Chapter 489: Even Ordinary Guys Can Be Heroes
Five years ago, Kobe would have answered Chen Yan with an even nastier superstar shot, the kind that makes a crowd groan before the ball even drops. But Kobe was different now. He was older, sharper, more willing to win ugly. And in 2 possessions, he found the Suns' soft spot.
The Lakers came down and flowed into the triangle, still committed to feeding the interior.
Everyone expected the same pattern again.
Instead, Kobe cut without the ball.
Chen Yan knew better than to relax against Kobe's off ball movement. The moment Kobe took off, Chen Yan chased him tight, ready to fight through whatever screen was coming.
Kobe did not cut straight to the rim. He looped right, just enough to set the angle.
Bang.
A hard thump of bodies echoed through Staples as Chen Yan slammed sideways into James Posey's chest.
Novak was late again. Kobe used Posey's screen, popped free, caught, and exploded into the lane.
Jordan was waiting in the paint with both arms raised. He only wanted to contest, no swipes, no risk. But Kobe did not slow down at all. He came in like he was carrying a bomb, straight at Jordan's chest.
He was hunting Jordan, and everyone in the building knew it.
Contact.
Kobe tossed the ball up through the collision.
Beep, beep.
Two whistles.
Jordan sprinted toward the official with both hands on his head, talking fast, explaining faster. The referee barely looked at him, just waved him away with the same motion you use to dismiss a bad excuse.
Sixth foul.
Jordan was gone.
Kobe slapped hands with teammates and walked to the line like he was checking off a list.
Swish.
Swish.
109 to 103.
And then the game flipped completely.
Over the next 2 and a half minutes, the Lakers ripped off an 8 to 1 run and grabbed the lead. Once Jordan fouled out, Phoenix's interior turned brittle. Garnett and Camby were suddenly living at the rim, sealing deep, catching clean, finishing whenever they wanted.
D'Antoni had no choice. Timeout.
Out of the break, he went for toughness. Barnes came in. Novak went out. Raja Bell returned.
Novak sitting was a chain reaction from Jordan fouling out. Phoenix had already lost rim protection. Leaving a defensive target on the floor without a real back line would have turned the paint into a layup line.
On the Suns side, the 5 on the floor were Nash, Chen Yan, Raja Bell, Diaw, and Barnes.
Outside of Nash, everyone could defend. It was the most balanced group Phoenix could field right now.
Before they stepped back onto the court, D'Antoni hammered one point again and again.
Shot quality. Shot quality. Shot quality.
If they could not stabilize, the Lakers would steal the game in one wave.
Nash brought it up into a wall of noise. Staples was chanting defense like it was the playoffs.
He waved Diaw up for a high screen. Diaw clipped Fisher and Nash tried to turn the corner. Garnett switched out instantly.
Nash took 1 step inside the arc, saw the lane close, and pulled it back out.
For a heartbeat, he had the choice. Launch the 3 or reset.
Nash reset. He knew his own legs in the fourth. He was calm enough to admit it.
Fisher recovered in front again. Diaw set another screen. Nash drifted left, and this time Posey shaded down from the wing.
That small hesitation opened the window.
Nash snapped the pass to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan caught and immediately rose into a shot motion. Posey flew at him.
Chen Yan froze the ball high and sold the pump fake with a light toe tap. Posey bit hard, sailing past.
One step.
Two dribbles.
Chen Yan attacked the rim.
Garnett slid over, covering ground like a long armed nightmare. He really could defend 1 through 5, tall and fast enough to erase angles.
But that agility was still relative.
Against Chen Yan, even Garnett's speed could be turned into leverage.
Chen Yan pushed off his right foot and floated the ball with his right hand, then snapped a crossover the instant Garnett's weight shifted.
Chen Yan's center of gravity dropped so low his right shoulder nearly brushed the floor, like a motorcycle leaning through a racing turn.
Garnett lost the line. His right arm flailed instinctively and slapped Chen Yan's right forearm.
The sound was sharp enough for the lower bowl to hear.
Whistle.
Garnett raised his hand right away. No bonus yet, so it was side out.
Chen Yan glanced up at the big screen. Garnett already had 4 fouls.
A plan clicked into place.
Chen Yan walked to Nash.
"Steve. We go at Garnett. Create mismatches, draw his 5th, and get him off the floor."
Nash nodded. He was thinking the same thing.
Phoenix inbounded. Nash curved out, took it, and fired across to Chen Yan.
He did not try to make Nash switch onto Garnett. Nash's legs had already paid enough tonight.
