Chapter 562: Too Many Moves, Scoring Continuously
Chen Yan had 7 points and 2 assists in the first quarter. With the Suns attacking from so many different angles, he did not need to carry the entire scoring load by himself.
Stoudemire led Phoenix in the opening period with 8 points and 3 rebounds.
Even Mike had to give him his due on the ABC.
"Amare got loose early, and this is the real version of him," Mike said. "He has been through a lot this season, ups and downs, injuries, pressure, all of it. He has been waiting for a game like this to remind people who he is. Phoenix did what it has done all series, it struck first. And it is not just Amare. Everybody is contributing. When the scoring is spread out like this, that is the hardest thing in basketball to guard."
Then, naturally, Mike took the chance to needle Orlando too.
"The Magic might be heading for another sweep in the Finals, but fans should not take it too hard. When people hear the word magic, they still think about Magic Johnson first."
That got a laugh from the booth.
Reggie Miller smiled and added, "Maybe we should start the FMVP conversation now."
Jackson nodded. "I'm voting for Chen Yan. I just don't see anyone else on Phoenix with a stronger case."
Reggie agreed. "Nash does a lot for this team, but that award usually goes to the player putting up the biggest scoring average, and for Phoenix that is clearly Chen Yan."
Jackson took it a step further. "If he wins Finals MVP again, then Chen Yan passes Yao and becomes the greatest Asian basketball player ever."
Mike jumped right in. "No disrespect to Yao, but Chen Yan has already passed him. Yao was a great player. Chen Yan has a championship, a regular season MVP, and a Finals MVP. At this point he belongs in the conversation with all time stars."
The second quarter began soon after.
Both teams went to their benches.
The Suns reserves came in looking for their own offense. Up 3 to 0 in the series, everybody wanted a moment, everybody wanted touches, everybody wanted to prove something. But too much one on one play made the offense predictable, and it gave Orlando a chance to breathe.
The Magic took advantage and chipped away.
With 7:07 left in the second quarter, Phoenix led only 41 to 39.
At the next dead ball, D'Antoni immediately sent Nash, Chen Yan, and Stoudemire back in.
The Suns lineup was now Nash, Chen Yan, Barnes, Stoudemire, and Jordan Jr.
This was not Phoenix's usual unit. By Suns standards, it was a big lineup. D'Antoni wanted more length to contest Orlando's perimeter shooting, and he kept Jordan Jr. on the floor for a very clear reason, Hack a Howard. If Stoudemire kept doing that work himself, foul trouble could come fast.
Phoenix came down in the half court. Nash pointed for everyone to spread the floor.
He swung the ball to Barnes on the wing, and Barnes fed it into Stoudemire.
Amare turned the instant he caught it.
Lewis was a step slow getting into position, and Howard instinctively started shading over for the double.
That was the effect of Stoudemire's first quarter. Orlando respected him now.
Just as Stoudemire gathered and stepped into his move, Chen Yan had already slipped along the baseline off an off ball screen.
Amare spotted it and, on instinct, tossed the pass into the air.
The idea was brilliant.
The execution was not.
Stoudemire was not a natural passer, and the feed came out far too low. When Chen Yan rose, the ball was only around his waist.
Most players would have landed, reset, and gone back up.
Chen Yan did something else entirely.
Still in the air, he snatched the ball and twisted his body with brute force and body control.
Boom!
A violent reverse dunk.
Right at the start of the second quarter, Chen Yan put his athleticism on full display.
43 to 39.
On the ABC call, even the booth was buzzing.
"He's up there again," Jackson said. "That pass was low, way too low, and most guys have to come down with it. Chen Yan just catches it in midair, twists, and hammers it home. That is ridiculous body control."
Mike laughed. "If you let that man get airborne, you are already in trouble."
Orlando answered by looking for Howard.
After a high screen, he slipped hard to the rim. It was almost a fake pick and roll. The screen was just a decoy. His real intention was to dive and finish.
Alston hit him in stride, and just as Howard got ready to explode upward, Jordan Jr. wrapped him up from the side with what could only be described as a loving hug.
Howard looked completely done with life. Back to the line he went.
He made 1 of 2.
The pressure was clearly piling up on him. The more he tried to force the free throws in, the worse they looked. Part of it was nerves. Part of it was fundamentals. His mechanics had never been clean.
