Chapter 75: You’re Important To Me Without You
Before the second half began, Xu Ling found Mark Iavaroni again and suggested having Julius Jackson replace Kyle Lowry in the starting lineup for the second half.
The reason was simpler than simple: Jackson might not qualify as a competent NBA point guard, but his outside shooting was astonishingly precise—whether catch-and-shoot jump shots, pull-up stoppers, or shots after pick and roll, all were well-honed, exactly the type of player this team needed right now.
What more could Iavaroni say?
If not for Xu Ling’s repeated insistence, Jackson probably wouldn’t even have touched the door of the NBA.
But precisely because of Xu Ling, he not only stayed but gradually earned stable playing time. If he could seize the opportunity in this game, he might truly stand firm in the league.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Iavaroni still tried to dissuade him. “You should know what the second half means.”
Xu Ling answered without hesitation: “This is exactly why I chose J.J.”
With words spoken to this point, Iavaroni said no more.
As soon as the second half began, the Grizzlies’ adjusted starting lineup immediately drew the attention of the commentary desk.
“Rudy Gay is not in, Kyle Lowry is not in,” Kevin Harlan said. “Coach Iavaroni has made an extremely bold adjustment.”
His partner Doug Collins continued the analysis: “We all know what happened in the Grizzlies’ locker room. Eli and Rudy had a public argument on the court, and Rudy was in low form tonight—this might be why he was pulled from the starting lineup. But Kyle has always been Eli’s firm supporter. I believe this substitution is purely for tactical reasons.”
With this lineup change by the Grizzlies, there were now three people on the court with outside shooting threats. Though far from the small-ball era where they could casually put out a five-out lineup and stretch the floor wider than the sea, in this era still dominated by big-ball concepts, it was enough.
“Eli, what can I do for you?”
Jackson asked right after checking in.
He was very excited and grateful for Xu Ling’s promotion. Although he had been the other’s senior student in college, in the NBA, he was sheltered by the latter everywhere—this was already public knowledge.
In this situation, he had nothing to say except to give his all.
Xu Ling smiled: “Be yourself, J.J.”
But Jackson didn’t know what “self” a small-timer like him could have left in the NBA.
Be himself?
How?
At the start of the second half, Xu Ling was effectively the Grizzlies’ point guard.
Since he wanted Jackson to be himself, he naturally couldn’t make him the full-time main handler—even at Texas Tech University, Jackson had mostly been a scoring-oriented guard.
As soon as Xu Ling reached the frontcourt, the Nets eyed him eagerly for a double team.
This was no surprise—Xu Ling had scored 25 points in the first half alone; if they didn’t bring intensity in the second half, wouldn’t he drop 50?
Xu Ling noticed the opponents’ movements and had an idea, giving Jackson a look. Jackson instinctively understood Xu Ling’s intent—they had teamed up countless times at TTU with perfect chemistry.
Jackson instantly came over for a pick and roll with Xu Ling. Kidd completely ignored Jackson and switched to double team.
Xu Ling passed the ball, and Jackson hit an open three-pointer.
“Swish!”
Kidd couldn’t help but give Jackson an extra glance—this unassuming guy seemed to be a shooting expert.
Then he heard Xu Ling say: “So hitting open shots isn’t that hard after all.”
Xu Ling was actually mocking Gay on the bench, but unfortunately, Kidd, who often missed open shots, took it to heart.
Moreover, knowing he couldn’t handle Kidd’s offense, Jackson gave him complete freedom on his shooting, focusing solely on defending the drive.
Gay on the bench began to feel anxious. He watched Kidd, thinking that in the first half, the other had relentlessly exploited his defensive weakness—shouldn’t he now target Jackson’s defensive hole the same way?
Kidd wanted to target, but Jackson was giving him too much space—space so wide that not shooting would be embarrassing.
So Kidd gritted his teeth and took the shot.
“Bang”—Kidd’s three-pointer came up short.
Damn it, what was that bastard doing? Just drive past him!
Gay got even angrier.
