Link faced Kenyon Martin's defense at the elbow on the right wing. Using a Triple Threat probe, he took a half-step with his right foot and leaned his body down. After deceiving Kenyon Martin's center of gravity, he immediately pulled back and feigned a shot. Kenyon Martin took a step forward; although he didn't bite enough to jump, his center of gravity rose as he raised his hands. Facing Link's drive to the left, his lateral movement couldn't keep up at all. With a "whoosh," Link truly blew past Kenyon Martin in one step, burst into the paint, extended his long arms, and completed a layup before Chris Mihm could rotate for help.
At 38 to 20, the freshman team's lead reached 18 points.
And this play also surprised Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O'Neal, who had come to watch the game.
The two were dressed in eccentric outfits, sitting by the bench.
"Shaq, this kid... every time I see him, I feel like he's gotten a lot faster. Is his body really still in a developmental stage?" Kevin Garnett said.
"Even though the outside world evaluates him as a Floor-bound point guard, whose Floor-bound player can run faster and jump higher than him..." O'Neal said.
"Yeah..."
"This little rascal isn't slow at all."
Garnett said.
In the direct confrontation between two generations of number one draft picks, Link was almost completely victorious.
By the second quarter, when Link used a turnaround fadeaway jumper to score after posting up Kenyon Martin in the low post, the word "almost" was directly removed.
Mmhmm...
That's right.
It was a complete victory.
Kenyon Martin couldn't handle Link.
But Link could not only blow past Kenyon Martin at will on the perimeter, he could even post him up in the low block like an interior player.
However, the efficiency of the low-post play wasn't particularly high...
In the second and third quarters, Link played Kenyon Martin 6 times in the low post and only made 3 shots, all of which were in the first 4 attempts.
Link's low-post offense didn't have much of an advantage against a "mobile" interior player like Kenyon Martin, aside from the "shooting threat."
Although he was faster than Kenyon Martin, the paint was crowded and the range of movement was inherently small. If there isn't a "tier" difference in Speed, the Speed advantage is hard to utilize in the restricted area. Additionally, Link's low-post footwork wasn't top-tier, making it difficult to fully exploit his advantages in Speed and agility.
In terms of strength and weight, Link and Kenyon Martin were evenly matched—er... to be precise, Link was slightly weaker.
Once Kenyon Martin figured out his patterns, Link's low-post offensive efficiency naturally dropped.
But then again...
Link is a guard after all; there was no need to keep grinding against interior players under the basket.
Starting from the second half of the third quarter, Link switched into his scoring mode...
"Wow... Link... transition three... it's in!"
"This is his 3rd three-pointer of the game, and with this shot, Link... his personal scoring has reached 32 points, breaking Elton Brand's single-game record of 31 points from the 2000 All-Star game, setting a new single-game scoring record for the NBA Rookie Challenge."
"It's worth mentioning that there are still 1 minute and 3 seconds left in the third quarter..."
"The score is 98 to 67, and the freshman team currently holds a 31-point lead."
...
...
After activating [Player Takeover: Sharpshooter] Lv3, Link hit three consecutive three-pointers with terrifying accuracy.
Because of this, after the start of the fourth quarter...
The sophomore team began to double-team Link.
Link had been experiencing double-teams since high school and into the NBA.
Although double-teaming can have a certain restrictive effect on Link, it also depends on the level of the double-team.
The sophomore team, thrown together for this game, employed a high-post double-team on Link, which was just too comfortable for him...
With a "whoosh," Link, standing at the horn of the right-wing three-point line, sent a diagonal long pass to Shane Battier in the left corner.
The moment Battier caught the ball, he couldn't help but be momentarily stunned...
"What a fast pass!"
"What incredible Passing Vision!"
"From such a distance, across such a dense defensive area, it still arrived steadily in his hands."
Battier lived up to expectations and hit the catch-and-shoot three.
This shot changed the score on the court to 111 to 78, giving the freshmen a 33-point lead.
And Link's personal assist count for tonight rose to 11.
...
...
"Wow..."
"The Triple-Double King is back at it again."
"My god, Link... is he going to get another triple-double tonight?"
Charles Barkley exclaimed in the TNT Broadcast Booth.
"Mmhmm... although Link is currently 3 rebounds away from double digits, I believe it won't be long before he completes it..." Kenny Smith couldn't help but say.
Just as he finished speaking, Link on the court saw that the sophomore team was becoming anxious because they were trailing by more than 30 points; they seemed to want to rush Three-Point Shots.
Link quickly activated [Player Takeover: Rebound Maniac] Lv2.
Once this rebound takeover was activated...
Link first picked up a long rebound from Mike Miller's missed three, and then he pushed the ball up the court himself.
Although Darius Miles ran fast, his low basketball IQ meant he could only become a background character for Link. Noticing the opponent sprinting behind him, Link chose a Reverse Layup to avoid Darius's chase-down block.
116 to 80, the point difference had now reached 36 points.
...
...
"This won't do!"
"These sophomores... they're too anxious!"
"Yeah, they're playing completely disorganized. Compared to the freshmen, they look more like the rookies."
"It can't be helped; they don't have an outstanding ball-handling core like Link."
In the stands, the fans were also buzzing with discussion.
Seeing the gap widen to 42 points, Quentin Richardson chose to force a three-pointer against Battier's defense. Although Battier's jumping wasn't great, his Hand-in-face defense was truly excellent, successfully interfering with Quentin Richardson's shot again.
The moment the basketball bounced off the rim, Link ran toward the free-throw line. Unfortunately... Lee Nailon was already standing at the free-throw line.
This wasn't to say that Lee Nailon could see the rebound's landing point like Link, but rather that he just happened to be standing there.
When the ball flew over, although Lee Nailon was surprised by Link's rebounding instincts, he immediately established his position to box out.
At that moment...
Link suddenly took off. That's right, the "Floor-bound point guard" in the media's words leapt high—at least an 80cm vertical jump—and with the addition of his top-tier physical attributes, "Snap!" He snatched the rebound over Lee Nailon's head.
"Wow..."
"Wow..."
At this moment, the big-name stars in the stands, Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett, both instinctively leaned back.
"My god!"
"Link... he can actually fly."
The helicopter-style rebounding animation left the fans in shock.
At the same time...
Link achieved the first-ever triple-double in the NBA Rookie Challenge.
35 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds.
35 points was also the highest individual score in the NBA Rookie Challenge.
13 assists was also the highest individual assist record in the NBA Rookie Challenge.
The 5 three-pointers made also set the record for the most three-pointers made by an individual in the NBA Rookie Challenge.