Chapter 564: Van Gundy Is in a Bind
Chen Yan finished the first half with 21 points, 4 Rebounds, and 2 assists, a stat line that was steady, but by his standards, not especially explosive.
For Orlando, Dwight Howard had 9 points, 8 Rebounds, and 3 blocks. At first glance, those numbers looked respectable. After all, Howard built his reputation on defense, and nobody ever expected him to carry a polished offensive package.
But one number ruined everything.
He had gone 5 of 13 from the free throw line.
The moment Magic fans noticed that stat, they wanted to tear their hair out. If Howard had been even remotely normal at the stripe, Orlando would have been leading at halftime.
Suns fans were frustrated too, though for a different reason. In their eyes, the officiating had leaned heavily toward Orlando. If the whistle had been fair, Phoenix should have been up by double digits already.
When the second half began, the Suns deliberately tried to speed the game up.
What they did not expect was that Howard's defensive intensity would rise even further.
His effort paid off immediately. Two massive blocks not only shut down Phoenix possessions, they also sent a jolt through Orlando's entire bench and crowd.
Oddly enough, Howard's carefree personality was helping him. His miserable first half at the line did not seem to bother him in the slightest. In a tense Finals game, that kind of indifference could actually be an advantage.
Then Rashard Lewis, the man who had been hammered by the media for most of the series, suddenly came alive and buried 2 straight 3 point shots.
Led by Howard and Lewis, the Magic ripped off a 10 to 3 run and flipped the score to 65 to 60.
Jackson shook his head on the ABC broadcast.
"The Suns were in too much of a hurry trying to speed it up and blow the game open. All they did was rush themselves into a mess."
Mike followed up in a more measured tone.
"Phoenix doesn't have a real structure right now. Whoever touches it wants to fire. They want this game too much, and that urgency is messing with their decision making. D'Antoni has called timeout, now we see whether they can settle down."
D'Antoni did not blame the players.
He understood exactly what was happening. The game had turned sloppy not because his guys lacked effort, but because they wanted the win so badly. A coach would never criticize that kind of competitive hunger.
When the team gathered around him, D'Antoni spoke first to their mindset before he ever touched the tactics board.
"Listen. We are one step from winning this game, one step from taking the title. I know every one of you wants to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy tonight. But stop thinking about the trophy. Clear your heads. Focus on the next possession. Trust each other. Play our rhythm. Enjoy the game. Don't chase the moment. If we do that, the result will come."
Only after calming the team down did he begin drawing up the next play.
In D'Antoni's eyes, Phoenix's problem was more psychological than tactical.
The Suns kept the same lineup out of the timeout.
Nash handled up top while Chen Yan came off a Stoudemire screen toward the wing.
It was a simple action, but one the Suns could execute in their sleep. Nash delivered the pass right on time, and Chen Yan knocked down the jumper.
The shot dropped cleanly.
But before the net had even finished snapping, the whistle screamed through the arena.
The referee called Stoudemire for a moving screen.
Chen Yan and Stoudemire both threw their hands up in disbelief.
That call was absurd.
It felt as if the officials were piling on while Phoenix was already wobbling.
The ball went back to Orlando.
Alston walked it over the timeline, no rush at all. With the lead in hand, he wanted to drag the tempo down.
Nash picked him up tight, trying to force a mistake.
He knew exactly what his teammates were feeling. He wanted to disrupt Orlando before the frustration on Phoenix's side got any worse.
Alston used his body well, shielding the ball from Nash. The old streetball flair was gone. Right now he was playing careful, steady, and practical.
Courtney Lee came up to receive, then moved it to Turkoglu.
Turkoglu attacked hard off the catch, but Barnes stayed attached.
That was the beauty of Barnes in this matchup. Turkoglu had no real speed edge on him, and no serious size edge either. He was being pushed into the worst version of his game.
D'Antoni might not be known as a tactical genius, but his decision to let Barnes handle Turkoglu had worked beautifully. Hedo's strengths were being squeezed out of the game.
