Chapter 297: Rich Arsenal, Perfect Shooting Guard Template
Just like every other game in this series, Chen Yan was the biggest problem in a black and silver jersey's life.
For a lot of fans, this kind of scoring burst already felt like the beginning of another "Chen closes the game by himself" night.
For the Spurs, though, this was normal. They had seen these explosions before. To them, Chen's so called "outbursts" were just part of the daily scouting report.
Tony Parker brought the ball over half court and initiated.
Duncan flashed up to the top of the arc to receive, then quickly swung toward the right 3 point line and dove back inside.
At the right 45 degree angle, Michael Finley caught Duncan's pass.
Boris Diaw bodied up hard, crowding Finley and taking away his space.
Parker circled through to the right corner, then popped back out to take a return pass.
As he moved, Finley turned from passer into screener, angling his body into Nash's path. It was basic NBA action, the passer screening right after the pass.
Parker took the ball with his left hand, then came off Finley's screen and exploded toward his sweet spot in the lane.
Amar'e Stoudemire dropped into the paint, feet set, arms up, waiting for him.
Chen Yan chased tight, slipping around Finley's body and staying on Parker's back shoulder.
Parker floated into his familiar runner over Amar'e. Before the ball even left his hand, Chen's arm sliced down through the space.
Bang.
Chen spiked the ball up and out, sending it flying. Parker's body twisted in midair, and he crashed to the floor, dragging Stoudemire down with him.
The stop was spectacular, but Phoenix could not secure the ball.
Duncan, reacting a split second faster than everyone else, stepped in, scooped it up, and went right back up for a second chance.
With Parker and Amar'e still sprawled on the floor under the rim and defenders trying not to land on them, his angle was awkward.
The bank shot rolled off.
Diaw's position was off balance as he tried to avoid stepping on bodies, and Fabricio Oberto reached in and grabbed the rebound.
Third chance for San Antonio.
Oberto turned and went to a quick hook off the glass.
Bang.
Short again. He had rushed it.
But the Spurs still did not give the ball up.
On the weak side, Duncan stretched out that long arm, corralled another rebound, then muscled through Diaw and laid it in.
12 to 9.
A burst of whistles followed as the ball dropped through, briefly halting play.
With the collision and bodies on the floor, Parker and Stoudemire were still lying there, hands over their heads, letting the traffic clear. With 2 full sized players down in the restricted area, every takeoff at the rim felt like jumping over live land mines. No wonder the Spurs had needed 3 cracks at it.
The game resumed.
Phoenix ball.
Just outside the 3 point line, Stoudemire stepped up to set a screen.
Nash used the pick and roll, turned the corner, and accelerated toward the baseline.
He did not force the layup. Out of the corner of his eye he had already picked up Oberto sliding in from behind. Any direct attempt at the rim here was begging to get blocked.
Halfway along the baseline, Nash abruptly planted, twisted, and fired a pass back toward the nail.
Chen Yan was waiting near the free throw line.
Even while probing the defense, Nash had been tracking every teammate's position. This was his vision at work.
Chen caught, and the moment the ball hit his hands he attacked.
Bowen was late on Chen's first step. One stride and he was gone.
Oberto spun to meet him at the rim.
Floor player or not, Oberto was still a Spur. There was no way he was just going to stand there and watch Chen glide in for another uncontested dunk.
Chen took off.
He rose, twisted slightly in the air, and folded his body around Oberto's contest, then unfurled and hammered the ball through with both hands.
14 to 9.
The arena exploded again. It was already his 3rd dunk of the quarter.
"Drive at full speed, 3s, mid range, cuts, now another dunk at the rim," Barkley said from the TNT table, half laughing and half in disbelief. "Chen is scoring every way you can score. This dude's bag might not have a bottom."
He was not exaggerating for effect. He was genuinely impressed.
Nash bounded over, slapped Chen on the backside, and yelled something that was lost under the roar. In just a few minutes, Chen had already matched or passed the number of dunks in some guards' careers.