Chen Yan waved Diaw over like he was calling in a tool from the bench.
Diaw screened Posey. The Lakers switched, exactly as expected.
Now Chen Yan had Garnett.
No hesitation. If he waited, the double would come.
Chen Yan drove straight into him, chest to chest, almost like a defender trying to stonewall a ball handler. The contact was heavy.
Garnett read the intention. A normal defender with 4 fouls would retreat, give space, live with the shot, live with the drive, anything but the whistle.
Garnett did not retreat.
He pushed back, subtle but firm.
Staples. Home floor. Tight game. He was betting the whistle would stay quiet.
He bet right.
No call.
Chen Yan absorbed it anyway. His core locked, his balance held. He slid a short lateral step, not to create separation, but to set the next beat.
Garnett reached with his right hand and stepped forward to smother him.
Chen Yan lifted the ball straight up.
And instead of fading away, he leaned in.
He jumped into Garnett's unraised left arm, forcing the hook.
"Ah!"
Chen Yan shouted as he flung the ball upward.
Whistle.
This time Garnett's protest was immediate. He told the official Chen Yan was hunting fouls, not shots.
The referee shook his head. Arm contact was arm contact. The call stood.
5th foul.
Chen Yan walked to the line and buried both.
112 to 111.
Phoenix was back in front.
During the dead ball, Phil Jackson pulled Garnett. With 5 fouls, he could not risk losing him completely.
Garnett sat, boiling.
Nash and Chen Yan exchanged a quick look, the kind that said everything without words. For once, Phoenix had used the opponent's medicine on them.
The very next Lakers possession ended in a turnover.
Powell had just checked in and caught it with his back to the basket. He did not scan. He did not feel the blind side.
Nash poked it away clean.
He took off with the steal. Fisher ran with him, tight in a straight line. Fisher could not slide, but he could sprint.
Nash got to the free throw line and dumped a bounce pass back.
Fisher straightened for a split second.
Chen Yan was already flying past him.
Boom.
Beep.
Chen Yan hammered the dunk and drew the blocking foul on Fisher.
And one.
Staples erupted in boos like they were trying to shake the roof loose.
Chen Yan made the free throw. Phoenix up 4.
And then, just when it looked like the Lakers were tilting toward despair, that man finally caught fire.
Kobe's touch had been off for most of the night.
Then he hit 3 straight shots, including a 3.
In 3 possessions, the game tightened again. The building came alive, and the pressure spiked back to the ceiling.
2 minutes later, Garnett checked back in.
Phil Jackson wanted the closing punch.
But Garnett's rhythm was gone.
The game slid into the last stretch with both teams trading pressure, trading possessions, trading breath.
Then it happened.
9.7 seconds left.
122 to 123, Lakers by 1.
Phoenix ball.
D'Antoni used his last timeout. The broadcast panned the Suns bench, then settled on Chen Yan.
Even the cameraman knew where the last shot was supposed to go.
Chen Yan already had 48 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. A make would give him another 50 at Staples, whether it was a 2 or a 3.
Timeout over.
D'Antoni sent out Nash, Chen Yan, Novak, Azubuike, and Barnes.
All shooters. No overtime plans. Not in this building.
Barnes inbounded. Camby tried to delay with every legal inch of his body. Barnes still got it in.
Chen Yan caught 2 steps beyond the arc, top of the key.
The clock started.
No double. Too risky.
Kobe was on him.
With 8 seconds left, Chen Yan drove.
Kobe stayed attached. No bailout whistle was coming now.
Breen's voice rose with the moment.
"Chen stops at the right 45, pulls it back. Kobe stays in front. Now Chen switches to his left, attacking again."
Posey pinched in. Fisher came too. Camby waited in the paint, ready to contest.
Chen Yan glided into the lane, drew 4 defenders, then twisted his shoulders and fired the pass out.
"He passed it!"
The words came out together from the booth.
Wide open Novak.
Novak set his feet, eyes locked, motion pure.
Posey flew, but he was too far.
Release.
Swish.
125 to 123.
Only 1.1 seconds left. No Lakers timeouts.
They inbounded, Kobe launched from the backcourt, and the ball smacked the backboard and kicked out.
Beep.
Game over.
Staples went silent, the kind of silence that feels heavier than noise.
A few seconds ago, they were about to steal the win.
Now they had been buried by a role player.
Novak stared like he was trying to confirm reality.
Because the truth was simple and brutal.
Even ordinary guys can become heroes.
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[TITLE: Starting in One Piece with Vector Manipulation]