Chapter 497: Sudden Death, A Great Start!
Phoenix opened the night with crisp offense, while Utah was still searching for its rhythm.
On the Jazz's next possession, they finally broke through.
Their first basket came from Deron Williams.
Using a high screen at the top of the arc, Deron powered through traffic, got all the way to the rim, and finished an easy layup.
2 to 7.
His strength looked absurd for a point guard. The nickname D-Will was no joke. Once Deron got downhill, he looked like a compact tank. Guards could not stop him, and even some big men had trouble getting in front of him.
Phoenix went back on offense, and Chen Yan went right back to work.
After another pick and roll, Utah switched again, leaving Okur stranded on an island beyond the 3 point line.
On the broadcast, Chen Yan rocked into a double crossover in front of his body, shifting Okur's balance from side to side.
Deron, standing a few steps away, felt a strange sense of familiarity. That double crossover was one of his own signature moves, especially effective against bigger defenders.
Chen Yan crossed between his legs to his left hand, sold a shoulder fake, then snapped it back in front to his right. He dipped his shoulder again, then instantly whipped the ball back to his left.
Okur looked completely lost. His body was reacting to Chen Yan's rhythm instead of the other way around.
Then Chen Yan exploded left.
Okur twisted hard to recover and nearly lost his footing.
Utah's back line reacted faster this time. The help defenders immediately retreated toward the paint, ready to cut off the drive.
Chen Yan never went inside.
After creating the separation, he slid one small step backward at an angle and rose into a clean, uncontested 3.
Swish.
The ball ripped through the net with a crisp snap.
2 to 10.
The crowd inside US Airways Center erupted.
Fans online.
"Mismatch every time, and he is cashing out every time."
"He can knife you up close and snipe you from deep. How do you guard that?"
"Watching him bully big men is so satisfying."
"Hahaha, is Chen Yan treating Okur like an ATM?"
Sloan did not wait long. He immediately called timeout.
He realized he had made the wrong call to start the game. Okur's lack of mobility made him a giant target on defense. C.J. Miles could shoot, but as a wing, his help defense and coverage were nowhere near Kirilenko's level.
After the timeout, Sloan changed personnel, pulling both C.J. Miles and Okur and sending in Kirilenko and Millsap.
Utah's new lineup was far more mobile, but it came with an obvious weakness. Their 2 interior players were now shorter than Phoenix's.
Play resumed with Utah in possession.
Deron and Boozer ran their classic high pick and roll. On the baseline, Brewer set an off ball screen for Millsap, who immediately cut to the rim.
After the screen action, Boozer popped to the free throw line. Deron took 2 dribbles into the lane, read Millsap's position, and fired a beautiful bounce pass into the pocket.
Deron's vision had always been elite. Under Sloan, he had spent the last few years among the league leaders in assists.
Millsap caught it, turned, and hammered home a 2 handed dunk.
4 to 10.
After landing, he clenched his fist and shouted. He had made an immediate impact, and he looked fired up.
Phoenix came back down the floor.
This time, their half court execution broke down, and Nash's cross court pass was picked off.
Deron pushed the break immediately. Utah's lineup could really run now. All 5 players were comfortable getting out in transition.
Phoenix got back in time. As a run and gun team itself, the Suns knew exactly what Utah wanted in that moment.
Deron had no immediate lane to the basket, so he pulled back to the right elbow area, took 1 lateral dribble, then bounced it inside to Boozer, who had just gotten into the paint.
Phoenix had a mismatch in transition. Raja Bell was the one stuck on Boozer.
Boozer did not hesitate. He pounded the ball once, lowered his shoulder, displaced Bell with raw force, and finished strong in the paint.
6 to 10.
Utah's 2 stars, inside and out, were both built like trucks.
The Jazz scored on consecutive possessions, and their fans began to rise. Phoenix answered immediately.
Nash used a screen and swung the ball to Chen Yan on the wing. Chen Yan caught it, sold the shot fake, then took a huge step toward the lane, drawing the defense inward before flicking the ball back out to Nash above the arc.
Nash caught it in rhythm and buried the 3.
That was already his 2nd 3 of the night.
Seeing Nash's touch early was a huge relief for Suns fans. In a playoff setting, relying on Chen Yan alone was never going to be enough.
Still, Utah was not some weak 8 seed.
They had 2 All Stars, and the rest of the roster was loaded with tough role players who knew exactly what Sloan wanted.
Over the next several possessions, both teams traded scores.
Phoenix never expected to completely shut Utah down. That was not how the Suns played. Their formula was simple. Keep the offense flowing, keep making the shots they were supposed to make, and the pressure would build on the opponent.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the Suns led 26 to 18.
