Lin Yi, who played just 36 minutes, finished the night with a ridiculous super triple-double:
14 points, 18 rebounds, and 31 assists.
Among them, the 31 assists established a new NBA single-game record.
On this night, a giant completely shocked the basketball world.
"Oh no, now the centers are taking the point guards' jobs too."
That was probably the truest reaction across the league after the game.
Of course, many people have never truly considered Lin Yi a traditional center, just as many people never viewed Rajon Rondo as a conventional point guard.
But labels no longer mattered.
A seven-foot player had just broken the NBA's single-game assist record.
Could you believe it?
Yet the box score was sitting right there.
Reality had spoken.
As the fourth quarter turned into garbage time, Charles Barkley transformed into the world's biggest Lin Yi fan on national television. For nearly an entire quarter, he praised Lin Yi without stopping.
Even the usually talkative Barkley eventually ran out of vocabulary.
What else could the fans inside Madison Square Garden do?
They took out their phones.
They recorded the moment.
And they shouted one word over and over.
"MVP!"
Before reaching his twenty-fourth birthday, Lin Yi had once again carved his name into NBA history.
Before his return, countless people questioned him.
Some worried about his health.
Some doubted his condition.
Others wondered how many games he would need to rediscover his rhythm.
The answer turned out to be very simple.
None.
In just a handful of games, Lin Yi had picked up a flyswatter and mercilessly slapped away every critic, every doubter, and every Knicks hater who had emerged during his absence.
What made this night even more remarkable was that the record itself carried almost the same weight as his 86-point explosion.
Thirty-one assists.
At this point in basketball history, assists still carried a certain purity. The future's "stat-padding basketball" had yet to fully arrive, and many fans still equated assists with vision, selflessness, and leadership.
Therefore, after witnessing a 31-assist masterpiece, countless Knicks fans and Lin Yi supporters immediately declared:
Perhaps it was finally time to include Lin Yi in the guard discussions.
Some Jordan fans nearly exploded.
But how exactly were they supposed to criticize this performance?
They couldn't.
This was a brand-new NBA record.
Even if Scott Skiles' greatest claim to fame had always been his assist record, nobody could deny the magic that Lin Yi created on this night.
Eight Knicks players scored in double figures.
The Knicks used their actions to silence everyone who had called Lin Yi a ball hog or a player who made his teammates worse.
"These people have clearly never seen what Thunder players would do in the future when Westbrook needed one or two assists for a triple-double."
In comparison, tonight's Knicks players had shown remarkable restraint.
And so, while the league's superstars continued fighting over the scraps of media attention that remained, James Harden's philosophy once again proved correct.
Why work so hard?
The headlines already belonged to Lin Yi.
Rather than fighting for attention, perhaps it was more practical to spend a few relaxing hours at a nightclub instead.
. . .
After the game, Popovich walked into the press conference room with a stern expression and sat down without saying a word.
The Spurs, who had reached the Finals just a few months earlier, had now stumbled to a 1-6 start. Naturally, the reporters smelled blood.
"Coach, are the Spurs already considering Duncan's successor in next year's draft?"
"After losing by forty-eight points, do you feel Mike D'Antoni has surpassed you?"
"Do you believe your double-team strategy directly helped Lin record thirty-one assists tonight?"
Reporters never show mercy to losers.
The Spurs' disastrous start, combined with becoming Lin Yi's latest masterpiece, instantly turned San Antonio into the center of criticism.
But none of those questions were the reason for Popovich's anger.
What truly irritated the old coach was that every time the Spurs became Lin Yi's backdrop, San Antonio seemed to receive more attention than when they actually won championships.
It almost looked as if the Spurs existed solely to increase Lin Yi's popularity.
Faced with the endless questions, Popovich remained completely silent.
No matter what the reporters asked, the old man refused to answer. At that moment, Popovich felt that if he answered even one more question, the Spurs' injury report would have to list the head coach as day-to-day.
While Popovich was in a terrible mood, D'Antoni could not have been happier.
Just a week earlier, Old D had spent several sleepless nights worrying about the team's future.
A week later, he suddenly discovered that basketball could be very simple.
Who needed the Tyson and Paul?
Lin Yi alone was already a basketball Koenigsegg. With him on the court, the Knicks were driving a hypercar while the rest of the league was still stuck in traffic.
"Yes, I can only describe tonight with one word: unbelievable. Just like Charles said," D'Antoni said with a smile.
When Steve Nash was asked whether he had helped Lin Yi improve his passing, the old point guard shamelessly took credit.
"He's an incredible organizer. He understands how to control an offense. Of course, I gave him some advice. Honestly, I'm glad my prime was over by the time he entered the league."
When Paul himself was asked about Lin Yi's performance, he put aside the banter to answer.
"He's a great leader," Paul said sincerely. "It's the honor of my career to play alongside him."
. . .
Meanwhile, outside the locker room, Lin Yi found himself surrounded by reporters.
Lin Yi climbed over one mountain and immediately found himself facing another.
"Lin, can you share your thoughts on tonight's game?" an ESPN reporter asked.
Lin Yi rubbed his head.
"I don't think there's much to say. I've always played this way."
"Lin, the previous assist record stood for fourteen years. What was the key to breaking it tonight?"
Lin Yi answered seriously.
"I think the key is sharing the basketball. Everyone knows I enjoy sharing the ball with my teammates. We trust each other, encourage each other, and that allowed us to play great team basketball tonight."
The reporters nearly laughed.
"Lin, the Knicks had forty-four assists in the season opener without you. Some people said the team plays more collectively when you're absent. Was tonight your response to those criticisms?"
Lin Yi shrugged.
"That's nonsense. How could a kind person like me possibly be a ball hog?"
Nobody knew whether Lin Yi's postgame interview would finally put the "ball-hog" narrative to rest.
What people did know was that every Knicks player who stepped in front of a microphone afterward praised Lin Yi with expressions that looked only slightly forced.
After the game, Lin Yi read through his teammates' interviews one by one.
He was very satisfied.
Since everyone had become so cooperative, Lin Yi decided that for the rest of the season, he would try to solve problems with words first and fists second.
It was also becoming increasingly clear that Headline Lin had officially returned.
The rest of the league was once again about to experience the fear of being dominated by the NBA's greatest topic generator.
After the game, a few online conspiracy theorists began to circle closer to what they believed was the truth.
Their argument was simple.
The league's new slogan, "Legends Are Born Here," was clearly designed with Lin Yi in mind..
Others rejected the idea.
If anything, they argued, that title probably still belonged to LeBron.
For one night, however, none of those conspiracy theories mattered.
Because the headlines belonged to only one person.
31 assists.
A new NBA record.
And another chapter was added to the legend of the Grim Reaper.
. . .
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