Chapter 627: A Mediocre Start
Jordan won the opening tip against Haywood, and the Suns started with the ball.
Artest became energized the moment he saw Chen Yan. From the very 1st possession, he applied tight defensive pressure.
Artest and Chen Yan had already clashed during the regular season. Artest had always wanted to shut Chen Yan down and prove himself, but every time, he had ended up being dominated instead.
He kept making legal physical contact with Chen Yan, as if he enjoyed the feeling of muscles colliding.
Chen Yan was not afraid of physical confrontation either. He slammed his shoulder into Artest's chest, then bounced out to the 3 point line.
Artest immediately chased after him.
Chen Yan turned and jumped the moment he received the ball.
But it was not a shot.
Chen Yan passed directly to Grant Hill in the corner.
Before catching the ball, Chen Yan had already observed Hill's movement, so the pass caught the Mavericks off guard.
Grant Hill caught and fired. His rhythm was good, but the shot had too much power. The ball flew over the rim and landed directly in Haywood's hands.
Hill raised his hand, signaling that it was his mistake.
Chen Yan gestured that it was fine.
Everyone understood that at the start of a game, players' hands could still be cold.
Haywood did not rush the outlet. He secured the rebound first, made sure everything was safe, then passed the ball to Kidd.
After all, Dallas mainly played half court offense. There was no need to push the pace.
Kidd dribbled to the top of the arc and began backing down Nash, driving 1 step past the free throw line.
There was an obvious size difference between Nash and Kidd. Kidd had enough strength to defend small forwards, while Nash was among the smaller point guards in the NBA.
Nowitzki suddenly came up to set a screen, and Kidd used the pick and roll to move toward the right 45 degree angle beyond the 3 point line.
Kidd suddenly gathered the ball and passed to the right.
Ray Allen broke free using the screen.
Chen Yan immediately fought around the screen and stayed close, giving Ray Allen no chance to shoot.
Ray Allen dribbled once, then passed the ball back to Kidd.
Kidd faked once, then fired a penetrating pass through the Suns defense to Artest, who was cutting to the basket.
That kind of pass was Kidd's specialty.
The pass had excellent penetration, but Kidd slightly overestimated Artest's speed.
Artest stretched hard and barely managed to control the ball.
He caught it, but at the same time, he lost the best chance to attack the rim.
Jordan had already rotated to the basket, so Artest could only pass the ball back out.
Ray Allen received the ball and faked a shot. The move was extremely realistic and shifted Chen Yan's center of gravity.
However, just as Ray Allen put the ball down to drive, Chen Yan caught up again.
Chen Yan possessed elite speed and adjustment ability.
Ray Allen was forced to pass again.
The ball eventually returned to Jason Kidd's hands.
The shot clock was running down.
With 3 seconds left, Kidd forced a contested shot.
The attempt was badly off, hitting the backboard and bouncing out.
Dallas's 1st possession had too many ideas and became too complicated.
Nash brought the ball across half court, used Jordan's tall frame as a screen, and drove left toward the baseline.
The Mavericks defense quickly collapsed, and Kidd nearly squeezed Nash out of bounds.
But Nash had the ability to create scoring opportunities even from desperate positions.
At the moment his body was flying out of bounds, Nash flicked the ball outward.
A gap appeared in the Mavericks defense.
Chen Yan received the ball and shot in 1 smooth motion.
"Swish!"
Nash and Chen Yan connected, and the 3 pointer dropped.
3 to 0.
Kidd continued to control the pace after crossing half court.
After learning from the previous possession, Kidd decided to make things simpler this time.
As soon as he crossed half court, he passed the ball to Nowitzki near the free throw line.
Diaw defended Nowitzki and refused to let him turn comfortably.
Dirk Nowitzki did not rush into isolation. Using his height as a passing hub, he swung the ball to Artest on the perimeter.
Artest ignored everything and immediately pulled up for a 3 pointer.
Brick.
Jordan grabbed the rebound and passed to Nash.
Nash took 2 steps and sent the ball to Chen Yan at the right 45 degree angle beyond the 3 point line.
Chen Yan caught the ball and immediately went between the legs. Artest tried to follow, but he ignored his surroundings and ran directly into Diaw's arms.
