Chapter 405: Flame Has Gravity, the Defending Champion's Aura
"1 on 1 isolation, crossover, another crossover, a step beyond the arc and he buries the 3," Kenny Smith said, voice rising with the crowd. "Chen Yan is scorching hot to start this one."
Charles Barkley laughed. "Does this guy ever not come out cooking? Maybe. But I honestly cannot remember when."
Reggie Miller chimed in. "This is what he does. If the ball is in his hands, he finds a way to put points on the board."
Cleveland came down and James called for a pick and roll at the top. Phoenix switched, and Diaw ended up in front of him.
James had a clean look from 3 during the switch, but he turned it down. At this stage of his career, he was not the type to fire 3 after 3 just because the defense dared him.
He kept the dribble in his left hand, pulled it back, then swung it to Varejao.
Varejao caught and attacked immediately, cutting hard into the lane. After the switch, he had Raja Bell on him, a mismatch that looked delicious on paper.
He took a strong 1st step, elbows tight as he protected the ball, then leaned into his 2nd step.
Raja Bell screamed and hit the floor.
The whistle snapped through the noise.
Offensive foul.
Varejao froze, eyes wide, palms up, pleading with the referee like he had been framed. The official was unimpressed and stayed with the call.
As Chen Yan helped Raja Bell up, Bell gave him a quick wink.
Chen Yan got it instantly. Bell had sold it.
The replay hit the big screen and the arena laughed again. Even a guy with Varejao's reputation for flopping had just been outperformed.
Phoenix settled into the half court.
Nash handed off to Chen Yan. Chen Yan moved it right back to Diaw on the wing without pausing, then cut through the middle.
Diaw did not force it. Hughes was glued to Chen Yan, and James was hovering with his eyes on the passing lane, ready to gamble. A rushed pass would have been a gift.
Diaw swung it back to Nash.
Nash dribbled down to the right side near the free throw line, slowed and turned his head toward Stoudemire on the opposite side.
Mo Williams bit for half a heartbeat.
That was all Nash needed.
He hit the 2nd gear, slipped past Mo clean, and got into the teeth of the defense. Nash was not young Nash anymore, he won with rhythm and timing now, not pure speed.
James retreated hard. Shaq was planted in the paint and could not step out, which meant the help had to come from the perimeter.
Nash made the simple play, the right play. He snapped a pass to the corner.
Hughes sprinted to close out as Raja Bell received it, and Cleveland's defense started spinning. The Suns were moving the ball like it had a timer on it.
Chen Yan looped through the middle, floated to the right side at the 45 degree angle beyond the 3 point line, and Raja Bell delivered it right into his shooting pocket.
Another clean look.
This was why Chen Yan looked freer with Phoenix than he ever did with the national team. Nash and Diaw delivered passes that felt like they were placed by hand. Stoudemire pulled defenders into the lane like gravity. Even Raja Bell parked in the corner and made people respect the spacing.
Chen Yan caught and fired without a dribble, perfect form, pure shooter mode, sharp cut, instant decision.
Swish.
3 points, nothing but net.
The scoreboard read 3 to 9.
"3rd 3 of the game," Reggie said, unable to hide the admiration. As the all time 3 point king, he always watched the arc like it was a chessboard. "Chen Yan is completely in rhythm."
"So far all 3 shots have been 3s," Kenny added. "It looks like Phoenix is treating him like a pure shooter early."
Barkley chuckled. "And he looks like he is having the time of his life doing it."
On the screen, Chen Yan grinned and pointed at Raja Bell in thanks.
Kenny was right. Chen Yan was hunting 3s on purpose tonight. Ever since his 3 point rating had climbed to 99, he had not tested it in an official game. Practice was practice. This was real.
The close up caught something else too. Chen Yan was already wearing the new generation of his signature shoes, the AeroWing II.
No speech. No sales pitch. If the shoes were on his feet, that was the advertisement.
3 straight 3s was enough to make Mike Brown stand up.
From the sideline he barked the instruction he always defaulted to when Cleveland got shaky.
"LeBron, take it. LeBron, run it."
Mo handed it right back to James, and James called for a screen. Varejao got into Raja Bell, and James exploded downhill.
Diaw was behind him after the 1st step and could not recover. James powered into the restricted area and finished a layup through contact.
It was pure physical dominance. Stoudemire was one of the league's great athletes, and even he looked half a beat late.
5 to 9.
Early on, it was Chen Yan and James trading punches. Between them, they had produced every point on the board.
Phoenix came back to work.
Nash dribbled at the top, steady, and Chen Yan kept moving without the ball. Cleveland did not like that at all. His off ball threat was just as dangerous as his on ball threat.
Chen Yan ran the baseline. Stoudemire set the screen to free him, and Cleveland switched again, refusing to give daylight.
This time Varejao ended up on Chen Yan.
Nash did not force feed the shot. He read the mismatch and went straight to Stoudemire.
Stoudemire saw Hughes on him and did not waste the gift. He backed him down 1 step, created space with strength, took 2 hard steps, and finished the layup.
5 to 11.
Finally, someone other than Chen Yan and James scored.
Phoenix still had not even hit full run and gun speed, and they were already controlling Cleveland in the half court. That was the part that made Mike Brown's jaw tighten. If the Suns found their tempo, this could get ugly fast.
Cleveland pushed the other way, and for the 1st time, the ball did not go through James.
James was setting up to screen, pop out, and get it back, but Mo Williams pulled up from 3 in the middle of the action.
James watched it fly and cursed under his breath.
Swish.
The ball dropped clean.
Mo turned to see James' reaction, and James switched faces instantly, like he had been rehearsing it all summer.
"Great shot," James said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's the kind of decisiveness we need."
Mo's confidence spiked immediately.
That was Mo in a nutshell. He was fearless, and his greatest strength was how willing he was to shoot. His weakness was that once he got going, he sometimes forgot the difference between aggressive and reckless.
After Cleveland got a stop on the next possession, Mo grabbed the ball and sprinted it up himself.
He was younger and faster than Nash in a straight line, and he blew past him with pure speed. In his mind, the highlight was already playing, coast to coast layup, crowd noise, top 10 montage.
Reality had other plans.
Chen Yan slid over as the helper. Mo tried a behind the back dribble to split the space.
Slap.
Chen Yan read it and took it clean.
He pushed the break immediately. Cleveland's floor balance was a mess, lanes wide open, bodies scattered.
Chen Yan stopped a step beyond the 3 point line, gathered, and the arena rose like it already knew what was coming.
Cleveland panicked.
3 defenders converged on him at once.
That was Chen Yan gravity.
He did not shoot. He paused just long enough to pull everyone in, then fired a sharp pass to Nash on the wing.
Nash took 1 dribble and lofted it.
Stoudemire was free at the rim.
Boom.
Amare threw it down with both hands, and the building shook with the sound.
When he landed, Stoudemire smiled like a man who understood the perks of this job. Playing next to Nash and Chen Yan meant wide open dunks came with the uniform.
The noise surged again, and Mike Brown had no choice.
Timeout, Cleveland.
Phoenix had not even shown its full speed yet, but the message was already clear.
The defending champions were on the floor, and they looked exactly like it.
.....
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