactly this kind of aggressive attack that can lift the team's morale."
"Exactly!"
On the court, with the Grizzlies leading the series 3-0 and playing at home, they were somehow down by as many as 13 at halftime. Seeing this, Grizzlies fans looked completely lost.
"Hey, what's going on?!"
"No, wasn't Blake Su supposed to be a rookie who couldn't adapt to playoff-level defense? Wasn't he supposed to be unable to score?"
"Right. Before, whenever he faced a double-team, he didn't have the confidence to break through at all. He just passed the ball. Tonight... what's with this scorching, forceful offense?"
"I don't get it!"
"Blake Su looks like a completely different person!"
"Heh."
Coach Alvin Gentry, who returned to the locker room a step later, could not help laughing to himself as he listened to the Grizzlies fans grumble in frustration.
"Idiots. Blake Su didn't attack before, but... that doesn't mean he can't!"
"The comeback show has only just begun!"
...
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