Dajuan Wagner, the player selected by the Cavaliers with the 6th overall pick in the 2002 draft, had only made 1 of his first 5 shots under Link's defense. Of course, this was due to his obsession with playing Link one-on-one, but such low offensive efficiency made the two Eastern All-Star big men, Baby Shaq Eddy Curry and Kwame Brown, reluctant to pass him the ball.
"Buddy, thank me... if I hadn't gone easy on you and let you score one, your teammates would've wanted to skin you alive," Link didn't forget to talk trash after Wagner scored.
"Bullshit!" Wagner cursed through gritted teeth.
...
...
The Western All-Star Team's Center, Tyson Chandler, though not great on offense, was excellent on defense, especially in protecting defensive rebounds.
TJ Ford's layup was contested by Chandler's long arms, and Chandler immediately secured the defensive rebound. Although Baby Shaq Eddy Curry's physique was like a smaller version of The Big Shark and he possessed agility that didn't match his size, his nose for rebounds was poor, and he lacked the aggressiveness to fight for them.
Link dribbled at the top of the arc, with Julius Hodge, who was primary on him, sticking close. Link didn't choose to go solo but instead called Chandler up for a high-post pick-and-roll; compared to Bosh's screens, Chandler's were significantly better. Hodge was caught in the screen, and Link immediately lowered his Center of gravity. With a "swish," his first step exploded, and he shot out at an angle, his off-hand swinging slightly to ward off harassment from Wagner on the wing.
The Eastern All-Star Center, Eddy Curry, who had chosen to play drop defense, hurriedly lunged forward. "Screech... screech..." Link came to a sudden stop, his sneakers making a sharp friction sound against the floor. After stopping and drawing Eddy Curry toward him, with a "whoosh" and a flick of his wrist, he threw a lob to the rolling Chandler. "Boom!" Chandler caught Link's pass and threw down a powerful two-handed alley-oop dunk over Wagner, who was standing in his way.
"Wow!"
This beautiful alley-oop dunk made the fans in attendance exclaim in amazement.
23 to 16; the Western All-Star Team now led by 7 points. With 3 minutes and 29 seconds left in the first quarter, both teams began their normal rotations.
"Link, your passes are so comfortable!" Tyson Chandler walked toward the bench and proactively bumped shoulders with Link, grinning widely.
Link smiled faintly. In the first quarter, Link was 2-for-3 with no Free Throws, scoring only 4 points, but he had dished out 5 assists—3 to Chandler and 2 to David Lee. After the team's two big men got easy buckets, their attitude toward Link naturally underwent a 180-degree turn.
"Kid, get up, this is Link's seat." When Coach Wood saw Link returning to the bench, he quickly told a substitute player to stand up and give up his seat.
After Link sat down, he began reviewing and discussing with his teammates what they should pay attention to when they returned for the second quarter.
His teammates all lowered their heads obediently, listening very intently.
"This guy... he really knows how to build relationships. Yesterday he seemed out of place with his teammates, but now they're so harmonious," Sophia Clarke whispered, not far from the bench.
"Miss Clarke... you're not entirely right. While Link is good at building relationships, the reason he could integrate into the team so quickly and pull all the players together is his strength," Bosh said with a smile.
"Oh..." Sophia Clarke's tone was dismissive, but the smile between her brows couldn't be hidden.
It seemed she really wanted to see Link dominate on the court.
...
...
The second quarter began with the score at 28 to 25.
The Eastern All-Star Team, relying on their superior bench depth, had cut the lead to just 3 points.
As soon as this quarter started, Hodge, who was guarding Link, began to proactively provoke him with trash talk.
"Man, you don't know how to do anything except use screens."
"Be a man and play me 1v1, a gunslinging duel like Western cowboys!"
Hodge's eyes glared fiercely at Link.
Link was extremely skilled at playing the pick-and-roll, even more so than LeBron James during this same period.
As for isolation...
Link was also skilled at it; after all, he was a man who frequently played "Hundred-Point Battles" against NBA players.
He didn't play isolation in the first quarter in order to involve the team and increase his teammates' aggressiveness on both ends. If players don't touch the ball for a long time on the court, they will inevitably become passive; after all, this was a real basketball game, not a game of 2K.
Having gained his teammates' trust through his playmaking in the first quarter, Link did as Hodge wished and entered isolation mode on the weak side.
At this time, Chris Thomas was controlling the ball. After clearing out one side of the defense, Link and Hodge were left 1v1 on what was now the weak side—the left side.
Link held the ball in a Triple Threat position. His right foot jabbed out repeatedly, tapping the floor and quickly retracting. After three consecutive jabs, the opponent thought Link was going to pull up for a shot and took a large step forward to contest. With a "thud," Link suddenly dribbled hard and accelerated, darting past with his body low.
"Wow!" The fans couldn't help but exclaim when they saw Hodge, the defensive anchor on the wing, get faked out. But Hodge, known for his defense, used a lateral slide to stick to Link again; although he was half a step behind, he hadn't completely lost his defensive position.
Link was half a body length ahead, but with his average explosiveness, it was difficult to completely shake his opponent. Additionally, he noticed Kwame Brown watching like a hawk from the other side of the rim, ready to leap for a block. With a "thud," Link suddenly gathered the ball and jumped with both feet, leaping toward the right diagonal. This instantly cleared his defensive space from Hodge while also making it too late for Kwame Brown to rotate over.
"Swish!" Link's mid-range jumper went in.
After scoring, Link looked at Julius Hodge with a cold sneer and said, "Kid, was that Best Defensive Player award your state gave you really not bought with money?"
"Answer me!!!"
"You..." Hodge was fuming and wanted to talk back, but by then Link had already turned back to defend.
Over the next two offensive possessions, Link continued to isolate against Hodge.
The second time, he used a Euro Step layup to draw the defense of Baby Shaq under the rim before Passing to Tyson Chandler, who finished with a dunk.
Continuing to manipulate the defense through the Triple Threat, he completely fooled the opponent into jumping, leaving the lane wide open. Link accelerated, driving through the middle toward the paint. Before leaping off the ground, Link intentionally glanced toward Chandler. Worried about a pass, Baby Shaq hurriedly looked back. At that moment, Link took flight, jumping "very high" to a vertical height of nearly 6cm. With a "boom!" he used all his strength to slam the basketball into the hoop.
Dunking requires practice; it's not just about jumping high.
Link's dunking was truly mediocre.
Compared to James White of the Eastern All-Star Team, it was like night and day.
He almost missed this dunk.
After the successful rim-grazing dunk, Link pushed the lead back to 8 points.
The Eastern All-Star Team quickly called a timeout, while Link couldn't help but roar in excitement.
Meanwhile...
In the stands.
The fan holding a banner that read "Link, if you can complete a dunk in a game, I'm willing to eat shit!" sheepishly tucked the banner away under the jeering of the surrounding fans.
He wasn't the only one...
The fan with the banner "Link, you can't even outrun my grandma, and you dream of entering the NBA!" also hid his banner like a thief.
Furthermore...
A roar suddenly erupted from the audience.
Bosh, still a bald-headed "dragon egg," felt the DNA in his body stir after hearing Link's roar. Unable to contain himself, he stood straight up and responded with a roar of his own to Link, who had just finished the dunk on the court.
A rim-grazing dunk!
That's right!
Although it was just a rim-grazer, this was in a half-court set where he shook Hodge with a Triple Threat fake and deceived Baby Shaq with his eyes mid-way through, completing the dunk without a full jump.
Compared to an uncontested rim-grazer on a fast break, the quality of this was on a completely different level; one could even call him the "GOAT of Barely Dunking."