Chapter 101: It’s Just The Beginning
“Through the legs! Oh God! Unbelievable! Eli! He actually used a between-the-legs pass to toy with LeBron James! Howard received it! The ball went in! Buzzer-beater points!” Mike Breen’s exclamation from the commentary booth was extremely sharp, “This is absolutely the craziest moment of the night!”
Mark Jackson next to him excitedly chimed in, his tone filled with the thrill of watching the drama unfold: “I’ve never seen anyone dare to do that to LeBron!”
ESPN’s commentators were still fiercely discussing that play, while the players on the court had already separated.
The first half ended.
The Grizzlies took control as the away team, leading the Cavaliers by 7 points.
The Cavaliers fans at the scene gradually realized that this team from the Western Conference, ranked only tenth, was no soft target to be bullied.
If they looked more closely, they would discover that the Grizzlies and Cavaliers had nearly identical records. The reason they were temporarily tenth in the West was purely because the Western Conference competition was brutally intense, akin to hell mode.
Compared to the fans, the Cavaliers felt even more complex and profound emotions.
At some point, Xu Ling quietly turned the situation around, seizing the initiative. What followed was a clear downturn in James’s fortunes—this seemed like an invisible law in competitive sports: the more confident and resolute a person is, the more likely they are to be favored by luck. Once this momentum builds, it enhances performance while quietly breaking down the opponent’s mental defenses.
James had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in the half, still well-rounded stats; Xu Ling opposite him had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. On the surface, they were evenly matched. But what truly stung James was Xu Ling’s multiple tough scores under his defense. Especially that between-the-legs pass at the end of the first half, which had already become the signature moment of the night.
Stories of super rookies emerging out of nowhere and crushing established superstars were common in the league—LeBron James himself had risen that way back in the day. He just never imagined that one day, he would become the senior in the story being challenged, even humiliated.
No, he hadn’t been crushed yet, and the game wasn’t over.
James recalled Xu Ling’s contemptuous question from the first half—”Brown, do you still want to be friends with me?”—that guy might really need a lesson to learn how to respect his opponents.
At the same time, Grizzlies head coach Marc Iavaroni was giving a halftime interview to reporters.
“Marc, what are your thoughts on that last play of the first half? Was Eli’s choice too risky?” The reporter’s microphone was practically in Iavaroni’s face.
Iavaroni’s face showed little emotion, but his slightly raised chin revealed a hint of pride: “In my view, it was a perfect read of the defense and a display of creativity. Eli saw the gap others couldn’t and had the guts and technique to execute it. We trust his judgment. As for the rest? I hope everyone knows this is a basketball game—the best players should deliver their best performance, no matter the method.”
In the Grizzlies’ visitor locker room, the players were excitedly discussing the second-half strategy.
“Listen, they’re panicking.” Kidd was the most enthusiastic, his gaze sweeping over everyone before landing on Xu Ling, “LeBron has lost his rhythm. He’s not thinking about how to win now, but how to save face. What we need to do is keep poking at his sore spots.”
“Exactly, Eli is on fire tonight—keep hitting him!” Hakim Warrick agreed.
Everyone chimed in one after another, all turning into armchair generals devising the second-half plan.
Xu Ling didn’t join in, because what he did in the first half stayed mostly within the tactical framework; as long as he kept following the team’s rhythm, there wouldn’t be any issues.
Ten minutes later, the Grizzlies and Cavaliers returned to the court.
The starters matched up one by one. The Grizzlies had the first possession of the second half. Kidd dribbled across half-court and immediately saw the opponents assigning defensive specialist Larry Hughes to guard Xu Ling.
It seemed King James had regained his composure?
Had he realized his defense couldn’t handle tonight’s Eli?
But was this a cowardly move?
The Grizzlies of course didn’t know the Cavaliers’ thoughts. Xu Ling used Darko Milicic’s high pick and roll, accelerated his movement to shake Hughes, and came to the outside to receive Kidd’s pass.
Too timely!
