"This atmosphere... it’s a deadly home court."

Nelson surveyed the entire arena and couldn’t help but marvel.

As far as the eye could see, the stands were an ocean of white. Amidst the pounding music, scorching flames jetted out from around the stands and the massive display screen hanging overhead, setting the entire arena ablaze.

The thunderous cheers echoing through the arena were exhilarating.

Chen Yu, however, pursed his lips. He recalled the match where Inter won the championship—tens of thousands singing at the top of their lungs, smoke from flares filling the stadium. Compared to that, this all paled in comparison.

"Well, it is the Celestial King Mountain game, so this atmosphere is to be expected." It was the pivotal fifth game; whoever won would seize the advantage.

Chen Yu couldn’t help but turn to look at the opposing bench.

The Kings players were gathered around Adelman, tensely going over their final instructions.

Chen Yu couldn’t help but wonder, ’Was what happened at the hotel really one of the Kings’ dirty tricks?’

’Who ordered it? Adelman?’

’I dealt with Adelman during the All-Star Game. He seemed like a refined, principled old man, not the type to pull something like this at all.’

Before the game, Skiles and the others had discussed whether they should leak it to the press and complain during the post-game conference.

But in the end, they decided against it.

It was all just speculation, and without any evidence, it wasn’t right to sling mud at them.

That was, of course, assuming they won the game.

If they lost, Skiles would undoubtedly make a few sarcastic remarks.

Most importantly, even if Skiles said nothing, so many other hotel guests had been affected. The reporters were incredibly resourceful; was there any chance they wouldn’t report on it? As for how the reporters chose to guess and spin the story, well, that was their business.

Chen Yu retracted his gaze and settled back into his seat.

「At 7:00 PM, the game began.」

After the players took the court, Adelman didn’t return to the bench, but stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, his expression serious.

He hadn’t expected the Suns to be the first to change their lineup.

Moreover, they moved Ewing, who had been playing well, back to the bench.

Adelman didn’t quite understand the move. It had somewhat disrupted his plans.

He wanted to make a counter-adjustment, but after thinking it over, he realized there was nothing he could do. The Kings only had a limited roster, and he couldn’t touch any of his five starters.

His eyes fixed on the court, Adelman was very curious. What was the purpose of the Suns’ lineup change?

On the court, the Suns were on offense.

Olajuwon didn’t immediately drop into the low post. Instead, he started by setting a screen for Hardaway on the wing. Hardaway cut to the top of the arc, caught the pass, and looked poised for an isolation play.

Just then, Olajuwon came over again to set another screen for a pick-and-roll.

Hardaway exploded past his man and drove to the basket.

Hardaway dished it back as Olajuwon rolled to the rim. Leaping into the air, Olajuwon extended his long arm and gently laid the ball into the basket.

On the sidelines, Adelman frowned. ’This doesn’t seem like much of a change.’

’Still the pick-and-roll, still the drive, then the roll man attacking the rim. The Suns played this way in the previous games too.’

The two teams traded baskets, the score climbing steadily.

As Adelman’s gaze swept over the court, he suddenly noticed Gugliotta’s positioning. A realization struck him like a bolt of lightning, and he understood the key to the Suns’ new lineup.

"Spacing!"

Adelman exclaimed under his breath.

He suddenly realized that compared to the previous games, the Suns’ spacing in the paint had opened up significantly.

Ewing was a low-post specialist, so on offense, he always planted himself near the basket, operating around the rim.

Now, with Olajuwon back at the five, he was responsible for setting screens in the pick-and-roll, frequently pulling him out to the perimeter.

Gugliotta, on the other hand, was an anomaly. Especially after his major injury, he played nothing like an inside player. He preferred to operate on the perimeter, spotting up to catch the ball.

As a result, the paint was wide open.

Whether it was Hardaway, J Kidd, or Marion, they now had much more space to drive, and their offensive efficiency shot up.

Adelman turned to look at the opposing bench, sizing up the rookie coach, Skiles, for the first time.

’This guy’s actually got something up his sleeve.’

In old-school basketball, with man-to-man defense and centers camping in the paint, the interior was king, and the lane was incredibly congested.

Adelman’s Princeton offense, however, did the exact opposite by pulling the center out to the perimeter to free up space in the paint.

Combined with all sorts of off-ball cuts, Adelman considered the Princeton offense to be an art form in the utilization of space.

This was especially true this season, as the league had introduced the defensive three-second violation, forcing centers away from the basket and making the use of spacing even more critical.

Adelman even felt this could be the future direction of basketball strategy.

That was why the Kings had taken the league by storm this season, their Princeton offense sending shockwaves through the NBA.

’And now, it’s clear the Suns are playing the same game.’

’Weber is versatile, but Olajuwon is even more so.’

’Weber’s draft comparison was Olajuwon himself. With his range, passing, screening, help defense, and cutting ability—not to mention years of experience and a championship under his belt—Olajuwon was superior to Weber in every aspect.’

Adelman even felt that, aside from a lack of outside shooting, this Suns team was strikingly similar to his own Kings.

’No, that’s not right!’

Adelman wanted to take back his words when he saw Olajuwon execute his signature Dream Shake in the low post, then whip a long pass out to the perimeter. Gugliotta caught it, pulled up, and calmly drained a long two.

