Tyson Chandler took off first.
Lin Yi pushed the ball ahead and fired a pass to the wing. Chandler caught it in stride, rose with no defender in sight, and threw down a clean windmill.
Slam.
20 to 26.
Yu Jia's voice lifted. "There we go. That's the response the Knicks needed."
Zhang Heli laughed softly. "People used to compare D'Antoni to old Nelson. Now look at this. Green at the five. On paper, they look smaller, but check the numbers, their average height is still higher than Golden State's lineup. And the pace? It just went up another level."
Strange. That was the only word that fit.
Lin Yi was unconventional. This team had followed suit.
The Warriors tried to answer. Middleton cut hard toward the rim, but Draymond rotated early, got his body in position, and forced an awkward miss. Lin Yi secured the rebound and immediately pushed the break himself.
On the sideline, Mark Jackson had already figured it out. This lineup was not really about offense. Its backbone was defense.
Livingston, Klay, and Chandler pressured the wings relentlessly. Every screen led to a switch. No hesitation. No confusion. This was not the big lineup New York used against the Mavericks in the Finals. This one was built to chase down athletic teams and run them into the ground.
You want to run. Fine. We will run harder.
Chandler struck again on the break, finishing through contact.
22 to 26.
Yu Jia added, "According to the stats, fifty five percent of his scoring over the last three seasons came directly off Lin Yi's passes."
Zhang smiled. "So more than half his offense is assisted by Lin Yi. Lin does elevate his teammates. The numbers back it up."
In the stands, Curry's family watched closely. So did Draymond Green's mother, dressed neatly in a plaid skirt.
When the Knicks drafted Green, she said her son would become somebody in this league. Many people brushed it off. Second-round picks rarely break through, especially 22-year-olds without elite size.
Green had a strong college career at Michigan State. All-time leading rebounder. Still, doubts followed him. He was 201 centimeters tall. His wingspan was not eye-catching.
Could he guard NBA wings?
Could he keep up with the pace?
At small forward, probably not.
Green understood that better than anyone.
At the Bahamas training camp, Lin Yi tested him with questions about the 2012 draft. Green remembered everything.
Who went where?
Which school. What pick.
"I remember every name," Green told him calmly. "And I plan to prove I'm better than most of them."
Green approached the league with respect. He took notes at every team meeting, even when he was not in the rotation. Once, during a regular-season game, he leaned toward Klay on the bench.
"On that fourth set, you were supposed to cut baseline first, then screen at the elbow. You flipped it."
He said it matter-of-factly.
Lin Yi saw the discipline growing. That was why he kept guiding him. Defensive footwork. Angles. Timing. He knew that if Green found the right role, the story would write itself.
This lineup had been Lin Yi's suggestion. Green at the center. Switch everything. Push the pace. Let Lin Yi roam as a help defender instead of wrestling in the paint all night.
For Green, it was an opportunity.
"If this works," he once told Lin quietly, "I won't waste it."
The Knicks trusted a rookie with real responsibility. Not garbage minutes. Not token starts. Real pressure.
Last year, when reporters asked Lin Yi about relying so much on Klay, he kept it simple. "If you never play rookies, they stay rookies."
Back on the floor, the Knicks' cavalry kept charging.
The Warriors began to realize that the rookie anchoring the paint was not easy to move. He absorbed contact, held his ground, and recovered fast enough to contest at the rim.
By the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read 35 to 30.
Knicks up five.
Golden State was rising, no doubt. But at this stage, they were still chasing.
As the buzzer sounded, Curry looked across at Lin Yi.
He tightened his fist, said nothing, and walked toward the bench.
. . .
. .
.
The Warriors were rattled by the Knicks' Death Lineup. The pace, the switching, the pressure, it threw them off balance.
After the game, things only got louder.
Klay and Draymond were quickly added to what Warriors fans jokingly called the "blacklist." Livingston joined them soon after, thanks to a postgame comment that spiraled out of control.
He had said, in a calm tone, "Posting up Steph isn't that complicated. If you get your spot, you get your shot."
That was it. Simple basketball talk.
Some reporters trimmed it down to, "It's easy to score on Curry."
From there, the narrative ran wild. Suddenly, it became a statement about Curry's defense.
