Ten minutes later, the game tipped off.
Zhao Dong and Vin Baker went up for the jump ball, and the Bucks took possession.
On defense, Zhao Dong didn't switch with Oakley—he stuck with small forward Glenn Robinson. His perimeter defense was still a weak spot at Level 71, but he planned to fix that after cashing in on tonight's rewards.
The Bucks went straight to Vin Baker in the low post on the left wing, looking to establish their inside game early.
Baker caught the ball and pulled up for a jumper.
On the other end, Zhao Dong got the ball and fed Ewing before making a hard cut inside instead of hanging around the three-point line.
This was about the mission—attacking the paint, seeing if he could rack up some buckets over Vin Baker.
Big Dog tried to stay with him, but at 102 kilograms, he wasn't strong enough. Zhao Dong shoved him off and got separation.
Ewing caught the ball and immediately saw the help defense coming from Big Dog. Without hesitation, he kicked it back to Zhao Dong, who was cutting in at full speed.
Zhao Dong had been torching defenses in recent games with his aggressive slashes. His drive instantly pulled both Bucks big men—Baker and Armen Gilliam—toward the basket.
Seeing them collapse, Zhao Dong didn't hesitate. He took off, flying straight at Baker.
At 105 kilograms, Vin Baker barely had time to react. He tried to jump for the block, but he was off balance.
"BANG!"
The impact sent Baker flying.
"BANG!"
The whistle blew as Zhao Dong hammered the dunk home with both hands. The entire Madison Square Garden exploded, nearly 20,000 fans going wild.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT A MONSTER JAM! VIN BAKER, YOU GOOD OVER THERE?" the commentator screamed.
"ZHAO DONG, HIT US WITH ANOTHER ONE!"
Spike Lee was up on his feet, hyping the crowd from courtside.
Back on defense, Glenn Robinson got the ball on the left wing beyond the arc. Zhao Dong bodied him up, using his size to keep the former No. 1 pick from getting into his rhythm.
Robinson tried to drive but ran into Ewing's help defense near the paint. He kicked it out to Baker, who was cutting to the basket.
Baker caught the pass, but Oakley was already waiting. Zhao Dong and Ewing collapsed on him immediately, forming a three-man wall.
Too much pressure. Baker lost control, and Oakley swatted the ball away.
"STEAL! GOT IT!"
Zhao Dong snatched the ball and sprinted downcourt.
This time, he didn't stay behind the arc. He muscled Big Dog out of the way on the left wing and called for the rock.
As soon as he caught it, he squared up. One hard jab step.
Glenn flinched, taking a step back.
That's all Zhao Dong needed. He rose up.
"SWISH!"
Pure butter.
"THAT'S ZHAO DONG'S SIGNATURE PULL-UP! 70-CENTIMETER VERTICAL! BIG DOG COULDN'T EVEN GET A HAND UP!"
2-4, Bucks' ball.
Robinson was active, running through screens, but Zhao Dong stayed glued to him. Glenn finally got a catch near the baseline, back to the basket.
"Rookie, shooting without a defender is weak," Glenn trash-talked.
Zhao Dong smirked. "Sounds familiar."
He already knew what was coming. As soon as Glenn turned for his mid-range fadeaway—
"BANG!"
Zhao Dong timed his leap perfectly and sent that shot packing.
"MONSTER BLOCK! ZHAO DONG WITH THE REJECTION!"
The ball bounced behind Robinson, and Zhao Dong snatched it up, taking off in transition.
Glenn tried to chase, but he didn't have the burst to keep up.
Zhao Dong stopped on a dime—two steps outside the paint.
Glenn flew past him.
"PULL-UP?"
The commentator was stunned.
Nobody had seen Zhao Dong attempt a pull-up in transition before. For a player with his kind of power, stopping like that was tough as hell.
"SQUEAK!"
Sneakers screamed against the hardwood as Zhao Dong braked hard, controlling the momentum before rising up.
"SWISH!"
Pure money.
"OH, THAT'S TOUGH! ZHAO DONG JUST ADDED A DEADLY MID-RANGE PULL-UP!"
(TL: 😞 it's tough to translate this huhuhu)
Van Gundy turned to Thibodeau. "When the hell did he start doing that?"
Thibs looked just as shocked. "No clue. But he's in the gym 24/7. Probably figured it out himself."
Van Gundy nodded. He loved that about Zhao Dong—the kid worked his ass off. If he could add a consistent pull-up, his offense would be even scarier.
By the end of the first quarter, Zhao Dong had logged 10 minutes:
5-of-7 FG
2-of-3 FT
12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.
He had torched Glenn, scoring 8 of those points against him.
Sitting on the bench, Zhao Dong assessed the mission.
He needed more perimeter shots—not just dunks. The goal was to rack up points over Glenn. At the same time, he had to step up his defense.
Glenn was 2-of-5 (40%) in the first quarter, but Zhao Dong knew he could shut him down even more.
End of Q1: Knicks up 27-22.
At the 9-minute mark of Q2, Zhao Dong checked back in. Glenn was on the floor, too.
Recently, Zhao Dong had been logging 40+ minutes a game—that's what being the franchise guy meant.
First possession, Zhao Dong got the ball on the left wing.
He turned to Glenn and threw back his own trash talk:
"Appreciate it, Glenn. You just gave my shot a meaning."
Glenn eyes widened. That was his own line—and now it was being used against him.
Before he could react, Zhao Dong hit him with a quick shot fake.
Glenn bit hard, flying up.
Zhao Dong sidestepped, cool as hell, and drained a wide-open jumper.
"SWISH!"
Nothing but net.
On the other end, Glenn got a bucket at the rim, then turned back with a smirk.
"Rookie, your defense is softer than a rotten banana. You wanna eat a rotten banana?"
"F* YOU!"**
Zhao Dong wasn't having that. If he wasn't on a mission, he'd have swung on him.
Glenn flashed a wild grin, but deep down, he knew the deal.
This was a bad dude to mess with.
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