Chapter 409: Classic Closer, Scout Mode Chen Yan
After beating the Nets, Phoenix got 2 more days off. Next up was Portland.
The early schedule looked soft, but there was a catch. An 82 game season never gives you a free meal. A light start usually means the calendar tightens later.
After Portland, the Suns would only get 1 day off before a brutal stretch, 3 games in 4 nights, all on the road, all in the Eastern Conference.
On November 4, the Trail Blazers came to the US Airways Center with a chip on their shoulder.
A lot of fans liked Portland this year. Brandon Roy had made his first All Star team last season and officially stepped into star territory. LaMarcus Aldridge was coming along too, a steady 18 points and 8 rebounds kind of night more often than not. Add Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Outlaw, and Blake, and you had a roster full of defined roles.
Then reality hit them in the mouth.
They opened 0 and 2. A blowout loss to the Lakers, then a close loss to the Spurs. Inside the locker room, the logic was simple.
It wasn't effort. The opponents were just heavyweights.
The worst part was the schedule. After starting 0 and 2, their third game was in Phoenix against the defending champs. The Blazers looked at it and wanted to curse the league office. A start like this felt less like a schedule and more like a prank.
When they walked into the arena, their mood got even darker.
Suns fans filled the stands with banners that said thank you to Portland.
Last season, Portland had traded Chen Yan to Phoenix. Phoenix won its first title. Chen Yan had a historic rookie season and became the second player after Magic Johnson to win Finals MVP as a rookie.
The signs were not gratitude. They were salt in an open wound.
Even Portland fans were furious at their own front office. In 1984, they passed on Jordan for Sam Bowie. Thirteen years later, in the 2007 draft, they missed Chen Yan to acquire Leandro Barbosa and Marion. Now the franchise had a new nickname floating around, the most tragic team in the league.
Of course, hindsight always looks smarter.
In 1984 it was still the big man era, and Portland already had Clyde Drexler at shooting guard. Taking a center felt reasonable. In 2007, they already had an All Star shooting guard in Roy, so drafting another high usage guard could have looked redundant.
History just had an annoying habit of repeating itself, and somehow, it always seemed to repeat itself on Portland.
…
During warmups, Barkley leaned into it.
"The highlight tonight is Roy versus Chen Yan. If those 2 start trading buckets, this is going to be fun."
Kenny Smith kept it measured. "Portland is 0 and 2, but on paper they're not weak. Roy and Aldridge are real. Every position has a defined player. They've also got the Sixth Man of the Year, Leandro Barbosa, on the bench. And he's a former Sun, he knows Phoenix's tempo and defensive habits."
Barkley side eyed him. "You said all that. So you picking Portland to bounce back and win in Phoenix?"
Kenny laughed. "No. I still like the Suns."
The crowd at home enjoyed the honesty.
…
Tip off.
Phoenix started Nash, Chen Yan, Raja Bell, Diaw, and Stoudemire.
Portland started Blake, Roy, Marion, Aldridge, and Channing Frye.
Starting Frye was deliberate. It meant all 5 Blazers on the floor could shoot. If they caught fire, they could trade punches with anyone.
Then the game began, and Phoenix came out like they were still thinking about their last 2 blowouts.
Stoudemire did not attack the jump. Aldridge won it clean. The Suns looked loose, maybe a little too comfortable.
Portland punished them immediately.
Blake hit a 3. Frye hit a 3. Roy came off a screen and buried a tough fadeaway. The Blazers opened on an 8 to 0 run and forced Phoenix into an early timeout.
After the timeout, the Suns tried to answer, but missed several perimeter looks in a row. Portland had seized the rhythm, and it is never easy to steal tempo from a team that already has it in its hands.
Next trip, Roy ran pick and roll, hit Aldridge on the pop, and Aldridge drilled a midrange shot from the high post.
10 to 0.
Four different Blazers had scored, and it looked like everybody's touch had caught fire at the same time.
US Airways Center went quiet. Phoenix fans had not seen a start this ugly in a long time.
On the next Suns possession, Nash stopped trying to orchestrate. He gave the ball to Chen Yan, waved everyone out, and told the team to clear the floor.
If the shots were cold, they needed a blade, not a diagram.
Chen Yan understood. He took Marion one on one at the top.
Marion's arms were everywhere. Long, disruptive, relentless. He was locked in, partly because those thank you Portland signs felt like they were mocking him too. He had been one of the major pieces in that trade.
Chen Yan went wide with the dribble, keeping the ball protected low and tight. Against Marion's reach, ball security mattered more than style.
