Chapter 293: Controversial Call, The Series Has Just Begun
The Spurs fans were shaken by Chen Yan's last three pointer.
A sense of dread rippled through the building.
"Do not rush it. We still have the lead, just play solid," Popovich shouted from the sideline, clapping his hands to steady his team.
Tony Parker walked the ball up, milking the clock as they crossed half court.
By now, the entire crowd was on its feet. Every possession, every breath, felt heavy.
The series had reached its most intense moment.
A win here would tie it at 2 to 2 and turn the rest of the matchup into a coin flip.
A loss would send them back to Phoenix down 1 to 3, and everyone, from the bench to the top row, understood exactly what that meant.
This next trip meant everything.
The Spurs put the ball in the hands of their closer, Manu Ginobili.
He dribbled at the top, face calm, eyes scanning.
His job was not just to score. He had to bleed the clock as well.
With 7 seconds left on the shot clock, Ginobili finally made his move.
Tim Duncan dragged himself to the high post and set a screen with whatever strength he had left.
Ginobili came off the pick. The Suns defenders hesitated.
Phoenix had already committed 5 team fouls. One more meant free throws, no questions asked.
Ginobili spun past Raja Bell and knifed into the lane.
Boris Diaw stepped up to contest. The two met in the air, bodies colliding, and Manu flipped the ball toward the glass.
Beep.
The whistle blew. Foul on Diaw's arm.
A massive call.
The ATT Center erupted. For Spurs fans, the win felt almost within reach.
Suns players clutched their heads in disbelief as Diaw yanked his jersey loose and walked toward the bench.
It was his 6th foul. He was gone.
Under enormous pressure, Ginobili stepped to the line.
Swish.
Swish.
2 free throws, both good.
The Argentinian pushed the score to 85 to 82.
With 7.6 seconds remaining, D'Antoni immediately used the Suns' final timeout.
In the TNT studio, Kenny Smith leaned toward the monitor.
"We're down to one shot now," Kenny said. "Phoenix has one chance out of this timeout, and you know the huddle is all about who takes that last look."
Charles Barkley nodded. "That ball got to go to Chen. He has been their best player tonight, and he just hit a huge three on the last possession."
"But you can still see he is dealing with cramps," Kenny added, a hint of concern in his voice.
Chuck snorted. "It still has to be him. You know why? The numbers say Chen has not missed a game winning shot all season. That man is at 100 percent in those moments."
Beep.
The buzzer signaled the end of the timeout.
Matt Barnes, who had checked in for the fouled out Diaw, went to the sideline as the inbounder.
The Spurs threw everything they had into the last defensive stand. Barnes struggled to find a target, the count climbing. He was a heartbeat away from a 5 second violation when he finally rocketed the ball toward Raja Bell near the logo.
Losing Diaw changed that whole action. With his vision and passing, he would have handled the inbound cleanly, but now every little detail felt fragile.
Fortunately for Phoenix, Raja Bell secured the pass and prevented a turnover on the final possession.
The clock started to bleed away.
Chen Yan retreated two steps behind the three point line to create space. Bell swung him the ball. Chen caught, turned, and rose in one smooth motion.
The shot was brutally difficult.
His thigh was still tight from the cramp, his legs far from full power.
Halfway through the flight, Chen felt it. Short.
Then, in the next instant, everything exploded into controversy.
As the ball began to fall, Ginobili reached up and batted it away.
The horn sounded, and the scoreboard locked in at 85 to 82.
On the sideline, D'Antoni shot both arms into the air, protesting immediately. Chen slammed his fist in anger, convinced something was wrong.
The shot was clearly on line, but from the floor it was nearly impossible to tell if it would have clipped the front of the rim or come up just shy.
From Phoenix's bench, Ginobili's touch looked a lot like goaltending.
In basketball, the play is not over until the ball is dead. Plenty of buzzer beaters have come off wild bounces and taps. That was why the touch at the cylinder was so sensitive.
The Spurs veterans knew exactly how tight the moment was.
As soon as the red light behind the backboard lit and the whistle sounded, they sprinted for the tunnel. The referee quickly signaled that the game was over.
Even with video review, it would have been nearly impossible to draw a clean line. The release, the arc, the touch, the horn, and the swipe were all separated by fractions of a second that even slow motion struggled to untangle.
Game 4 of Suns versus Spurs ended in the middle of that controversy.
With Chen's final attempt officially ruled no good, Spurs fans finally exhaled.
Part of the relief came from tying the series at 2 to 2 after such a brutal fight.
The rest came from knowing they would not have to sit through overtime in that suffocating arena.
"What a pity. That thing was so close."
"That had to be a violation."
"Man, that TV guy jinxed him. He just said Chen was 100 percent on game winners, then he missed one."
"Chen played great. He is not a machine. Nobody hits every single buzzer beater."
"Chen has done more than enough."
"He gave everything he had out there."
"Both teams are back to even. The Suns still got a real shot when they go home."
Fans back home stayed optimistic. Phoenix was not on the brink of collapse. They still held home court in the series.
After the game, Gregg Popovich skipped his usual press conference. Instead, he personally drove Duncan home.
Duncan had emptied the tank, flirting with dehydration by the final whistle.
San Antonio had claimed Game 4, but the cost was steep. This was not the kind of night the Spurs wanted to repeat unless they had no choice.
…
At the Suns' postgame press conference, the questions came in a steady barrage.
"Chen, do you think the sudden air conditioning failure at the ATT Center was part of the Spurs' plan?"
"Chen, were your late game cramps caused by the heat?"
"Chen, do you think the team should appeal to the league about this game?"
"Chen, do you think Ginobili's final contest was goaltending?"
Chen Yan sat at the table and answered with a calm expression.
"We have moved on," he said. "Right now, we are focused on winning Game 5."
He did not take the bait on any of the leading questions.
Game 4 was in the books. No amount of talking would change the result. Dwelling on it would only drag him and the team into a dead end. They needed to look forward, not backward.
Chen's attitude was measured and composed, but Amar'e Stoudemire, seated beside him, could not swallow it so easily.
"You know what?" Amar'e said with a cold laugh. "Pop has done stuff like this more than a few times. I do not know if this was some grand conspiracy or whatever, but I will tell you this, playing in that so called Holy City, going up against the Spurs in their building, that is one of the toughest places in the league."
Another reporter leaned back toward Chen.
"Chen, you played 45 minutes tonight and even cramped up late. After giving that much and still losing, does this hurt your mindset or the team's confidence?"
Chen paused before answering.
"I hope the losses in Games 3 and 4 sting," he said. "I hope everyone feels uncomfortable with it. I hope it pushes us to keep working. I do not want anyone on our team to be satisfied with how we played on the road. We will look for ways to respond in the next games and see what we are really capable of."
"What does a 2 to 2 tie mean to you and to the Suns?" another reporter asked.
Chen glanced at him and replied quietly, "It means this series has just begun."
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]