On the 4th, the Knicks cruised past a deflated Celtics team in the first game of their four-game road stretch.
The highlight of the night came midway through the second quarter. Lin Yi was running with the second unit while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett anchored Boston's lineup.
Garnett, who had taken a beating from Lin Yi earlier, finally got a chance to take it out on someone—and unfortunately for the Knicks, the target was rookie Donatas Motiejūnas. Still green to the league's darker arts, Motiejūnas anticipated a hard drop-step from Garnett, only for KG to pull back at the last moment, spin, and hit a smooth turnaround jumper.
After the shot, Garnett thumped his chest and barked at the rookie, "Man, you couldn't guard me in a phone booth!" Garnett then shrugged, " Hey, but don't worry, I'll slow down eventually… maybe."
Motiejūnas froze. It wasn't that he hadn't heard trash talk before—just nothing remotely as brutal as Garnett's.
Garnett couldn't bully Lin Yi, so he doubled down on the next best option: the rookie. And once he found a weakness, he never stopped. One line after another, he kept coming.
"Soft as a cream puff," Garnett chirped on the next possession. "What's next—pink Hello Kitty underwear or maybe a Barbi–"
Before the sentence could be completed, the rookie's composure snapped. He nearly swung at Garnett until teammates jumped in and held him back. Garnett only leaned closer and kept jawing until the officials stepped in, calling the two over for a warning.
Lin Yi walked over to the fuming Motiejūnas, giving him a light tap on the head. "Donatas, breathe. This is the NBA. You've got to grow into it."
Motijunas gritted his teeth. "Lin, I get that he's trying to get in my head, but I'm not just supposed to take it."
"Then give it back to him," Lin Yi said simply.
Motiejunas blinked. "How?"
Lin Yi offered the oldest lesson in basketball: show, don't tell.
On the next offensive play, he blew past Pierce with one step, rose, and hammered home a reverse two-handed dunk. As he landed, he stared straight at the Celtics bench and crowd before putting his right index finger to his lips.
TD Garden erupted in boos. Lin Yi didn't flinch.
"Like that," he told Motiejunas as he got back on defense.
Motiejūnas just stared. Brother… I can't dunk like that.
"…Anything else?" he asked.
Lin Yi scratched his head.
Domineering shooting?
The system, as if hearing his thoughts, flicked on Limitless Range—his shooting touch was officially running Hot.
50-50 chance.
He spun for God Mode. The indicator on his Limitless Range badge spun… and lucky for him, it landed right on God Mode.
After a Celtics miss, Lin Yi drifted toward midcourt off the ball. He glanced at Doc Rivers on the sideline and raised his voice just enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"Hey Doc, tell your guys to pay attention. I'm pulling from right here in a minute."
He pointed straight at the logo.
Rivers' expression froze. Even the scorer's table heard him.
On the TNT broadcast, Kenny Smith couldn't hold back. "Oh boy… Charles, is Lin about to do a Bird-style revenge shot for the rookie?"
"I don't know, Kenny," Barkley said. "That's the logo. Is he—"
Before he could finish, Lin Yi sprinted directly to the exact spot he'd pointed at.
Pierce followed and immediately realized the danger: Lin Yi was actually serious.
McGrady got the ball on the wing, spotted Lin Yi drifting into space at midcourt, and fired the pass.
Pierce lunged forward, desperate to stop the showmanship. Lin Yi didn't even hesitate. Even with Pierce flying into his airspace, he rose and fired, landing cleanly on both feet.
He didn't watch the shot.
He just turned, made his gun shot celebration on one knee, and held the pose—
Swish.
Whistle.
A four-point play from the logo.
TD Garden went dead quiet.
Pierce and Garnett could only stare at Lin Yi, stunned. Doc Rivers practically looked ready to collapse. Even the Celtics' bench, who had been glaring at Lin Yi a moment ago, suddenly went quiet.
"Oh my God… oh ho ho, Larry Bird himself wouldn't have imagined someone would avenge a teammate like this," Kenny Smith said, holding his head as if he'd just seen a ghost.
"This is Lin! He's on another level—he's tearing the Celtics apart out there!" Barkley shouted, barely containing himself. The whole thing was outrageous; Lin Yi's response was downright ruthless.
Fans watching at home didn't know whether to laugh, scream, or bow in respect. A LOGO three was one thing… calling your shot before you take it was something else entirely. Lastly, hitting a celebration like that was out of the world.
Rivers hurriedly signaled for a timeout. That four-point play felt like a punch to the gut. Even the veteran Celtics players looked around in disbelief. Stories like this were supposed to stay in legends—not happen to you in real life.
Damn… number 44. Was he even playing the same sport?
Garnett, meanwhile, felt nothing but relief. Thank goodness he hadn't poked Lin Yi earlier. He still remembered how his legs nearly gave out guarding him in last year's playoffs. Lin didn't care about age, seniority—nothing. If you crossed him, he'd bury you.
When Lin Yi walked back to the bench, he glanced around the TD Garden. The boos had vanished. In their place was a stunned silence, broken only by gasps whenever the replay showed up on the big screen.
"How was that for a little showmanship?" Lin leaned down and asked Chris Paul.
Paul squinted like he was grading homework. "One point."
"Only one?" Lin bewildered.
"I kept the other ninety-nine. Didn't want you getting cocky," Paul replied, trying and failing to hide a grin.
Paul was genuinely pleased. Motiejūnas was their guy, and seeing him get bullied by Garnett had rubbed him the wrong way.
As for making enemies? Paul wasn't worried. He wasn't the same Paul who once dreamed of just touching the Western Conference Finals floor. The Celtics weren't a team he feared anymore.
Motiejūnas, meanwhile, looked completely lost.
How was he supposed to learn that?
When Lin finally sat down, the whole Knicks bench sprang into action—waving towels like madmen.
Klay, Markieff Morris, Parsons, and the other young guys all stared at him like he was some alien. Having a leader like this… yeah, life was good.
Tyson Chandler shook his head with a sigh. No wonder people rarely talked trash to Lin. They knew better. The consequences? He'd carve you up in ten different ways before you even realized what happened.
During the timeout, Lin borrowed a phone from assistant coach Dan. Paul looked over, confused.
"Lin, what now?"
"I'm checking Bird's old quotes. If I'm going to be the bad guy tonight, I might as well go all the way."
God Mode still had fifty seconds left. Lin wasn't planning to waste a single one. He knew he'd already enraged every Celtics fan in the building.
But if he was going to offend them, he figured he might as well do it properly. It would be years before the Celtics were relevant again anyway.
...
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