Chapter 296: Eat, Sleep, Dunk on Duncan, Turn On Chen Yan Mode
"Here we go again. Chen just hit a 25 foot transition 3 pointer. That ultra long 3 has become his signature. Right now, he is the best sniper in the league."
Charles Barkley was still buzzing about the last possession.
"The thing is," Kenny Smith added, "that shot is already hard enough in a set offense. An ultra long 3 in transition is even tougher. The defender is backpedaling, he cannot get there in time, and the shooter has to have insane touch and confidence to pull it."
Since the NBA's early days, efficiency had been drilled into players and fans. The closer you are to the basket, the better the shot. Even Gilbert Arenas, who popularized the ultra long 3, usually only pulled from that distance late in the clock or in exhibitions.
In this era, what Chen Yan was doing was flat out unique. Unconventional.
Outside of D'Antoni's Suns, almost no team in the league would give a rookie this kind of green light.
Chen's back to back deep bombs had shocked the league, but the league's style was not going to change just because of him. Not unless he used those shots to carry Phoenix all the way to the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
The Spurs ran their next offense and finally got their first field goal of Game 5.
Duncan caught the ball at the elbow, calmly surveyed the floor, then slipped a bounce pass inside to Fabricio Oberto. The big Argentinian took one strong step, sealed his man, and finished at the rim. A clean connection between the 2 bigs.
Oberto did not have elite vertical, but his timing was perfect, always carving out a pocket of space near the basket. Like a lot of international big men, he had sharp footwork and solid fundamentals.
Phoenix ball.
Boris Diaw inbounded from the baseline.
Nash raised his right hand to call the set and brought the ball up with his left.
Everyone in the arena expected the Suns to flow into their usual half court action.
Instead, Nash suddenly lifted his head and fired a long lead pass.
He was just as unpredictable as his young teammate. Nash never played entirely by the book.
He had spotted Chen Yan curling free off an off the ball screen.
Chen caught Nash's lob on the move and turned. The Spurs, locked in this time, switched decisively.
Finley slid in front and took away the immediate jumper.
Chen palmed the ball in one hand, took a long step as if to rise, and lifted his shoulders.
Finley bit, shuffling forward to contest.
When a player is equally dangerous as a shooter and a driver, every fake becomes a weapon.
In the instant Finley leaned in, Chen dropped his center of gravity and exploded. He blew by as cleanly as if the lane were an empty sidewalk at dawn.
Timing made the move lethal. The moment Finley committed, Chen's body and dribble were already gone.
He shot into the lane at top speed.
Bowen rotated down from the wing.
The second Bowen stepped in, Chen planted hard off his left foot, gathered the ball with both hands, and stepped through with his right.
A sharp gathering step, almost like a jointed hinge, carried him past Bowen's inside arm and straight into the paint.
He landed on the front of his right foot, not the whole sole, storing power.
Then he exploded.
By the time Duncan loaded to jump, Chen was already in the air.
His speed and bounce gave him complete control of the vertical space.
All that was left was to finish the job and once again turn the Stone Buddha into a poster.
Bang.
Chen hammered the ball through the hoop with a violent one handed dunk over Duncan.
10 to 2.
Fans at home jumped out of their seats. That kind of dunk did not just shake the rim; it jolted every nerve watching.
"Oh my God, Chen is a monster tonight."
"How much fuel did he load before this game?"
"Duncan just became a background again, that is 3 posters in 5 games…"
"Eat, sleep, dunk on Duncan, repeat."
"This is a series Duncan is going to remember."
On the sideline, Popovich had seen enough. He signaled for the Spurs' first timeout, trying to cool the fire Chen had just poured onto the game.
Out of the break, San Antonio adjusted the lineup.
Popovich pulled Finley and went with more playmaking, bringing in Manu Ginobili.
Half court set.
Parker held the ball on the left wing, outside the 3 point line at about a 45 degree angle.
Chen Yan took the assignment on him. Raja Bell shifted over to track the newly checked in Ginobili.
Chen sagged way off Parker, deliberately giving him space.
