By March, New York had warmed up considerably. Just as the country marveled at the Knicks' seemingly unshakable stability, their luxury streak suddenly hit a wall—losses started piling up.
On the 14th, at Madison Square Garden, the visiting Blazers ambushed the Knicks 117–105, becoming the first team to take them down in the second half of the 2011–2012 season. And yes, this was the Blazers missing both Roy and Oden due to injuries.
After the game, the Knicks' locker room became ground zero for a familiar battle: Lin Yi versus Paul.
"Lin, you actually let LaMarcus drop thirty on us?" Paul said, shaking his head with mock disappointment.
Lin Yi's face heated. "Chris, don't pin that on me. Markieff was clearly the one guarding LaMarcus tonight!"
Big Morris, standing nearby, looked on like: What did I do?
"And Chris, are you jealous of my triple-double average?" Lin Yi shot back. "You had six assists and eight turnovers. Trying to invent a new kind of triple-double?"
Paul argued back. "Turnovers don't count if I'm running the offense!"
The other Knicks just shook their heads. This was nothing new—Lin Yi and Paul bickering was part of the daily routine. Even as a third-year player, Lin Yi wasn't inexperienced, and Paul was the league's top point guard. Whenever these two went at it, everyone else hovered nervously on the sidelines.
By the 16th, after a day of rest, the Knicks hit their first losing streak. The Pacers squeaked past them 110–106 on the road, and the Pacers celebrated as though they'd just won the Eastern Conference.
The star of the night?
The game-changer was Paul George. PG dropped 22 points and 11 rebounds and defended Lin Yi so ferociously that Lin Yi's field-goal percentage dipped below 50%—a first for March.
Pre-injury Paul George had real talent. Watching him lock down Lin Yi felt like a modern twist on the old Rockets tactic of putting McGrady on Nowitzki. PG's mad-dog intensity was a reminder that sometimes, even Kobe fans had to pay homage to their idols on the court.
Lin Yi sighed. "I really miss the days when scoring was easy. Now it's just… surviving Kobe mode."
The Pacers were no fluke—they'd rebuilt well, acquiring David West and cementing a spot as one of the East's rising powers. With the Celtics declining, the Pacers were shaping up as a main rival for the Knicks.
Even old Bird had thrown in his two cents before the game. "If Lin hits 25 points tonight," he joked to the media, "Paul George should go drive a truck!"
Lin Yi ended the game with 24 points, hounded by PG the entire time. He couldn't help thinking: If you put this kind of effort into guarding LeBron, His runner-up streak would've ended years ago.
And then there was the funny moment with the Morris brothers. Rookie Klay Thompson mistakenly passed to Marcus Morris, thinking he was Markieff on the court. Klay was flustered, and after the game, and joked, "They really do look alike. I'd rather pass by face recognition than jersey."
Marcus didn't shine as brightly as his older brother, but Lin Yi saw potential. With Battier aging and declining, Marcus could step in—maybe not stop LeBron entirely, but at least wear him down.
Lin Yi knew this was the reality: as long as LeBron ruled the East, peak matchups were inevitable.
Too bad NBA rosters were limited; otherwise, Lin Yi would've assembled all the "King James Terminators" from memory onto a single team.
...
On the 17th, the Knicks faced the Pacers again in a back-to-back matchup. Before the game, Lin Yi decided to challenge the old show-off himself—Bird. In an interview, Lin Yi confidently declared, "I'm going to score 40 points tonight. Otherwise… I'll go drive a truck."
The media laughed, and some of Lin's haters even chimed in: Can't wait to see him driving that truck!
Paul shook his head and thought. If he keeps shooting like that, how could he not hit 40?
Paul wasn't wrong. Even with a slightly off touch in recent games, Lin Yi could easily take 50 shots if he really wanted to. Missing 30? Almost impossible.
As expected, Paul George was relentless on defense. Lin Yi knew the moment Granger got injured, PG would take over as the Pacers' primary star.
The Pacers weren't a powerhouse historically, but with Bird running things behind the scenes, they weren't decaying as the Clippers had for decades. Bird had proven that not every former star makes a poor GM, or makes poor decisions like some might expect.
PG's constant harassment annoyed Lin Yi, but the two Kobe fans couldn't resist putting on a show. Lin Yi's shooting wasn't at peak form yet, so he switched gears—running pick-and-rolls wildly with Tyson Chandler.
When Hibbert repeatedly switched onto him, Lin Yi didn't panic. He looked helpless as Lin Yi worked his magic in the interior. In the second quarter, a slow-motion move left Hibbert sprawling to the floor.
"Oh ho ho, Lin's YouTube highlights just got upgraded! That's the second time Hibbert's been sent to YouTube by him. Honestly, I've been commentating for a while, and I've never seen the same guy get faked twice in the same way!" Kenny Smith remarked.
Hibbert was simply too slow. Lin Yi hadn't even pulled out his back-to-the-basket moves yet. Still, by relentlessly attacking the Pacers' interior and taking 35 shots, Lin Yi finished with 41 points, pulling off a spectacular show. The Knicks won 101–99 on the road, finally ending their recent generous giving streak.
Postgame, reporters turned to the old show-off, Bird. Talking about Lin Yi, Bird said, "He's very good. I think he's already one of the best scorers in the league."
Bird genuinely admired Lin Yi. The young star's recent imitation show had reignited Bird's memories of his own legendary days. Bird smiled to himself: This kid's got real potential.
It was the same kind of admiration Jordan had for Kobe—without Kobe, Jordan might not have been mentioned so often in the years after his prime.
After returning to New York on the 18th, Lin Yi received a call from Curry, who had just made a strong comeback. The good news: if the Warriors renewed Curry's contract early that summer, the 4-year, $44 million deal would never happen again.
Lin Yi pondered Durant's future. If KD ever shifted from foe to ally, where would he go? Some things were inevitable. Even though Lin Yi had changed history in other ways, he couldn't prevent certain outcomes—like how Rose had eventually suffered an injury despite Lin's warning.
...
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