The Knicks' game against the Spurs was set for the 7th. After arriving in San Antonio on the 6th, Lin Yi tentatively gave Popovich a call. To his surprise, the old man didn't just pick up—he actually agreed to dinner after the game tomorrow night.
And get this—Popovich insisted he would pay.
Lin Yi couldn't help but think the man was incredible. But when D'Antoni heard that Lin Yi had a dinner date with Pop, the look on his face was priceless: equal parts worry and jealousy, like he was afraid Lin Yi might be abducted.
"Don't worry, Coach," Lin Yi said with a grin. "I'm not planning to live in San Antonio."
He had grown used to New York and had zero intentions of moving.
The dinner wasn't about sightseeing—it was all curiosity. Lin Yi wanted a closer look at the legendary coach and, maybe, to check if some of the time-travel rumors his fans whispered about were true.
Back to the main point: the Spurs game. This was the Knicks' third game in five days, four battles in total. And despite all the timeline shifts, the Spurs were still… rising. Well, rising wasn't exactly the right word—people had been talking about the Spurs being past their peak for years.
The 2011–12 Spurs still leaned on the GDP trio. George Hill was still on the roster—and he was playing even better than Lin Yi remembered. Maybe the Pacers never got Pop's instruction manual in the old timeline.
The real surprise this season, though, was their rookie: Jimmy Butler.
Butler's life trajectory had changed completely. The kid, built for defense, fit this Spurs team perfectly. Unlike Kawhi, he hadn't taken forever to physically develop. In the previous life, Thibodeau had overused him, keeping him stuck on the bench for two years.
Now?
He was playing 29 minutes per game, averaging 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, with 40.1% from the field and 30.5% from three.
He'd even drilled corner threes all summer. Not the most reliable yet, but his defensive energy gave the aging Spurs roster a boost. In a February game against the Lakers, Butler made Kobe work defensively—though mostly because Kobe bricked like crazy.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard in this timeline was struggling with the Warriors.
What impressed Lin Yi most about Butler was his body, durable from years of training. If the Spurs could still get Aldridge and Pau Gasol later, anyone claiming this team was in decline was clearly blind.
On the evening of the 7th, after a day's rest in San Antonio, the Knicks faced the Spurs at the AT&T Center. Lin Yi quickly realized he couldn't escape Duncan's enormous hands.
By tomorrow, he decided, he would get a buzz cut.
The Spurs, though, were masters at finding hidden talent. The Knicks had intercepted Green occasionally, which allowed Mills more playing time. They even signed Stephen Jackson before the trade deadline. This was far from a weak roster.
Currently third in the Western Conference, the Spurs looked capable of ambushing anyone.
But tonight, Lin Yi's frustration was familiar. He felt sharp, in rhythm… yet, like the Mavericks game, he still ran into obstacles.
The Limitless Range switch was dormant again.
Ever since tasting the thrill of showing off, Lin Yi has been waiting patiently for it.
That night, Popovich once again demonstrated his coaching brilliance. Without a true rim protector, he let Duncan anchor the paint. Meanwhile, Stephen Jackson and Butler rotated to guard Lin Yi. They couldn't shut him down completely, but they made him uncomfortable.
And that, Lin Yi realized, was a good sign. Even under pressure, he was winning one-on-one battles. Every play he executed forced Popovich to squint from the sidelines, clearly envious.
I need a cornerstone player like that for my team.
Popovich shook his head. Unless San Antonio somehow became the largest city in America overnight, he'd never get Lin Yi on his team in this lifetime.
The old coach let out a long sigh. Lin Yi and Paul were probably the strongest inside-outside duo he'd ever seen. Unlike the OK combination, the 404 duo played a mix of one-on-one and organized basketball—but once their sequences clicked, they became unstoppable.
D'Antoni, meanwhile, was working his usual magic. Even though Paul's assists had dipped this season, his scoring went through the roof—career-high 24.8 points per game—and can you believe he was launching 6.8 threes a night?
Since February, the Knicks had shifted focus from chasing wins to conserving energy. Their three-point attempts were creeping toward 40 per game, rivaling even the future Houston Rockets.
Lin Yi wasn't bragging, but he did feel that Old D might be the coach with the best but simplest approach in the league. Most timeouts boiled down to one thing: "We still haven't thrown enough. Throw more!"
In D'Antoni-speak, the options were simple: Swish, swish, swish to win the game, or clank, clank, clank to lose the game.
There was a funny little moment in this Spurs matchup. Lin Yi had gone to eavesdrop on the Spurs' tactics—but no one chased him off. Duncan even made some space and, with a slight smile, ruffled Lin Yi's hair.
After a few plays, Lin Yi realized why: Popovich wasn't planning to go all-out. The GDP trio played less than 20 minutes. The old man was just trying to rest his starters.
After all, even if Popovich didn't mind fines, the Spurs weren't as wealthy as the Mavericks. Frugality had been a Spurs tradition for decades.
So the Knicks discovered that this brutal four-game road trip wasn't... nearly as punishing as it sounded. The demoralized Celtics, the resting Mavericks, the rotating Spurs—basically, all friendly forces.
"Where are the Knicks finding all these 3D players?" Popovich muttered during the game. Danny Green alone would make any coach envious, but then he noticed the rookie Klay Thompson—maybe even stronger than Green.
Popovich wasn't a die-hard three-point hater, but he knew the value of 3D players: don't hog the ball, attack and defend efficiently. Any team serious about a deep playoff run needed them.
Yet the Knicks seemed determined to dominate the league in that category.
By the end of the game, after Popovich had been drooling over the Knicks' roster all night, New York walked away with a 119–97 road win.
And for Lin Yi, the night wasn't over—he capped it off with a late-night meal with a reluctant Popovich.
...
Please do leave a review and powerstones, helps with the book's exposure.
Feel like joining a Patreon for free and subscribing to advanced chapters?
Visit the link:
[email protected]/GRANDMAESTA_30
Change @ to a