’Who said the Suns don’t have shooters? There’s one right there.’

’A former Wolf King who once averaged over 20 points and 8 rebounds on 50% shooting.’

’People called him a soft, big white guy, a stat-padder who only drifted on the perimeter to shoot. But for this Suns team, he was the perfect fit.’

The score was 15-11, and it was the Kings who were forced to call the first timeout.

"Not bad at all," Nelson couldn’t help but comment.

"The offense is clicking, and the defense is still holding its own. If Ewing can handle a softie like Divac who only knows how to flop, why couldn’t Olajuwon?"

And with J Kidd on the court, the perimeter defense would never be lacking.

So, to Nelson’s surprise, the Suns weren’t just adapting to Skiles’s sudden lineup change—they were actually thriving with it.

Chen Yu replied, exasperated, "Well, duh. Have you forgotten? This is how we played at the start of the season."

Nelson paused for a moment, then realization dawned.

"Fuck, no wonder," Nelson said with an awkward laugh. He’d just remembered that at the start of the season, Ewing had been Olajuwon’s backup.

And at the power forward spot, the playstyles of Robinson and Gugliotta were actually quite similar, with both preferring to shoot from the outside.

It was only after Ewing kicked up a fuss that he and Olajuwon started playing together.

After all that, they had come full circle, right back to where they started. No wonder the transition was so seamless.

"So he didn’t adjust anything at all?" Nelson glanced at Skiles. "I thought he had some flash of genius, some divine inspiration to come up with a masterstroke. Turns out it’s just the same old lineup."

Chen Yu smiled. He himself had only put it together after talking with Ewing before the game. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"You can’t say there were *no* adjustments. At least the personnel is different."

"Robinson was swapped for Teylon Hill. That’s a change, isn’t it?"

"And if you think about it, that means we were actually strong all along," Chen Yu added.

"Using that same lineup and playstyle, we’re able to go toe-to-toe with a powerhouse like the Kings. That just proves the original lineup was good to begin with."

Come to think of it, that made sense. The Suns had a great record at the start of the season. At one point, they were solidly third in the West and even vying for second place.

However, compared to the start of the season, Skiles did make one subtle adjustment: increasing Ewing’s minutes.

And when the bench unit was on the floor, he made Ewing the offensive priority.

Watching Ewing provide help defense on Weber, leaping to contest his shot, Chen Yu suddenly lowered his voice. "Do you know what Scott told Patrick before the game?"

Nelson shook his head and then, hungry for gossip, asked what he’d said. He was also curious about how Skiles had persuaded Ewing to accept a bench role.

Chen Yu said, "He told Patrick that even though he was moving to the bench, he was the key to winning this game. He said we needed him to score for us off the bench and lock down their players. He told him he needed to be the core of our offense and defense—our X-factor."

Nelson blinked, glanced at Skiles up ahead, and thought to himself, ’Since when did Skiles learn how to sell a dream like that?’

’He probably learned it from Chen Yu.’

’They’d seen Chen Yu’s knack for manipulating people more than once.’

"What are you looking at me for? It’s not like I told him to say it." Chen Yu rolled his eyes at Nelson. "But I do think Scott is right. Maybe Patrick really will be our X-factor."

Even if the starters couldn’t completely shut down the Kings, as long as they kept the score close, the bench could come in and build a lead. Then the game would be theirs for the taking.

But more than these strategic concerns, Chen Yu was worried about the stamina of his key players.

After all, they’d been through quite an ordeal the night before.

But by halftime, he saw that they were holding up fine. J Kidd and Hardaway were still young and had the stamina. It wasn’t that different from playing consecutive away games on a back-to-back.

And since Ewing and Olajuwon were splitting minutes almost evenly, their stamina wasn’t a major issue either.

Still, during the halftime break, Chen Yu did what he could to help some of them alleviate their fatigue.

"Keep playing like you did in the first half, and let’s send the Kings home!" Skiles gave a rare, rousing speech to boost morale before they took the court.

The power went out in the middle of the night. The players couldn’t sleep, and neither could he.

The players suffered, he suffered. How could he not be resentful?

They were up 57-50 at the half, a 7-point lead. If they could maintain that momentum in the second half, their chances of winning were high.

Coming out of halftime, the Kings still couldn’t find a way to make a comeback.

As the clock ticked down, Adelman started to grow anxious.

He didn’t know the exact statistic, but he knew the probability of coming back to win a series after losing the Celestial King Mountain game was no more than thirty percent.

Today, no matter what, they could not let the Suns walk out of Sacramento with a win.

So when there were just over four minutes left and the Kings were trailing 91-83, Adelman called a timeout and slammed down his clipboard.

His expression was more serious than ever as he scanned his players. In a grave voice, he said, "Forget those damn tactics. We’re in the final stretch. From now on, we have only one play: get the ball to Chris."

He pointed a finger at Weber.

Tactics were useful, of course, but this was the NBA. When it came down to crunch time, you had to rely on your stars.

Phil Jackson went to the Lakers, preaching his triangle offense, but when the game was on the line, didn’t it all come down to one simple instruction? Get the damn ball to O’Neal.