Then Xu Ling jumped up to grab the rebound.
Kidd fouled tactically, not giving a fast break opportunity.
“If you miss again, J.J. might give you even more space,” Xu Ling smiled at Kidd.
For some reason, Kidd felt that this relaxed young man before him was completely different from the tyrannical demon possessed figure of the first half.
“I’ll make it eventually.”
Kidd was exactly the type who everyone said couldn’t shoot, yet he had extreme confidence in his own shooting.
Remember, before missing shots planted the seed for Old Zhang, she was a Kidd pure love stan and showed the world how Kidd kept putting up “N attempts 1 make” games despite poor shooting.
If not for love, who would be this bored?
Unfortunately, Kidd had no good shooting touch tonight—2 for 6 in the first half was a sign, and now missing one right at the start of the second half without recovering, as Xu Ling dribbled to the frontcourt, they prepared to double team again.
As a result, Jefferson’s defense did not fully respect Xu Ling’s range—he was clearly standing a meter outside the three-point line, yet Jefferson hugged the three-point line.
Xu Ling immediately pulled up, hitting a pull-up jump shot from a meter outside the three-point line right in Jefferson’s egghead face.
With two straight three-pointers from the Grizzlies, the 3-point gap instantly became 9.
Kidd got shooting space again but didn’t dare try easily, passing to Jefferson, who then passed to Carter; Carter isolated Miller for points.
This was the Nets’ stopgap shot.
But if the Grizzlies’ offensive push didn’t stop, the bleeding wouldn’t last long.
Xu Ling dribbled to the frontcourt again; Jefferson wised up, coming out beyond the three-point line to hug him.
Then, Xu Ling raised his hand, and Miller came over for the pick and roll.
Damn it, don’t let him in, you idiots!
Gay roared inwardly. When he saw Jefferson’s defense loosen slightly, he thought Xu Ling’s drive would succeed, but when Carter stepped up to trap like Kidd, his heart leaped with joy.
Yes, that’s it—lock him down!
Gay nearly stood up, while Xu Ling, cornered by two men, barely passed the ball out.
In this situation, getting the pass out was victory.
Miller caught the ball, spun, and hit another three-pointer.
“Swish!”
Less than two minutes into the second half, the Grizzlies hit three straight three-pointers, a 9-2 run stretching the lead to double digits.
The Nets called timeout.
Mark Iavaroni watched with surging emotions.
This wasn’t orthodox “seven seconds or less,” but who said run and gun had to be like the son of the wind Nash, precisely orchestrated by a super point guard flowing like water? This simple, direct, even “reckless” long-range firepower coverage, three-pointers raining down—didn’t that count as run and gun?
If those possessions had Gay coming for the pick and roll… Iavaroni could instantly foresee it all.
Gay’s perfunctory screen quality would only trap Xu Ling in worse double teams; even if the ball got kicked out, with Gay’s inconsistent open-shot percentage, it would likely just clang off the rim. A few times, and the offensive rhythm would shatter, players’ mindsets collapsing.
This was why with Gay on the court, the whole system was like a rusted gear jammed in—unable to turn.
Gay sat expressionless deep on the bench, silent.
Xu Ling walked over proactively, his voice not loud but sharp as a knife cutting air: “Without you, everything’s so much smoother.”
“The game’s not over!” Gay jerked his head up, eyes bloodshot, emotions teetering on the edge of control. “Don’t celebrate too early!”
“I’m not celebrating,” Xu Ling said. “I just never figured out why we could never sync up.”
Why? You don’t even know? Gay nearly laughed in anger. He was the team’s heavily invested future face of the franchise, yet Xu Ling’s sudden rise stripped it all away overnight. And now, the guy acted completely clueless?
“But none of that matters now,” the last trace of polite smile vanished from Xu Ling’s face. “Instead, I should thank you. You made me realize that to succeed in this league, you must decisively cut out the cancer before it festers—compared to that, taking a few curse words is the cheapest price.”
“Who the fuck are you calling a cancer?!” Gay shot to his feet, his roar making nearby teammates turn their heads.
