Chapter 550: First Battle, a Great Victory, This Series Is Still in the Balance
In the 2nd quarter, the Orlando Magic sent out Nelson, Redick, Pietrus, Tony Battie, and Gortat.
The Phoenix Suns answered with Jason Williams, Raja Bell, Azubuike, Barnes, and Jordan.
Orlando's 2nd unit had bullied Cleveland, but against Phoenix, they had no such advantage.
The Suns' bench was famous around the league as a group of bench bandits, a second wave of scorers who could keep the pressure on even after the starters sat down. That was one of Phoenix's defining traits. The starters softened you up, and the bench kept firing until the game slipped away.
As soon as he checked in, Barea took the initiative. He used a screen, got to within a step of the free throw line, and lofted in a floater.
Nelson tried to answer right away, but after missing most of the season, he was clearly out of sync with the speed and rhythm of the game. He turned the ball over and handed Phoenix an easy fast break.
In pure talent, Nelson was above Barea. He was an All Star level guard and had even been selected to the Eastern Conference All Star team before his injury kept him out. But basketball was never about reputation alone. Form mattered. Timing mattered. Feel mattered. Nelson, after such a long layoff, looked disconnected from both the pace of the game and his own teammates. In his first 4 minutes on the floor, his only stat was a turnover.
Seeing the gap begin to stretch, Van Gundy quickly called timeout.
"The Magic took an immediate hit from Phoenix's offensive burst," the television broadcast said. "The lead is already pushing 20, and this is still early in the 2nd quarter."
The analysis that followed was even sharper.
"The problem is at point guard. Nelson cannot organize the team effectively right now. He has been out far too long, and his first real game back is on the Finals stage. That decision is hard to defend. Orlando actually has several capable bench guards, and each of them brings something different."
Stan Van Gundy and his brother Jeff really were cut from the same cloth. Both were stubborn, both trusted their own judgment completely, and once they had decided on a plan, they rarely deviated from it no matter what the court was telling them.
Van Gundy's unwavering faith in Nelson came from how highly he thought of him. That was why he was willing to put a player who had missed more than half a year right back into the NBA Finals.
The strange part was that Orlando was not short on guards. Tyronn Lue, a player who could contribute immediately and the only player on the Magic roster with championship experience, did not even make the active list. For Van Gundy to trust Nelson so completely while leaving Lue out looked baffling.
What made it even stranger was that after the timeout, Nelson was still on the floor.
That trust really was absolute.
To Nelson's credit, he did respond after the timeout.
On Orlando's first possession out of the huddle, he drove, drew help, and found J. J. Redick for a 3.
That was exactly the kind of shot Redick was born to make. He had been a pure shooter since his college days, the ACC's all time leading scorer, an NCAA 3 point marksman of the highest order, and one of the best college shooters ever.
Barea answered on the other end with another drive, but Azubuike, after receiving the pass, could not convert. The ball rattled off the rim.
Tony Battie secured the rebound and got it to Nelson, who chose not to settle into a half court set. Instead, he pushed the pace.
Trying to run with Phoenix was always a gamble. If Orlando missed, it could turn into a transition avalanche the other way. This time, though, the gamble paid off. Pietrus drilled a quick 3.
Those back to back 3s gave the game a little suspense again.
But for Phoenix, and especially for D'Antoni, this was not bad news. If Orlando wanted to try to beat them in an open shootout, Phoenix would gladly accept that invitation.
Another 90 seconds passed before D'Antoni brought his starters back.
Orlando also adjusted, sending Howard back in.
Nelson, however, remained on the floor.
The camera cut to Alston, and the look on his face said everything. He had helped carry Orlando to the Finals, only to see the coach trust another point guard on the biggest stage of the season. It felt like someone else had plucked the fruit from the tree he had watered.
Even Jackson could not help complaining from the broadcast table.
"Are they really trying to help Nelson find his rhythm in the NBA Finals? Come on, man."
Phoenix immediately targeted him.
Nash came off a Stoudemire screen, changed direction, and blew past Nelson. Nelson tried to chase over the screen, but Nash abruptly pulled the ball back and buried a 3.
On the next trip, Chen Yan hunted Nelson too. After forcing a switch, he crossed to his left hand, lowered his shoulder, backed Nelson down to the left elbow, and went right into the post.