He probed, accelerated for a step, then snapped the ball back outside the arc. He did not shoot. Instead, he sold a shot fake with a pose look, hand, leg, eyes, the whole act.
His jumper was not falling tonight.
Even with his 3 point rating sitting at 99, this was the NBA. Legs, focus, contact, pressure, all of it mattered. Great shooters missed too. The question was what they did next.
Marion stepped up with a hand high, disciplined, not biting fully.
Chen Yan kept the dribble alive. 13 seconds on the clock, plenty of room to work.
He shifted the ball right, dipped his shoulder like he was going, then snapped a reverse crossover back outside the arc. He paused with the ball in his left hand and stared at the rim like he was in love with it.
This time Marion lunged.
Chen Yan cut behind that lunge and slid past him. The pose was not just hands and feet, it was the eyes. The expression. The timing. He sold it perfectly.
Once he got a shoulder past Marion, the lane opened. Chen Yan took long strides into the paint and finished a switching hands layup through Frye's contest.
Frye had offense, but he did not have the tools to wall off a guard attacking downhill.
10 to 2.
The arena finally exhaled, then cheered like the rim had been unclenched.
Portland answered right back.
Roy, guarded tightly by Raja Bell, pulled up after a crossover and hit a clean midrange jumper.
12 to 2.
Roy did not have flashy moves. Even his face looked calm. Everything about him was steady. Watching him felt like watching Duncan, just relocated to the perimeter.
Phoenix came back down.
Diaw inbounded. Nash pushed it over half court.
Chen Yan tried a back cut, but Marion stayed attached. Near the top, Chen Yan covered his groin and set a screen for Nash.
Blake never saw it coming. He got clipped hard.
Nash turned the corner to the left wing beyond the arc. Marion switched onto him, as he had to. No one lets Nash breathe, and Marion knew him better than most.
Nash did not shoot. He knew Marion would switch. Marion knew Nash would read it. So Nash kept moving, and Chen Yan sealed Blake at the right elbow area.
Nash floated the pass over and drifted to the corner.
Chen Yan went to work.
Bang. Bang.
Two strong bumps. Just as he prepared to turn, Aldridge stepped up from the paint to show a double.
Chen Yan saw it immediately. He dribbled out a step, reset, then went back into Blake again.
That is the beauty of a guard post up. Hard to strip, easy to read help.
Bang. Bang.
Aldridge came again. Chen Yan raised the ball high, sold the pass, then spun through the gap between the 2 defenders.
Swish.
A calm midrange jumper.
Aldridge could only shake his head. Chen Yan had read his help timing like a book.
Portland missed a 3 on the next possession. The rebound kicked long.
Raja Bell secured it and looked up.
Nash was already streaking down the baseline. Chen Yan sprinted the middle lane.
This was Phoenix basketball.
Before half court, Nash fired a one hand bounce pass, perfectly in stride. Chen Yan caught it without breaking pace, took off, and hammered a one handed tomahawk dunk in transition.
12 to 6.
The Suns were awake now.
Still, Portland came with real urgency. They had high expectations this season and did not want to start 0 and 3.
At the end of the first, Phoenix trailed 19 to 26.
…
The second quarter became a bench war.
Phoenix's second unit always carried firepower, but Portland's bench had teeth too. Barbosa, Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, Fernández, all capable scorers who could punish mistakes.
Phoenix could not win that stretch. The gap stayed, then grew.
Even when the starters returned, the Suns still could not buy it from 3. They survived on Chen Yan's shot creation and fast breaks.
Halftime.
47 to 58.
Phoenix was still down.
At the break, Kenny Smith laid it out. "The Suns are elite, but they're not invincible. They lean offense. When the valve opens, nobody can stop them. But if the shooting goes cold and the defense is loose, they can get stuck like this."
Barkley agreed. "Portland has been excellent on both ends. Roy has 17 in the first half, efficient, steady, carrying the load."
…
The third quarter started, and Phoenix finally saw the net behave like a net again.
Two quick 3s. Immediate response from Roy with isolation. Then Chen Yan answered with force, attacking a mismatch for a 2 plus 1.
Stars get checked by stars.
That play lifted the whole building.
By the end of the third, the game was tied at 73.
…
The fourth quarter was all starters. No breathing room.
Roy attacked, drove, got to the line. Every time Portland needed stability, he supplied it.
Phoenix needed a closer.
Chen Yan became one.
He hit a midrange jumper off a screen. He scored on a turnaround after a hard post up. He finished a fast break with clean footwork. He created space with back to back one on one moves, then flowed straight into the lane for another finish.
He had to. Tonight, the Suns needed him to carry more isolation than their usual system.
