Su Wan played for 32 minutes and 15 seconds, scoring 33 points. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and added 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Ben Gordon’s stats, on the other hand, were 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Chicago media reporters slinked away as soon as the game ended.
They had prepared a bunch of sharp questions to ask, but now they knew that going to interview Su Wan would be "humiliating themselves".
An ABC reporter once again brought up the issue of Su Wan not choosing to break the record after the game. Su Wan said, "I have very important things to do, right now we still need to win 15 more games!"
The Indiana natives in the audience were stunned for a moment, then they all came to a realization, and the sounds of cheering gradually unified.
They all understood, there were 15 more victories to go before winning the championship!
Then Su Wan stood in the tunnel to continue the interviews.
"How does it feel to beat Ben Gordon?"
"It doesn’t feel special, he’s just a substitute, I’m a starter."
"But he’s the Best Sixth Man!"
"That’s still just a substitute..."
"Aren’t you afraid your teammates will be unhappy?"
"My teammates are used to it."
Su Wan happened to see Reggie Miller passing behind him. He shouted, "Reggie, come have a bullfight with me; let me show you how wide the gap really is between you, a substitute, and me, a starter!"
Reggie Miller avoided the camera and called back from afar, "fxxk you!"
Su Wan turned back to the reporters, "See!"
This caused a burst of laughter.
"Aren’t you worried that substitutes from other teams will be upset?"
"Is that something I need to care about? If they’re upset, that’s their problem. I feel good, and that’s what matters. I can’t take care of everyone’s feelings."
This interview quickly spread, but surprisingly, the Chicago media didn’t express any irritation. In competitive sports, performance speaks. With the team losing by nearly 30 points, and Ben Gordon being mocked with "who in your team is on offense," they really had no ground to argue.
Now, they only hoped that the Bulls could put up a better fight in the second game so that they too could have some say.
Frankly, the Bulls did perform better in the second game than in the first. They lost the first game by 27 points and the second by only 19 points, which was quite an improvement. However, the Chicago media had to keep their mouths shut.
After finishing their two home games, the Pacers headed to Chicago. The next two games would take place on Chicago’s home court.
Meanwhile, Su Wan kept an eye on the Mavericks and Lakers games.
As he had expected, the Rockets triumphed against all odds, securing two road wins in Dallas. Now they were headed back to their home court.
Mark Cuban was frantic, so he cut a video overnight on what he called "Yao’s mobile screen" and submitted it to the league. Slamming his fist on the table, he questioned the league’s favoritism towards the Rockets and Yao, demanding an explanation.
The Mavericks’ owner felt wronged and had hoped that the Rockets’ owner would stand up and express his grievances as well, lifting the pressure off David Stern.
But "pressure" was a "turtle," only concerned with making money off Yao, not the rest.
David Stern had no choice but to hold a meeting with the Referee Association overnight, appointing Donaghy as the "main ref" for the third game between the Mavericks and Rockets, with a special focus on Yao’s mobile screens and traveling violations in the paint.
Upon hearing these arrangements, Mark Cuban couldn’t help but smile. But just as he thought everything was set, on the day of the third game, the FBI suddenly issued a warrant, taking Donaghy away for "suspected game fixing and betting".
At the same time, the media went wild with rumors that David Stern, wanting to cater to Mark Cuban’s feelings, was ready to start calling fouls on Yao from the third game of the series, making him play with fouls on his back.
The news stirred up quite a reaction, and Houston fans were livid.
The officials rushed to issue a statement:
All of this was rumor, there was absolutely no such intention.
Upon seeing the situation, Mark Cuban immediately "stopped laughing".
He knew that David Stern couldn’t possibly target Yao at such a critical time.