Chapter 532: First Match Lost
"That shot is almost impossible to guard," Kenny Smith said. "The Lakers have to be very careful with Chen Yan hunting mismatches."
Charles Barkley nodded. "They have to send defenders over the screen or switch quicker. Fisher just cannot handle Chen Yan in space. They need Fisher guarding somewhere else."
"That could open something up somewhere else," Kenny replied. "But Phoenix has not shot well tonight, so maybe the Lakers can live with that."
The Lakers came back on offense.
Fisher inbounded the ball and immediately ran to the corner.
Garnett caught it, turned quickly, took one dribble, and looped toward the corner. A second earlier, Kobe had run along the baseline and pulled his defender away. Fisher was open, and Chen Yan flew at him, knocking both Fisher and the ball off line.
The whistle blew at once.
Defensive foul.
The Lakers rushed over to help Fisher up. Old Fish quietly clenched his fist. He had drawn 3 free throws and put another foul on Chen Yan.
"Calm down," D Antoni told Chen Yan as he pulled him aside. "Do not overreact on defense. We need you on offense."
Chen Yan nodded. "Got it, Coach. I came in too hard and could not stop."
While they were talking, Fisher knocked down the first free throw.
53 to 64.
He slapped hands with his teammates, then made the next 2 as well.
53 to 66.
Chen Yan's previous 3 pointer had barely made a dent.
Nash pushed the ball right back up the floor, trying to speed the game up, but the Lakers were getting back too quickly after makes. Phoenix could not run off their made baskets.
Nash swung it to Stoudemire at the high post.
Stoudemire knew he did not have it going tonight, so he did not force the issue just to prove a point.
He palmed the ball with one hand and waited for Chen Yan to come over. Chen Yan took the handoff above the top of the arc, with Ariza crowding him tightly. Ariza understood how dangerous Chen Yan was from deep and did not want him finding a rhythm from outside.
Ariza kept peeking from side to side, looking for a screen and worrying that Chen Yan would keep dragging Fisher into the action.
Chen Yan saw all of that. He gave a quick signal as if calling for a screen, then in the next instant dropped his shoulders and ripped into a sharp cross in front.
Even though Ariza was scanning the floor, his reaction was still elite. The second Chen Yan accelerated, Ariza's body tightened and shifted to pursue.
Then Chen Yan rose and fired.
It was a very quick release. He barely elevated at all, because he had already read Ariza's balance. Once Ariza turned his hips, the closeout was never coming.
Chen Yan always relied on both brains and talent. That was what made him so hard to contain.
Ariza could only stick out an arm.
It was meaningless.
Swish.
56 to 66.
"There it is," Kenny Smith said. "That is 2 straight from deep. It feels like Chen Yan is finally finding the range."
"If he really heats up, Phoenix still has a chance," Charles Barkley added. "When Chen gets rolling from outside, he becomes a problem nobody can solve."
The Lakers answered immediately.
Fisher brought the ball across, then the Lakers swung it around the perimeter through Fisher, Kobe, and Ariza. Once the defense shifted, they flowed into their Eagle action.
Ariza held the ball on the wing. Garnett suddenly popped up high, showing for the ball, but instead of taking the pass he turned himself into a screen for Kobe. Kobe cut hard into the middle and Ariza hit him with a perfect bounce pass.
Kobe caught it, hop stepped around Stoudemire, and finished with his left hand.
56 to 68.
After the hop step, Stoudemire had no angle left. The only way to stop that layup would have been with a foul, but against Kobe that could have just meant a 3 point play.
Phoenix came back down and Kobe finally took the Chen Yan assignment himself.
That instantly changed the feel of the possession. This was not about the fans' fantasy duel anymore. Kobe was not trying to answer him shot for shot. He just wanted to make Chen Yan work for every inch and keep him from getting truly hot.
Chen Yan probed with a few dribbles, then drove left and snapped into a change of direction.
Kobe stayed with him.
Kobe was one of the best perimeter defenders of his era, and he had studied Chen Yan's game in detail. He knew the spots, the counters, and the preferred rhythms.
The longer Chen Yan stayed in the league, the more teams would study him. That was why he kept adding layers to his offense, polishing old moves and inventing new ones.
Chen Yan crossed hard again and got the ball back to his left.
Then he planted his right foot and stepped back behind the arc.
Kobe and Fisher both lunged at him.
Chen Yan stopped cold, kicked the ball to the middle, and found Stoudemire.
For a brief moment, Nash would have been the cleanest pass, but Stoudemire chose to attack on his own. He gathered, took 2 strong steps, and floated it over Camby.
Clang.
It was a bad shot.
The Lakers went right back the other way.
Fisher advanced and found Kobe outside the arc. Kobe received it and drove immediately.
Raja Bell lost position and chose to foul. Even after the contact, Kobe kept the play alive and tossed in a floater.
It dropped.
56 to 70.
And 1.
Once Kobe made the extra free throw, D Antoni had seen enough and called timeout.
The deficit was now 15, and Phoenix needed to change something before the game slipped completely away.
For the next 2 minutes, though, nothing changed.
Chen Yan had rediscovered his own rhythm with those 2 3 pointers, but nobody else followed him. D Antoni tried Azubuike first, then Novak, then Barea, searching desperately for a spark.
There was none.
Especially from outside. In the entire 3rd quarter, the Suns made only 3 of 12 from deep, and all 3 belonged to Chen Yan.
The Lakers, meanwhile, were scoring inside and out, stretching the lead further with each trip.
At the start of the 4th, D Antoni benched the struggling Stoudemire and went to Jordan, hoping for more rebounding and more room for Chen Yan to operate.
Jordan lasted only a few possessions before he picked up 2 quick fouls.
He was still too raw. Garnett and Camby knew exactly how to bait him, lean on him, and force mistakes out of him.
In the final period, D Antoni kept giving Chen Yan more and more of the offense.
Phil Jackson answered by turning up the traps. First 2 defenders came, then sometimes 3. They were no longer trying to guard him honestly. They were trying to keep him from even getting into a shooting motion.
Diaw missed. Raja Bell missed. Nash made a few, but for Phoenix it was nowhere near enough. They could only scrape together points in transition.
With 3 minutes and 47 seconds left, D Antoni finally pulled the starters.
He did not want to surrender, but the Suns were down 17 and the game was gone.
Chen Yan sat on the bench with a helpless expression. Tonight, he had never really gotten support from the rest of the lineup.
He had once authored 13 points in 33 seconds, but even he could not bend reality every single night. If he could, he would not be a star. He would be a god.
The game itself still had time left, but home fans were already heading for the exits.
That almost never happened in a Suns playoff game.
When the final buzzer sounded, Phoenix had lost Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at home, 99 to 112.
The Lakers were sharper from the opening tip, more focused, and more prepared to seize the moment. The Suns never really found their rhythm, and the result reflected it.
Losing at home was hard for both the players and the crowd to accept, but it was not some shocking upset. When these 2 teams met, nothing was ever automatic. It did not matter whose building they were in. Either side was good enough to win.
.....
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