Chapter 383: Godlike Performance, Everyone Lines Up to Apologize to Chen Yan
Possession flipped.
Chen Yan stepped forward to take the inbound, and Team USA stayed in that same suffocating press. Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant came up together, crowding him the moment the ball touched his hands.
Chen Yan's handle turned into constant survival. He changed pace, turned his shoulders, snapped behind the back, slipped the ball between his legs, then turned again. It looked free flowing, almost playful from the stands, but it was the opposite of casual. Against 2 elite perimeter defenders, every dribble had to be perfect, every touch controlled.
He protected the ball and muscled his way past half court anyway.
Kidd and Kobe were both all time level ball hawks, and neither could take it from him.
Some fans started joking that Chen Yan was pulling streetball tricks on the Olympic stage. If he had heard them, he would have laughed and then sighed. None of it was for show. It was simply the only way to stay alive in that trap.
Up in the booth, the commentary shifted from excitement to concern. Chen Yan was doing too much, and everyone knew it.
Jonas knew it too.
He just did not have a better option. With the pressure Team USA was applying, letting anyone else bring it up was begging for a turnover.
After grinding across half court, Chen Yan hunted a 3, trying to strike while his touch was still burning. Kobe read it, stayed glued to his hip, hands active, body angled, never giving him clean air.
Chen Yan refused the forced shot. In a tight game, a smart possession mattered more than a heat check.
He swung it to Zhu 8 at the top, then immediately sprinted into a handoff, taking it right back. Jonas was screaming from the sideline, voice ragged.
"Space out, clear it for Chen."
China spread the floor and backed away. Everyone understood the truth now. With Yao Ming out, Chen Yan was the offense.
Chen Yan locked his eyes on Kobe's feet, took 1 hard dribble, and snapped a big change of direction. Kobe held his ground. Chen Yan hit him again.
Double crossover.
Then he rose from the high arc, rhythm perfect, shoulders square.
Kobe jumped with everything he had, timing clean, contest strong.
Swish.
75 to 76.
Kobe had defended that possession about as well as anyone could. He never lost position, he challenged at the release, he was right there.
It did not matter.
That was a superstar shot, the kind defenders can only respect after it drops.
As Chen Yan retreated, he made a quick celebration with his right hand like he was chambering a round, letting the whole building know he had flipped the switch.
The arena roared back at him.
Team USA pushed.
Kidd fired ahead to LeBron James, but LeBron did not force the sprint this time. He moved it to Dwight Howard, who took 3 easy steps and floated in a layup like it was nothing.
Howard never saw the danger behind him.
Sun Dasheng had been tracking him the whole way. He lived for chase down chances, and he had the burst to hunt them.
Chen Yan saw it too and hit another gear.
Both went up at the rim.
Slap.
The layup got erased out of bounds, a 2 man swat that detonated the crowd. The only downside was the stat sheet, because nobody in the building knew who would get credit for the block.
When they landed, Chen Yan and Sun Dasheng slapped hands hard, the kind of high five that said everything without words. They had clashed before in practice, but that was long gone. Tonight they were locked in together, fighting for the same jersey.
Team USA inbounded again, and China dug in for a full 24 second stop. LeBron was forced into a late shot, and it came off long.
Sun Dasheng grabbed the rebound near the free throw line and kicked it to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan took off in transition and finished through traffic with a Shadow Step, splitting 3 defenders to get it home.
Across the ocean, TNT was carrying the game, and even their booth could not sit still.
Charles Barkley laughed in disbelief. "Man, Chen is trying to turn this whole thing into his own show."
Kenny Smith leaned forward, voice steady. "He is smart with his angles. The second there is a lane, he uses his body to win position. That is hard to guard, and it is why he gets so many clean finishes."
Kobe answered on the other end with a 3, and the broadcast crew pointed out the obvious, it was strangely rare to see Team USA hit from deep tonight.
By the end of the 3rd quarter, Team USA's outside shooting was a rough 2 for 15.
That cold perimeter touch was a big reason this game refused to break open.
…
The clock dipped under 16 seconds in the quarter, China held for the last shot, and the scoreboard read 83 to 83.
Wukesong felt unreal.
Sun Dasheng dribbled at the top while Chen Yan ran the baseline. China flowed into the set, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi stacking off ball screens to free Chen Yan into space.
He popped out beyond the arc and caught it clean.
Carmelo Anthony tried to switch, but the moment he planted, his foot slid out like he had stepped on a wet spot. He hit the floor hard.
Chen Yan rose as the clock bled down.
Clang.
The shot rattled out, and the horn ended the quarter.
Chen Yan shook his head walking to the bench. The look said it all. That was a make for him, any other time.
But his legs were gone.
Carrying an offense alone was brutal. In that moment, he understood Yao Ming better than ever.
In the 3rd quarter alone, Chen Yan put up 19 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal.
He had done quarters like that in the NBA, but this was different. FIBA games were shorter, possessions were tighter, and many international teams could not score 19 in a full quarter as a group.
Tonight, he did it by himself.
It was a godlike stretch.
…
Online, the mood flipped completely.
Before the game, Chen Yan had taken heat for being seen out with members of Team USA, and the story had spiraled into ugly rumors and finger pointing. Now, as the 3rd quarter ended with China tied, the same forums turned into an apology line.
Fans started posting one after another, swearing they would never doubt him again, turning the earlier controversy into jokes and memes.
Neutral fans joined in too. What everyone expected to be a routine blowout had turned into a real fight, and the tension of it had the whole basketball world watching.
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