Chapter 133: You Can’t Afford To Provoke Me
The Charlotte Bobcats Arena was already boiling before the game started, with restless cheers surging from all directions.
For this city still recovering from the hurricane’s wounds, Chris Pau and his Hornets were the most exhilarating gift the season had given them.
Xu Ling stood on the away team’s half-court doing pre-game shooting warm-ups, clearly feeling the gazes mixed with scrutiny and hostility coming from all directions.
In the tip-off, Tyson Chandler overpowered Darko Milicic with astonishing explosiveness, precisely tipping the ball toward Pau.
The series’ first offensive possession thus began.
Pau steadily dribbled across half-court, calling no plays, just simply running a high pick and roll with Chandler. This was the Hornets’ most effective opening move this season.
Jason Kidd, with his veteran experience, tried to squeeze over the screen early, but Chandler’s screen was rock-solid, completely blocking Kidd behind him.
In an instant, Pau accelerated. To anyone used to Pau after 2010, the 2008 Pau was unfamiliar—his speed was fast, his explosiveness terrifying, and that sliver of space was torn open in a moment.
Pau pulled up for a jump shot at the free throw line, two points.
“Chris Pau! The first shot of his career in the playoffs! The first points!” Kevin Harlan’s signature 2K voice boomed from the sidelines. “He looks extremely composed, like he was born for this stage!”
The Grizzlies’ first offensive possession: Xu Ling tried to find an opportunity through off-ball movement, but the Hornets’ starting small forward Morris Peterson stuck to him like glue.
Kidd couldn’t find a good passing lane and gave the ball to Darko Milicic in the low post, who spun for a hook shot but missed under Chandler’s long-arm interference.
The Hornets secured the defensive rebound, and Pau immediately pushed forward on the fast break.
His push wasn’t particularly fast, but his rhythm control was masterful. After drawing the defensive attention of Kidd and Josh Howard, he delivered a no-look bounce pass, finding Peja cutting from the wing.
Peja flew in for a layup, made it, and drew a foul on Howard, then hit the free throw.
The Hornets opened with a 5-0 run.
“This is absolutely what the Grizzlies need to avoid at all costs!” Doug Collins pointed out. “Chris Pau is the fast break master second only to Steve Nash!”
However, the Hornets’ offensive push was far from over.
The next possession, Xu Ling finally cut out to the top using a double screen, but he had a rare slip on the catch, failing to secure the ball. This delay caused the opportunity to vanish.
Moreover, the opponents saw this clearly and immediately double-teamed him.
Xu Ling passed the ball back to Kidd.
Kidd shot an open three-pointer.
Clank!
In the blink of an eye, the Hornets launched another fast break. Kidd backpedaled while defending, trying to slow Pau’s push with his body.
But Pau shook him off with a quick crossover dribble while moving at high speed, gaining half a step and driving straight to the basket. Facing Darko Milicic’s help defense as the last line, he showed no fear, lightly jumping—not a difficult layup, but an airy look-back in the air, lobbing the ball to Tyson Chandler following behind.
Chandler got the message, like a rocket launching, grabbed the basketball with both hands, and slammed it through the rim over Darko Milicic who hadn’t fully landed yet!
“Boom!!!”
The Hornets opened with a 7-0 run.
Marc Iavaroni hurriedly called a timeout.
Both teams had plenty of playoff rookies, but the home Hornets clearly entered the game state sooner.
As players from both sides walked off the court, the moment Hornets fans had waited for arrived.
They waved posters photoshopping Xu Ling as a clown, and the arena DJ played the hype song every Louisiana sports team uses《Stand Up and Get Crunk!》.
This upbeat rap song hyped the crowd from the first lyric, then hit that segment all local sports fans knew by heart: “You don’t even dare come! You can’t even handle us! Don’t think you can act wild here!”
In an instant, the whole arena erupted in cheers, and the game had barely started two minutes in.
Iavaroni had nothing much to adjust, because getting outscored 7-0 right out of the gate wasn’t a tactical issue—they were just shell-shocked.
What they needed now was to regroup after the timeout.
But how to adjust?
Iavaroni unconsciously looked at Xu Ling. “Eli, after the timeout, you catch here, everyone else space out!”
“No, go straight low post.” Kidd interrupted Iavaroni’s instructions, bluntly pointing out the issue without hesitation. “If you catch there, CP3 might double-team early. Go straight low post!”
Xu Ling still gave Iavaroni some face. He looked at the coach, wanting to know what the veteran thought.
Iavaroni suppressed his displeasure and nodded. “Do that!”
After the timeout, everyone returned to the court.
Xu Ling really wanted to ask Kidd what he was trying to do by not giving the coach any face. As a notorious coach-killer, didn’t he know this would make Iavaroni uneasy?
Or did he not care?
