"Beep, beep!"
Gentry immediately called a timeout, using the Suns' final timeout of the game.
"Oh no!"
In the stands, countless Suns fans clutched their heads, eyes wide. LeBron's near game-winning three had pushed them almost to despair.
"Fuck!"
"Wade was defended that tightly by Blake Su, trapped in a corner like that, and he still managed to pass across several players and get the ball out?!
"LeBron's three-point percentage this season is only 33.3 percent, but in a moment this tense, with this much pressure, he still hits the three?!
"What kind of clutch is that?!"
"That damn [LeBron-Wade Connection] again. I'm honestly speechless!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Damn it, back when Kobe and Paul tried to team up, the league wouldn't approve it. So why would they let LeBron and Wade, two top-five-level players in the league, join forces?!
"Why?!
"Isn't that nonsense?
"And then you add 'CB4' Bosh on top of that. When those three get serious together, how are other teams supposed to play? How are they supposed to beat them?!"
"There's no point talking about that now."
"Exactly. 4.2 seconds left, down by 1. It's only one point, but for the Suns, this is absolutely terrible."
"Yeah. Compared with the Heat having 22.8 seconds to chase 2 points, the Suns only have 4.2 seconds to chase 1. The difficulty is much higher, and the pressure is several times greater.
"The key is.
"They still have to deal with the 'Heat Big Three's' suffocating defense. Scoring here... is just too hard."
"Even if Blake Su is 'the man born for game-winners,' in this situation, winning tonight is still incredibly difficult."
"Sigh... where are the superheroes? The 'Heat Big Three' are like movie villains. There's just no one who can deal with them."
"..."
The LeBron-Wade connection had produced a play that was both incredibly difficult and seemingly impossible to stop.
LeBron's near game-winner drained the fighting spirit from many Suns fans. Some older fans with worse tempers had already started cursing out loud.
But.
There were still plenty of fans clenching their fists, praying for the Suns.
They believed that in these final 4.2 seconds, Blake Su would turn into a superhero, create another miracle, and save the team once again with a game-winner.
...
On the Heat bench.
They were drawing up their defensive plan, a plan specifically meant to stop Blake Su's offense. They knew... the next shot would definitely be taken by Blake Su.
...
On the Suns bench.
They were drawing up their offense, just as the Heat expected. The play was built around Blake Su, letting the player with the huge "clutch" heart finish the next possession.
Not just the Heat. The entire arena, even the whole league, and everyone watching the game at that moment knew it.
The next possession.
Would definitely go to Blake Su!
Now... it all came down to whether the Heat could stop him, or whether Blake Su would hit the shot.
"Do you think Blake Su can do it?!"
In the boiling stands, Pippen asked Jordan. Jordan touched his gold Rolex and smiled faintly. "Of course I hope Blake Su can do it.
"Because.
"That would be another game-winner that goes down in history. That would be very interesting."
...
Across the stands.
Yi Jianlian asked Yao Ming the same question. Without hesitation, Yao Ming clenched his fist and said firmly, "I believe in Blake Su. He'll become a superhero and pull off the counter game-winner."
"That's what I'm hoping too!"
Yi Jianlian nodded hard.
"Beep, beep!"
With the whistle.
The timeout ended, and the final 4.2-second, life-or-death possession was about to begin.
"Go Suns!"
"Blake Su... hit the game-winner on the Heat!"
The Suns fans roared wildly, cheering for their home team.
"Win? A game-winner? Impossible!"
The Heat fans naturally did not believe that Blake Su, a rookie, could hit a game-winner in front of the "Heat Big Three." That was simply absurd.
"LeBron's near game-winner already killed the game!"
"My Heat are winning tonight!"
The Heat fans shouted just as fiercely, cheering for their team.
The two sides screamed at each other, pushing the atmosphere in the arena to its peak. But... when Nash stood on the sideline, ready to inbound the ball, the arena went quiet again.
Everyone stared at Blake Su, holding their breath as they watched the next possession unfold.
The game resumed.
Nash inbounded from the sideline.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su sprinted wildly through screens, while LeBron, Wade, and Bosh swarmed him, desperately denying him any chance to catch the ball.
But.
After several sharp back-and-forth cuts, Blake Su still used a screen to curl free and set up on the right side of the arc.
"Whoosh!"
Nash decisively threw a high pass out to him, but... the ball was a little too high. Blake Su turned sideways and leaped high before finally securing it.
And in that opening.
LeBron and Wade both rushed over, ready to trap Blake Su.
"Whoosh!"
The instant Blake Su caught the ball and landed, he took one breath to gather himself, then sprinted full speed toward the middle of the arc, trying to shake them both.
4.2 seconds.
3.3 seconds.
...
Time drained away fast.
"Step!"
George stepped out to screen, blocking Wade just enough from behind and leaving only LeBron chasing Blake Su with everything he had.
"Whoosh!"
Blake Su sprinted all the way to the middle of the arc. He still had not shaken off LeBron, but with only 1.8 seconds left, he could not keep running.
"Screech!"
Planting on his left foot, Blake Su stopped on a dime. At the same time, he gathered the ball and jumped, then... leaning back in an off-balance motion, he fired over LeBron's contest.
"Whoosh!"
He leaned back and launched the three.
The ball rose at an extreme height, flying over LeBron's fingertips. The backboard lights came on right after, the clock expiring at the exact moment.
"Wow!"
"An off-balance buzzer-beating fadeaway three over LeBron's block!!!"
Jeff Van Gundy practically jumped as he shouted those words.
At that moment.
Every eye was locked on the spinning basketball in the air. Countless fans had already raised their hands, ready to erupt.
The arena was silent, almost frozen. Only the basketball spun through the air, drawing a beautiful arc as it flew toward the rim.
Then.
In "CB4" Bosh's wide-mouthed shock, as if he had seen a ghost.
In "Flash" Wade's disbelief, his eyes stretched wide and his jaw nearly dropping.
In "King James" LeBron's stunned expression as he turned back to look.
Under everyone's disbelieving gaze, the spinning ball plunged straight into the net and snapped the mesh.
"Swish!"
Straight through the heart.
The three pierced the net!
"Monster Rookie" Blake Su, shooting over "King James" LeBron's block, hit an off-balance buzzer-beating three and delivered the counter game-winner against the Heat.
He... had become a superhero and defeated the great villains, the "Heat Big Three."
"Boom!"
The instant the ball ripped through the net with that crisp sound.
A tidal wave of cheers erupted throughout US Airways Center, spreading far beyond it, as if all of Phoenix were still ringing with the echo!!!
...
...
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