Hardaway was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"I also think it was a fluke."
Forty-seven points, and in the playoffs, no less. Throughout history, how many people have managed to score that many in a playoff game?
And the key thing is, he scored all those points, and his team still lost.
If that’s not a fluke, what is?
"The other positions on the Digital People really didn’t play well enough," Hardaway added.
Aside from Aaron McKie, who came off the bench, no one on the Digital People played well.
The whole team only scored 88 points. Iverson’s 47 points were more than half of the team’s total.
Chen Yu nodded. "But Grant was also amazing today."
Twenty-two points in the first half, 36 for the game. And while putting up those high numbers, he still managed a complete stat line of 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
Speaking of which, Chen Yu took out his phone and sent a congratulatory text to Hill.
After drafting it, just before hitting send, he thought for a moment and added, "Anfernee said you should play just like that."
It wasn’t long before Hill texted back.
The content was in his usual messaging style: a formal thank you, which also included thanks for Hardaway and a request for Chen Yu to pass on his regards.
Anyone who didn’t know him would think it was a saved template response, but Chen Yu knew that Hill had carefully considered every single word, and there wouldn’t even be a single punctuation mark out of place.
Chen Yu subconsciously started to type another message, wanting to wish Hill continued success in defeating the Digital People and advancing to the second round.
The guy was always thinking about leading his team to break their first-round curse and prove himself.
But after typing it all out, he ultimately didn’t send it.
’Beating the Digital People... it’ll probably still be tough.’
’This game was probably a case of everything aligning perfectly, plus Hill having a massive breakout performance, for them to get the win.’
’Next game, once the Digital People get serious, the Magic are still going to lose.’
「Far away in Orlando.」
In the locker room, Hill waited a moment. Seeing no new message from Chen Yu, he put his phone down. He noticed that everyone else had already showered, was changing, and getting ready to find a place to celebrate. He stood up and clapped his hands to get their attention.
"Everyone." Once all eyes were on him, Hill announced, "This proves what I said before the game was right: the Digital People are not invincible. We won this game, which means if we keep working hard, we can win the next one, and even the one after that, to eliminate them and break into the second round."
His determined gaze swept over the crowd. "We’ve given so much to make the playoffs. Tracy even played through an injury, and Darrell, Mike, Andrew—everyone has put in the effort. So, please, let’s not let our hard work be for nothing."
Even while trying to inspire the team, Hill wasn’t dropping F-bombs left and right. He sounded more like he was giving a speech at a college graduation—formulaic, with little emotional fluctuation.
But actions speak louder than words. In this game, Hill had already proven with his actions that if they worked hard, they could beat the Digital People.
"Let’s go!"
Tracy McGrady was the first to walk over, holding out his fist.
In Chen Yu’s words, he had played through an injury and nearly risked his entire career.
If they got knocked out in the first round, wouldn’t that make it all worthless?
Besides, what did he come to the Magic for? It was to go deeper in the playoffs. If it was just to get bounced in the first round, he might as well have stayed with the Raptors.
The others came over one by one, extending their fists.
Fifteen fists bumped together. A profound energy, like the calm before a tsunami, began to build.
Just then, Armstrong suddenly said, "Actually, we’re still missing someone."
When everyone looked at him, Armstrong grinned. "You guys know who I’m talking about."
Monty nodded. "Yeah. Without Chen, we wouldn’t have made it this far."
Never mind that Chen Yu had healed Hill, preventing him from following in Hardaway’s footsteps. Never mind that at the end of the season, he had answered a single phone call and traveled all the way to Orlando to treat Tracy McGrady for their playoff push. Even back at the start of the season, when Pleasance increased the training intensity, they wouldn’t have been able to keep up if not for Chen Yu.
So much had happened to the Magic this season, but in getting to where they were now, step by step, Chen Yu definitely deserved the most credit.
Amichie waved over the equipment manager in the distance, asking him to find a photo of Chen Yu—the bigger, the better—and then bring over a camera.
"Let’s take a picture."
Soon, the equipment manager returned with a newspaper.
It was an ESPN report about Chen Yu’s surgery on Hardaway, accompanied by a fairly large, front-facing headshot.
"Come on."
The team gathered around. Amichie held up the newspaper and, along with everyone else, grinned for the camera.
「Phoenix.」
After the game, Chen Yu returned to his living quarters at the clinic. He was already getting ready for bed when he received a text from Amichie, who said he’d sent him an email.
Chen Yu was puzzled. ’What would an English poet be emailing me about?’
’Did he get inspired by the win, write a poem, and now he insists I critique it?’
’And then there’s the guy’s orientation...’
Chen Yu silently thought back to his time in Orlando. ’Was it because I was too gentle when I was massaging Amichie? Did I give him the wrong idea?’
Shuddering, Chen Yu opened his computer and checked the email.
When he saw the photo, Chen Yu froze.
’These guys...’
Chen Yu cursed under his breath. He was about to go to sleep, and they pull something like this. ’They’re doing this on purpose, aren’t they? They don’t want me to sleep, is that it?’
His eyes fell to the text below the picture.
Just three short words.
"With you always."
「The next day.」
When Lexi arrived at the clinic, yawning, she saw him near the photo wall by the main entrance of the medical center. It was a place where some discharged patients would leave a photo as a memento.
Chen Yu was instructing Jamie on how to hang a picture.
"A little higher on the left," Chen Yu directed.
Jamie’s face was a picture of helplessness, his desire to complain written all over it.
Lexi walked over, got a clear look at the photo, and froze for a second. Then, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, she said, "When is this from? What were they thinking, taking a group photo with a newspaper? Jamie, take it down. Don’t hang it here, it’s so ugly."