To be fair, how many guards in the league could handle Livingston one-on-one in the post? His release point was so high that even Dwyane Wade once joked about it. If Livingston had a little more scoring aggression and wasn't bogged down by previous injuries, he would have been a nightmare matchup for most point guards.
As for Klay, the defensive intensity between him and Curry was now public. What used to be quiet competitiveness was suddenly framed as tension.
Then there was Draymond. In the second half, he blocked Curry at the rim and barked something at him on the way back down the floor. It was pure emotion, but to Warriors fans it looked like disrespect.
By now, Curry had become the golden boy in the Bay. Some fans even said online, "Steph's too nice for this. Why are they going at him like that?"
Final score, 119 to 106. Knicks win.
Lin Yi logged 39 minutes.
Eleven of nineteen from the field, two of three from deep, perfect from the line.
Thirty points, twelve rebounds, eleven assists, three blocks, two steals. Efficient and in control.
Draymond's stat line looked modest at first glance.
One of five shots, two points, but eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks, two steals. His fingerprints were everywhere.
Klay stayed hot. Nine of fourteen overall, seven of nine from three. Twenty-seven points.
Chris Paul shifted into more of a facilitator role, with thirteen points and five assists, content to let the wings cook.
On the other side, Curry battled through heavy coverage.
Twelve of twenty-eight from the field, six of fifteen from three, four for four at the line. Thirty four points, six boards, seven assists.
In the third quarter, when Golden State surged, his deep threes had Knicks fans holding their breath.
Leonard added fifteen and six. Middleton knocked down four threes for eighteen. Cousins finished with ten points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Solid, but not dominant.
For viewers, it was a show. Once New York stretched the lead to fifteen behind the Death Lineup, Golden State answered with a barrage of threes to erase it.
Lin Yi opened the fourth quarter himself, attacking mismatches possession after possession. He did not rush the scoring, but simply took what was there.
The difference showed late. The Knicks had Finals experience. The Warriors were still learning how to close at this level. Talent was not the issue. Timing was.
Kobe watched the game from home. By the final buzzer, he understood something clearly. Lin Yi had not been exaggerating. This Warriors team was young, but if they stayed together and kept growing, the West could belong to them for a long time.
Popovich saw it too. He had already been tracking the Knicks. Now the Warriors demanded equal attention. Quietly, he began thinking ahead. Better to prepare early than scramble later.
Curry, despite the loss, walked away with confidence.
During offseason training, Lin Yi had told him, "See you in the Finals."
At the time, Curry had laughed it off. Now, it did not sound unrealistic.
After the game, Curry even shared a few new dad stories with Lin Yi, relaxed and smiling.
Before heading to the locker room, he said, "Next time we're in New York, we're taking that one."
Lin Yi noticed the change. The old version of Curry would dwell on the loss. This one was already looking ahead. The edge was there.
A few days later, the Knicks returned to New York. The league announced the starters for the 2013 Houston All-Star Game.
In the East, the starters were Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Lin Yi. With the center position removed from voting, Lin Yi would slide back to the five for the exhibition.
Boston fans had rallied behind Garnett, ensuring the veteran a starting spot despite the Celtics' decline.
Klay earned a reserve selection thanks to his breakout season. Tyson Chandler made his first All-Star team as well. Four Knicks heading to Houston.
The East reserves included Rajon Rondo, Klay, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, and Chris Bosh.
Out West, the debate was louder. The starters were Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard.
Curry's selection drew mixed reactions. Bay Area fans had mobilized heavily, with support pouring in from across the region. But some analysts argued he had not yet reached automatic starter status.
Russell Westbrook, who had filmed ads with Curry the previous summer, bluntly said in an interview, "I don't really know him like that."
It was classic Westbrook, direct and unapologetic.
Then Oscar Robertson weighed in, suggesting that today's game allowed players who relied heavily on shooting to thrive more easily. He implied that Curry would have struggled in earlier eras and even questioned whether he deserved the starting nod.
Curry called Lin Yi afterward.
"Man, why does it feel like everyone's coming at me now?" he said, half joking, half serious.
Lin Yi replied evenly, "It means they're paying attention. Keep playing."
Fame always brings noise.
He got his fair share when on the rise too.
For Curry, it was simply the next step.
. . .
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