As he jogged back on defense, Chen glanced down at his own hands.
He was not posing for the cameras. He was amped.
He had gone up planning to hang and finish a crafty layup around Oberto. When he completed the hang in the air and realized his hands were still above the rim, he simply turned it into a dunk.
That told him exactly how good his body felt tonight.
"Man, the pop on those legs," someone posted online. "He is a walking highlight reel."
"With that glide, he looks like a mini glider out there."
"I thought Game 5 was going to be a grind. It has turned into a Chen Yan showcase."
"Oberto is already back on the ground and Chen is still in the air. What are we supposed to do with that?"
"Different species, man. That is not regular elevation."
Not long ago, a popular hoops forum had run a poll: "Most physically gifted guard in recent league history." Chen had cruised to first place. A lot of fans did not even bother voting. To them, his explosion, hang time, and body control already belonged in the same sentence as the elite American stars.
"Defense!"
"Defense!"
"Defense!"
As soon as Parker crossed half court, a wave of sound rolled down from the stands. Chen had completely lit up the building.
Parker used an Oberto screen and slipped into the lane. Nash dropped back, prepared to show and then recover.
Instead of forcing a 1 on 2, Parker made the smart play and kicked it out.
Bowen caught in the right corner.
That was his office, the spot where he was most comfortable and most accurate.
He rose and fired.
Bang.
Off again.
Touch was part of it. The noise and pressure in the building were the rest.
As the Spurs started to flow back on defense, the rebound dropped straight into Duncan's hands.
Sometimes you do not even have to box out. The ball just finds you.
Duncan swung it to the top.
Ginobili caught there and swung it right back to Bowen in the corner. The ball never stopped moving.
Nash lunged hard at Bowen, flying out with both hands up.
Bowen put the ball on the floor with a between the legs step, trying to slip past him.
Whistle.
Travel.
Bowen grimaced and handed the ball to the official.
"The first step was not clean," Kenny explained on TNT. "Refs have really tightened up on traveling this year. Guys are still adjusting, and you are seeing those calls even in the playoffs."
Phoenix took over.
Nash dribbled at the top and flashed a hand signal.
Chen Yan kept cutting, changing speeds and directions, trying to shake free.
This time Bowen stayed glued to him, not willing to give up another easy lane.
Chen suddenly planted, cut the opposite way, looped up around the top of the arc, and took a handoff from Nash.
The moment he caught, his engine kicked in.
He jabbed with a leaning dribble to his right, then snapped into a sharp hip change, crossing the ball back across his body.
The move looked a lot like Bowen's earlier attempt, but where Bowen had fumbled and traveled, Chen's handle was tight and precise. He breezed right by.
For all his defensive reputation, Bowen's ball control was nowhere near Chen's.
Seeing Chen streaking downhill again, the Spurs' back line tensed.
Duncan and Oberto both retreated toward the paint, ready to form a wall and spring a double team.
Before they could close the space, Chen slung the ball behind his back to the free throw line.
Stoudemire had slid into the open spot and caught in rhythm.
Even with his own shot on fire, Chen was not interested in replaying Game 4, where he had carried the load alone. If the defense sent 2 at him, someone else was going to eat.
Amar'e rose and released from his favorite range.
Swish.
2 more.
16 to 9.
Chen and Stoudemire met with a sharp high five. It was Amar'e's first field goal of the night and Chen's first official assist.
"Chen is putting so much pressure on San Antonio," Kenny said. "He can score himself on every level, and he is also creating clean looks for his teammates when the double comes."
Barkley leaned in toward the monitor. "Look at the package, man. He has shooting guard size, crazy pop, elite coordination, he can knock down 3s and mid range, and his feel is off the charts. Even when he is sprinting full speed, he sees the right lane and the right pass.
"In my mind," Chuck concluded, "that is the perfect shooting guard template right there."
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