Chapter 418: The Older, The Slicker, High Efficiency
The regular season did not wait for anyone. After the loss, Phoenix barely had time to feel annoyed before they were on a plane to Sacramento.
The Kings used to be the league's darlings in the early 2000s, when their beautiful Princeton style offense drew crowds and made neutral fans fall in love with basketball. Those days were long gone. Ever since the Webber era ended, Sacramento had lived in a permanent slump.
Now their top name was Josh Howard, a castoff from Dallas, with John Salmons as the second option. With those 2 as the core, the Kings were not chasing the playoffs, they were chasing lottery odds.
Nash was still out, so "White Chocolate" Jason Williams started again. Compared to Barea, Williams was more of an organizer, someone who could at least keep the ball moving in the right direction.
Even so, this game was much harder than Phoenix expected.
Without Nash, the Suns leaned heavily on Chen Yan and Amar'e to create offense. Sacramento played like Houston had in the previous game, every decent look felt like it had a magnet in the rim. Their touch was ridiculous.
The outcome stayed in doubt until the final 3 minutes.
First, Chen Yan buried a catch and shoot 3 while sprinting into space. Then he jumped a passing lane for a flying steal and immediately turned it into an assist on the other end. In 2 quick bursts, the Suns finally separated.
Final score, Suns 106, Kings 102.
Chen Yan finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists on 13 for 27 shooting, 4 for 9 from deep, and 8 for 9 at the line.
His first triple double of the season.
It was another reminder of something the league was slowly accepting, if the ball lived in Chen Yan's hands, the box score could get violent in a hurry.
His field goal percentage was close to 50%. For most perimeter stars, that was excellent. For Chen Yan, it felt merely acceptable.
Sacramento had 4 players in double figures, with Josh Howard, Brad Miller, and Salmons all above 20. That was not unusual against Phoenix. The Suns gave up points, sometimes willingly, because they cared more about turning defense into transition speed than locking every possession down.
Their philosophy was simple.
It did not matter how many points you allowed, as long as you scored more and won.
…
After escaping Sacramento, Phoenix headed to New Orleans to face the Hornets.
This was a real test, a deep roster with real structure.
Tyson Chandler and David West inside. Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic outside, plus shooters and solid role players filling the gaps.
On paper, the starting lineup looked terrifying, but in practice, it always felt like something was missing. They did not have a true isolation scorer to lean on in crunch time. Paul's scoring was limited by size. Peja could shoot, but he did not handle the ball. Chandler lived off lobs. West was skilled, but as a big, it was hard for him to create off the dribble when everything tightened up.
A team like that could look strong for 48 minutes, then get stuck when the game demanded a single shot maker.
In the playoffs, they had a ceiling. At best, a "pseudo contender."
For this one, Nash returned from his back issue. Even on the road, most people expected Phoenix to win.
TNT had the broadcast. CCTV did not, choosing Rockets versus Spurs instead.
Back home, plenty of fans were furious. Suns versus Hornets screamed track meet. Rockets versus Spurs screamed traffic jam. Unless you were a diehard for one of those teams, it was hard to stay awake through 48 minutes of it.
On TNT, Barkley leaned forward at the desk.
"The Suns are 8 and 1. The Hornets are 6 and 2," he said. "Both teams want to score. I don't know who wins, but I know what kind of game it's gonna be."
Kenny Smith laughed. "This is why people buy tickets. This is why people turn on the TV."
…
Before tip off, Chen Yan ran into Chris Paul in the tunnel.
The outside world called them part of the "Banana Boat Crew" and assumed they were best friends. The truth was more ordinary. Apart from that Olympic trip where Chen Yan dragged Paul to a massage parlor, they had not really spent much time together.
Still, optics mattered.
They chatted for a minute, smiled, and shook hands like close friends before walking out.
The starters took the floor.
Phoenix opened with Nash, Chen Yan, Grant Hill, Diaw, and Amar'e.
