"He's got his eyes on you."
Falk looked at Jordan and said, "We gotta find a way to flip this situation. From now on, he's got a lot of connections in the league. We can't let him keep breathing down your neck."
"Is it his agent? Oakley helping him?" Jordan suddenly had an idea and thought of Oakley.
"Could be. Oakley and his agent, Wells, got a lot of pull. I know Wells, so maybe I can talk to him first," Falk said.
On the evening of the 23rd, the Knicks were on the road against the Sixers.
This was their second matchup. The Knicks took the last one, but this time, the Sixers were at home, hungry for revenge. The home crowd was electric, and as soon as the Knicks stepped into the arena, the boos came raining down.
Starting Lineups:
Sixers: Derrick Coleman, Scott Williams, Clarence Witherspoon, Jerry Stackhouse, Allen Iverson
Knicks: Patrick Ewing, Zhao Dong, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston, Chris Childs
Charlie Ward was out with an injury, so Chris Childs took over as the starting point guard.
"You wanna get to know me?"
Right before tip-off, Zhao Dong spotted Iverson and threw out the same line as last time.
This time, Alllen had the same cold-ass attitude, not even flinching.
"Heh."
Zhao Dong smirked, locking in on his target for the night.
The game started, and Zhao Dong won the tip. Knicks ball.
"Shit!"
Before he could even post up, he heard a groan from behind. He turned around—Chris Childs just coughed up the rock. Iverson picked his pocket clean.
Swish!
A.l took it coast to coast, Childs trailing but a step too slow. Easy bucket.
Knicks back on offense. Chris Childs brought it up, got it to Ewing.
Big Pat loved his mid-range game, and his hook was solid. He tried to back Coleman down, but the ball slipped off his damn foot. Whistle. Turnover.
Zhao Dong had a bad feeling. No wonder the system threw this sniper mission at him. The whole squad was sloppy as hell. What now?
Sixers' possession.
Iverson wasted no time, zooming up the court, pulling up for a three. Bang! Knicks weren't even set.
Allen was playing chess—he saw the Knicks fumbling and cranked up the tempo, not giving them a chance to breathe.
Next play, Ewing turned it over again, Coleman swiped it, Allen ran it back for another fast break.
Seventy seconds in, and the Sixers blitzed with a 7-0 run.
"Lock in! Focus, focus!" Van Gundy was barking from the sideline, but he didn't call timeout.
That gave Philly all the momentum. The Knicks couldn't get their shit together.
Brick!
Houston pulled up for a mid-range J—off the mark.
Zhao Dong muscled past Scott Williams, snagged the offensive board, and went straight up with a one-handed jump shot. Bucket.
"Oh man! That was FAST and HIGH!" Marv Albert called it on NBC. "Zhao Dong was already a foot above the rim! Williams had no chance!"
Doug Collins chimed in, "His versatility makes him a nightmare to guard. A defender has to read him perfectly—hook shot, floater, back-to-basket, facing-up, left, right, drive, pull-up—it's too much to process in real time."
Iverson came right back down, drew a foul from Childs beyond the arc. Three free throws.
Allen was shaky from the stripe, only shooting 70% for the season. He bricked the first, hit the next two.
Knicks' ball, Houston tried to attack but got called for an offensive foul on Stackhouse. Another turnover.
"Fuck."
Zhao Dong was getting real tired of this mess.
It was a disaster—bad passes, bricks, sloppy defense.
Four minutes in, John Starks checked in for Houston. First possession? Dude lost his handle, and Stackhouse picked him clean.
Fast break—Sixers pushing.
Zhao Dong sprinted back full speed from half-court. Philly took an extra second on the pass. Now, he was only two steps behind Allen and Childs. He even caught up to Childs by the time they hit the arc.
"Damn! Feels like Zhao Dong got even faster!" The NBC crew noticed.
The whole crowd locked in—Allen, Zhao Dong, one-on-one in transition.
Iverson flew to the rack, head down, right hand ready for the lay.
But Zhao Dong was right there. One more step, he exploded off the ground.
Allen felt it—pressure from behind. He had no choice. He let the ball go.
SWAT!
A giant hand came outta nowhere, smacking his layup off the glass.
"What the—?!"
Allen was still in the air when he saw his shot get erased.
The loose ball bounced to Childs, who immediately pushed it back the other way.
"Here!"
John Starks clapped for it.
Childs passed—bad move. Stackhouse lunged for the steal. Starks panicked, fumbled it.
Turnover.
Witherspoon scooped it up and launched a full-court dime to Allen. Three steps, easy lay.
"You motherfu—"
Zhao Dong was heated. He turned to his teammates and yelled, "Chill the fuck out! Stop rushing. Be smart with the damn ball!"
It was the first time he spoke up like that. Dude was fed up.
Starks? He wasn't having it. "Man, who the fuck do you think you are? You're a rookie. You ain't running shit on this team."
Zhao Dong looked over at Ewing.
You're the franchise guy. Say something.
Ewing? Silent. As always.
Zhao Dong shook his head. This team was cooked.
Finally, in the fifth minute, Ewing hit a jumper. Knicks were still down 6-14. Van Gundy finally called timeout.
But it didn't change shit. The team was still all over the place.
By the final buzzer, Knicks took a 92-109 L. Absolute disaster.
Box Score:
Ewing: 33 mins, 7/12 FG, 5/8 FT, 19 pts, 9 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk, 7 TOs, 3 fouls
John Starks: 25 mins, 20 pts, 6 TOs
Allan Houston: 4/14 FG, 1/5 3PT, 12 pts, 2 TOs
Oakley: 8 pts, 6 rebs
Knicks Team Stats: 21 turnovers, 23% from three (3/13)
Sixers Team Stats: 13 turnovers, 52.4% from three (11/21)
Zhao Dong: 31 mins, 8/15 FG, 1/2 3PT, 4/6 FT, 21 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 1 stl, 2 blks, 2 TOs, 4 fouls
The mission got canceled since the team lost, which pissed Zhao Dong off.
But he learned something tonight—Ewing wasn't a leader.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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