Chapter 318: Game Two, Nash And Chen Connect
"Rivalry Heats Up, Lakers Take Game 1."
"Kobe Calls Out Chen Yan, This Is Real Basketball."
"Chen Yan Falls Flat, Suns Suffer Tough Loss."
"A Wake Up Call, How Will Phoenix Adjust."
"Intensity Rises, Chen's Scoring Drops."
"MVP Teaches Rookie A Lesson, Chen Still Has A Long Way To Go."
The headlines flooded out as soon as Game 1 ended.
Chen Yan scrolled a little, then closed the browser.
As expected, the media had all picked the same side.
Praise when you win, pile on when you lose. That was how it always worked. Chen refused to live and die with every column.
He did not open the forums either. He knew exactly what they would look like after a loss. That was when the haters were loudest, and there was no need to voluntarily make his mood worse.
That night, though, sleep did not come.
His competitive instinct burned too hot.
Alone in his hotel room, he replayed Game 1 possession after possession, remote in hand, eyes locked on every detail.
The Lakers had the best inside outside duo in the league. Skills, experience, poise, they checked every box.
Seeing it once from the court was one thing. Seeing it again on screen drove the lesson deeper.
If the Suns wanted to win this series, Chen had to be better than himself. He had to squeeze every bit of advantage from his own game.
Taylor did not come back to the hotel with him that night.
If someone snapped a picture of them together right after a loss, the noise would be ugly. She had no intention of adding fuel for the tabloids or pressure on him.
Instead they stayed on the phone for half an hour.
On the other end of the line she just kept talking to him, encouraging, teasing, refusing to let him sink into the loss.
Hearing that in the middle of a low moment, Chen felt a warmth run through him. A few simple sentences from her were enough to refill his tank.
...
A day later, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals wrapped up.
The Cavaliers lost to the Pistons, 73 to 78.
The score said everything about the pace. It was a grind. Possession by possession, defense first, offense second.
The ratings told another story. The audience for that game was less than half of what the Western Conference Finals opener had pulled.
Same round, same stakes, completely different level of attention.
Afterward, LeBron was still calm.
"One loss does not decide a series," he said in his interview. "We beat Detroit last year. We just have to do it again."
That line applied just as well to Phoenix.
The Suns had knocked the Lakers out 2 years in a row. Against this particular opponent, they had a genuine psychological edge.
...
May 17, 2008.
Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Suns bus rolled toward Staples Center.
After 2 days of rest, film, and practice, the mood in the group had shifted. The nerves of Game 1 had settled. The confidence had crept back in.
On the bus, Chen was still glued to his screen, watching the Game 1 tape one more time.
"Chen, you have been watching film for 2 straight days," Stoudemire said, wide eyed.
"I hate losing," Chen replied with a grin. "So I have to keep studying them. We have a saying back home, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not lose."
Stoudemire shook his head. "That is serious work, man."
He was not that type.
Usually the video staff broke everything down, handed the clips and notes to the assistants, and the assistants gave Amare the bullet points. That was enough for him.
For Chen, the film itself was part of the battle. Especially in a series like this, he wanted to see every spacing mistake, every coverage, every tendency with his own eyes.
The system could make his body better.
It could not replace the feel and vision that came from seeing the game from above.
...
Before Game 2, Phil Jackson took his turn at the podium.
"The Suns are a very dangerous team," he said. "We cannot relax for even 1 second. If we do, they are more than capable of punishing us."
On the Phoenix side, every question for Mike D Antoni circled the same topic, adjustments.
The bearded coach flashed a smile.
"Our adjustment," he said, "is to get more of the ball to go through the net."
That was all he was willing to show.
Chen skipped the microphones altogether.
He had no interest in soundbites tonight. His focus was locked on the floor.
...
Staples Center was packed with stars again, actors, musicians, familiar faces in every direction.
The starting lineups went up on the big screen.
Lakers, Fisher, Kobe, James Posey, Garnett, Kwame Brown.
Suns, Nash, Chen Yan, Raja Bell, Diaw, Stoudemire.
Same 10 names as Game 1. No surprises.
Chen stayed away from any temporary boosts before tip off.
After his evolution to SS level, he had burned a huge pile of honor points. The points he had left were earmarked for injury prevention.
On top of that, this was still Los Angeles. Even with a status card, there was no guarantee they could steal 1 here. Burning a rare resource on a maybe did not sit right with him.
...
Just like in the opener, Stoudemire won the jump without much resistance.
Phoenix controlled the first possession, and the boos rained down.
Laker fans wanted to crush the visitors with noise before a shot had even gone up.
Nash crossed half court slowly, then suddenly flipped the switch, using a Stoudemire screen to knife into the paint at full speed.
From the first possession, the Suns showed a tempo completely different from Game 1.
Kwame Brown switched out to cut off the lane, and Nash knew all about his heavy feet.
The instant Kwame lunged, Nash spun away from him like a dancer slipping past a partner.
Garnett's attention snapped fully to the ball.
This was his paint, and he was not about to let Nash lay it in without a body in the way.
At that exact moment, Nash slid the ball through Garnett's legs.
A low, left handed bounce pass, barely off the floor.
Bold and sharp, the kind of pass only a genius even sees.
The timing was perfect.
Chen had already cut from the wing the moment Nash turned the corner. The ball skipped through Garnett's legs and found him in stride.
James Posey could not match the cut. Beaten to the spot, he grabbed for Chen's right arm from behind.
The whistle blew.
As it did, Chen switched the ball to his left hand and flipped it up off the glass.
The ball bounced on the rim 2, 3 times, then dropped through.
And one.
First bucket of the night, plus the foul.
On the broadcast, the TNT desk came alive.
"Man, that is nasty," Charles Barkley laughed. "Steve Nash just turned Garnett into a statue, and then Chen finishes that with his off hand. That is big time."
"That is what makes Phoenix so hard to guard," Kenny Smith added. "The speed of that decision, in tight space, through Garnett's legs, and Chen never panics even after the foul. That is high level stuff."
Back in living rooms and bars, fans exploded online.
Nash's pass was getting as much love as the finish itself.
He was not threading a needle anymore. He was firing lasers.
On the floor, Nash and Chen met near the lane and slapped a hard high five.
First possession of Game 2, and the connection between point guard and rising star had already lit up Staples Center.
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