This time, Francis played even more aggressively, protected the ball better, and bulldozed past Ethan Brooks straight into the paint, dodged Ratliff's block, and scored with a layup!

"Just a lucky kid! This is real skill!" Francis grumbled as he ran back on defense past Ethan Brooks, clearly thinking that Ethan Brooks's earlier pull-up three was just luck. After all, you hardly ever see that kind of play these days—dribbling up and just pulling up for a shot. Except for that guy on the Magic who does it all the time, no one else really dares to try it.

At this moment, Ethan Brooks couldn't care less about what Francis was saying. Although Francis's ability rating wasn't at superstar level, he was at least one of the strongest among first-tier players. And the reason Francis's rating wasn't at superstar level, in Ethan Brooks's opinion, was entirely due to his defense. Aside from blocks, which looked decent thanks to his athleticism, his overall defense was only a bit better than a turnstile—classic strong offense, weak defense.

At his offensive peak, Francis could go toe-to-toe with Kobe and McGrady. Kobe during the Shaq era and McGrady during his Magic days were both great defenders—Kobe was even First Team All-Defense. If even those two couldn't stop him, Ethan Brooks didn't care at all about getting blown by. Getting a single steal would already be pretty good.

Right now, all Ethan Brooks could think about was shooting! Three-pointers!

That silky-smooth feeling from the last shot was just too good!

Emmanuel Davis dribbled the ball up to the frontcourt, and at this moment, Rahim dropped down to the low post to call for the ball.

The Rockets' lineup was Francis, the veteran Cat Cuttino Mobley, Kenny Thomas as the three perimeter threats, plus this year's seventh pick Eddie Griffin and defensive center Kelvin Cato.

The Rockets' perimeter was very strong—Francis and Mobley were both first-rate scorers averaging over 20 points, and Kenny Thomas was no slouch either. But no one expected them to make the playoffs, simply because their interior was just too weak!

When Rahim posted up and called for the ball, several Rockets immediately collapsed into the paint, leaving the perimeter wide open.

There was no helping it—at 2.06 meters tall, Rahim had such refined skills for a small forward that when he posted up, the Rockets' interior was just background scenery. They had no choice but to double-team him.

Emmanuel Davis was a shooting guard with pretty average playmaking skills. If Ethan Brooks didn't bring up the ball, just getting it across half-court was about the most he could do as a point guard. Now that Rahim was being double-teamed, he didn't know whether to attack himself or try to pass it inside. If he went for it himself, the coach would probably yell at him. He knew his shooting percentage last season was just over thirty percent, and the Hawks only brought him back from the Sonics as a defensive specialist off the bench.

But at this moment, Emmanuel Davis saw Ethan Brooks running over and calling for the ball, so he passed it right away.

Although Emmanuel didn't trust Ethan Brooks—that's why he took the inbound and brought the ball up—he was afraid that Ethan Brooks's skinny, stick-like frame would get bullied and stripped. But after all, Ethan Brooks was a point guard, so his playmaking and passing had to be better than his own. That's what Emmanuel Davis thought.

Emmanuel Davis handed the ball off to Ethan Brooks, then cut toward the paint, calling for the ball as he went, hoping to use his own driving ability to help Rahim draw away the defense.

But before Emmanuel even reached the free-throw line, just as he turned and waved for the ball, he saw Ethan Brooks, who had just received the pass, immediately pull up for a three.

"What?" Emmanuel Davis was completely dumbfounded, and so was Francis, who had followed Ethan Brooks over. He just came over to receive the ball and immediately shot it? Was it because he made a lucky shot earlier that he was already losing his sense of self? Playing like a superstar? Or was this that self-important guy from the Magic's superstar style?

And then, the ball went straight through the hoop.

"My God!" Emmanuel was about to yell at this rookie, but he didn't expect it to go in again!

This was just insane!

Emmanuel was in disbelief. In his eyes, Terry's "Jet" nickname was nothing! This rookie was a straight-up bomber!

The ten-point deficit instantly shrank to six. On the Rockets' side, the famous coach Tomjanovich called a timeout. A five-point gap is a threshold—within five points, it's not really a deficit anymore. That's called the "crunch time" phase, and in crunch time, the Hawks, who had the only true superstar on either team, Rahim, definitely had the advantage. In terms of ability, Rahim absolutely was.

Ability is always the easiest thing to earn respect for on the basketball court. Ethan Brooks hit two threes in a row—with that touch, that confidence—even Emmanuel, who always respected strength above all, came over and gave Ethan Brooks a high five, a sign of recognition.

Block king Ratliff and backup power forward Ira Newble also came over and patted Ethan Brooks on the butt, showing their appreciation for the shot.

Although Rahim didn't show such enthusiasm, that was just his personality. He came over to Ethan Brooks and said, "If you get back on the court later, give me the ball, and I'll pass it back to you."

After saying this, Rahim thought it might sound like he was trying to take the ball away, so he explained, "You just hit two threes in a row, so they're definitely going to focus their defense on you next. I'll draw the defense away, and you get open and I'll pass it to you."

Getting noticed by the team leader!