Free Home Court by Amar'e Stoudemire Page A

laid it up to tie the score at 6–6.
    â€œGame point,” called Tavoris. “For our guys!”
    There were some cheers up and down the sidelines. Deuce, Mike, and I high-fived on our way back up court. But that was it: We were fresh out of trick plays, and it was game point for the other team, too. From the looks on their faces, I could tell this game was going to have a rough ending, one way or the other.
    Junior huddled us up one last time, and this time, he kept it quick.
    â€œThis is going to come down to one play,” he said. “Let’s make it your best.”
    He looked right at me. “You know what I’m talking about.”
    I did. “Pick-and-roll,” I said.
    Carlos had scored the first point of the game with it, and I planned to score the last. It was my best play. I’d run it a thousand times with these same guys on this same court. I’d even worked on it a few times in the driveway with Junior and my dad — talk about two guys who could set a screen! Now I just needed to run it once, but it had to be perfect.
    I looked around at my friends. We were somewhere between beat-down and beat-up. We were one point away from winning, and we were one point away from losing and being kicked off our own court for good. But none of us were backing down. We all clapped once, hard, as we broke the huddle.
    â€œLet’s go!” said Mike.
    â€œOne more,” said Deuce as he walked past me to take the ball out up top. We made eye contact, and he gave me a little nod. I nodded back. We were both ready. Carlos stepped in front of me and got into position. He looked like a boxer before the bell. He was ready, too.

B omp Bomp Bomp! I heard. Bomp Bomp Bomp!
    It was either my heart beating out of my chest or Deuce had started dribbling. I admit I was a little nervous. We had this one shot to win the game, but a turnover or a miss, and the other team could win in a second. They were bigger and less beat-up. We had this one chance, and we definitely couldn’t count on getting another one. So I got to work.
    Carlos was right up on me, and that was fine because that’s exactly where I wanted him. Deuce doubled back and started dribbling toward us. The sound of the ball got louder as he got closer. Bomp BoMP BOMP! went the ball on the blacktop.
    Deuce wasn’t moving all that fast. And since he was moving side to side, and not toward the basket, Ledge wasn’t on him all that tight. It was like the whole game was in slow motion, but I knew all that was about to change. I took one last look around, just to make sure I knew exactly where I was on the court, and where everyone else was, too.
    Our classmates were climbing the fence. I don’t mean that like a figure of speech: They were really climbing the chain-link fence behind the hoop. Everyone wanted a good look at game point, no matter who scored it. Tavoris was looking right at me from a spot almost as high as the basket. The wire of the fence made it look like he was wearing crazy, lopsided glasses. I looked over at Mike in the post, with Yeti all over him like an avalanche.
    Deuce was getting closer now. The possibility of a pick-and-roll had probably already occurred to Carlos and Ledge. As part of a travel team, they must’ve practiced it all the time. Carlos was still on me like plastic wrap.
    I looked at Deuce and he looked at me. I don’t know if it was ESP or ESPN, but I saw it in his eyes: He was ready to go — and he was going to go fast!
    Deuce turned on the afterburners. Carlos and Ledge may have been ready for the pick-and-roll, but speed like that changes everything. They didn’t have as much time as they thought they would, and that changed the space, too. Deuce was almost even with me now. Ledge had been laying off him a little, and Carlos had been right up on me. And that put them on a collision course.
    I stood up straight and held my position as Deuce rocketed past me with the