After the timeout, both teams' starters returned.
The Suns led by one. Lakers ball.
Kobe held it at the top of the arc, but the arena's surging, electric roar belonged to the Suns—belonged to Blake Su, who had just hit 10 threes and dropped 54.
Kobe's eyes were cold and razor-sharp, like a viper's. The craving for victory made him lock all the way in.
Against Carter, he dribbled with his left, a hesitation… then a hard burst, a sudden stop, another burst—changing rhythm to shake Carter—and drove down the left side into the paint.
Swish!
He hung in the air, avoided Frye's block with a double-clutch, and banked it in.
"Tough enough!"
"In crunch time, you still look to the Black Mamba!"
"That bucket puts Kobe over 40 tonight."
Possession flipped.
Nash pushed it up quickly and settled at the top. Blake Su cut to the right low post, and Artest and Pau Gasol immediately shaded that way. Nash read it and kicked to Carter in the left corner.
Carter rose for three—
Clang!
No good.
Bynum muscled through Frye for the rebound and fired it out to Kobe on the perimeter.
Go!
Kobe went end-to-end, but Blake Su was flying too—head down, full sprint from the other side. They reached the rim almost at the same time. Kobe glanced sideways, catching Blake Su in his peripheral—
Swish!
He dropped it behind him.
The trailing Pau Gasol caught it at the free-throw line, took three long steps, and laid it in. With Blake Su drawn by Kobe, Gasol finished the break cleanly.
"The Lakers are still the Lakers. One stop, one score—championship DNA. Four straight points, and they're back up three, back in control."
In the stands, LeBron spoke up. Wade nodded.
"Defense is the foundation of winning. That's always been true. Honestly, it's our style too."
"Yeah," LeBron agreed without arguing. "People act like we're unbeatable, but our chemistry's still coming along.
But you, me, and Bosh—if we defend hard enough to force turnovers or make teams take bad shots, we can run.
That's our winning formula right now."
"Exactly." Wade smiled faintly. "And our adjustment period is getting shorter. I think… it won't be long before we're even stronger."
...
On the floor, Curry brought it up. Off Blake Su's screen, he turned the corner to the right wing above the arc and fired a three—too much on it. The ball rattled up off the rim.
Rebound?!
Bynum and Frye were battling like mad under the basket. Pau Gasol timed it perfectly, poking the ball out—straight toward Fisher at the top.
But—
Whoosh!
Blake Su beat him to it, springing up like he fell from the sky and snatching the ball out of the air. With Fisher still processing what happened, Blake Su took a step-back and launched a three.
"Trying to keep the threes coming?!"
Mike Breen had been waiting for that moment… but this one didn't fall.
Yet Curry came up with a huge offensive rebound.
He kicked it right back out—
"Still looking for Blake Su on the perimeter—oh! Blake Su catches it and, without hesitation, draws back and fires again! Fisher closes out hard, but… Blake Su's elevation is just too much!"
The ball's in the air—this one…?!
Swish! Got it! What a shot!
Blake Su nails another three—ties the game—and that's his 11th triple tonight!"
Mike Breen was fired up, and even Jeff Van Gundy beside him could only shake his head, stunned by Blake Su's insane shooting spree.
"My God!"
"Eleven threes—what kind of center does that?!"
In the stands, David Robinson—an old-school legend—stared with his mouth hanging open, completely stunned by Blake Su's laser-accurate threes.
"Seriously," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, pushing up his glasses in disbelief. "It's too accurate. As a center, Blake Su's three is just… too accurate.
If we had that in our day, I think my career total would've gone past 40,000."
"Heh." Hakeem Olajuwon chuckled. "True. Give me a three-ball that accurate, and I'd have cleared 30,000 easy."
Robinson wasn't in the mood to joke at all. Still staring at the court, he blurted, "Look—Blake Su's got it outside the arc again.
He's already made 11 threes tonight.
One more and he ties the single-game record—12 threes—held by Kobe and Marshall. Wow—look! He's shooting again!
That's a ridiculous three over Artest and Pau Gasol!
This one…?!
Bang!
He hit it again!
Unbelievable—Blake Su just made his 12th three, tying the single-game record—and he did it as a center!
My God!
This is insane!"
Robinson was completely floored, his jaw dropping wider and wider.
"Hahaha!" Olajuwon laughed, thrilled. Kareem laughed too, saying, "In my eyes, Blake Su isn't a center at all if he's making 12 threes.
He's just a tall sniper!"
Boom!
And it wasn't just those three legendary big men. Almost everyone in the arena was stunned by Blake Su's outrageous 12-three-point show—screaming and roaring as the home crowd's already-blazing atmosphere detonated.
"Twelve threes, sixty points—Blake Su not only tied the single-game three-point record held by Kobe and Marshall, he's also reached 60 and officially joined the 60-point club!" Mike Breen shouted.
Jeff Van Gundy added loudly, "That's right. Blake Su basically recreated Kobe's explosion from last night. But Kobe's the 'best player in the league,' and Blake Su's just a rookie.
To pull off that kind of copy…
Blake Su… is incredible."
"Way to go!"
The booth was still buzzing, but the game was still raging. The crowd was on fire. With 12 threes, Blake Su had pushed the Suns up three and seized the momentum and tempo.
But… the defending champions weren't buying it.
Kobe brought it up, used a screen, found Nash, stopped on a dime, leaned back, and rose for three—smooth and decisive.
Swish!
Triple.
At the exact moment the Suns' energy peaked, he answered straight on. That was the Black Mamba. That was the real power of the "best player in the league."
Tie game again.
Curry inbounded quickly. Blake Su took it and pushed.
Artest was glued to him, but Blake Su didn't even look his way. He advanced steadily, to the right side above the arc—at least two meters beyond the three-point line.
He glanced at the rim, then—
Swish!
He pulled up and fired anyway, even as Artest came flying with eyes wide, throwing everything into the contest.
A super-deep three, right in a defender's face.
The instant the ball left Blake Su's hand, countless fans surged to their feet, arms raised, already ready to explode—
Swish!
That crisp snap of net cut through the air.
The three drilled the mesh.
And then—
BOOM!
A deafening roar thundered through the arena!
...
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