Kidd was that kind of player—unselfish, with great vision and sharp passing instincts. Point guards with these qualities naturally became the kind of “makes teammates better” player in the eyes of basketball experts.
Whether in his past life or this one, Xu Ling had never played with a guard like this, making Kidd’s passes feel especially comfortable.
Run off the ball, receive, shoot—that’s what he did most after Kidd arrived.
The Cavaliers could only look to the sky; that shot had a beautiful arc, with no chance of missing.
“Swish!”
Xu Ling’s three-pointer stretched the lead back to double digits.
The Grizzlies switched to zone defense, making the inside suddenly an unreachable shore, while the King dribbled continuously before suddenly pulling up for a jump shot.
It went in!
After James’s pull-up hit, his face was full of killing intent.
There was anger in the King’s heart; he didn’t want to lose to Xu Ling and wanted to change the slump from the start. Maybe he needed more aggression, leading him to trash talk Xu Ling: “I’m just getting started, kid.”
Xu Ling didn’t respond, as if he didn’t take the provocation to heart. That nonchalant attitude was more infuriating than firing back.
The Cavaliers kept Hughes on Xu Ling, but the Grizzlies’ off-ball movement flowed seamlessly. Milicic came to the high post and set a screen. Xu Ling flashed around lightning-fast, and by the moment he received the ball, Hughes was already half a step behind.
“Great opportunity!”
Kidd’s reminder flew up almost simultaneously with the ball.
Xu Ling caught and shot.
The basketball arced over the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, “swish” into the net again. Back-to-back threes!
This instinctively made James angry.
He liked controlling the situation, disliked the unknown. From childhood, he liked playing the so-called “right” way, often foreseeing the most likely outcome before a possession even started.
He saw tonight’s game as a defining battle between him and Xu Ling. Xu Ling was just a rookie, while he had become the superstar leading his team to contention last season. How could there be any comparison? Did Xu Ling even qualify? Was the hype overblown?
You know arrogant stars never believe they can be replaced, just like Jackie Chan publicly saying Wu Jing’s purple Wolf Warrior purple had no overseas audience—his subtext was, you haven’t reached my level of global attention, so don’t compare yourself to me.
That’s how James felt about Xu Ling, even now.
Xu Ling responded to him again.
The Grizzlies’ No. 1 didn’t trash talk; that mouth already famous in the league didn’t continue offending the King.
But
James refused to back down, aggressively driving with the ball. Facing the Grizzlies’ zone, he chained between-the-legs changes of direction, forcing open a gap, leaping into the air, and slamming the ball through the rim with two hands. The arena erupted in cheers.
Next possession, Grizzlies fast break. Kidd’s long pass was like threading a needle, straight to Xu Ling. James chased back frantically, his feet like the wind, about to complete his signature chase-down block.
In the nick of time, Xu Ling pulled the ball in mid-air, twisted his body right, nearly horizontal in the air, and floated a layup from the other side of the backboard.
The moment it went in, James crashed under the basket, fists clenched, teeth gritted.
Xu Ling turned around, walked past James, and delivered late trash talk that wasn’t pleasant: “You’re way easier to handle than Kobe.”
Long before James self-proclaimed GOAT after reversing the Warriors in 2016 for his third title, Kobe was the biggest noise in his life.
Even in 2025, you could still hear fans at games telling James he wasn’t as good as Kobe.
Right now, Kobe had become an obstacle James had to surpass.
After that line, James’s face grew darker, his eyes nearly spitting fire.
Xu Ling patted Kidd’s hand, calm as if nothing had happened.
The Cavaliers needed to steady themselves, but James suddenly passed to Larry Hughes.
Hughes missed a forced three, Kidd grabbed the defensive rebound, and in the fast break passed to Josh Howard for a slam dunk. The lead was now 13.
Mike Brown hurriedly called timeout.
But the Cavaliers had few adjustments to make; Brown just rotated personnel, bringing in Delonte West, who had a strong first half, for Daniel Gibson.
After the timeout, the Cavaliers clearly resolved to let James’s individual talent dominate.