The 2nd quarter turned into a bench battle.
Utah had hoped its second unit could chip away at the lead, but Phoenix's reserves quickly stretched it into double digits instead.
Over the past 2 years, Utah's playoff success against Houston had come largely from superior bench depth.
That edge disappeared against Phoenix.
The Suns could throw out combinations featuring Grant Hill, Azubuike, Jordan, Barea, White Chocolate, and Novak. Almost every mix had more punch than Utah's reserve lineups.
The only player who looked a little tight was Jordan, clearly feeling the pressure of his first playoff game. Everyone else settled naturally into their roles.
Utah's bench reputation had always been somewhat inflated by comparison.
When you looked at Houston's reserves in those old series, Luther Head, Hayes, Bonzi Wells, it was not that Utah's bench had been overwhelmingly strong. It was that Houston's bench had often been painfully limited.
Against Phoenix, that difference was exposed.
Utah's second unit had obvious holes.
Knight and Harpring looked like they were running on fumes and simply could not match Phoenix's pace.
Harpring had been a fierce player in his prime, once averaging 17.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. Some people even believed that in a different system, he might have made an All Star team earlier in his career.
But this season, age and injuries had reduced him to 4.4 points and 2 rebounds a night. He no longer had the legs to bother anyone.
Knight was in even worse shape. He was retiring after the season and had become the single biggest defensive weak point on Utah's bench. His speed was gone. Even old Grant Hill could get by him with one step.
Utah also had no steady hand at backup point guard. Ronnie Price committed 2 turnovers in just 3 minutes.
Price had never been especially reliable, and after dealing with injuries all year, even basic stability had disappeared.
Sloan had no choice but to bring Deron back early.
That was exactly what Phoenix wanted.
Deron immediately put his body to use, bulldozing Barea for an and one.
Barea was tough, but he was simply too small. There was probably not a single point guard in the league who was both taller and stronger than Deron.
On the other end, Barea answered with a pull up middy off a screen.
Deron scored repeatedly during that stretch, but Phoenix's bench kept matching him. Utah never truly dented the lead. By the halfway mark of the 2nd quarter, the margin was still 10.
Barkley joked on the broadcast that if Utah wanted to beat Phoenix, Deron might have to play the whole game.
Then Chen Yan and Nash checked back in.
From that point on, the Suns immediately regained control.
Chen Yan cut for a layup, then came back the next trip and drilled a 3 from the top of the arc.
He kept the lead exactly where Phoenix wanted it, and he did it the easy way.
Deron, by contrast, was fighting through bodies every trip, absorbing hits, forcing his way to the rim, looking more and more worn down.
That style burned energy fast. It was not glaring yet in the 2nd quarter, but it would matter later.
At halftime, Phoenix led 57 to 45.
Utah's best stretch came in the 3rd quarter.
After the break, Deron and Boozer had fresh legs again. They went into full contact mode, attacking out of pick and rolls and forcing their way into the paint to draw fouls.
Korver also played extended minutes in the period, giving Utah a spacing weapon on the perimeter whenever Deron or Boozer drew extra defenders.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, CCTV5 flashed the text message support numbers for both teams.
The split was a ridiculous 98 percent to 2 percent.
It could not have been more lopsided.
Phoenix was the most beloved team among Chinese fans. Utah, after years of stepping on Chinese hopes, especially against Houston, had become one of the most disliked.
Even after Utah cut the lead into single digits by the end of the 3rd, that would be as close as they got.
The 4th quarter began, and suddenly it was raining inside US Airways Center.
A 3 point storm.
In just 3 minutes, the Suns hit 6 threes.
Novak made 2. Raja Bell made 2. Chen Yan made 1. Nash made 1.
By the time Sloan burned his 2nd timeout in those 3 minutes, the lead had already blown out to 18.
"That scoring explosion is exactly why Phoenix finished with the league's best record," Barkley said during the break. "They specialize in ending games in one burst."
"We call it sudden death," Kenny Smith added. "The Suns play a style that feels like poison. One minute you are hanging around, and the next minute you are dead."
After the timeout, Utah still tried to fight.
Deron pushed hard, trying to drag the Jazz back into the game, but the fatigue was finally obvious. He started missing shots, and even his free throw rhythm deserted him.
Sloan had wanted to make this a war of attrition and drag it to the end, but once the lead went past 25, he made the practical choice. He pulled back and saved energy for the next game.
The final score was 114 to 93.
Phoenix opened the playoffs with a dominant win.
.....
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