Chapter 128: The Second Lin Fei

Carlisle looked over his players. Nowitzki and Kidd were both breathing heavily; they had truly been running themselves ragged. Competing against the Warriors, the fastest-running bunch in the league, was certainly taking its toll. Carlisle simply took Kidd and Nowitzki off and sent in the entire second unit.

Seeing this, Nelson naturally took Lin Fei out as well. As the saying went, there was no need to use a cleaver to slaughter a chicken. Against a group of bench players, Nelson had no reason to deploy his strongest lineup.

The Mavericks’ second unit was led by Marion, Barea, and Haywood—a bench corps reputed to be the deepest in the league. The Warriors sent out point guard Smith, along with Jock and the rest of their reserves.

On paper, the Warriors were actually at a disadvantage, because the Mavericks had still retained starters such as Marion and Barea, while the Warriors were almost entirely relying on their bench. Although the Warriors’ reserves were equally energetic and capable of carrying on the team’s fast-break style, the same tactics naturally produced somewhat different results when executed by different players. There was also another point: the Mavericks’ second unit was actually faster than their starting lineup, which gave them a considerable advantage in defending the Warriors.

Barea brought the ball up on a fast break for Dallas. Marion received it in the low post. Marion had once been a renowned all-around player in the league, especially adept at defending several positions on the court. At times, even when facing a player of LeBron’s caliber, Marion did not come off second-best.

Marion backed his man down, took a huge step, spun around, faced the basket, and sank a soft floater. The players on the Mavericks’ bench all rose to cheer.

Dallas cut the deficit to eight points—still a margin safely within reach.

Smith pushed the ball up in transition for Golden State. When he dribbled to midcourt, he passed to a teammate. The teammate caught the ball and seemed hesitant. After all, he was only a reserve and appeared almost unable to find his bearings. After wavering for a moment, he passed it back to Smith.

Smith received the ball beyond the three-point line and, without the slightest hesitation, let it fly. The entire possession had lasted less than ten seconds. The trajectory of Smith’s shot bore a striking resemblance to Lin Fei’s—an extremely high arc, followed by a clean splash through the basket.

Judging solely by the arc, it was nearly impossible to tell whether the shot had come from Lin Fei or Smith. Even experts would have found it difficult. Yet today, people discovered that one player had come to resemble Lin Fei so closely: Smith, Lin Fei’s teammate and the Warriors’ third-string point guard.

Perhaps Lin Fei’s influence on Smith had worked its way into him imperceptibly. In private, Smith had continually tried to imitate Lin Fei’s style of play.

Now it was the Warriors’ turn to celebrate. Lin Fei and Curry both leaped up from the bench.

The Mavericks scored again, but Smith once more delivered the assist. Then Smith knocked down another three from the top of the arc.

It inevitably brought up the question of the Warriors’ point-guard situation. Before this, Nelson already had Lin Fei, Curry, and Keynes on the backcourt—a group widely regarded as one of the best in the league. Now people were witnessing the fourth man in the rotation erupt.

Some might have thought Smith’s performance was merely a flash of inspiration. But had Lin Fei’s own breakthrough not begun with that “flash of inspiration” in which he scored twenty-eight points in three minutes?

If Smith truly broke out, the Warriors would possess an extraordinarily luxurious backcourt. Yet Lin Fei and Smith seemed to have very similar styles. The Warriors’ fighting strength was now greater than ever, but the team’s management could not ignore the matter of salaries.

Lin Fei was already under a contract worth tens of millions. Jobs, Crowderson, Axes, and Curry all had substantial middle-class contracts approaching ten million apiece. Under such tremendous financial pressure, it seemed difficult for the Warriors’ owner to keep paying everyone. Besides, the contracts of Lin Fei and Curry would both expire the year after next. Would the Warriors’ management attempt to make a trade?

Of course, that was a question for later. For now, the Warriors still had to face the playoffs in front of them.

At the same time, people could not help admiring Nelson. He had somehow managed to develop all these elite point guards.

Perhaps Nelson himself did not understand exactly how it had happened. All he could say was that Lin Fei’s eruption had opened his eyes—and made him wish he could slap himself for not seeing it sooner. Now, witnessing Smith’s explosion, Nelson stared with his eyes wide.

In just three trips up and down the court, Smith had made two three-pointers and added an assist. That kind of efficiency was perhaps enough to qualify him as an elite point guard.

The Warriors and Mavericks began to pull apart once more.

Carlisle was truly keeping his composure. With Dallas trailing by more than ten points, he still refused to send his main players back onto the floor.

Of course, with Smith leading the charge, the Warriors’ offense showed no obvious disadvantage against the Mavericks’ nominally superior lineup. If anything, Golden State held a considerable edge.

The third quarter began, and Nelson still had not sent in his starters. His decision left many people in the arena completely unable to understand what he was planning.

But since Carlisle was in no hurry, Nelson was even more relaxed. Although the Warriors’ reserves failed to stretch the lead to twenty, Golden State still held absolute control of the game.

Four minutes passed in the third quarter.

Carlisle called timeout. He withdrew his second unit and officially sent in his unquestioned starters, Nowitzki and Kidd.

The Warriors responded by putting Lin Fei on the floor, but Smith remained in the game. They continued with a two-point-guard lineup—only now the two point guards were Lin Fei and Smith, whose styles were remarkably similar.

The Warriors’ pace remained just as blistering.

Smith dribbled to midcourt as Lin Fei ran past him. The two performed a little magic trick. Lin Fei received the ball, and both men raced toward the three-point line. Lin Fei sent a between-the-legs bounce pass to Smith. Smith spun behind his back, pulled off a streetball-style change of direction, and passed it back to Lin Fei.

Lin Fei came charging over, and the two crossed paths again. Immediately afterward, Lin Fei unexpectedly retreated, stopped on a dime, and buried the pull-up jumper.

Now people could see the difference between them. Lin Fei excelled at creating his own offense with the ball, while Smith relied more heavily on screens from his teammates.

In fact, the play they had just run was designed around the fact that either man could shoot the three. No one knew which of them would take the shot. Lin Fei in particular needed only the slightest sliver of space to fire. Much of the time, he was enough on his own. With Smith now working alongside him, the combination was practically a cheat code.

Using that move, the two of them shot four of seven from beyond the arc and immediately widened the gap between the Warriors and Mavericks.

As the third quarter neared its end, the lead had grown to nearly twenty points.

Carlisle actually took Nowitzki, Kidd, Chandler, and Marion off the floor, seemingly conceding the game.

Others might not have understood, but Nelson knew exactly what Carlisle was thinking. Rather than fight the Warriors to the bitter end in this game, it was better to conserve energy and have a life-or-death battle with them in the next one.

The playoffs were a seven-game series. Dallas currently led three games to one. Even if they lost another, they would still lead three games to two. All they needed was one more victory.

In the fourth quarter, Nelson let Lin Fei relax comfortably on the bench and watch the game unfold.

In the end, the Warriors crushed the Mavericks, 136–102. Smith played thirty minutes and finished with twenty points and four assists, leaving everyone impressed. Lin Fei, meanwhile, scored “only” sixteen points.

The series stood at three games to two. But the next game would be played on the Warriors’ home court, shattering the Mavericks’ earlier boast that they would never have to return there.

Now the Warriors were beginning to feel nervous. They had been desperate to break through the second round, and suddenly that goal was tantalizingly close.