NBA M3 - Chapter 556: The Terrifying Twin Towers (Patreon)

As discussion of Phoenix’s tactics and lineup combinations spread, an otherwise unremarkable Hawks-Suns matchup began drawing more interest.

Two days later, the game tipped off right on schedule.

At 9:00 p.m., after warm-ups, both starting lineups took the floor.

Atlanta started Jeff Teague at point guard, Joe Johnson at shooting guard, Josh Smith at small forward, Marvin Williams at power forward, and Zaza Pachulia at center.

Phoenix started Steve Nash, Stephen Curry, Paul George, Blake at power forward, and Yao Ming at center.

“Jump ball!”

Blake faced Pachulia at center court. He gave Zaza a cold glance, then unleashed his full vertical leap and rose more than a hand’s length higher than him.

“Smack!”

He tipped the ball away over Pachulia’s head.

“Thump, thump, thump!”

Nash collected it and pushed up the floor to begin the first possession of the game.

Blake used a screen to slip along the baseline, shook Marvin Williams, then pulled out to the left wing above the arc. Pachulia stepped up to help.

The moment Blake saw Zaza in front of him, his eyes narrowed.

“Whoosh!”

He rose directly over the defense and launched an outrageous three. The ball traced a beautiful arc through the air.

“Swish!”

Nothing but net.

Against a player like Zaza, if Blake had the opportunity, he would not mind humiliating him all the way into retirement.

On Atlanta’s next possession, Joe Johnson attacked Nash on the mismatch and drove into the paint. George rotated over to contest, but Johnson still managed to finish the layup.

“Hmph!”

George snorted.

On the very next trip, he deliberately picked up Joe Johnson himself and smothered him with tight, serious defense, successfully killing the possession.

“This is my specialty. I can’t let that slip.”

Only after shutting Johnson down did George show a satisfied, confident smile.

“Smack!”

Yao Ming secured the rebound and gave it to Blake, who pushed the ball up the floor. Blake reached the left side above the arc, still more than a meter beyond the three-point line.

“Thud!”

Josh Smith and Marvin Williams immediately closed in for the double-team.

“Whoosh!”

Blake stayed completely calm. He waited until both defenders committed, then fired a cross-court pass to Curry on the opposite side above the arc.

Curry caught it and went straight into his shooting motion.

“Swish!”

The three dropped as smoothly as if he were shooting in practice.

On the next possession, Blake drew another double-team and passed to Nash cutting through the free-throw-line area. Nash caught it and attacked the basket, but after drawing the defense himself, he whipped a behind-the-back pass to Curry waiting in the left corner.

Curry caught and fired again.

“Swish!”

Another one.

“You’re still leaving me open this year? Then you’re going to pay for it.”

As Curry headed back on defense, he patted his chest and pointed toward the sky, his confidence obvious.

Halfway through the quarter, a red-hot Curry was 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three for 11 points. He then went to the bench to rest, with Carter replacing him.

“Here it comes!”

Suns fans immediately lit up when they saw the substitution.

On the court, Josh Smith narrowed his eyes.

“Twin Towers? So what? I’ll just lock down both of you centers and see what you can really do.”

Play continued.

“Thump, thump, thump!”

Blake held the ball above the arc against Marvin Williams. Yao Ming came up to set a high screen, and Blake turned the corner before accelerating down the right side.

Josh Smith stepped up to stop him, but Blake kept driving and reached the right low post before firing the ball back to Yao Ming at the free-throw line.

Jeff Teague was the defender in front of him.

At only 188 centimeters, Teague was nearly 40 centimeters shorter than Yao Ming. As help defense against Yao, he might as well not have been there.

“Whoosh!”

Yao rose into a smooth free-throw-line jumper.

“Swish!”

Easy basket.

On the very next possession, Blake had the ball outside against both Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.

Then he simply pulled up for another three.

“Hmph! That arrogant?!”

“Not happening.”

The two forwards lunged at him with angry expressions.

“Clang!”

With four large hands contesting the shot, Blake finally missed.

“Wasn’t that a little too much from Blake?”

At the commentary table, Mike Breen shook his head with a smile.

Before he could say anything else, Yao Ming grabbed the rebound under the basket and kicked the ball back out to Blake.

“Whoosh!”

Blake immediately launched another three.

“Swish!”

This one ripped through the net.

“Heh.”

Van Gundy laughed.

“It might look unreasonable, but Yao Ming is inside controlling the glass. When you know you have a real chance to get the rebound back, you can afford to take an aggressive shot like that.”

“That’s true.”

Atlanta came back the other way.

Josh Smith used a screen to shake George, then drove hard down the left side and blew past Carter when the veteran rotated over.

“Thud!”

One step inside the paint, Smith planted and exploded upward for the dunk.

But waiting under the rim were Blake and Yao Ming, two centers standing 215 and 226 centimeters tall.

The instant Smith tried to throw it down...

“SMACK!”

Four huge hands met him at the rim and brutally stuffed the dunk.

“Hiss...”

The defense was so intimidating that even the Hawks’ home crowd sucked in a breath.

With 28.5 seconds left in the first quarter, each team had roughly one possession remaining.

Atlanta went first.

“Iso Joe” Johnson ran the clock down, attacked Blake from the perimeter, and drove to the right side of the free-throw line.

“Screech!”

He stopped abruptly, rose, and leaned back into a jumper.

“SMACK!”

Blake jumped with him and blocked the shot straight back in his face.

George darted out to collect the loose ball and initially wanted to push the break himself, but Josh Smith cut him off.

George passed to the trailing Blake, and Phoenix reset in the half court.

With eight seconds left, Yao Ming once again came up to set a high screen.

“Thud!”

Blake accelerated down the right side and immediately drew another double-team from Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.

“Whoosh!”

He pulled the ball back and passed to Yao Ming above the arc.

Yao caught it with an ocean of open space in front of him. He glanced at the clock, took a moment to set himself, then launched a three at the buzzer.

“Yao Ming from three?!”

Everyone stared in surprise.

A moment later...

“Swish!”

The crisp sound of the net rang out as the ball dropped through.

Yao Ming had made the three.

“Hiss!”

It was only an ordinary wide-open three, but because Yao Ming had been the one to make it, countless fans were instantly stunned.

“That... that Twin Towers lineup is terrifying!”

One Hawks fan blurted it out without thinking. And when he looked at the scoreboard and saw Atlanta trailing by a full 14 points after one quarter, a trace of fear crept into his expression.

During the break between quarters, Van Gundy looked toward his broadcast partner.

“Mike, what do you think of the Suns’ Twin Towers combination?”

“Uh...”

Mike Breen thought for a moment.

“Terrifying.”