Lin Yi was on fire tonight.
Man, sometimes you just feel it—and when you do, it makes zero sense. Nothing's logical. Just vibes and buckets.
This was the first time Lin had gone full deadeye mode since leveling up his Tough Shotmaker badge to silver. And tonight, he went absolutely off against the 76ers. Philly fans? Yeah, they got the full experience.
He dropped four insane fadeaways in the first quarter alone—and in the second? Two drifting, contested jumpers that made no sense whatsoever.
76ers coach Eddie Jordan looked like he wanted to rip out what little hair he had left... except, well, he'd already gone full bald this season.
But for all those loyal Iverson fans, this game was a must-watch. A throwback. A memory unlocked.
Iverson, rocking 18 points and 6 assists, reminded everyone what it meant to carry a city on your back. That lone warrior energy. One man, one city, one answer.
He wasn't going down without swinging, either.
In the second half, he hit Lin Yi with a filthy spin and laid it in with style.
It was like watching your childhood hero drop the mic.
Goodbye, Answer.
...Don't worry about the shooting percentage.
Details, details.
As for Lin Yi?
35 minutes.
34 points.
10 boards.
5 dimes.
2 blocks.
The Knicks took it, 103–89, on the road.
That win also made them the third team in the East to hit 30 wins, trailing only Cleveland and Boston. Not bad company.
Elsewhere in the league?
Durant dropped 40 on the Rockets.
But poor KD.
He logs onto social media after the game, expecting flowers, only to see...
Nothing.
Everyone's reposting Lin Yi's highlight reel.
Tough scene.
Frustrated, KD switched to his alternate account.
"YO... Thunder's Kevin Durant dropped 40 tonight. Just sayin'."
But the replies were brutal.
"40? Cute. Did you see Lin Yi's fadeaways? Man was painting art out there."
"Durant's buckets are nice, but Lin's elegant. That man floats!"
"Also, let's be real. Lin Yi got the looks. KD...is lookin' like an old man."
Durant stared up at the cloudy Oklahoma sky while deleting his account.
The trauma was real.
....
And just when you thought Lin Yi had stolen the show?
Boom.
Warriors vs. Trail Blazers.
Stephen Curry went nuclear.
Lin Yi wasn't surprised.
He expected this.
Back in the 2009–10 season in his original timeline, Curry had started catching fire around January.
The problem was, back then, Monta Ellis was still chucking like every night was his mixtape. Didn't help the team chemistry or Curry's growth.
Eventually, Don Nelson—the Zen master of chaos—had enough. He talked with Ellis, and just like that, shots started getting redistributed. Curry and his teammates could finally breathe.
Ellis, for all his ego, wasn't trying to beef with Old Man Nelson. After all, Nelson had wrangled the "We Believe" squad—and Monta wasn't about to act like he was bigger than Baron Davis.
So no, Lin Yi wasn't shocked that Curry was starting to shine.
What did surprise him was how Curry was getting his points.
In the original timeline, Curry's season high in 2009–10 was 42 points, with just six made threes.
But tonight?
He looked more like future Steph than rookie Steph. That quick release? Already upgraded. The slight tweaks Lin had suggested last summer were paying off.
Lin had seen what came next in the old timeline—2012–13, when Steph went ballistic and nailed 272 threes in a season, breaking the record.
Back then, that version of Curry didn't exist yet. He was still a pup. Still developing.
But now?
Because of Lin's ripple effect, Steph was evolving faster. His release speed was elite.
Hell, he was shooting 47.8% from deep already—and this was just his rookie season.
And it wasn't just Steph.
Other rookies from '09 were starting to lean into the long ball too. DeRozan—he'd already hit 14 threes this season. Nothing crazy, but not what Lin remembered.
It even forced the Raptors to reconsider and give DeRozan more minutes.
It was wild.
The butterfly effect was real.
But Lin Yi wasn't scared of it.
He welcomed it.
Lin Yi still remembered that Curry's season-high in 2009-10 came against the Trail Blazers. Funny how fate works sometimes.
The Baby-faced assassin dropped 35 on Portland. Thirty-five! But this was in a season where Jennings had that insane 55-point game, and Lin Yi himself had already put up 61. Rookie scoring outbursts were becoming... weirdly normal.
But what put Steph in the spotlight wasn't just the total points—it was how he did it.
Nine three-pointers. That's right, nine out of eleven. Plus four of six on twos. And get this—zero free throws. The man put up 35 without even touching the foul line.
After that game, folks started taking notice.
People hadn't forgotten the Shooting Stars from their college days. That nickname still floated around whenever Lin and Steph were mentioned together. It also made sense why Coach Nelson didn't hesitate to draft Curry so high—he'd always wanted his version of the Shooting Stars.
Still, being the No. 2 pick came with pressure. And after watching Lin Yi make headlines week after week, Curry couldn't just sit back. He wanted his moment.
And he got it.
Two deep bombs from way downtown, plus seven more from beyond the arc—Curry torched Portland. Even the haters among the Warriors faithful had to give it up. Some of them, who were roasting Steph just weeks ago, were now starting to believe he could be their guy.
After all, Lin Yi—Curry's former running mate was already dragging the Knicks to wins with a bunch of scrubs. So why couldn't Steph become Golden State's star?
Truth be told, a lot of the hate Curry got early on was more frustration than anything. Fans weren't mad at him—they were mad he hadn't exploded yet.
"Nine threes, huh..." Lin Yi chuckled to himself. "If I said Curry's gonna hold the all-time single-game three-point record someday, people would probably roast me alive."
Still, he knew the Warriors crowd had started warming up to Steph after this breakout. But if Curry wanted to be the guy in Golden State, he'd still need a little help from the LOGO Man upstairs to build the right team around him.
Defense was still a question mark for Steph, but hey, they were brothers in all but blood—Lin Yi wasn't about to drag Curry right now.
These days, the 2009 Rookie Group chat has basically become a flex zone. Whenever someone had a big night, they'd pop in to brag.
Lin Yi barely said anything anymore. They'd all muted him. Too dominant.
But now, with Steph going off, he might be this month's Western Conference Rookie of the Month. Harden? Solid, but not eye-popping. He had the Thunder behind him, though, and a legit playoff shot. DeRozan was doing well in Toronto too, starting to look like Bosh's successor.
Flynn and Tyreke Evans had Wolves fans hyped, calling them the new backcourt duo. Jrue Holiday was grinding with AI in Philly.
But the one really feeling it was Blake Griffin.
Somehow, no one in L.A. seemed to care about his return. Clippers fans? Barely there. Most people were just Lakers fans who couldn't get tickets to Kobe's show.
The Lakers were contenders. The Clippers? People still asked if they were a real team.
And Blake? He was out here yelling into the void.
After all, he was supposed to be the guy—a top pick of the "Miracle Generation" of '09.
But the worst part? His problems were just getting started.
...
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