Gary Payton was a little frustrated.

He’d taught his student too well, and now he was paying the price.

Matched up against him again, he realized his defensive skills could no longer keep up with Su Xi’s. He couldn’t stop Su Xi’s drives, while Su Xi, in turn, used his physicality and suffocating defense to make him uncomfortable.

Furthermore, Su Xi’s ability to fight through the pick-and-roll was a level above his own... or maybe even a level and a half.

Su Xi was so fluid. The way he navigated screens was baffling. He was like a non-Newtonian fluid: when you crashed into him, he was incredibly solid, but when he wanted to envelop you, he moved like he was made of liquid.

Gary Payton was getting bested repeatedly in this matchup. He could only shrug with a helpless, bitter smile.

Ever since several of the super talents within him had entered the ’super’ realm, Su Xi had integrated 96% of Gary Payton’s Super Clinging Defense. However, that 96% already far surpassed the 100% of Payton’s prime, because Su Xi was tougher yet more flexible, with longer arms and a taller build.

In this game, Su Xi perfectly executed Carlisle’s game plan, repeatedly driving into the paint.

And he wasn’t afraid to take on O’Neal directly.

O’Neal was the league’s most dominant physical force, blessed with god-given strength—not the kind of gym-built power of someone like Ben Wallace. Therefore, Su Xi was itching for a chance to bang bodies with him, but he hadn’t found the opportunity yet.

The main reason was that Carlisle kept sending a stream of players to wear O’Neal down, from the renowned hairstyle-and-beard artist Pollard, to the starting center Foster, to the pure human shield Blazek, and even the newly acquired Tony Battie.

These players were thrown at him in waves.

Although O’Neal could handle them one by one, he wasn’t having an easy game tonight.

He got into foul trouble too quickly, and his minutes were limited.

Another major reason was that Kobe Bryant insisted on challenging the double-teams from Artest and Su Xi.

Kobe was the type of person who always sought to conquer greater heights. When he felt the unprecedented defensive pressure from their double-team, he began to push back against the tide.

Kobe’s life philosophy was probably ’not to advance is to fall back’.

His ability was indeed far greater than those two softies from the Clippers. Even with Su Xi and Artest joining forces, they only managed three steals, because he refused to pass, giving them no opportunities. Plus, his technique was truly perfect.

The Little Elf even woke up to remind Su Xi that Kobe was very likely to awaken an acquired super talent under this kind of high pressure.

Furthermore, it said: ’If Kobe awakens an acquired super talent under your defense, you will also gain a deep insight into that talent, which will improve both your future offense and defense.’

As soon as Su Xi heard this, he ramped up the double-teaming with even more ferocity.

But in the end, Kobe was just one step away.

He played 33 minutes, took a whopping 33 shots, made 13 of them, and scored 33 points. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The immortal 33.

The Lakers lost the game. They lacked a reliable third option outside of the OK Combination. During their three-peat, they had Horry, Fox, Fisher, Grant, and Devin George. Now, their most dangerous clutch shooter, Horry, was gone. Fox and Grant were shadows of their former selves, Fisher was riding the bench, and Devin George wasn’t getting fed any easy buckets.

How could they not lose?

The Pacers were no pushovers; they were number one in the league.

92:86.

The Pacers maintained their lead until the very end.

After the game, Su Xi, who had finished with 15 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals, lamented in front of the TV cameras: "It’s a real pity. Kobe didn’t display a higher level of skill. I really thought he would break through under the intense defensive pressure from me and Artest. But, in the end, he didn’t make it."

Su Xi’s words came from the heart.

Kobe sensed Su Xi’s sincerity. As his direct opponent, he knew he had been on the verge of breaking through to another level, but had ultimately fallen short.

But the media, of course, loved to stir the pot. The Los Angeles media was especially fond of creating arrogant foils. They relentlessly portrayed Su Xi as a petty villain gloating over his success, claiming he was mocking Kobe after a single win, looking down on him, and being a defiant upstart.

’Disrespectful to a veteran.’

This heavy label was dropped right on Su Xi’s head.

This label had once been slapped on Iverson and Kobe, and now it was Su Xi’s turn... A tradition.

Su Xi didn’t care in the slightest. When asked if he was still confident about beating the Lakers when Carl Malone returned, he just smiled. "I already beat the Lakers before Carl Malone even got hurt."

"But Shaq wasn’t playing then," a reporter said.

"And I wasn’t on the Pacers back then, either," Su Xi retorted sharply.

The reporter from the Los Angeles Times was instantly at a loss for words.

Su Xi swaggered off, basking in the halo of victory. He loved seeing them hate him but be completely unable to do anything about it.

Powerless and pathetic.

Starting in Los Angeles, the Pacers kicked off a winning streak, with Su Xi seamlessly integrating into their tactical system.

November passed quickly, and December arrived.

Before mid-December, the Pacers’ winning streak had already climbed into the double digits, with no end in sight.

Although the media nitpicked his offensive efficiency during this period, claiming he was laying even more bricks than Ron Artest...

However, that didn’t stop him from being named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Week for two consecutive weeks. His averages of 14.8 points, 8.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 steals, and 1.0 blocks were enough to beat out LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, even though James was averaging 20-5-5 and Wade was close to those numbers as well.

But Miami’s and the Cavaliers’ records were both poor.