Chapter 455: The First Game Winning Shot of the Season
After beating the Los Angeles Clippers, the Phoenix Suns finally got a 4 day break. Mike DAntoni did not schedule anything brutal. He let the guys rest, recover, and get their legs back. That was always his style.
An NBA season is long. Keep a body pulled tight like a string for too long, and sooner or later it snaps.
On January 7, the Suns were back at home, hosting the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana came in sitting 9th in the Eastern Conference. On paper, it looked manageable. In reality, it turned into a grind.
When the Suns hit a 10 game streak, teams started respecting them. When the streak hit 20, every opponent treated them like the final boss. Everybody wanted the same thing, to be the group that ended it.
Ending a streak that long is a flex. Losing to the Suns is not embarrassing either, because plenty of teams had already been put on the highlight reel.
The Pacers walked into the US Airways Center with that exact mindset.
…
In the 1st quarter, Indiana looked sharp. They hit shots, moved the ball, and played with real purpose. Phoenix, meanwhile, never found their usual whirlwind pace. The Suns went just 7 for 25 from the field and trailed 19 to 25 after 12 minutes.
A 4 day layoff had their legs feeling heavy.
The Suns finally woke up in the 2nd quarter. Nash drilled a signature fading jumper to start the push. Once Phoenix found rhythm, the shots started falling. They went 12 for 21 in the quarter, and Chen Yan poured in 17 points on 7 for 11 shooting.
But Indiana stayed hotter.
Danny Granger scored 11 in the quarter, and T J Ford, the guard they picked up from Toronto this summer, popped with 7 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals in the period.
At halftime, the Pacers still led, 53 to 49.
…
The 3rd quarter turned into the Chen Yan and Granger show.
Chen Yan kept Phoenix afloat, scoring another 13 points. It still was not enough to erase the deficit.
Granger went nuclear. He dropped 15 more in the quarter, pushing his total to 37 through 3. Tonight he looked like a star who had decided, with zero negotiation, that the rim owed him money.
His drives were decisive, either a bucket or a whistle. His pull ups felt automatic. For a stretch, it looked like he had Jordan's spirit riding shotgun.
After 3, Phoenix had cut it to 74 to 77, but they were still chasing.
…
Early in the 4th, Granger came right back. He took a handoff from Daniels, rose from the high post, and drilled it even as Chen Yan switched and closed hard.
Swish.
Granger had a size advantage, clearly a full tier taller, and once he got rolling, contests barely mattered.
Phoenix answered immediately. Chen Yan ran a handoff with Nash. Indiana did not switch, Daniels tried to fight over, and Chen Yan punished the timing window with a quick high post jumper.
Make.
He felt it. The duel. That head to head heat that makes scoring addictive. The kind that turns a regular season game into a personal statement.
The problem was, Indiana kept a slim lead all the way into the final 90 seconds.
…
On a huge Pacers possession, Granger caught on the wing, faked, and drove deep. Phoenix sent a second defender. Granger stayed calm and kicked it out.
Daniels was wide open.
He missed.
Daniels is not a 3 point specialist. His career percentage sat around 23%, and this season he was down near 20%. He only shoots that ball when the defense basically hands him a written invitation.
The miss kicked long, bouncing nearly 3 meters away.
Chen Yan snatched the rebound and pushed. Every Pacer on the floor locked onto him, and that was the mistake. Nash was already slipping up the court like a shadow.
Chen Yan fired a diagonal pass.
Nash caught, finished clean.
109 to 109.
The next few trips were empty on both ends. Legs were gone. And shooting always pays rent with stamina.
With 25.9 seconds left, Indiana called timeout.
"It's last possession time," Kenny Smith said. "Pacers ball. If they hit this and end a 20 game streak, they're going to be everywhere."
"And they're going to be everywhere in Suns fans' nightmares too," Charles Barkley laughed.
Kenny nodded. "A 20 game streak, man. There are only 82 games. That's like winning a quarter of your season in one shot."
Barkley leaned forward. "Now the question is, who takes it."
Kenny added, "And they have to run this clock all the way down. Make or miss, you do not give Phoenix a chance to steal it back with a game winner."
Timeout ended. Both teams came out with their finishing lineups.
Indiana subbed out T J Ford, and also pulled Daniels. They wanted size, spacing, and shot makers. The 5 on the floor were Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavy, and Troy Murphy.
Every one of them could hit from mid range or beyond the arc. Anyone could be the closer.
Murphy inbounded. Both Jack and Granger flashed.
The ball went to Granger.
No rush. Full clock.
Raja Bell dropped into a stance, a step off, hands ready. Phoenix trusted him with the final possession because he was their best perimeter defender.
The other 4 Pacers stayed spaced, pulling help away and leaving Granger room to work.
8 seconds.
Granger attacked.
He changed direction, went left, then spun from just beyond the free throw line toward the middle. Bell stayed attached, did not bite, did not reach, kept pressure without losing balance.
Granger rose from a step above the free throw line.
Bell contested.
The building held its breath anyway.
Granger had 46 points. Tonight he had looked unstoppable.
But the moment it left his hand, Granger felt it. The ball rolled off his ring finger and pinky, the kind of release that usually means miss.
The flight drifted right.
Clang.
The arena exhaled in relief. The Suns had been given a lifeline.
Stoudemire secured the rebound and immediately called timeout.
2.1 seconds left.
Granger walked to the bench looking crushed. He had matched Chen Yan all night, but when the moment demanded cold blood, his hand betrayed him.
Now the game belonged to Phoenix.
As DAntoni drew it up, the camera stayed glued to Chen Yan.
He was the league's king of game winners last season. This season, more than 2 months in, he still had not hit one. Not because his clutch had faded, but because Phoenix had been too strong, too consistent, too dominant to give him many of these moments.
After the timeout, Phoenix adjusted too. They put Novak on the floor for more spacing, the same idea Indiana had used. Surround the play with shooting.
Kenny said, "They're going 5 out. If you double, you give up a clean look. If you stay home, you might be staring at the dagger."
Barkley smirked. "Pick your poison."
…
Whistle.
Play live.
Diaw held the ball on the sideline. Indiana pressed up, denying everything. They were not letting 48 minutes of work die in 2 seconds.
Diaw hesitated. The universal inbound problem, nobody is open.
Nash drifted back 2 steps like he wanted it.
Diaw glanced at him.
With 1 second left before the violation, Diaw snapped the inbound the other way.
Chen Yan curled off Novak's screen to the wing and caught at about a 30 degree angle, beyond the 3 point line.
Indiana's communication broke. Granger was late getting around the screen, and Rush never switched.
Chen Yan rose.
Wide open.
The crowd already knew. For Chen Yan, a look that clean is basically a layup.
Swish.
Buzzer.
A clean kill.
109 to 112.
Chen Yan pumped his fist hard, face lit up under the arena lights.
Phoenix's king of game winners was back.
Online comments flooded in within minutes.
"The Pacers forgot the 1 guy they absolutely cannot forget."
"How do you let Chen Yan shoot that comfortably."
"A long awaited buzzer beater."
"A real killer never misses a window."
"A massive mistake."
"And Granger has to be sick. Missed the winner, then watched Chen hit his right in front of him."
.....
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