Chapter 341: Chen Yan, the Showoff
"What a game," Charles said, still sounding like he had not fully come down from the adrenaline. "Double overtime, 2 buzzer beaters, and a record breaking 71 points in a playoff game. What Chen Yan did tonight was pure greatness."
Beside him, Smith nodded, half laughing, half stunned. "Thanks for watching Death Has Come, a Hollywood blockbuster starring Chen Yan."
Charles chuckled again. "I don't know if he's the Grim Reaper, but I do know Lakers fans are going to have nightmares about this one."
Down on the floor, Staples Center had gone silent, quiet like a tomb.
And somehow, in that dead air, Chen Yan almost missed the hatred. He almost missed the chorus of "f**k Chen" that had chased him all night. But the people inside the building had nothing left to say. Their team had just dropped the most important Game 5 of the series, the one that usually decides everything.
Chen Yan stepped into the tunnel, glanced toward the stands, and made sure to twist the knife.
"It's f**king quiet in here like a library."
He did not care if Los Angeles hated him more. At this point, he was already public enemy number 1 in the city.
The box score only made it worse.
Chen Yan finished with 71 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 7 turnovers. The double overtime and the constant ball handling led to more mistakes than usual, but it barely mattered. A 71 point playoff game was already carved into history.
Stoudemire had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Nash posted 14 points and 16 assists. Grant Hill added 11.
For the Lakers, Kobe scored a team high 55, with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 6 turnovers. Garnett was monstrous, 30 points and 20 rebounds.
Great performances needed great opponents, and tonight Kobe and Garnett became the stage that made Chen Yan's ending feel even larger.
In NBA history, there had been only 4 double buzzer beater games. Kobe owned 2 of them, including 1 against Phoenix.
Tonight, Chen Yan pulled off a double buzzer beater against the king of double buzzer beaters, and stole the game anyway.
What goes around comes around.
…
The moment Chen Yan walked into the locker room, the familiar notification chimes hit him in rapid fire.
"Ding! Congratulations to Host for winning the playoff game, rewarding 6 Honor Points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to Host for completing his first career playoff double buzzer beater, rewarding 15 Honor Points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to Host for breaking the playoff single game 3 point record, rewarding 10 Honor Points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to Host for breaking the playoff single game scoring record, rewarding 50 Honor Points!"
He barely had time to breathe before the locker room swallowed him.
Every Suns player was grinning, shouting, laughing, slapping his back. They knew they had just been part of history.
Then Azubuike looked down, blinking like he thought his eyes were lying.
"Chen Yan," he said, "where are your shoes?"
Chen Yan lifted both hands. "I threw them to the fans when I went through the tunnel."
There were always a handful of Phoenix die hards who traveled to hostile arenas. Chen Yan knew what that cost them, time, money, and a whole night of being surrounded by the enemy. So he gave them something back.
For him, tossing shoes after a huge game was normal.
Azubuike acted like he had just witnessed a crime.
"What," he said. "You just gave them away like that?"
Chen Yan smiled. "What's wrong?"
"Those were the shoes from the 71 point night," Azubuike said, voice rising. "They've got crazy collector value."
Chen Yan tilted his head. "Really. Then whoever caught them is lucky."
Azubuike smacked his own forehead. "I'm saying you should've kept them. Those are priceless."
Chen Yan laughed, easy and casual.
"No need. Next time I'll just put on a new pair and score 70 plus again."
Azubuike froze.
Scoring 70 plus was not supposed to sound like grabbing a bottle of water. If anybody else said it, it would have sounded like pure arrogance.
Coming from Chen Yan, it sounded like a warning.
Behind closed doors, the Suns had a short celebration in the visitors locker room.
Winning Game 5 in double overtime, in that building, against that opponent, was absolutely worth it.
Chen Yan was exhausted, but the joy of victory was stronger than fatigue, and for a few minutes he let himself enjoy it with the team.
…
About 15 minutes later, Chen Yan headed to the postgame press conference with coach D'Antoni. Reporters had been waiting for him all night.
On the other side of the arena, the Lakers press conference was already underway.
Phil Jackson sat there and sighed, the Zen Master looking like a man who had watched the universe tilt the wrong way.
"Other teams can say, let him score and guard everyone else," Phil said. "That wasn't our plan. We were trying to stop him, and he still got 71."
Garnett followed with a quote that sounded like it hurt to say out loud.
"Today, God was playing in the disguise of Chen Yan."
Kobe stayed calm, eyes steady.
"This won't be our last home game of the series," he said. "The situation is tough, but we're not giving up."
When asked about Chen Yan, Kobe did not dodge it.
"He's a fighter," Kobe said. "We battled almost all night. Contact, fatigue, blood, none of it broke him."
Before this series, Chen Yan had been one of Kobe's favorite young players.
After tonight, he had Kobe's full respect.
…
Then it was Phoenix's turn.
D'Antoni walked in smiling like he had just watched someone pull a magic trick with the whole world staring.
"What a night," he said. "What a game. As the coach, I have to thank Chen Yan, because his explosion is why we won. As a fan of basketball, I have to thank him too, because everybody just got a show. This is the kind of game people will remember 10 years from now, 20 years from now."
A reporter asked, "Did you expect 71 before the game?"
D'Antoni shrugged with a grin. "He surprises me every night."
Then the microphones turned toward Chen Yan.
"Tell us how you hit the last shot," a reporter said.
Chen Yan's face stayed calm. "Jump, shoot, watch it go in."
The room laughed, because there it was again. The confidence. The simplicity. The shameless ease.
Another reporter pressed him. "After the first overtime, you looked exhausted. How did you explode again in the second overtime?"
Chen Yan adjusted the microphone and gave them the line that had already become his signature.
"You never know what you can do until you burn yourself out."
A third reporter asked, "Did the Lakers crowd affect you tonight?"
Chen Yan chuckled. "A lot, but in a good way. The boos, the insults, it lit me up. It's just… they got real quiet at the end. After I hit the buzzer beater, I wanted to hear 'f**k Chen' one more time, but nobody had anything to say."
A reporter asked, "You scored 71 and broke the playoff single game scoring record set by Jordan. How do you feel?"
Chen Yan paused, choosing his words.
"I grew up watching Kobe," he said. "That doesn't change what Jordan means. This is the kind of moment every scorer dreams about. Before I got to the league, I never even imagined this would happen. Now it has."
A local reporter, clearly hunting for something, leaned in.
"Why aren't you smiling," he asked. "You don't seem that happy."
Chen Yan glanced at him, unimpressed.
"Should I be smiling," he said. "The series isn't over. The job isn't finished."
That answer shut the room up.
Another reporter tried a different angle.
"From an opponent's perspective, evaluate Kobe tonight."
Chen Yan shook his head.
"He was incredible," Chen Yan said. "He almost pushed us into despair. If the opponent tonight wasn't me, the Lakers would have won."
The reporters looked at each other, some of them smiling like they were watching a man casually add more fuel to the fire.
Because every answer sounded like Chen Yan was showing off again.
…
After the press conferences and the final media obligations, the Suns boarded a private jet back to Phoenix.
On the plane, Chen Yan leaned back and said what everyone else was already thinking.
Los Angeles was a beautiful city, but for Phoenix, this was probably the last time they would see it this season.
Because in Game 6, Chen Yan planned to finish the Lakers.
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