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...
After playing the first six minutes of the opening quarter, Lin Yi finally got a breather on the bench. Like clockwork, he took the chance to check the badge upgrade conditions in his head.
[System Prompt – Badge Upgrade Requirements]
Dream Shake (Silver → Gold)
Complete 100 successful in-paint fakes in NBA games (Regular season and Playoffs only).
Rebounding Maniac (Silver → Gold)
Grab 1,000 total rebounds in NBA games.
Ankle Breaker (Silver → Gold)
Either knock down 100 opponents or win 500 one-on-ones against All-Star players.
Tough Shotmaker (Silver → Gold)
Make 150 tough buckets in NBA games.
Limitless Range (Silver → Gold)
Hit 80 ultra-long three-pointers in NBA games.
Lin Yi stared at the list... then nearly spat his Gatorade all over Gallinari.
Lin thought bitterly. Other people's systems drop them straight into a Kobe or T-Mac template on day one. Me? I'm out here grinding badges like a MyCareer intern.
But after the minor internal meltdown, Lin Yi quickly composed himself.
Alright, fine. No point whining. With the way he was rebounding lately, the Rebounding Maniac badge should hit gold by next season, no sweat. As for the Dream Shake? Pfft.
That was his bread and butter.
The same was true for Tough Shotmaker. His entire playstyle revolved around taking and making tough looks, and that one progressed naturally, too.
But... then there was Limitless Range.
80 ultra-deep threes.
Seriously? Lin glanced up at the arena lights, a little dazed.
What is this, 2K Hall of Fame difficulty on a Tuesday night?
He rubbed his temples and opened a mental channel to the system.
"Hey, system—on that Ankle Terminator badge... when you say 'All-Star player,' does David Lee count?"
Affirmative.
Lin Yi grinned like he just hacked the Matrix.
Let's gooo!
When he was at Davidson, he had used Curry as his partner to unlock the silver version of the badge in three days. Now the system wanted All-Star-level opponents. Fortunately, his teammate David Lee had been an All-Star—not once, but twice. East and West both. That alone was gonna save him a ton of effort.
...
With about two minutes left in the first quarter, Coach D'Antoni subbed David Lee out.
Lin Yi watched him walk toward the bench with an oddly serious expression. His eyes followed David to his seat.
David Lee raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Lin? You good?"
Lin blinked, then realized how that must've looked. "Whoa, whoa—don't get the wrong idea!"
David leaned back, jokingly saying. "Bro, I don't swing that way, I'm straight, alright, but hey, you do you."
Lin nearly fell off his chair.
"Dude! Who said anything about that?! I was just thinking… aren't we getting three days off after this game? I wanted to use the break to run some one-on-ones with you. I need to level up my iso game."
"Man, I was joking. Everybody has seen the babe you move with," David laughed. "Sure, I'm down. I could use the work too—especially on defending after switches."
Everyone on the team knew David Lee was loaded—serious trust fund money. But the guy genuinely loved basketball. That's why he stuck with it, grinding from a blue-collar big into a full-fledged scoring threat down low.
"Thanks, man," Lin said. "Oh, by the way… has anyone been talking trash about me lately?"
Seeing an opportunity to pull a prank, David glanced over at Gallinari, then slowly tilted his head in the Italian's direction.
Lin Yi followed his gaze and immediately understood the assignment.
Lin gave Gallinari a friendly—too friendly—pat on the shoulder.
The stylish Italian flinched. "W-What?"
Lin just smiled. "Nothing, Dani. Just... showing some love."
"Danilo…" Lin Yi said with a smile that wasn't a smile. "Seems like I went too easy on you last time. Don't worry, though—next time, I promise your girlfriends won't even recognize you."
He said it through gritted teeth, each word landing like a slow stab.
"…"
The Knicks' bench held its collective breath.
"Hahaha, Danilo, you should have seen your face. Am just fuckin' with you. Loosen up a bit. Too tense in the game."
David Lee, with a cheshire smile, patted SBC and was joined by the bench in laughter.
D'Antoni, standing a distance from them, was smiling.
"Yeah, yeah! Full effort, no holding back!" Belinelli added
...
Second quarter. The Blazers came in expecting a light bench matchup.
Big mistake.
Belinelli and Gallinari—normally allergic to defense—were flying all over the court like it was Game 7 of the Finals. Blazers backup point guard Steve Blake and Spanish swingman Rudy Fernandez were shell-shocked.
What the hell? Rudy thought. It's the regular season! Why are they playing like it's do-or-die?
By the time Portland's coach, Nate McMillan, scrambled to get the starters back in, it was already too late. The Knicks' bench, led by a locked-in Lin Yi, had blown the game wide open.
On the sidelines, McMillan was visibly annoyed. He shot a side-eye at D'Antoni across the court.
Seriously? It's October. Why are you coaching like it's the Finals?
If Lin Yi had known what McMillan was thinking, he probably would've spat out his Gatorade mid-laugh.
..
Late in the third quarter, the game had officially entered garbage time. D'Antoni, seeing the massive lead, started rotating in his reserves and easing off the gas.
But something felt… off.
Even with the game in hand, the bench unit was still going all out like they were down by ten.
D'Antoni scratched his head.
We're up by 20, and these guys are diving for loose balls like it's a war zone…
He called a timeout.
"Alright, guys," he said during the huddle, trying to sound chill. "Relax a little. We're up big. No need to overdo it. Play smart, don't get hurt, okay?"
The bench players all nodded obediently.
...
By the final buzzer, the Knicks walked off with a dominant 105-126 win over the Trail Blazers.
Knicks: 16-6.
The star of the show? Lin Yi, who left poor Greg Oden grasping at air on multiple highlight plays. One of the clips—where Lin juked Oden so hard he did a full 360—exploded online, racking up over 10 million views on YouTube by the next morning.
THE FALL OF ODEN was trending.
And Lin Yi?
He just wanted to get home, have a shower, chat with Olsen, and figure out how many more ankle-breakers he needed to unlock his next badge.
...
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