"Hey, don’t," Chen Yu quickly stopped Lexi. He took a step back to admire the photo again and smiled. "I actually think it’s great."
This one photo made all his efforts during those days in Orlando feel worthwhile.
Seeing Chen Yu still admiring the photo, Lexi speechlessly grabbed his arm and started dragging him away. "Alright, let’s go. Time to prep for surgery. My God, these surgeries are never-ending."
As he was being dragged away, Chen Yu didn’t forget to shout back to Jamie, "Jamie, don’t forget to contact UNOS! A meniscus should be easy to get."
Regarding the meniscus transplant mentioned earlier, Jamie had thought about it for a few days and finally agreed.
Now, they could start the preparations.
Today was another day of surgery, continuing to grind for treatment results.
After another grueling, day-long session of surgeries, Chen Yu finally took Lexi and Hardaway and headed to the US Airways Center in the evening.
He had said he wanted to go see the Phoenix Suns game and support the team in person.
Before leaving, Chen Yu also grabbed a few newspapers from the front desk to kill time in the car.
Sitting next to him, Hardaway, who was wearing a heavy-duty knee brace, saw Chen Yu open the paper and scoffed, "What’s there to see? Don’t even have to look. It’s definitely all hype about Grant. The guy just knows how to play the piano, that’s all."
Chen Yu opened the newspaper.
Sure enough, the sports section’s headline featured a picture of Hill driving to the basket for a powerful dunk.
The headline was quite sensational.
"Dropping 36, Devil’s Mountain Refuses to Be Swept!"
Below that, as expected, was a whole lot of ass-kissing.
They really didn’t even mention Iverson’s empty 47-point performance.
Although Iverson’s scoring ability was more explosive, Hill was clearly more popular.
’He glanced at Hardaway. The guy’s definitely jealous. Both were hailed as Jordan’s successors, but Hill’s popularity really did surpass his.’
’What’s this about "just knows how to play the piano"? The man doesn’t just play piano, he understands art, okay?’
He read a few more articles.
Amidst all the hype, there were still some level-headed media outlets claiming that the Digital People might have been careless in this game. In a direct comparison of strength, the Magic were still no match for the East’s number one team.
Chen Yu shared this opinion.
Yesterday’s game was the Magic’s first home game, and they probably only beat the Digital People because of the home-court advantage.
Once the Digital People got serious, the Magic would probably still be in trouble.
And today was the Phoenix Suns’ first home game, so they should have a home-court advantage as well.
If they could secure a win today, their chances of advancing to the second round would be much greater.
As night fell on Phoenix, the area around the US Airways Center was already packed with people.
Chen Yu saw many fans wearing J Kidd’s number 32 jersey.
It seemed like no one was bringing up his domestic abuse incident anymore. The local women’s league had made a fuss for a long time, but after realizing they were putting on a one-man show, they couldn’t be bothered to keep hounding J Kidd.
They arrived at the arena.
Chen Yu had Lexi and Hardaway go to their seats while he headed to the locker room.
Since he was already here, he couldn’t just let a round of experience points go to waste, could he?
Chen Yu even led the team through a round of Five Animals Qigong.
This was probably Hardaway’s first appearance at the US Airways Center since his surgery.
Brian’s dad didn’t go to the luxury suite upstairs, instead coming down to the courtside to sit with Hardaway.
As they sat together, Jerry also asked about Olajuwon’s condition.
Clearly, Brian had already told him about the idea of building a formidable lineup with Olajuwon, Robinson, Gamarion, Hardaway, and J Kidd.
"He’s doing well. The surgery is over, and he’s recovering," Chen Yu said.
Only the intervertebral disc surgery was left. Chen Yu figured he’d take care of it for Olajuwon in another week.
"That’s good." Jerry nodded repeatedly, then reminded Chen Yu not to forget to take care of Gugliotta’s knee.
After saying this, he shot a subtle glance at Brian.
If it weren’t for Gugliotta’s bad contract, the Phoenix Suns might have been able to sign Olajuwon directly.
Out of his dad’s line of sight, Brian rolled his eyes.
The game began.
Hardaway’s presence really seemed to inspire the entire Phoenix Suns team.
In the first half, the two teams went back and forth. At halftime, the Phoenix Suns were surprisingly up 55 to 53, leading by 2 points.
During halftime, Chen Yu hesitated but decided not to go to the locker room.
’I could go to the locker room and use the time to give some of the starters a massage to help them relax.’
’But then I thought, they have Nelson and the others. They don’t need a massage from me.’
’I’ll just take a rare day off.’
Coming into the second half, both teams continued to trade blows, with neither side able to pull away.
At the end of the third quarter, the King had pulled ahead by 2 points.
Two points was nothing, really.
This stalemate continued until the final 2 minutes.
At that point, the two teams were still tied.
Then, coming out of a timeout, the King’s Doug Christie hit a crucial 3-pointer. Afterward, Bobby Jackson, who had just been subbed in, actually managed to steal the ball from Marion.
Instantly, the lead stretched to 5 points.
The Phoenix Suns were in danger.
What was more troubling was that, in their panic, the Phoenix Suns started gambling on 3-pointers.
Fouling, and jacking up 3s.
J Kidd alone threw up three 3-pointers and bricked every single one, making Chen Yu’s blood pressure skyrocket.
With 3.7 seconds left, J Kidd’s 3-pointer clanked off the rim, and the final score was set at 104 to 96.
The entire US Airways Center fell into a dead silence.
Next to Chen Yu, Hardaway’s face was dark.
’I made a special trip to come support my teammates, and this is what I get?’

Comments

Loading...