Chapter 543: About to Explode Again?
Chen Yan came out blazing in the first quarter, pouring in 14 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. He even buried a buzzer beating mid range jumper with 3 seconds left, giving Phoenix another jolt of momentum.
When the second quarter began, Mike D'Antoni kept him on the floor.
That was classic D'Antoni, but tonight it was more than his usual habit of leaning too hard on his stars. He simply could not afford to let this game slip. If Phoenix wanted to protect the lead, Chen Yan had to stay out there.
The Lakers answered with Shannon Brown, Vujacic, Ariza, Powell, and Garnett.
Like Phoenix, they kept only 1 starter on the court.
Garnett, having rested in the previous 2 games, looked fresh. Seeing that lineup, the commentators immediately picked up on the difference.
"TNT would tell you right away, if the Lakers do not have Kobe out there and Phoenix still has Chen, that is a serious gap in shot creation," Kenny Smith said.
Charles Barkley nodded. "Garnett can still score, but at this stage he is not the kind of guy who is going to blow a game open by himself. Defensively, that unit is fine. Offensively, we are about to find out what they really have."
Phoenix opened the quarter with the ball.
At the top of the arc, Chen Yan took a handoff from Barea. Because he had already dropped 14 in the first quarter, the Lakers immediately tilted their defense toward him.
After 1 dribble, Chen Yan snapped a behind the back pass to Barea.
Barea had a clean look from deep and rose without hesitation.
Clang.
The open 3 rimmed out.
Instead of showing frustration, Chen Yan pointed at him and shouted, "Shoot it every time. If you are open, let it fly. Do not think about it."
Barea nodded. Even without the encouragement, he would have taken the next one anyway. That was the Puerto Rican guard's nature. He was built to compete.
The Lakers came back the other way.
Shannon Brown brought the ball up with Barea crowding him the whole way, refusing to give him space to get comfortable. Brown protected the ball with his body and bounced it inside to Garnett.
On the weak side, the Lakers tried to free cutters with off ball action, but Phoenix did not bite. The Suns defenders stayed home, fully aware of who the real offensive threat was in that lineup.
The perimeter defenders pinched in, not fully committing to a double team, but shrinking Garnett's space until every move felt cramped.
Garnett turned, saw the congestion, and made the right read by kicking it back out. Shannon Brown caught it, and with the defense scrambling, he had a chance to move it one more time. Ariza was open.
Brown never saw him.
Instead, he pulled up himself.
The jumper missed.
He had not frozen on purpose. He simply lacked the vision to make that pass in the moment. That was the difference between athletic guards and real floor generals.
On the sideline, Phil Jackson shook his head. If the Lakers had more reliable creation off the bench, Brown would never be handling that much responsibility.
He was explosive, yes. But beyond that, his game remained painfully limited. His jumper was unreliable, and his passing was worse. For a guard getting rotation minutes in the Playoffs, averaging around 1 assist per game told the whole story. Brown could see what was in front of him. If the play developed to the side, it might as well have happened behind a curtain.
Chen Yan retreated to the free throw line and corralled the long rebound.
The Lakers were already back in position, so he slowed it down instead of forcing an empty fast break. Phoenix thrived in transition, but not every possession needed to be played at full sprint. Knowing when to attack was just as important as knowing how.
Once the Suns settled into the half court, Barea and Grant Hill drifted to the corners, stretching the floor and giving Chen Yan room to operate.
With the second unit around him, Chen Yan naturally got more isolation opportunities than he did with the starters. He could have attacked 1 on 1 every trip if he wanted.
He chose not to.
Isolation was a blade, and a sharp one, but even the finest blade dulled if you swung it without restraint.
Barnes stepped up near the high post to screen for him, cleanly catching Ariza on his body.
Chen Yan went right, and Powell switched onto him.
He drove toward the baseline with Powell shadowing him, cautious to the point of stiffness. Powell was not timid by nature, but every big man in the league understood the same thing. Guarding Chen Yan in space was like stepping onto thin ice. One wrong move and your ankles would be on the highlight reel before you could even blink.
At the baseline, Chen Yan dipped his shoulder, gave a hard jab step, then snapped the ball across to his left hand.
The sequence was smooth, sharp, and full of threat. Powell instinctively retreated, bracing for the drive.
That was all Chen Yan needed.
He rose straight into a hesitation pull up from the corner.
Swish.
Powell had already given him a step. After that extra retreat, he was nowhere close enough to bother the release.
"Chen is up to 16 already, and the 2nd quarter just started," Kenny said, leaning forward. "He looks ready to blow this game open."
Barkley let out a laugh. "If the Lakers really want to shut him down, they would need 2 defenders at the catch and maybe 3 by the time he gets into his move. But that is not realistic. The guy can pass. If you load that much attention onto him, Phoenix starts getting wide open shots."
The Lakers went back to Garnett.
He turned to attack again, but Phoenix had already made up its mind. The moment he put the ball down, the Suns perimeter defenders pinched inward. Before the second defender could fully arrive, Garnett kicked it out to Ariza.
Ariza immediately swung it to the open Brown.
This time Brown did not hesitate.
Swish.
The shot dropped, but D'Antoni still clapped from the sideline, signaling for Phoenix to keep defending the same way.
Brown might make 1 or 2, but over the long run, that was the shot the Suns wanted. His regular season 3 point percentage sat below 30 percent. If Brown ended up being the main scorer for that Lakers bench group, Phoenix would take that trade every time.
.....
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