NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

Back in the locker room, the vibes were good—everyone was talking and laughing, except for Allan Houston.

John Starks had started this game, dropped 20-plus points, and was locked in all night.

"Zhao Dong, since you hit that 5x5 tonight, you gotta treat us, right?" Oakley grinned.

Zhao Dong laughed. "Of course. When we get back to New York, dinner's on me at the best spot in town—plus a little gift for everyone. Sound good?"

"Man, I hope you can drop a 5x5 every night," Starks cracked.

"You dreaming. Hakeem's only done it six times in history," Zhao Dong smirked.

After showering, he and Ewing headed to the post-game presser. Walking behind Van Gundy, they were quiet for a bit before Zhao Dong spoke up.

"Patrick, how you feelin' about the playoff picture?"

Ewing perked up at the mention of the playoffs, taking a second to think. "We should hold on to second in the East, first in the Atlantic—that puts us at No. 2 in the playoffs. That means we get the seventh seed in the first round and probably face the winner of the 3-6 matchup in the second. Most likely, that's Miami."

He paused, then added, "We should have a shot against the Heat. But if we make the Conference Finals and run into Jordan..."

He trailed off.

Ewing had only made the Finals once—back in '94 when MJ was retired. Every other time, whether it was the NBA or even NCAA, whenever he faced Jordan, he got sent packing.

The man had demons.

"If we see Jordan, we takin' him down," Zhao Dong said confidently.

Ewing shot him a look like, you serious? Beating MJ once in the regular season ain't the same as facing him in the playoffs. Playoff Jordan was a different beast.

Zhao Dong knew he wasn't on Jordan's level yet. The numbers said it all.

Back in the '93 Finals, Jordan took 33.2 shots a game, hit 50.8%, averaged 41 points + 6.3 assists, had 45.8 touches per game, and got double-teamed 62.6% of the time, taking 28.7 shots while doubled.

Nobody ever topped that double-team rate and shot volume.

That meant Jordan was dealing with hellish defensive pressure, yet his efficiency was still insane.

For comparison, LeBron in 2015 had the most Finals touches ever: 32.7 shots, 35.8 points, 39.8% shooting, 8.8 assists, 68 touches per game, but his double-team rate? Only 23.5%, taking 16 shots while doubled.

And that was already considered crazy good.

In 2018, Curry only got doubled 40 times in 4 games—10 times a night. Out of those 40, he only shot once and passed the other 39 times.

KD? He got double-teamed twice in the entire Finals.

Now put that next to Jordan's 28.7 double-team shots per game.

That was a whole different level of shot-making under pressure.

Zhao Dong knew the gap. Right now, he wasn't even getting doubled 5% of the time, and his shot attempts under pressure were laughably low.

If Jordan had the kind of defensive attention Curry faced, he'd be averaging 50 a game with ease.

That was the difference.

And the real question was—when the playoffs hit, defenses locked in, and the game slowed down, would he still be able to get his shots off? Would he still have the confidence to pull the trigger in double-teams? Would his efficiency hold up?

Or would he just be stuck watching Jordan torch defenses left and right?

He knew what it was.

There were two months left. He just had to hope the system gave him more missions to help him close the gap.

At the press conference, the Utah media came in looking for drama.

"Coach Van Gundy, the New York media says your locker room is falling apart. Any truth to that?"

"Not at all," Van Gundy said, shutting that down quick. "Just media speculation. Our locker room is solid, and we played a hell of a game tonight."

"Zhao Dong, Ewing and Allan Houston took the ball from you and shot it. You and Houston had an on-court argument. You're not gonna deny that, are you?"

"For any team, there's always gonna be little moments," Zhao Dong said, smiling. "Just like your upper teeth bite your lower teeth sometimes. But we handle our business. There's no beef. If there was, would we have beaten the Jazz tonight?"

"Ewing, why'd you take the ball from Zhao Dong?"

Ewing was already annoyed. "He already answered that. Next question."

A New York reporter switched it up. "Coach Van Gundy, Zhao Dong played the three tonight but controlled the ball and ran the offense. Has the Knicks' core changed?"

That was a loaded question.

Van Gundy answered carefully, "Patrick is still our anchor and the backbone of the team. But to make us even stronger, we've established Zhao Dong as our perimeter leader. So, in reality, we're a dual-core team now."

"Ewing, are you willing to give up the team's leadership?"

Ewing damn near cursed at that one.

"Zhao Dong's my teammate, and I trust him," he said firmly. "I believe in what he brings to the game. If letting him run the perimeter makes us better, I'm all for it."

The media kept fishing for Knicks drama, but Van Gundy and the players kept it tight. No leaks.

After the presser, the team rushed to the airport. They had a back-to-back tomorrow against Portland.

On the plane, Zhao Dong threw on his headphones and pulled up the system.

"Congratulations, host! You've completed all objectives for the 'Team Sniper' mission. You've randomly acquired John Stockton's playmaking talent. Would you like to overwrite your current attribute?"

"Hell yeah, overwrite it."

There wasn't even a question.

Stockton was the all-time assist leader, a nine-time assist champ. Dude was built different when it came to running an offense.

"Attribute overwrite complete. Playmaking skill upgraded to level 99."

"Wait… I hit Level 99? That's maxed out? Damn, that's insane!"

Straight to the cap, no grinding. Stockton's talent just pushed him to the top instantly.

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