Nelson was stocky and strong, and he seemed to believe he could hold his ground against Chen Yan physically. He leaned in and resisted hard.
That played perfectly into Chen Yan's hands.
The instant Nelson committed his strength, Chen Yan spun into a fadeaway. At the same time, the whistle blew.
And 1.
It was a complete lesson. Nelson had no answer at all.
The little run Orlando had worked so hard to build vanished just as quickly.
Howard tried to respond by forcing the issue, but aside from drawing a foul on one possession, he could not get anything going.
Howard was a monster, but only in the areas where his gifts could be fully unleashed, mainly inside the restricted area. Asking him to create offense with the ball in his hands from farther out was like tying one hand behind his back.
By halftime, Phoenix led 63 to 40, a crushing 23 point margin.
The halftime broadcast did not hold back.
"Phoenix already has 4 players in double figures," the analysts said. "Chen Yan has 15 points and 5 rebounds. Stoudemire has 13 points and 5 rebounds. Nash has 11 points. Grant Hill has 10. Orlando has been unable to contain any part of the Suns' offense."
In truth, the bigger disaster was on the other side of the floor.
Orlando had scored only 40 points in a half. Their perimeter shooting had completely vanished, and their offense looked disjointed from start to finish.
In the 3rd quarter, Howard finally produced something on defense, swatting away 2 shots in succession and salvaging a little dignity, but it did nothing to change the shape of the game.
Phoenix kept getting production from everywhere. Chen Yan only played 6 minutes in the quarter before sitting down, and the Suns still entered the 4th with a lead of more than 20.
When the 4th quarter opened, D'Antoni did not even send Nash back in. Jason Williams and Chen Yan split the ball handling duties and calmly controlled the pace.
The game slowed to a crawl, which made it even duller to watch, and the Magic players showed little urgency about staging any dramatic comeback. They seemed content to let the clock bleed away.
Watching the NBA Finals turn lifeless was not just painful for Orlando. David Stern, sitting in the background, was probably even more uneasy.
He could not help thinking that maybe he should have pushed harder for a Cleveland Finals berth. At least James would never have accepted drifting through a blowout on the Finals stage. Howard, by contrast, looked far too comfortable in a game getting away from him.
Then again, Stern had already given James chances. In the Eastern Conference Finals, James had averaged 15.7 free throw attempts. The opportunities were there. He just had not finished the job.
Time slipped quickly toward the final 3 and a half minutes. The lead was still above 20. Van Gundy finally waved the white flag and pulled his starters.
D'Antoni responded in kind. Garbage time had arrived.
Even then, Phoenix showed no mercy.
Jordan and Azubuike finished back to back dunks, stretching the lead even farther. The Suns' starters chatted on the bench. Spectators near the court sipped beer. In that oddly peaceful atmosphere, Game 1 of the NBA Finals came to an end.
The Suns delivered a bloodless massacre, crushing Orlando 122 to 93.
After the game, Jackson put it bluntly.
"If Orlando stays in this state, then this series has no suspense. The only thing with any suspense might be the Finals MVP race."
He had a point.
Chen Yan scored 26 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Stoudemire posted 24 points and 9 rebounds. Nash had 20 points and 9 assists. Grant Hill added 20 points. By the usual logic that the highest scoring star ends up with the trophy, the Finals MVP race suddenly did feel wide open.
Phoenix had scorers everywhere.
Orlando, on the other hand, had missed shots everywhere.
The player Fans criticized most was Howard, who finished just 2 for 9. Before the game, he had even arrived at the arena half an hour early to practice free throws, ready in case Phoenix tried a Hack a Shaq strategy. The funny part was that Phoenix never even bothered. They beat Orlando by nearly 30 while just playing their normal game. For Howard, that might have been the most humiliating part of the night.
At the postgame press conference, Van Gundy offered only a flat summary.
"The team has to learn how to take a loss. This is part of the price of growth."
That casual line did not satisfy Orlando's supporters at all. To them, Game 1 had been a disaster, and Van Gundy deserved a large share of the blame.
While Magic Fans were still furious, Phoenix Fans had already moved on to celebration mode.
In their eyes, these two teams were simply not on the same level.
And after what happened tonight, they believed it more strongly than ever.
A thousand opinions boiled down to one line.
This series is already over.
.....
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