Roy refused to break. Simple moves, sharp angles, calm face, deadly results. Raja Bell had a nightmare assignment, because when Roy got comfortable, he was no easier to deal with than Kobe.
The opening minutes of the fourth turned into a pure duel, Chen Yan versus Roy.
Different styles, same outcome, bucket after bucket.
That is the NBA's signature. International play is about structure. The NBA sells the hero standing in the fire.
And for fans in the arena, it was exactly what they came to see.
…
The game stayed tight until the final 3 minutes.
Phoenix possession.
Chen Yan had the ball at the left elbow area, sliding laterally. Marion was glued to him, cutting off the drive. Roy was positioned to help, ready to trap the moment Chen Yan committed.
Chen Yan read it early. Before the double could fully form, he snapped a pass to Nash, then sprinted toward him with both hands covering his groin.
Marion and Blake reacted. They thought it was another screen.
It was not.
Chen Yan's real target was the rim.
He faked the screen, pushed off his left foot, stepped back hard, and created clean space.
Nash delivered the pass like they had rehearsed it in their sleep.
Chen Yan caught, rose, and hit a long 2.
Swish.
92 to 95.
Phoenix led by 3.
Portland came back.
Blake crossed half court looking for Roy. Raja Bell fronted him, denied him, refused to allow the catch. Blake stayed calm and swung it to Aldridge at the high post.
Aldridge held it up, scanning.
He watched his teammates.
He forgot about his opponent.
Chen Yan exploded from Aldridge's blind side.
"Watch out," Blake yelled, but it was late.
Chen Yan rose and ripped the ball straight out of Aldridge's hands.
A huge steal.
He fired it ahead, and Nash finished an uncontested layup.
92 to 97.
Now it was 5.
Portland's young group wavered, forced a rushed shot, missed, and from there Nash controlled the tempo like a veteran drummer keeping a band from speeding up.
Phoenix held the lead until the horn.
Final.
Suns 101, Trail Blazers 97.
They won, but it felt like a warning shot too. Defending a title was not a straight road. If anything, it was a road full of ambushes. Phoenix could not sleepwalk into games and expect teams to fold.
They escaped with the win, and Chen Yan won the duel.
He played 43 minutes and finished with 42 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers.
Roy had 39.
A monster night, and a losing night, the kind of stat line people call empty when they are trying to be cruel.
…
After the game, Barkley pointed out something that surprised casual fans.
"Chen Yan played classic tonight. Only 6 of his 42 came from 3."
Kenny Smith laughed. "Scoring 40 plus with only 2 made 3s tells you everything. The bag is deep."
Barkley nodded. "He can post. He can hit midrange. He can drive. He kills you in transition. The 3 is just one weapon. Even without it, he's still one of the best scoring guards in the league."
If Chen Yan heard that, he would have laughed. The only reason he only hit 2 3s was because his touch was off.
…
In the locker room, he faced the media again.
"Chen, this game was tight all the way to the end," a reporter said. "Why was it such a struggle tonight?"
"We started slow," Chen Yan answered. "A good start is half the battle, and we didn't have one. Portland played great too. They were hot early and that puts pressure on you. But we held up, and we kept the win in Phoenix."
Another reporter asked, "Who put the most pressure on you tonight from Portland?"
Chen Yan smiled. "Brandon Roy. I think everyone saw it. He kept attacking, kept scoring. He's underrated. He's one of the best guards in this league at finding opportunities. Both hands, solid fundamentals, calm style, but it's deadly. He never looks rushed."
He paused, then added with a grin, "The last guy who gave me that feeling was that big man in San Antonio who loves doing Buddha poses."
He admired Roy's game, but he also respected the personality. No panic. No noise. Just work.
A final question came in, clearly aimed at the rookie.
"Can you comment on DeAndre Jordan tonight?"
DeAndre had struggled, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 3 turnovers. Every time the ball touched his hands, it felt like the Suns' offense lost electricity.
Chen Yan did not flinch.
"Stats don't tell the whole story," he said. "DeAndre standing in the paint is already a deterrent. He's 6 foot 10, long arms, and he can jump. He has a lot of potential. He can be the future beast of the restricted area. Our job is to help him bring that potential out."
DeAndre was in the locker room listening.
He felt his chest loosen.
On the court, Chen Yan fed him the ball and kept him involved. Off the court, Chen Yan kept putting a hand on his shoulder, reminding him he belonged.
In that moment, DeAndre looked at Chen Yan the way rookies look at the veteran who makes the league feel survivable.
Not just a teammate.
A mentor.
.....
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