After driving to the elbow, Turkoglu spun and kicked it to Lewis. It was less a creation and more a redirection, because he still had not actually bent the defense.
Lewis used a handoff into a quick screen from Alston, got a sliver of space, and floated one up.
The ball kissed the front rim, bounced, and rolled in.
Even the bounce went Orlando's way.
60 to 67.
Things were starting to slip for Phoenix.
D'Antoni finally reached for the emergency lever.
Give the ball to Chen Yan.
This time Nash did not wave everyone out and throw it to him for an isolation. Instead, the Suns flowed through their spacing first. Nash swung it to Barnes on the left side. Barnes held, surveyed, then moved it to Diaw.
Diaw backed Lewis down for a beat and then spun quickly.
Before he turned, he had already tracked Chen Yan's movement.
Chen Yan curled inside off a Stoudemire screen, and Diaw slipped him the ball with a beautiful fake shot, real pass motion.
Howard stayed planted in the paint. Chen Yan read it instantly and rose for the midrange jumper without hesitation.
Swish.
62 to 67.
Jackson nearly barked the words out.
"There it is. When your team is in trouble, that is exactly who you go to. It has to be Chen."
Mike nodded.
"That was a very smart read. Howard was obviously sitting in the paint as the last line of defense, so Chen never forced the drive. He took the elbow jumper right away. No hesitation, no wasted motion. If he waits even half a second there, Courtney Lee comes back around and the whole window closes."
Orlando came back down and used Howard high in the action again.
Alston called for the screen, saw Nash cheating over it early, and countered with a crossover in the opposite direction.
Nash could not recover in time and was beaten cleanly.
Alston reached the free throw line area and floated one up before Stoudemire could arrive from help.
Clang.
He liked the look, but the finish was not there. The ball bounced off the front rim.
Chen Yan grabbed the board and pushed it himself.
The moment he crossed half court, every Orlando defender's eyes snapped toward him.
He stepped to the right wing, saw Lewis in front of him, and attacked immediately. Lewis could never stay with him laterally, so Orlando sent Alston to help.
Chen Yan did not force the drive into the trap.
He stopped hard, snapped the ball behind his back into his left hand, and created the kind of space that usually suggests a pull up.
Then he saw both defenders lunge.
Nash was alone on the perimeter at the 30 degree angle.
Wide open.
Howard was under the rim. Turkoglu and Lewis were stretched out on the opposite side. Nobody could recover in time.
Chen Yan fired the ball out.
Nash had time to settle his feet. He paused, rose, and shot the 3.
Pure.
65 to 67.
The gap was suddenly down to 2, and Orlando began to tighten up.
You could see it in the way they passed the ball, safe, cautious, almost timid.
The next possession ended with Lewis forcing one up late in the clock.
Miss.
Van Gundy looked like he wanted to scream.
He was an impatient coach to begin with, and what bothered him most was hesitation. At halftime he had hammered his players with the same message over and over, be decisive, be aggressive, trust the shot. They had done it to start the half.
But the second Phoenix cut the lead, the fear came right back.
Van Gundy could hardly believe it. Phoenix was up 3 to 0 in the series.
What burden were they still carrying?
Phoenix struck again in transition.
Chen Yan took the outlet and flew into the frontcourt. The Magic defenders retreated frantically into the paint, terrified of letting him catch fire.
He crossed the free throw line with one step, and right before planting his second, he suddenly spun and slung the ball backward.
Nash was trailing above the arc.
Just like the previous possession, he was completely open.
This time it was not a standstill look. It was a transition 3.
For Nash, that changed nothing.
Catch, rise, fire.
Swish.
68 to 67.
Phoenix had the lead again.
Van Gundy stared at the floor, then back at the court.
His headache had just doubled.
It was already difficult enough guarding Chen Yan. Now Nash was starting to find his scoring touch too.
If both of them got rolling at the same time, Van Gundy really would not know where to begin.
.....
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