James received at the top of the arc, called for a pick and roll, caught Hakim Warrick in a mismatch—a hesitation dribble feinting a drive, then sudden acceleration, bulldozing Warrick. Milicic came to help from the paint, but he muscled through contact in the air for a tough layup.
“This damn barbarian!”
Milicic’s chest hurt from the collision.
Xu Ling tossed him the ball and asked: “Did you forget to pray for yourself today?”
“I never pray for myself.” Milicic passed it out. “That stuff is meaningless.”
It was clear that facing his thriving classmate, Milicic had some emotions bubbling up. After Xu Ling brought the ball up, he passed back to Kidd and posted up on the left.
Kidd used Xu Ling’s offensive gravity to bait the defense, then hit Milicic with a perfect pocket pass, assisting his basket score.
“!#!#￥@”
Milicic let out a strange yell and pounded his chest, seemingly eager to show his presence.
The gap remained at 13 points.
James drove again, nearly copy-pasting the strong drive, drawing a foul, and hitting both free throws.
Next possession, Xu Ling ran off-ball spacing, received Kidd’s great pass, and steadily hit from mid-range.
Cavaliers fans’ moods were extremely complex. They cheered James’s every aggressive attack, only to be choked by the Grizzlies’ response the next second.
The score gap hovered between 10 and 13 points, like an invisible glass wall preventing King James from reigning supreme in his own kingdom.
Even more suffocating for the home fans was James’s ball-dominant style, like an invisible sponge that absorbed his teammates’ rhythm and feel in adversity—when possession is forever in one person’s hands, everyone else’s touch just gets colder.
“What a tough contrast!” Mike Breen raised his voice, “Every LeBron bucket is dancing on a knife’s edge! Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ offense is incredibly fluid, with Eli doing whatever he wants on the court!”
Jeff Van Gundy immediately added: “That’s the influence Kidd brings. The Grizzlies are no longer iso-heavy; they’ve become a well-oiled machine. The Cavaliers, though—LeBron is still that one-of-a-kind force, but can this version of LeBron take them to the promised land?”
The Cavaliers’ bench began to stir.
Hughes tried to share the scoring load on offense, but bricked a three from outside.
Big Z tried to attack inside but was contained by Milicic’s defense.
All hopes rested on James’s shoulders.
With seven minutes left in the third quarter, James had 10 points in the period. But his expression showed no joy, only a hint of anxiety. No matter how he scored, the lead stayed frozen.
From the stands, a fan couldn’t help shouting: “Damn it, someone come help LeBron already!”
In the final three minutes of the third, the Cavaliers mounted a full push. Their shooters heated up again, finally cutting the lead to single digits. The arena erupted with long-missed hope.
Grizzlies timeout, disrupting their rhythm. Upon return, the first possession saw Xu Ling back down Hughes in the post.
In a flash, Xu Ling recalled a play Kobe once made on him. He backed in, bumped, shoulder fake, using body rotation to pull Hughes’s defense open, then flipped for a fadeaway jumper.
“Swish!”
Soon after, the third-quarter buzzer sounded.
The scoreboard froze at 85-74. Grizzlies still led by 11.
At that moment, James was on the bench resting, the camera on him showing a heavy expression.
He began pondering why this game was so tough. He was firing on all cylinders with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists through three quarters—a near triple-double—yet still down 11. Xu Ling’s 30 points in three quarters was outstanding, but was it enough to explain this?
James couldn’t accept Xu Ling outshining him tonight—this conclusion obvious to neutrals. He was more versatile, with greater court influence. What did Xu Ling have besides scoring? Defense? Who on the Cavaliers needed special defense? His assists? Oh god, since Kidd arrived, he didn’t need to force things he wasn’t great at.
This highlighted the biggest difference between Xu Ling and him.
The other guy entered the league with a star like Jason Kidd assisting him, while he had to deal with the intolerable Ricky Davis.
They had great management—no one in the league could say they were better at building teams than Jerry West—while the Cavaliers?
Not comparing was fine, but this comparison gave James excuses for everything that had happened so far.
