"My goodness!"
"Blake Su comes out and hits an ultra-long three right away. Is he even human?!"
Mike Breen looked just as stunned.
"Wow~"
In the stands, the home fans had already erupted into thunderous cheers. Their mouths hung open in shock, wide enough to fit a light bulb.
"Beautiful!"
"Blake Su is sharp as a blade!"
On the Suns' bench, Coach Gentry jumped straight up in excitement. Seeing Blake Su take the initiative on offense after their late-night talk filled him with relief and joy.
Because if the Suns wanted to win now, if they wanted to take control of the game, Blake Su had to attack like this. He had to attack in this absurd, inhuman way, break the game open, and get his teammates involved.
"Great shot!"
"Boss is mighty!"
Carter, Goran Dragić, and the others roared in excitement as well.
Meanwhile, on the Grizzlies' bench, Coach Hollins clutched his head with one hand, feeling his skull throb. It hurt. It really hurt. It hurt like hell.
Blake Su's opening ultra-long three-pointer struck at the Grizzlies' confidence and ignited the scorching home-court atmosphere from the very start.
With just one shot, the Suns had already seized the initiative.
Suns (3): (0) Grizzlies.
On the other end.
Conley brought the ball up and gave it to Gay, who lobbed it into Marc Gasol on the left low block. Facing Blake Su's defense, Marc Gasol tried to shake him loose with his footwork.
But Blake Su was too quick.
After only two dribbles, Marc Gasol had no choice but to pick up the ball. Otherwise... his next dribble could very well be stolen.
He couldn't attack.
"Whoosh!"
Marc Gasol kicked it out to Gay on the perimeter.
"Come on!"
George roared, fired up. Blake Su's ultra-long three to open the game had clearly awakened his defensive hunger.
"Hmph!"
Gay snorted, completely dismissing the rookie in front of him. He planted his foot, accelerated, and charged forward. Their bodies immediately collided.
"Bang!"
Gay drove into George, then suddenly eased off, stopped on a dime, stepped back, and rose into a jumper.
"Step!"
George's pupils widened as he sprang up like a tiger pouncing on prey. He did not block it, but he gave the shot plenty of pressure.
"Clang!"
Gay's "unblockable shot" hit iron.
Under the basket, Frye put every ounce of strength into his jump and tipped the ball out. Nash grabbed it and immediately accelerated forward.
"Whoosh!"
Run!
The Suns' run-and-gun offense was unleashed.
Curry sprinted out ahead and settled near the right side of the arc, waiting for Nash's pass. Nash looked toward Curry, then suddenly whipped a behind-the-back pass.
"Smack!"
Blake Su, charging in from the left, caught the ball.
"Hmph!"
"I knew he'd give it to Blake Su!"
Gay, who had read Nash's pass while retreating on defense, ignored Curry and shifted up to the three-point line, ready to guard the onrushing Blake Su.
But then...
"Screech!"
On the left side, still more than a meter beyond the three-point line, Blake Su stopped abruptly, rose up, drew the bow, and fired another sudden cold arrow.
"What?!"
Gay's face changed in shock. Even from a meter beyond the three-point line, even with the shooter being a center, he still panicked and rushed up to contest.
But it was still too late.
"Whoosh!"
The ball flew over Gay's palm, tracing a beautiful rainbow through the air under Gay's stunned gaze.
"Swish!"
It pierced the net again... good.
"Wow~"
"Another ultra-long three during the Suns' fast-break counterattack. Weren't the Grizzlies supposed to trap and crowd Blake Su, not even giving him a chance to catch the ball?!
"Well then, Blake Su simply won't give you a chance to get close. The moment he shoots, it's from ultra-deep range. That is completely unreasonable."
At the commentary desk, Van Gundy was shocked, but he was also starting to laugh.
"Haha!"
Mike Breen laughed as well and could not help exclaiming, "The shooting range on Blake Su, as a center, is just too far.
"No exaggeration, no bias.
"With that range, accuracy, and release height, Blake Su's three-point shooting has already surpassed 'Gentleman Ray,' Ray Allen."
"Exactly!"
"Even with the Grizzlies crowding and pressuring Blake Su, he still drilled two ultra-long threes and opened the game with a 6-0 run.
"Now, on his own home court, Blake Su already looks unstoppable. How are the Grizzlies going to limit his offense from here?!"
The two commentators were speaking excitedly.
On the court, another possession came. Still on the left side near the top of the arc, still a meter beyond the three-point line, Blake Su launched another ultra-long three, this time with Marc Gasol contesting right in his face.
Again?!
"Clang!"
The ball hit the rim and bounced up. As it came down... it struck the edge of the rim again before finally bouncing away.
It missed.
But even though it missed, Randolph still broke into a cold sweat under the basket.
"Damn it!"
"He's obviously a center, yet he's shooting threes like that. And the worst part is, he's accurate. I'm speechless. This is ridiculous. It's so absurd I can't even understand it."
Randolph cursed angrily.
But there was helplessness in his anger, because... late in the regular season, he had also increased his three-point training, only to see little effect.
"Beep, beep!"
Even though Blake Su missed that three, Hollins still called a timeout.
After the timeout, everyone could clearly feel the Grizzlies had raised the intensity of their defense on Blake Su again, almost to the point of using three defenders on him.
"Pass the ball!"
On the sideline, Hollins growled inwardly. He simply did not want to see Blake Su holding the ball.
But Blake Su had no intention of giving it up. He used George's screen, accelerated into drives, moved without the ball, and looked for chances to catch and cut.
Blake Su demanded the ball in every possible way and attacked with force.
Even with two or three defenders frantically collapsing on him.
At 6:14.
Blake Su curled out from the left corner and caught the ball five feet beyond the three-point line. He rose and fired a cold arrow as Marc Gasol and Allen rushed to contest.
"Swish!"
Over the double contest, Blake Su buried another three.
At 2:08.
The Grizzlies used their powerful defense to keep Blake Su from catching the ball and nearly forced the Suns into a 24-second violation. Curry drove, but he could not get inside.
With 3.3 seconds left.
"Whoosh!"
Curry hurriedly moved the ball. Calling it a pass was generous. In reality, he simply threw the ball out, and Blake Su jumped at the top of the arc to catch it.
At that moment, only 1.7 seconds remained, and he was still two meters beyond the three-point line.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su stayed calm. He caught the ball... raised his hand, and launched a three, an ultra-long three from two meters beyond the arc.
"Tch!"
"A forced three with no time left on the shot clock, and from that far out? There's no way it goes in."
Under the basket, Randolph shook his head.
"No way it goes in."
Marc Gasol also looked unconvinced, but in the next instant, his and Randolph's expressions changed drastically.
Because, in their widening eyes, the basketball...
"Swish!"
Dropped right through.
Once again, it pierced the net cleanly, beating the buzzer!
"What the hell is that?!"
Randolph and Marc Gasol stared in stunned disbelief.
"Unbelievable!"
Van Gundy shouted in excitement. "Against suffocating defense, Blake Su is using threes, ultra-long threes, each one farther than the last!
"He is raining them down on the Grizzlies!
"Blake Su's threes make no sense. They're completely... against all basketball logic!!!"
...
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