Chapter 456: Outrageous Headline, Only 40 Points
After the game, Chen Yan was asked at the press conference about the game winning shot.
He answered calmly, "I make hundreds of shots like that in practice every day. I could hit that with my eyes closed."
It sounded arrogant, but nobody laughed. Everyone in the room knew it was true. The Pacers' final coverage had been a mess, and Chen Yan's look was basically a warmup rep.
Another reporter followed up. "You scored 51 tonight. That makes 3 straight games with 50 plus points. In NBA history, only 4 players have done that: Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Elgin Baylor. How do you feel right now?"
Chen Yan's expression stayed steady. "Hearing my name next to theirs is exciting. That excitement is motivation. But I'm not going to get comfortable. I'm not the type who's easy to satisfy."
"So will you keep scoring 50 plus?"
"I'll keep the same aggressive mindset," Chen Yan said. "The rest, I'll leave to basketball."
He was not about to make promises he could not control. If he guaranteed 50 plus again and then fell short, the same people praising him today would save the quote just to laugh at him later.
Still, the combination of the buzzer beater and the 50 plus streak pushed his name right back into the center of the league. Fans were talking. Players were talking. And every opponent on the schedule was already thinking about how to cool him off.
…
On January 9, the Suns stayed home and barely edged their old rival, the Mavericks, 129 to 126.
Chen Yan dropped 52 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. That made it 4 straight games with 50 plus, passing the 3 game streak once held by Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor. Now he was tied with Kobe at 4 straight, with only Wilt Chamberlain's absurd 7 straight still ahead.
Stoudemire added 31 points and 11 rebounds. Nash had 17 points and 9 assists. The 3 of them basically carried the entire scoring load.
Chen Yan did not have the luxury of pacing himself. This was a real fight. The Mavericks were one of the biggest threats to Phoenix in the West, and everyone in the Suns locker room knew it.
A lineup of Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, and Ron Artest was balanced on both ends. If there was a weakness, it was speed.
Kidd was older. Dirk and Artest were never track meet guys. And Ray Allen's only relationship with speed was how fast the ball left his hands. In practice, he loved to simulate falling down, pop right back out to the 3 point line, catch, and fire. From catch to release, his quickest trigger could be around 0.4 seconds.
Phoenix attacked the one flaw they could find and ran every chance they got.
Chen Yan stayed scorching. He hit 4 3s directly out of transition and finished with 10 made 3s total, more than Dirk, Ray, and Jason Terry combined.
Dallas had their own trump card, Dirk's isolation package. With his height and touch, once he found rhythm, you could not guard him one on one. You had to send help.
And tonight, Ray Allen and the Mavericks' role players were hitting shots too, which made every rotation dangerous.
Phoenix survived, but only after an overtime battle and a narrow finish.
That game left a clear message: the Suns' real competition was not just the Lakers. The Mavericks were absolutely in the same conversation, and seeing them in the playoffs would be a problem.
…
Right after the Mavericks game, the Suns flew to Los Angeles.
The next day, they played the Clippers again. Division rivals see each other 4 times a season.
From the outside, the Clippers looked like an automatic win. In reality, Phoenix did not get an easy night.
Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was the emotional drain from overtime, but Chen Yan did not come out hunting at full speed. Early on, he drove twice and kicked the ball out to teammates on the wing both times.
A 50 plus streak is built on volume. Volume costs legs. After overtime the night before, Chen Yan was showing the first signs of wear.
With 7:07 left in the 1st quarter, he finally got his first bucket. He faked Eric Gordon beyond the arc. No help came. Chen Yan hesitated, adjusted his feet, and drilled the 3.
Late in the quarter, he tried to ramp up the aggression, but the results were ugly. The shots did not fall, and the rhythm looked off.
With 2:19 left in the 1st, he hit a corner 3 that pushed Phoenix ahead, 20 to 18.
The whistle was not friendly either. Near the end of the quarter, Chen Yan got pulled down on a drive and still got nothing. He landed on the floor, palms up in disbelief, and the referee ignored him completely.
Gordon walked over and helped him up.
For a moment, Chen Yan actually felt like Gordon was a decent guy. Chen Yan had embarrassed Linus in the previous matchup, but Gordon clearly was not carrying any grudges.
After 1, Phoenix led 23 to 22.
…
The 2nd quarter stayed tight. The lead changed hands multiple times.
With 3:56 left before halftime, Azubuike finished a fast break dunk that finally swung momentum back toward Phoenix. But the Suns only made 1 more shot the rest of the quarter.
The Clippers responded with an 8 to 3 run and took a 52 to 47 lead into halftime.
…
In the 2nd half, the Clippers' shooting cooled, mostly because their overall talent level could not sustain that first half pace.
Phoenix took control in the 3rd, and Chen Yan's touch came back. He scored 17 in the quarter, mixing drives with jumpers and finding cleaner looks as the game settled.
The Clippers made a few pushes in the 4th, but each time they were answered.
Then, in the final 5 minutes, the Clippers' offense completely stalled. Chen Yan smelled it immediately and scored 5 straight points to stretch the margin into double digits.
After that, the gap never truly shrank again. The Clippers did not have enough firepower to chase, and they did not have the defense to drag Phoenix into mud.
Final score, 106 to 94.
Chen Yan still led both teams in scoring, but the 50 plus streak finally snapped. He finished with 40 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.
In the post game interview, Nash admitted it outright. "We were complacent tonight. There's a trend lately where we underestimate opponents and lose focus. I think our old problem showed up again."
Coach D'Antoni did not sound happy either. "We had a day off today and everyone stayed at the hotel," he said. "Tomorrow afternoon, I'm bringing them in. We're getting work in."
Stoudemire, meanwhile, stayed upbeat. "We're still winning," he said. "That's what matters. We did what we needed to do, and we won."
The next morning, the biggest sports headline was not the Suns' 22 game streak.
It was Chen Yan's "poor" performance, only 40 points, and the end of the 50 plus run.
Fans could not help laughing when they read it.
Only 40 points.
Who even writes that with a straight face?
.....
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