43 to 40.
Phoenix came back down, and Chen Yan began battling Courtney Lee at the left elbow.
Lee kept working with small bumps, grabs, and body contact, trying to wear him down.
That kind of defense only made Chen Yan sharper. He was the kind of scorer who rose when someone challenged him physically. If the defender was soft, it did nothing for him.
Nash bounced the entry pass in.
Chen Yan caught it, leaned his back into Lee, and immediately felt for the defender's balance.
One bump.
Then another.
Lee dropped his center of gravity and tried to absorb the contact.
On the next beat, Chen Yan lifted the ball and raised his right leg.
The one leg fadeaway.
He rarely used that move, and Lee was not ready for it at all.
Swish.
Two easy points.
45 to 40.
There were nights when Chen Yan's offensive bag looked bottomless.
Of course, he did not use every move just to show off. Every advanced move burned energy. He chose the right one for the right moment, and that was what made him dangerous.
Orlando came back with Alston bringing the ball over and giving it to Turkoglu.
Turkoglu was the brain of this team, their main organizer. With him out there, Alston was not expected to run the offense.
Compared to his Houston days, Alston at least had more freedom to shoot here.
Turkoglu, meanwhile, badly wanted to use this Finals stage to secure his next contract. But through these Finals games, he had been average at best.
A lot of his weaknesses had been exposed.
As a playmaker, he lacked burst. That meant he could not consistently collapse the defense and spray the ball back out. Most of his creation came from the top, where he tried to use his height and vision to move the defense. That relied heavily on teammates cutting and screening. Truly elite creators manufacture openings themselves.
Phoenix knew that. That was why D'Antoni had increased Barnes' minutes. Barnes had the size and wingspan to bother Turkoglu's passing lanes, and so far it was working.
Turkoglu's assist numbers had already dipped from the previous 2 playoff rounds.
This was not Cleveland, where a switch might leave him staring at a lumbering giant like Shaq or Big Z. Phoenix's big men moved well. They were quick enough to keep him from getting the edge.
After probing a few times on the perimeter, Turkoglu gave the ball up.
Courtney Lee caught it, and Chen Yan was already chest to chest with him.
Defending Lee was simple for Chen Yan. Stay attached, take away the easy jumper, and make him do something else. As long as Chen Yan stayed close, Lee usually would not even think about putting the ball on the deck.
It was a light defensive assignment, and that mattered. It let Chen Yan save more energy for the other end.
Lee did exactly what Phoenix expected. He sent a cross court pass to Lewis.
Lewis gave a shot fake, but Stoudemire never left his feet. Lewis took one dribble in, then flicked it back out to Alston.
Lewis was a specialist, a pure shooter with a narrow offensive profile.
So the ball found its way back to the streetball king.
On this Magic roster, Alston was almost like the emergency release valve. When nothing else worked, they instinctively handed it to him, because he was the only perimeter player on the floor who could still create something off the bounce.
With 10 seconds on the shot clock, Alston dribbled laterally, hesitated, then crossed from his right hand to his left. He stepped just inside the free throw line and floated it up.
Alston had handle, but finishing had always been a problem.
He was too thin, his core was not strong enough, and contact threw him off line. His mechanics also had flaws, which kept him from becoming a reliable finisher.
Clang.
The floater hit the back rim.
Under the basket, Jordan Jr. and Howard were wrestling for rebounding position, and right then Chen Yan flew in and grabbed it.
Phoenix immediately ran.
Chen Yan strode across half court with the ball. A step beyond the 3 point line, he suddenly chopped his steps and suspended the ball in his left hand.
Courtney Lee, terrified of the deep pull up, raised his hand at once.
Chen Yan instantly pushed the ball diagonally forward, blowing right past him.
The Hesi again.
That move kept working because it sold a real shooting threat every single time. As long as defenders believed he might rise, somebody was going to bite.
Chen Yan accelerated into the lane. Lewis and Alston both collapsed toward the paint.
He saw daylight in front of him and, without a hint of hesitation, rose for a midrange jumper.
That was his confidence.
Swish.
47 to 40.
Van Gundy was getting uneasy on the sideline again.
The other Suns were already playing well tonight. If Chen Yan decided to turn the game into one of his scoring explosions too, then Orlando was going to have a real problem.
.....
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