Xu Ling didn’t dwell on it. He knew Iavaroni’s abilities were limited, but he was his first NBA coach and had always treated him well, so he still respected him.
But Kidd apparently didn’t think that way.
This might be a chronic issue with core point guards—they’re control freaks with their own ideas. Once they see the head coach as useless, they can’t help but challenge from below, and they usually succeed because the point guard really is the team’s brain.
An incompetent basketball coach might be less useful overall than an incompetent esports team coach—the latter can at least order takeout for players; the former’s only way to keep his job is to cater to the core players.
Morris Peterson was following Xu Ling everywhere when suddenly Darko Milicic set a screen on the perimeter, and Xu Ling dropped to the low post.
Kidd lobbed it in, and Darko Milicic cleared out.
Tyson Chandler at the free throw line froze, unsure whether to guard Darko Milicic or drop back to the basket.
Peterson was extremely cautious. Though they’d studied the Grizzlies extensively before the game, they still had no clear answer for Xu Ling.
Because they lacked a strong lockdown wing, and while Peterson was decent on defense, Xu Ling had torched him several times in the regular season.
Letting Xu Ling post up might be the most acceptable outcome for the Hornets, since it wasn’t his usual offensive move.
But Xu Ling smoothly posted up, spun into a step-back, and hit a bank shot off the glass.
2-7
Seeing Xu Ling score, the home fans were not pleased.
Wherever Xu Ling went, boos rained down.
“Is it possible you’ll become the most unwelcome away player in the league after the season?”
Kidd asked as Xu Ling jogged back on defense.
“That’d be my honor,” Xu Ling shot back. “But have you ever thought you might become the most unwelcome No. 1 by a coach in history?”
Kidd didn’t answer—on the surface because Pau was bringing the ball up, but really pretending not to hear.
Sly veteran.
Pau dribbled silkily; his scout report had even said, “He can dribble to anywhere.”
It was true. Xu Ling watched Pau dribble from the right three-point line to the free throw line, then to the left free throw line. David West came up for a screen, and finally Pau gathered for a mid-range shot—missed.
Kidd hustled to the paint and grabbed the defensive rebound using Darko Milicic’s positioning.
Every guard with intuitively high rebound numbers has this trick.
But undeniably, even rebounding requires elite rebounding instincts.
After getting the ball, Kidd turned and passed to Xu Ling breaking fast.
As soon as Xu Ling caught it, like flipping a switch, the arena erupted in boos.
Morris Peterson, fueled by the crowd’s hostility, suddenly wanted to be the hero who slays the bully—but was he?
Morris blocked the lane at the basket, but Xu Ling, like Pau earlier, lobbed it behind him. Josh Howard, charging in like a dragon crossing the river, leaped over Peterson for a powerful dunk.
And head referee Dick Bavetta called an offensive foul on Peterson—it was a 2+1.
“!#￥#@￥%”
The boos were like extra damage. Peterson stood up unwillingly, about to say something, when he heard Xu Ling humming their home hype song’s lyrics: “You can’t handle this turf you can’t hold it down, buddy.”（You don’t want none You don’t want none of this， boy.）
In that instant, all the legends about Xu Ling flooded Peterson’s mind.
That dunk where he deliberately kneed Bynum, sidelining him for the season; that night he openly provoked LeBron James and shook his finger at the Cavaliers’ home court; that reputation all stars avoided.
Even Chris Pau’s “I like Eli” now carried deep meaning.
Infamy might breed hatred, but when it takes form, it breeds fear. Peterson replayed Xu Ling’s hummed lyrics, wondering if it wasn’t an outright threat.
The more you think, the further you stray.
Xu Ling never had a clear sense of his “infamy” outside. He was just doing his job, and the lyric was casual on-court banter. If someone wanted to overanalyze it like a level-10 scholar—that wasn’t his responsibility.
Peterson soon made a fatal mistake. He forgot to communicate with his teammate during off-ball movement, causing overlapping routes, letting Pau—who averaged under 2 turnovers per game in the regular season—record an early turnover tonight.
Josh Howard stole the pass and returned the favor with a long pass to Xu Ling breaking fast.
Morris Peterson had only redemption on his mind, chasing Xu Ling like a desperado.
Xu Ling dropped his stance beyond the three-point line, faking a drive with a sharp between-the-legs crossover, then pull-up stopped as Peterson fully backpedaled!
The basketball stayed steady at his preset shooting spot, while Peterson, burdened with defensive responsibility, was completely out of control—his momentum sent him sliding past Xu Ling like he was on ice skates.
The lane ahead was wide open.
Xu Ling calmly gathered and drained a pull-up three-pointer like a precision-guided missile straight through the net.
Amid the arena boos, the swish sounded like music to the ears.
“Swish!!!”
8-7
The Grizzlies took the lead, now it was the Hornets’ turn to call timeout.