Parker's 3 point percentage was only 25.8 percent, on barely 1 attempt a night. For a point guard, he was far more comfortable at the rim than behind the arc. Sagging off him was almost like calling for a long rebound and a fast break the other way.
"Shoot it, man, rim is right behind me," Chen said, pointing over his shoulder.
It was a taunt, and everyone knew it.
In the past, Parker might have taken that personally. Under Popovich, though, he had learned to keep his head.
He ignored the bait, scanned the floor, then abruptly picked up his dribble and swung the ball to Bowen curling to the top.
On the weak side, Ginobili had used an Oberto screen to dive off the ball. Bowen hit him in stride, the two veterans working in perfect rhythm.
Ginobili caught it near the free throw line, took one quick step, and lofted a soft floater.
Swish.
10 to 4.
He was plug and play, instant impact.
Phoenix came back.
Amar'e Stoudemire caught the ball just outside the paint and called his own number.
He took 1 dribble, squared up, then attacked Duncan with his usual face up move, powering his way to his spot and rising for a bank shot.
Fueled by Chen's 2 early dunks, Amar'e's energy was sky high. The release had plenty of force.
Bang.
The ball hit the glass, then rattled off the rim.
Oberto secured the rebound and immediately kicked it ahead to Parker.
Parker shifted gears and pushed.
Seeing him coming, Nash planted his feet, hands over his midsection, ready to sacrifice his body and draw the charge.
One on one defense was not Nash's strength, but his feel for angles and timing made him elite at baiting offensive fouls.
Parker was ready.
He snapped into a smooth Eurostep, gliding around Nash's planted frame, then gathered and finished off the glass through contact from Stoudemire at the other side of the paint.
Whistle.
2 plus 1.
A statement possession from Parker.
With the series tied 2 to 2, the original best of 7 had effectively become a best of 3. Every game was a must win, and every possession carried playoff weight.
"Do not sleep on Parker," Barkley said from the TNT table. "He is a guard, but once he gets near the rim, he has all the options. He can score over big guys all night."
Kenny flipped through his notes and nodded. "Yeah, the numbers back that up. He is over 50 percent from the field, and most of that is coming in the paint. That is rare for a guard. Once he gets inside, he is as efficient as a lot of bigs."
Parker calmly knocked down the free throw.
10 to 7.
Just like that, the Suns' early cushion had shrunk.
Phoenix ball again.
Nash swung it to the hottest hand on the floor.
Chen Yan took the pass, and Stoudemire, unfazed by his miss, stepped up to set a high screen.
The Spurs switched it. Duncan stepped out, lifting both arms to cut off the direct lane while funneling Chen toward the baseline.
Chen accepted the invitation, turned the corner, and attacked.
Oberto slid up from the paint. Bowen, who had been knocked off by Amar'e's pick, sprinted back into the play from behind.
In the blink of an eye, Chen was surrounded. The baseline was closed, the lane crowded, and his dribble window had shrunk to almost nothing.
Any hesitation here meant a three man trap and a likely turnover.
So he did not hesitate.
Chen planted, rose straight up in the tightest of spaces, and ripped a pull up jumper over all 3 defenders.
Swish.
12 to 7.
Four straight makes.
As he backpedaled on defense, Chen caught a glimpse in his mind's eye of the Hot Start icon lighting up in his status bar. It felt like he was in an online game and the system had just handed him a buff.
Except this time, it was not just one buff. The Status Boost Card he had activated before tipoff combined with Hot Start, stacking together and pushing his offense to another level.
"Another one," Barkley groaned and laughed at the same time. "This kid's hands are on fire."
"He has hit 4 straight, and he is doing it every which way," Kenny said. "Transition 3, dunk at the rim, contested pull up over 3 guys. Right now it looks like he is ready to carry this whole thing by himself."
Online, fans gave it a name they had used many times before.
Chen Yan mode.
It was the state he entered when he started scoring in violent bursts, turning stretches of the game into his own personal show.
Seeing Chen flip that switch, no one in the arena was more anxious than Gregg Popovich.
He knew his system could squeeze most players.
But Chen's wild, unscripted, irrational style of attack was the one thing that gave even the Spurs' genius coach a headache.
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