NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

The Knicks headed back to the locker room, and the vibe was completely different from when they left an hour ago. The tension was gone, and the energy was high.

Zhao Dong, feeling good about his first-half performance, grinned and said, "When we meet the Bulls in the playoffs, I'm takin' him head-on and givin' him that work."

Oakley chuckled and shook his head. "Boy, don't get ahead of yourself. Your perimeter defense is still a mess. He's gonna make you look stupid out there. And don't forget—his defense can shut down your drives real quick."

Zhao Dong just smirked. "I know I ain't there yet, but that's why we train, right?"

During the break, he checked his stats, pulled up the system, and compared it with the task objectives. He needed to figure out how to play the second half to complete his missions.

The team's sniper missions were all about steals, blocks, and three-pointers.

Karl Malone had checked off two out of three but didn't have enough blocks.

Stockton was supposed to get blocked three times, but that hadn't happened yet, and he also needed to turn the ball over more.

So, in short, Zhao Dong needed to rack up blocks and steals on Malone and Stockton, take more threes, and cut down on drives. Made sense—driving all game burns too much energy. In the third quarter, he needed to conserve a bit and focus on outside jumpers.

Halftime was over, and the second half kicked off with the Jazz on offense.

Malone ran the pick-and-roll with Stockton up top again. This time, instead of staying at the high post, he cut hard to the rim, looking for an easy bucket.

Zhao Dong had been locking up passing lanes, but this time he lost half a step, giving Malone just enough space. Stockton, always sharp, saw it immediately and shifted to the left wing before tossing a high pass over the top.

It was a smart play—throwing it high prevented Zhao Dong from swiping it.

Malone caught it, took another step inside, and threw that left elbow out to shield himself, holding the ball in his right hand as he gathered for the shot.

But Zhao Dong had already turned on the jets. As Malone jumped, Zhao Dong went up with him, right arm bent to protect his chest from that incoming elbow.

Malone caught a glimpse of him closing in and instinctively swung his elbow harder.

Boom!

With a dull thud, Zhao Dong took the hit while slapping down hard on the ball.

Smack!

The ball popped loose from Malone's hands.

On the NBC broadcast, Doug Collins shouted, "Oh! What a block! Zhao Dong just met Karl Malone at the rim and shut him down!"

Stockton, always hustling, swooped in to scoop up the loose ball and tried to reset.

Malone recovered fast, cutting back in from the baseline, and Stockton hit him with a quick pass.

Zhao Dong and Malone both sprinted for it. Zhao Dong had more momentum and surged half a step ahead.

Both turned around at the same time. Malone re-entered the court first, Stockton zipped a pass back to him—

And that's when Zhao Dong struck.

He lunged forward, got a hand in, and snatched the ball mid-air. Then, without hesitating, he turned and burned toward the other end.

"Oh no! Another turnover!" the announcer groaned.

"Beautiful! Zhao Dong picks off another pass! That's Stockton's fifth turnover tonight!" Doug Collins hyped.

Charging to the free-throw line, Zhao Dong dished it to Charles Oakley and kept running. But Malone was on his heels, closing the gap.

"Zhao Dong just slowed down a bit… is he saving energy?" Doug Collins wondered.

Stopping at the top of the arc, he caught the pass from Oakley. Malone was right in front of him.

Zhao Dong faked a drive with a quick jab step, forcing Malone to backpedal. Then, smoothly pulling his right foot back, he let it fly from deep.

Swish!

Nothing but net.

"Damn it! Zhao Dong is hitting from everywhere—steals, blocks, fast breaks, low post, mid-range, threes… He's got the full package! Somebody stop this man!" the arena commentator yelled in frustration.

Marv Albert analyzed on the NBC broadcast, "The Mailman just can't keep up with Zhao Dong on the perimeter. He's too slow laterally."

Doug Collins added, "Hell, he couldn't even keep up inside. Zhao Dong's making him look bad tonight—beating him to spots, taking his hits, and still getting stops."

The Jazz finally made an adjustment, sending double-teams at Zhao Dong.

But Zhao Dong had the size, court vision, and passing ability to pick them apart. Every time the double came, he found the open man. By the end of the third, he had racked up three assists, making the Jazz's plan backfire.

On defense, Zhao Dong kept setting traps for Stockton and Malone. He got baited into a couple, but overall, his defense was suffocating. By the end of the quarter, he had two more steals and two more blocks.

After three quarters, the Knicks were up 82-68, a 14-point lead.

Zhao Dong's stat line: 10/14 FG, 2/4 from three, 7/9 FT, 29 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks, 1 turnover, 3 fouls.

The moment those numbers hit the screen, Doug Collins and Marv Albert lost it.

"One more block! Just one more, and Zhao Dong gets a 5x5! That's insane—he's just a rookie!" Doug Collins shouted.

"So Jerry Krause really wanted Zhao Dong, huh?" Marv chuckled. "I see why now. His two-way game is ridiculous. He started the season looking like a raw version of this, but now? He's showing top-tier offensive and defensive ability."

Doug Collins laughed. "Think the Bulls regret not getting him?"

"No, no, the real question is—does Jordan regret it? The Bulls missed out on Zhao Dong, and now the Knicks got a game-changer. This dude's gonna be a nightmare for Chicago."

On the Knicks' bench, Ernie Grunfeld was fired up, waving Zhao Dong's stat sheet in front of Van Gundy. "Jeff, look at this! This is our guy! How's my scouting? How's my vision? How's the next franchise star I picked?"

Van Gundy just smirked.

Oakley, hyped as hell, turned to Zhao Dong. "Yo! Get one more block on the Mailman. We need that 5x5! Don't even worry about the win right now."

The rest of the bench agreed, even Ewing nodding in approval.

Zhao Dong laughed. "Man, screw that. We're winning this game. No stat is bigger than the W. I ain't tryna be a stat-padder."

With that, he went back to studying his mission.

Stockton had five turnovers—four from Zhao Dong's steals. Just one more, and the mission was complete. Didn't matter how.

But blocking Stockton three times? That was a reach.

No big deal, though. If he couldn't finish that one, he'd just focus on shutting down Malone and completing the team's sniper mission.

One more block on Malone—that was the goal.

And Zhao Dong was determined to get it.

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