Chapter 541: Is It Necessary to Spend Money?
The Los Angeles Lakers opened on offense.
Kobe caught the ball on the wing and immediately backed Raja Bell down. Chen Yan came over at once to trap him. That area was Kobe's sweet spot, and giving him room there was asking for trouble.
Kobe quickly kicked the ball out to James Posey on the perimeter.
Posey hesitated for a moment instead of shooting right away. Chen Yan immediately recovered to his own man.
Posey held the ball, surveyed the floor, and the Los Angeles Lakers' offense stalled for a beat.
Kobe moved right back out to the perimeter to receive it.
The instant Kobe relocated, the Suns' defense loosened slightly.
Posey took advantage of the opening and drove inside. His threat off the dribble was limited, so Chen Yan did not crowd him too tightly and deliberately left a little space.
Posey spun into traffic, then slipped a clever pass to Garnett near the free throw line.
Garnett gave a shot fake and attacked the lane.
His first step did not create separation. Azubuike leaned into him.
Garnett did not care. He powered forward with 2 hard steps.
At that point, it was all about size.
Azubuike had no answer. The height difference was obvious, so all he could do was throw both hands up and try to bother the finish.
Garnett went up to score.
Smack!
Chen Yan exploded in from Garnett's blind side and sent the ball flying with a savage swipe.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.
Garnett had already been frustrated more than once at the start of the game.
The Suns were off and running again.
Nash whipped a long diagonal pass straight to Chen Yan.
Just as Chen Yan was about to take off, he crashed into Kobe.
The 2 of them tumbled out of bounds and got tangled together.
The referee immediately called a defensive foul on Kobe.
Anyone watching could tell it was a tactical foul, but Kobe still grabbed his head, looked incredulous, and muttered that Chen Yan had pushed him first and it should have been an offensive foul.
Chen Yan just shook his head and walked away, thinking to himself that Kobe really was as sly on the court as the Black Mamba nickname he loved to use.
The Suns inbounded from the sideline, turning the break into a half court possession.
Nash swung the ball from the top of the arc to Chen Yan on the wing.
Chen Yan immediately gave it back to Nash and started moving without the ball.
The Suns were small, so in a half court setting they were naturally at a disadvantage.
Chen Yan curled out from the weak side. Fisher caught him in his peripheral vision, and just as his attention shifted toward Chen Yan, Nash suddenly rose into a shot.
Nash's shooting hand brushed Old Fish's forearm as the ball left his fingertips.
The whistle came at the same time.
It was a foul, and a 3 point shooting foul at that.
Fisher could only shake his head helplessly.
Nash buried all 3 free throws. His percentage from the line had stayed above 90 for years, and free throws were one of the steadiest parts of his game.
0 to 5.
The Lakers went back on offense.
This time Kobe did not bother running the triangle set. He wanted to take the possession himself.
He was no longer intentionally suppressing his own scoring to create for others the way he had at the beginning of the series. As long as he stayed efficient, he could still dominate this way, and the last game had already proved it.
After calling for a screen, Kobe got Azubuike on the switch.
That was barely a mismatch at all.
Kobe attacked to the right with a series of pace changes, then rose into a pull up jumper and knocked it down.
2 to 5.
On the broadcast, Charles Barkley laughed.
"That's just pure individual skill. Nothing complicated about that one."
Kenny Smith added, "The Lakers answer right away. Now let's see how Phoenix responds."
Before he even finished, the Suns had already inbounded the ball.
Even after a made basket, their small lineup could instantly launch into transition.
Taking advantage of the Lakers not being fully set, Chen Yan caught it and stopped for a mid range jumper.
2 to 7.
As he ran back on defense, the camera zoomed in on Chen Yan and caught a faint smile on his face.
It was an ordinary smile, but the fans watching at home immediately invented a hundred different meanings for it.
Some thought it meant he was confident the Suns would win. Some believed he had a hidden card up his sleeve. Others thought he was openly provoking Kobe and signaling that the rivalry between them had now become personal.
Fans always create rich inner monologues for players. In reality, Chen Yan was simply pleased that the previous jumper had felt smooth and gone down cleanly.
The Lakers attacked again.
Kobe called for another screen, but this time the Suns trapped him hard and decisively.
Raja Bell and Azubuike were both excellent perimeter defenders, and together they made the passing angles uncomfortable.
Kobe would rather force a shot than force a pass.
He rose straight up from a standstill and shot over both of them.
Raja Bell and Azubuike were not tall, and Kobe added a slight fade to create even more separation.
But once again, Kobe overlooked 1 man.
The 1 man he should have been watching most.
At some point, Chen Yan had left James Posey and quietly circled around to Kobe's back side. The moment Kobe went up, Chen Yan went with him.
You could call it elite awareness. You could call it instinct.
Either way, the ball got blocked.
More precisely, Chen Yan poked it away from behind, but on the stat sheet it still counted as a block.
The loose ball bounced right into Raja Bell's hands.
Azubuike saw it and took off down the floor. Raja Bell immediately hit him with the outlet.
After landing, Chen Yan exploded toward the frontcourt as well.
Kobe reacted quickly and sprinted back. Fisher did the same. It became a 2 on 2 break, with Azubuike handling the ball.
Fisher stepped in front of Azubuike, while Kobe floated between Azubuike and Chen Yan, ready either to cut off the passing lane or drop back to help Fisher.
The idea was sound.
But Chen Yan once again refused to play by the normal script.
As he reached the free throw line, he suddenly accelerated.
Only it was not toward the rim.
He planted and burst backward, all the way out beyond the 3 point line.
The pair of AeroWing shoes on his feet suited his style perfectly, making sudden stops and sudden starts look effortless.
Azubuike and Chen Yan had been teammates for 2 years and had built real chemistry. The instant Chen Yan started retreating beyond the arc, Azubuike made a half turn and threw the ball back out.
That was not only chemistry. It was trust. Without trust, nobody takes the longer route on a fast break just to let a teammate shoot a 3.
Chen Yan caught it, took his final step just outside the line, turned in one motion, and fired.
He shot without hesitation. He had already scanned the floor before rising and knew there would be no real contest.
Swish!
The net snapped.
2 to 10.
US Airways Center erupted.
For a moment, it felt like the Suns might blow the Lakers off the floor before the 1st quarter was even halfway over.
…..
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