Dirk Nowitzki did not switch. Instead, he stepped up hard, intending to delay Chen Yan and buy Artest time to recover.
But Chen Yan was 1 step faster.
Before Artest could catch up, Chen Yan accelerated and drove inside.
His movement disrupted Dallas's defensive plan.
As the Mavericks defense collapsed, Chen Yan passed the ball out.
Nash took a completely open shot.
The attempt was too strong and bounced out.
Although it did not go in, Phoenix's opening strategy was clear. The Suns were focused on perimeter offense, and their 1st 3 shots had all come from beyond the 3 point line.
Kidd grabbed the rebound and unexpectedly pushed the ball quickly.
After crossing half court, he passed to Nowitzki.
Phoenix's defense was disorganized, and Nash ended up guarding Nowitzki.
That was exactly why Kidd had suddenly accelerated.
The Mavericks players quickly spread the floor, and Dirk Nowitzki isolated against Nash.
He dribbled once with his left hand, took 1 step, then suddenly spun into a fadeaway jumper.
"Swish!"
2 points.
3 to 2.
Nash truly had no way to defend it.
Nowitzki's turn had already pushed him 2 meters away. How was he supposed to contest that?
The Suns quickly inbounded.
Nash dribbled across half court. Chen Yan came up to set a screen and pulled away defensive pressure, allowing Nash to take a high post jumper.
"Clang!"
Missed.
Phoenix had started with a fast pace on both offense and defense, but its shooting percentage was not high.
Dallas was much the same.
Ray Allen also missed a shot on the other end.
The Suns pushed for a fast break, and Nash drove to the baseline before suddenly passing to the middle.
Jordan had a great opportunity, but he fumbled the ball.
He failed to catch it on the 1st touch, and by the time he tried to recover, Kidd had already snatched it away.
Kidd pushed the ball near the free throw line and made a no look pass to Nowitzki.
Dirk Nowitzki paused for a moment and did not shoot.
His peripheral vision had caught Artest cutting to the basket.
He flicked both hands.
Nowitzki found Artest.
Artest received the ball and immediately took off, intending to dunk.
"Bang!"
But the sound that followed was not the ball going through the net.
It was the ball smashing against the backboard.
Chen Yan had trailed the play from behind and completed a 1 handed chase down block against the glass.
Diaw gathered the ball under the basket and passed it to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan did not speed up. He maintained control as he crossed half court.
Both sides had played rather chaotically over the last 2 possessions, so he intended to slow things down, settle into a half court offense, and score steadily.
Artest followed him and once again applied tight pressure.
This time, his force was greater, and his hands were not clean.
Chen Yan's chase down block had made him lose face, and Artest seemed somewhat annoyed and embarrassed.
Artest's actions were aggressive, but the referee showed no intention of blowing the whistle.
This was Dallas's home court. Some favorable calls were normal.
Chen Yan constantly used his ball handling hand to slap away Artest's wandering hands.
When the shot clock reached 14 seconds, Chen Yan suddenly burst into motion.
He drove right with the ball and easily shook off Artest using Jordan's screen.
Dallas chose to switch. With Artest's speed, it was unrealistic for him to fight around the screen and chase Chen Yan.
Haywood switched onto him.
Chen Yan was very familiar with handling this kind of big man.
He paused and turned his head toward Grant Hill on the perimeter, pretending to pass.
Then he suddenly bent low and accelerated.
When Chen Yan paused, Haywood paused with him.
When Chen Yan started, Haywood could not restart in time.
After successfully breaking through, Chen Yan finished with a stylish low arc layup and placed the ball in.
5 to 2.
On the Mavericks offensive possession, Dallas ran a classic set.
Dirk Nowitzki screened for Kidd, then rolled down. Kidd first passed the ball to Artest on the perimeter.
Without stopping the ball, Artest immediately sent it to Nowitzki in the paint.
Dirk Nowitzki caught it and took 2 steps, agilely avoiding Diaw's defense.
Unfortunately, his hand trembled slightly on the finish, and the ball rimmed out.
Haywood secured inside position and put back the rebound, showing Dallas's height advantage on that play.
5 to 4.
Both sides had started somewhat calmly.
There were no fierce sparks yet, only caution from 2 teams testing each other.
…..
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