Raja Bell stayed on the bench. D'Antoni went with the veteran Hill for extra offense, a clear message that Phoenix was hitting full throttle from the opening possession.
New Orleans countered with Chris Paul, Rasual Butler, Peja Stojakovic, David West, and Tyson Chandler.
The ball went up.
Chandler won the tip over Amar'e. He was not giving up anything in bounce, and he had the size edge.
Paul caught it and immediately started organizing, calling out spots and directing traffic while dribbling.
At the top, he swung it to Peja. Hill was already in position, and Peja had no clean look. He moved it inside to Chandler.
Diaw backed off 2 big steps, basically daring Chandler to do something with the ball away from the rim. Everyone in the building knew Chandler was not a scorer out there.
As expected, Chandler quickly handed it to West at the elbow.
The Hornets cleared out and let West go to work against Amar'e.
Amar'e leaned into him from behind, trying to stop the turn. Phoenix treated West differently than Chandler. West could hit that mid range jumper and had to be respected.
West pivoted, faced up, and gave a small pump fake. Amar'e stayed disciplined. West dribbled twice to the right, then hop stepped into the lane. He did not try to out jump Amar'e. Instead, he used craft.
He bumped, gave another head fake, and when Amar'e's balance lifted even slightly, West turned and faded.
Swish.
Hornets 2, Suns 0.
The crowd roared. West showed exactly why he was an All Star, touch, footwork, and a jumper that never looked rushed.
Phoenix came down and went to their own comfort zone.
Nash and Amar'e ran pick and roll. Chen Yan camped in the corner, ready to punish the first mistake.
That was the difference when Nash was on the floor. Chen Yan could be anything, a spot up shooter, a mover, a driver, a finisher, because Nash kept the defense honest from every angle.
After the action, Nash ended up switched onto Chandler.
Nash hit 2 quick crossovers, and the big man's feet started drifting like he was on ice. As soon as Chandler's balance broke, Nash darted past him.
Rasual Butler rotated from the corner to help. Nash saw it instantly and snapped a pass to the corner.
Chen Yan caught, rose, and released with no hesitation.
Butler was too late. Chen Yan's release was too fast.
Swish.
Suns 3, Hornets 2.
Chen Yan pointed at Nash as he backpedaled. That one felt like a layup.
Kenny Smith said, "Chen answers with a 3. He got his first triple double of the season last game. You think he's got another one in him tonight?"
Barkley chuckled. "Nash is back. They don't need Chen to be the point guard. Forget the triple double. I wanna see if he goes full throttle."
…
New Orleans came right back.
Paul called West up for another pick and roll. After the switch pulled Diaw toward him, Paul fired a one handed bounce pass to West.
Nash stayed attached to Paul. Diaw recovered quickly, taking away the direct lane.
West gave a pump fake, then chose the safer option and tried to feed Chandler under the rim.
Amar'e read it perfectly, half fronting and lurking. Before Chandler could even get low, Amar'e swiped the entry away.
Chen Yan exploded forward, secured the loose ball, and pushed it ahead to Grant Hill to start the break.
Hill ran with long, smooth strides. This was something Raja Bell did not bring. With Hill starting, Phoenix had an extra handler in transition and in the half court.
Hill drove to the arc with Peja chasing. As Hill began his move, he glanced back at Chen Yan trailing and lifted the ball like he was about to pass.
Chen Yan opened his hands to receive it.
Hill never passed.
He turned back and finished with a clean layup on the fly.
Suns 5, Hornets 2.
It fooled Peja.
It also fooled Chen Yan, which somehow annoyed him more.
After the basket, Hill flashed a mischievous grin at Chen Yan, the kind of expression that did not match his gentleman reputation at all.
Chen Yan shook his head.
The older, the slicker.
New Orleans answered again. After action to free space, Paul rose for a mid range fade and knocked it down.
Suns 5, Hornets 4.
Early on, both teams were sharp, scoring quickly and scoring efficiently.
.....
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