The Knicks' winning streak continued by getting the dub over the Trailblazers.
At the beginning of the season, Lin Yi had never planned on chasing a triple-double average.
That was never the goal.
But with Chris Paul sidelined, Lin Yi couldn't simply dump all the responsibility onto his teammates, could he?
As someone who always believed in leading by example, Lin Yi decided to shoulder more.
And after repeatedly grinding through games, he discovered something terrifying.
A 30-point triple-double average...
It might actually be possible.
Looking at the current Knicks roster, this goal was not even unreasonable.
The only thing they had too much of was shooters.
Lin Yi played center. Once he dragged the opposing big men away from the paint and created space, any double team would naturally become an opportunity.
Pass the ball out.
Assist collected.
Simple.
Of course, there was one small condition.
His teammates had actually to make the shots.
The Knicks also had another problem.
They lacked a true offensive organizer.
With Chris Paul gone, the shots that once belonged to him had to go somewhere.
And if Lin Yi took a few more isolation possessions every night, nobody could complain.
After all, basketball followed basic physics.
A team's total shot attempts did not suddenly disappear because one player was injured.
The team's pace remained.
The offensive system remained.
The available possessions remained.
The only question was:
Who would take those shots?
As the current president and only member of the 200+ Club, why couldn't Lin Yi?
After all, his efficiency was already ridiculous.
One of his idols had once averaged nearly 27 field goal attempts per game while still maintaining a shooting percentage around 45%.
So what was there to fear?
Besides...
Could a shooter's misses truly be called misses?
No.
Those were simply future rebounding opportunities.
Every brick was a chance.
Plus, Lin Yi still had a mission.
He needed another MVP trophy.
Not for himself.
For his little olive.
A new toy.
Lin Yi understood his position perfectly.
Three consecutive MVP awards had only allowed him to stand alongside the legends of NBA history.
That was not the finish line.
If he could achieve the impossible and win four consecutive MVP awards, then the discussion surrounding the greatest player of all time would become much simpler.
Of course, it would not be easy.
The NBA was full of monsters.
The league's superstars were not going to stand still and watch him collect trophies.
But there was one rule Lin Yi always believed in.
If you never try, how will you ever know?
Recently, the ambitious Lin Yi had undergone a strange transformation during team practices.
He had become... gentle.
The Knicks players were completely confused.
Was this really Lin Yi?
The same Lin Yi who demanded perfection from everyone and never let a single mistake slide?
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
For the sake of statistics, had Lin Yi finally awakened the skill of flattery?
What a terrifying sight.
The face of a true stat-chaser.
Rudy Gobert was the first victim.
After receiving criticism for accumulating too many fouls due to his aggressive defense, Gobert was approached by Lin Yi during practice.
Lin Yi patted him on the shoulder and spoke with genuine encouragement.
"Rudy, you've done very well.
"You should know, I was much worse than you during my rookie season."
Gobert froze.
Wait...
Wasn't Lin Yi an All-Star starter during his rookie year?
How exactly was that supposed to make me feel better?
Then came Klay Thompson.
The sharpshooter, who was averaging four three-pointers per game this season, received special attention from Lin Yi.
During practice, Lin Yi looked at him seriously.
"Klay, how exactly do you practice your three-point shot?
"I feel like I need to improve my mechanics."
Klay was speechless.
Learn from me?
Didn't I learn how to shoot from you?
The situation became even stranger when Wayne Ellington, the Knicks' unofficial water cooler manager, received praise.
Lin Yi looked at him with complete sincerity.
"Wayne, we were lucky back then.
Otherwise, North Carolina would have been impossible to beat.
"Honestly, you're one of the best shooting guards I've ever seen."
Ellington felt his entire body tremble.
This was too real.
Almost suspiciously real.
Lin Yi was not encouraging his teammates.
He was cultivating a team full of believers.
. . .
On November 13, the Knicks traveled to Denver to face the Nuggets. Playing at altitude, the Nuggets expected their home court advantage to matter. Instead, they witnessed something terrifying.
The Knicks entered the arena with absolute confidence.
Why?
Because their franchise player had already given everyone a new identity. They were now the best in their respective positions... except Lin Yi, of course.
The Nuggets were completely stunned that night. This season, George Karl had already left Denver to coach Sacramento, leaving Brian Shaw to clean up the aftermath.
Denver's roster was still led by Monta Ellis, although rumors suggested the team was preparing to send him to Milwaukee.
Speaking of George Karl...
Lin Yi could only shake his head.
That old man seemed to possess a strange talent.
Wherever he went, he somehow attracted the most difficult personalities in the league.
Back in his previous life, coaching Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith in Denver was already enough of a challenge.
Then he went to Sacramento and found himself dealing with DeMarcus Cousins.
Karl had escaped one giant headache in this timeline.
But somehow...
He still found another one.
Tristan Thompson.
Under Karl's guidance, Thompson had made noticeable progress this season, averaging:
8.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Not superstar numbers.
But enough to make Karl believe he had discovered his next project.
Returning to the game.
At the high altitude of Denver, Lin Yi casually carved up the Nuggets' defense.
After three quarters, his stat sheet already showed:
27 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists.
His scoring was slightly behind schedule.
But that did not matter.
There would always be more opportunities to score.
After all, was scoring really the hardest part of a 30-point triple-double?
Of course not.
If necessary, Lin Yi could simply increase his volume.
Problem solved.
Besides, with Lin Yi returning to the center position, rebounds were almost guaranteed. Even if his teammates forgot to box out, his height and ridiculous wingspan were enough to cover for them.
The Knicks' guards were not Rondo or Westbrook. They were not going to steal all the rebounds from him. As long as Lin Yi put in the effort, double-digit rebounds were almost automatic.
The true difficulty of a 30-point triple-double was never points or rebounds.
It was assists.
That was where the real challenge was.
Therefore, Lin Yi made a decision.
Prioritize assists.
If he could win the assist title along the way, even better. After all, the reigning assist leader of the 2013-14 season, Chris Paul, was currently recovering in a hospital bed.
As a teammate, Lin Yi felt that the best way to comfort his injured friend was simple.
Bring home the assist title.
At the moment, Lin Yi had almost no serious competition on the assist leaderboard. Not because today's point guards lack passing ability. The problem was modern basketball.
Offenses were becoming more complex, and playmaking responsibilities were increasingly shared among multiple players instead of belonging entirely to one ball handler.
Assist numbers were naturally distributed.
The Knicks, however, were different.
The Knicks were running old-school basketball right now.
The ball went through Lin Yi.
Everyone else waited for the scoring opportunity.
Lin Yi could see it written in the stars.
An assist title.
A 30-point triple-double average.
Another MVP trophy.
Everything was within reach.
. . .
In December, while the Knicks continued dominating NBA headlines, another major event shook the league. Clippers owner Donald Sterling became the center of a massive controversy after a private conversation with his girlfriend was leaked.
The recording quickly spread across the internet, and the Sterling racism scandal became one of the biggest stories in American sports.
When Lin Yi learned about the incident, he was genuinely surprised.
Donald Sterling's infamous private conversation, which had remained hidden in another timeline until April, was exposed months earlier due to Lin Yi's butterfly effect.
And this time...
The consequences were different.
However, one thing remained unchanged.
The Clippers, who had been fighting toward championship contention, suddenly found themselves trapped in a public relations nightmare.
Blake Griffin, Eric Bledsoe, and the rest of the Clippers roster were furious.
The team's young stars had spent years trying to build something special in Los Angeles, only to have their efforts overshadowed by an owner-created scandal.
The NBA was thrown into chaos.
The entire United States was watching.
. . .
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