Xu Ling had long anticipated this scene being endlessly amplified by the media, but he didn’t care.
“You know, one person made me endure—he told me, wait until you cash in your full value, and good things will happen.” Xu Ling’s gaze swept over the glaring hook shoes on Gay’s feet—everything was obvious. The multi-day public opinion storm, who was fanning the flames behind it? In this world, probably only one force would genuinely dislike his success. Continuing to compromise would only benefit the team, but harm him with no gain. He had to choose the path favorable to himself. “But you showed me waiting brings nothing good! A team with you will only sink deeper; people close to you will only become unhappy. I must eliminate you completely before you drag me down too.”
Gay completely lost control, cursing as he lunged forward, only to be held back by veteran Eddie Jones.
“I guarantee you,” Xu Ling turned to leave, dropping the final words: “You’ll never be my teammate again. Where there’s you, there won’t be me.”
The timeout-ending whistle sounded right on cue.
Iavaroni stood in place, unable to exchange a word with Xu Ling, but he felt no regret. As early as the season opener against the Spurs, when Xu Ling promised “I won’t let you lose your debut” and hit the buzzer-beater, he knew this young man was no ordinary talent.
But he never imagined Xu Ling would shatter the deadlock in such an intense, no-holds-barred way.
Yet this strangely settled Iavar oni ‘s heart.
Since victory could decide everything, for tonight’s kill-god-possessed Xu Ling, winning was the simplest problem of all.
The Nets couldn’t stop the fully firing Xu Ling, nor handle the Grizzlies’ pick-and-roll offense; they floundered in the third quarter, outscored 34-15.
Then, in the first few minutes of the fourth, Xu Ling hit two straight three-pointers, stretching the lead to 25.
The suspense extinguished like a candle.
Iavaroni subbed Xu Ling out five minutes before game’s end; the Sixty Million Dollar Man who ended the losing streak dropped a career-high 44 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists. Considering everything else tonight, this stat line might be forgotten, but history was here, witnessing him, remembering him.
In the seventh game of his career, Xu Ling used an unsolvable personal show to reverse the team’s slump.
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Continental Airlines Arena’s visiting team media room
Reporters from major media crowded here. The game’s background, pre-game public opinion, suffocating rumors, and the series of public arguments during the game—people needed answers, many questions, many unsolved mysteries. The question was, would the main guy give them answers?
“Eli, first congrats on ending the losing streak. You got your first career triple-double tonight, and a career-high 44 points. How do you evaluate tonight’s performance?”
“Thanks to the teammates around me who could actually help. My heart is full of gratitude.”
“We noticed you and Rudy Gay had multiple heated arguments during the game. Does this confirm the rumors of discord in your locker room?”
“Arguments? No, that was just basketball-level discussion. We have different understandings of victory. Tonight’s outcome, I think, has given a clear answer.”
“Do you think Rudy’s performance hurt the team?”
“I think a team’s victory comes from all players on the court making the right, selfless choices. In tonight’s second half, we found the right way to play. As for whether Rudy’s performance hurt the team—the plus-minus on the statistics sheet, （-11）, is more convincing than my personal viewpoint.”
“There are rumors of physical altercations in the locker room, even someone getting hurt. Care to respond?”
“We just had a frank, necessary basketball discussion in the locker room, that’s all.”
“What was the thinking behind DNPing Rudy for most of the first quarter and the entire second half?”
“That was the coaching staff’s decision. The goal was simple: to win. And the result proves it was the right call.”
Many questions, many conflicts—the name Rudy came up more than any night in Xu Ling’s life.
Finally, it needed an explosion.
So when the Memphis Commercial Appeal reporter 《, to ease the mood, asked: “Eli, you thanked teammates for your great performance tonight—does that include Rudy?”
He got not a kind response, but a long-brewing thunderbolt.
“I thank all the teammates who contributed to the victory. As for those who didn’t play… they naturally couldn’t negatively impact the on-court victory. In that sense, I also ‘thank’ his absence.”
