Chapter 448: Invincibility Is Great, Yet So Lonely
The Grizzlies were sitting 11th in the standings, and the season had not even reached the halfway point when their franchise centerpiece, Pau Gasol, had already submitted 3 trade requests.
He was done.
In his eyes, this roster had no fight, no direction, and no urgency. Plenty of teams around the league immediately started circling. A skilled big like Gasol was rare in this era, and everyone knew it.
In Chen Yan's previous life, Gasol eventually ended up with the Lakers, but this version of the league was different. Los Angeles already had Kevin Garnett and Marcus Camby. Their frontcourt was packed. They did not need another elite big.
Even against a weaker opponent, Chen Yan did not take Memphis lightly. He wanted the streak, and he wanted the mood to stay sharp.
The Suns opened with a disciplined first quarter, then Chen Yan quietly flipped the switch. The moment the foundation was set, he slid into a mode of deliberate underperformance on defense.
Memphis did not help itself.
Their shooting was bad inside and outside. Gasol's connection with the guards looked broken. Rudy Gay kept catching the ball and going solo. Mike Conley was in a slump, turning it over again and again. The result was ugly basketball, big men sprinting back and forth without touching the ball for multiple possessions.
Watching it all, Chen Yan had 1 thought.
If not now, then when am I supposed to stack numbers?
He poured in 22 points in the quarter, mostly off fast breaks and clean looks created by screens in the half court. He barely burned energy. It looked effortless, smooth, almost casual.
Gay found his own rhythm too. He scored 12 in the same stretch and even threw down a violent 1 handed dunk that jolted the crowd.
For a moment, Gay looked like he had rediscovered that "Little McGrady" feeling. He noticed Chen Yan was not pressing him the same way, but he did not understand why. He just assumed he was cooking.
Chen Yan did not care.
Gay's points were not changing the outcome. Chen Yan only cared about his own production.
At halftime, Phoenix led Memphis 61 to 45, up 16.
…
In the second half, Chen Yan pushed the pace even harder. On defense, he gave up shots on purpose. The second Memphis missed, he was gone, sprinting down the floor without even looking back.
He did not need to look.
He knew that if he ran to the right spot, Nash or Diaw would find him every time.
And once he caught it, it was over.
The Grizzlies could not stay in front of him. Sometimes he simply overwhelmed defenders with strength. Sometimes he used footwork, slipping through gaps with that movement. Either way, his fast breaks kept ending the same way.
Points.
The lead grew, and it kept growing.
What did it matter if he was not defending?
In this rhythm, he felt almost invincible.
Memphis eventually tried to double him, but Coach Lionel Hollins realized the problem immediately. You cannot double a guy who is never in the half court. Chen Yan was living in transition, and every miss was an invitation to sprint.
Hollins was already the Grizzlies' second head coach of the season. Johnny Davis had been fired after only 2 games. In those 2 games, Memphis averaged 80 points and allowed 102. Even management could not pretend that was acceptable.
Hollins was not doing much better, and everyone knew the rumors. Management was looking for a scapegoat, and he was the easiest name to sacrifice. The truth was uglier than that. With this roster, under competent management, Memphis should have been at least a playoff caliber team.
Late in the 3rd, the Grizzlies tried to slow the pace. Chen Yan responded by relaxing even more. He allowed drives but did not contest shots. He did not switch pick and roll actions. He just chased Rudy Gay's back like it was cardio.
The moment Gay rose to shoot, Chen Yan turned and ran.
Memphis was running a twin towers look and they were not built for sprinting. Every missed shot became a near automatic Phoenix fast break.
After 3 quarters, the Suns led 91 to 73.
Both teams scored a lot in the 3rd, but the game still felt like it was drifting toward a blowout. During the break, D'Antoni did not mention Chen Yan's defense once. In his mind, Phoenix was scoring at will and the lead was expanding, so why nitpick?
Gay had 29 points through 3, and some fans started talking like he had suddenly become a monster. Nobody considered the simplest explanation, that Chen Yan was choosing not to clamp down.
…
The 4th opened with Memphis trying something new. They slowed it down immediately, dumping the ball into the paint. Even if they missed, that style made it harder for Phoenix to run instantly.
On defense, they doubled Chen Yan in the half court.
By then, Chen Yan had already scored 56 in this track meet of a game.
The plan worked for a brief stretch.
But before Chen Yan even needed to solve it, it collapsed by itself. Rudy Gay believed he was scorching hot, and he decided that meant he deserved even more shots. He started forcing possessions, taking bad looks early and often.
Hollins could only throw his hands up. He had lost the room. The players all knew he was about to be fired, and when a team stops believing in the coach, the playbook becomes decoration.
Chen Yan hit 2 straight 3s in transition, pushing his total to 62.
A minute and a half later, Memphis basically surrendered. Heads down, shoulders slumped, the whole bench looked defeated.
Except Gay.
Gay was still energized, still feeling proud.
He had 40 points and genuinely believed he had been in a scoring duel with Chen Yan, not realizing he was being dominated in silence.
But the people watching could tell the difference.
Gay's 40 felt quiet, soft, without weight. Chen Yan's scoring felt like a storm, visible, loud, undeniable.
In garbage time, Azubuike suddenly caught fire.
He drilled a step back 3, finished a fast break dunk, then hit a layup off a screen. 10 points in 3 minutes, and the lead jumped past 30.
Good mood does that to players.
Azubuike had just signed his sneaker deal, and he was floating. He remembered Chen Yan's promise about a signature shoe, but he also understood something important. He could not let it become a gift. He had to earn it with real production.
From the sideline, Chen Yan clapped hard, impressed.
Azubuike was built for run and gun. In a fast game, his strengths were amplified.
With 6 minutes left, most of the Memphis crowd had already left. There was no tension, no reason to stay. Both teams pulled starters, and the arena slowly emptied out.
Final score, 127 to 94.
Phoenix destroyed Memphis on the road.
Chen Yan played 35 minutes and finished with 62 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals.
For Memphis, Gay had the biggest line, 40 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers.
His season turnover average was under 3, but with more touches and more forced shots, the mistakes climbed. It was inevitable.
…
After the game, TNT's desk sounded like they were watching a cheat code.
Barkley shook his head, half laughing. "He did it again. This dude looks like lightning in transition. Blink and the scoreboard changes."
Kenny smiled. "At this point it's not just again. It's again, and again, and again. Scoring looks easy to him. My only concern is whether his body can handle this kind of rim attacking every night. If he stays healthy, the scoring title is his."
Barkley nodded. "And he's sitting number 1 on the MVP ladder right now. Season's not over, that can change anytime, but if he keeps this level, it's going to be hard to vote against him."
That was the dream behind the reaction. If Chen Yan won regular season MVP, he would not just be the biggest basketball name back home, he might become the biggest figure in sports history.
…
In the locker room, a reporter went straight for the angle people loved to argue about.
"Chen, you were shooting and scoring all night, but you only had 1 assist. Some people are calling that selfish. What do you say?"
Chen Yan's expression barely moved.
"I'm a shooting guard," he said. "Shooting. Guard. My job is to score. To score as many points as possible so we win. If someone calls that selfish, they just don't understand basketball."
People could complain, but nobody called it stat padding. Every point came in real minutes, with real pace. In the fans' eyes, it was just dominance.
…
With the win, Phoenix closed December with a 19 game winning streak.
They went undefeated for the entire month.
They had beaten good teams along the way too, the Mavericks, the Hornets, the Lakers on Christmas Day. It was not a soft stretch, it was a statement.
If you had to summarize the Suns' December in a single line, it would be this.
Invincible, and lonely.
.....
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