Kenny Smith chuckled from the booth," Steph part of the old Shooting Stars — still as outrageous as ever."
Outrageous, indeed.
Because honestly, how do you even justify what Curry's doing right now?
Klay's defense on that last play was already textbook perfect. What else was he supposed to do — crawl inside Curry's jersey and hug him?
This was exactly what Lin Yi had been worried about. In the Heat's opener, LeBron showed off all that summer work — five threes against Dallas, and the Mavericks got crushed by Miami's Big Three.
It felt like the three-point era had arrived ahead of schedule — and from here on out, things were about to get complicated.
Sure, it's just one game, but you can tell. As Lin Yi keeps growing, these NBA stars are evolving right alongside him — and maybe even faster than he remembered.
After Curry threw out that cocky "Welcome to the NBA, rookie," Klay clearly wanted to clap back.
The Knicks were on offense. Lin Yi and Chris Paul locked eyes for a second — that quick, silent understanding — before Lin stepped back to the 45. Leonard and White couldn't switch fast enough. One-on-two, Lin handled both.
Klay curled out from the corner. Paul saw it, zipped a pass — whoosh!
Klay rose, released — and splash.
5–3 Knicks.
He flashed the three-point sign at Curry, grinning. Message sent.
But his celebration barely got halfway before Curry caught the inbound, dribbled to the arc, and — boom! — swish.
5–6 Warriors.
Curry pumped his fist, eyes locked on Klay — almost as if to say, "Remember that summer shootout? I beat you 397 to 345, brother."
Oracle Arena exploded. The pace was wild — both sides firing without a care for structure. Exactly the kind of game fans live for.
Next possession, Klay tried again off another corner screen. Open look — but this time, it rimmed out. David Lee was ready to collect the rebound when—
Lin Yi came flying out of nowhere.
Bang!
A one-handed dunk. The whole basket rattled.
"Good lord!" Barkley shouted. "The height Lin Yi just hit — even if you strapped springs to Shaq's shoes, he still wouldn't get up there!"
Shaq smirked. "Charles, jealousy doesn't suit you."
Kenny cracked up. "Shaq's power is still unmatched, but yeah, Lin's vertical is just ridiculous."
Meanwhile, David Lee stood under the hoop, staring as Lin Yi turned away, pounding his chest. He couldn't help feeling a little deflated.
He'd focused all his effort on boxing out Morris — but how do you stop someone like Lin Yi?
It's tough being the floor guy when you're just the background in someone else's highlight. Rebounding suddenly felt like a cruel joke.
Part of him regretted leaving New York. The Knicks had won the title right after he left.
And here in Golden State, where much was expected wasn't easy. With Lin around, scoring always came easier — he just hadn't appreciated it back then.
As the Knicks ran back on defense, Lin called out to Klay with a grin, "Keep shooting! As long as you don't miss three in a row, I've got your boards!"
He wasn't kidding — ever since he let loose, Lin Yi had gotten addicted to crashing the offensive glass.
...
On the floor, the Warriors went back on offense, running a Curry–David Lee pick-and-roll.
Lee's roll was quick — Markieff couldn't keep up. Curry read it instantly and lobbed the ball in. Lee caught it mid-spin and went straight up for the layup. Clean, smooth, perfect…
Bang!
Tyson Chandler roared under the rim, "Not in my house!"
David Lee groaned, "Man, I didn't even take off!"
Markieff responded. "Then don't bring your ass into the paint. That's Tyson's territory!"
Before Lee could even process the rejection and trash talk, the Knicks were already sprinting in transition.
Paul pushed the ball, pulled off a filthy crossover — no, a full-on ankle-snapping hesitation — Curry bit, and Paul stepped back from deep.
Splash! 10–6 Knicks.
"The Knicks just have too many weapons," Kenny Smith said. "When the Warriors got back, their eyes were all on Lin and Klay."
Barkley nodded. "Yeah, it looked like a wild pull-up, but Lin's movement off-ball gave Chris that space. Smart play."
New York's offense was humming.
Back on the other end, the Warriors set up again. Leonard cut baseline — a slick pass from David Lee found him wide open. Lin Yi didn't even bother to contest. Leonard went up for the easy layup… and bricked it.
Tyson Chandler scooped the rebound, staring at the rim in disbelief. "That hit the backboard?"
Mark Jackson covered his face on the sideline. He couldn't understand why Jerry West was so high on the kid.
But the Logo Man had his reasons.
If you never give a rookie a chance, he'll always be a rookie.
Kobe had bricked plenty once upon a time, too. West believed Leonard had that same raw climb-a-mountain kind of drive — the kind you couldn't coach.
Still, Oracle's crowd wasn't having it. The boos rolled in after that miss — it really was that bad.
And the punishment came fast.
Klay slipped baseline again, and in the chaos, Leonard forgot to switch with White. He ran straight into a brick wall named Lin Yi — bounced back, panicked.
Before Lin could even react, Leonard had fallen to the floor.
Meanwhile, Paul found Klay wide open.
I'm the best shooter in this league, Klay thought as he rose.
Swish!
13–6.
Mark Jackson immediately called a timeout. The Knicks were on a roll — splashes everywhere.
Lin jogged over and patted Klay on the head. "Nice one."
Klay nodded, fists clenched. That kind of trust — that green light from a teammate — that's every shooter's dream. He felt lucky, really lucky.
Across the court, Curry glanced at Lin Yi during the timeout.
He knew what was coming.
Some battles you don't wait for — you take them.
"Come on, guys, wake up!" Curry barked, giving Leonard a pat on the back. Jackson watched, quietly pleased. David Lee wasn't a vocal leader, but Curry? He had that fire.
Out of the timeout, the Warriors found their rhythm again. Curry danced with the ball — behind the back, step-back three over Paul — Cousins' screen bought him a fraction of a second. That was all he needed.
Swish! 13–9.
Paul looked over at Lin Yi and Curry, shaking his head. What the hell did Davidson feed these guys?
But Oracle's cheers barely had time to fade before Lin Yi answered back.
Leonard stood there, wide-eyed, as Lin Yi brought the ball up. One dribble. Step back. Deep — way deep. Harden-range deep.
The ball arced high, painting a golden rainbow through the air.
Swish!
The crowd went silent for half a second.
Leonard just stared, frozen. He'd seen Lin's highlights, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.
Powerless. Overwhelmed.
And that was the moment something changed.
By the end of 2011, Klay Thompson would be rising with confidence, and Kawhi Leonard would be rebuilding from nights like this — two careers splitting in opposite directions.
Years later, Danny Green would write in his memoir:
"You might not believe it, but back in New York, the two things I heard most from the bench were, 'Danny, shoot!' and 'Danny, if you don't shoot, sit down!'"
Pure, beautiful, unstoppable but controlled chaos.
...
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