Chapter 629: Unlucky Nash
After the timeout, Ray Allen began increasing his movement.
Rick Carlisle planned to use Ray Allen to wear Chen Yan down as much as possible. If Dallas could not limit Chen Yan on defense, then they would try to exhaust him on offense.
That was also a strategy.
Chen Yan followed closely.
Ray Allen was the kind of killer who could take a defender down in 1 instant if given even a moment of space.
This was exactly what Carlisle wanted. He wanted to see Chen Yan covering a large area on defense.
Ray Allen circled twice before finally finding a chance to catch the ball. He turned and shot.
Chen Yan contested with everything he had, and the shot went wide.
Ray Allen still had not found his rhythm in this game. On 1 hand, his touch was slow to arrive tonight. On the other hand, Chen Yan was guarding him extremely tightly.
Chen Yan had elite physical tools and a sharp mind. As long as his attitude was right, he would never become a defensive liability. In fact, he even had the potential to become a strong defender.
Haywood and Jordan battled for the rebound.
Jordan had the jumping advantage, but Haywood was bigger. He leaned into Jordan and prevented him from fully taking off.
Neither player secured the 1st rebound.
The ball was tipped out, and Artest grabbed the 2nd rebound.
After getting the ball, Artest bulldozed his way to the basket and scored a layup off the glass.
13 to 10.
Artest's basket was ordinary, but his celebration was fierce.
He roared at Chen Yan and flexed his muscles.
Artest had been heavily suppressed by Chen Yan at the start, so this was his 1st score. Naturally, he wanted to vent.
From Artest's perspective, there was nothing wrong with it.
But from Chen Yan's perspective, it looked very funny.
Artest's celebration was a little excessive, especially since the shot had not even been scored over Chen Yan.
Artest deliberately ran in front of Chen Yan to celebrate.
Looking at him, Chen Yan could not help but laugh.
On the camera, Artest was flexing with a fierce expression, while Chen Yan watched him with a faint smile, as if he were looking at an idiot.
That smile was not mocking.
It was genuine.
Fans online immediately became excited when they saw the scene.
"Hahaha, Chen Yan just gave us another classic moment!"
"The king of showing off, Chen Yan!"
"That look is like he is caring for a child who needs extra help."
"I really want to know what Chen Yan is thinking right now."
"There are not many players better than Chen Yan at stealing the spotlight."
"Chen Yan is outrageous. He was supposed to be the background in this scene, but that smile instantly flipped the whole situation."
But what followed was even more outrageous.
Chen Yan simply raised both hands and asked the nearby referee, "Is this allowed by the rules?"
The referee glanced at Chen Yan, then turned to look at Artest, who was still wildly gesturing and provoking.
He could not help but call a technical foul.
Artest immediately wanted to curse, but his teammates quickly held him back.
Another technical foul would get him ejected. If that happened, Dallas's front line strength would take a major hit.
As the Suns' technical free throw shooter, Nash stepped to the line.
"Swish!"
The technical free throw went in.
The Suns still had possession.
Chen Yan came out from the baseline to receive the ball. Artest directly hung onto him, and the 2 fell at the same time while running.
Without question, this was a defensive foul on Artest.
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle immediately made a substitution, pulling Artest and sending in Nájera.
Artest was an emotional player. Once his temper rose, Carlisle had no idea what outrageous thing he might do next.
After Nájera came in, Dallas adjusted its matchups and sent Ray Allen to guard Chen Yan.
This move did not limit Chen Yan's scoring.
Instead, it dragged down Ray Allen.
Ray Allen's performance was already mediocre tonight, and now he had to devote part of his energy to dealing with Chen Yan.
By the end of the 1st quarter, Ray Allen had only scored 2 points, both from free throws. He had barely made an impact.
Chen Yan recorded 13 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Phoenix had sped up for a stretch in the 1st quarter, but overall, the pace of both teams was not especially fast.
The 1st quarter ended with the Suns leading 25 to 19, temporarily ahead by 6 points.
In the 2nd quarter, Dallas gained the advantage.
Their bench lineup was led by Terry.
The Jet was a wild card. When he was hot, he could play like an All Star. When he was cold, his coach probably wanted to strangle him.
Today, Terry's touch was excellent.
He led an 11 to 4 run that gave Dallas the lead and forced a Suns timeout.
The Suns' best performer during that stretch was rookie Danny Green, who made a 3 pointer. Everyone else contributed almost nothing in terms of scoring.
There was a reason Dallas was considered a championship contender this year.
Aside from 4 All Star level players in the starting lineup, they also had Terry on the bench.
Although their interior offense was lacking, their powerful firepower was enough to compensate for that weakness.
With the bench unreliable, D'Antoni could only bring Chen Yan and Nash back early.
Only when those 2 players were on the court together could Phoenix truly control the tempo of the game.
As soon as they returned, they helped the Suns regain control.
Dallas was still scoring, but its points came with more difficulty. Most of them were tough shots or second chance opportunities.
With 6 minutes and 9 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, the score was 44 to 40, and Phoenix still held the lead.
Suns offense.
Nash made a long pass to Chen Yan before even crossing half court.
After catching the ball, Chen Yan saw that Dallas's defensive formation was basically set. He did not rush the attack. Instead, he held the ball and waited for Nash.
After Nash crossed half court, he cleverly set a screen for Chen Yan.
Chen Yan dribbled left, forcing Dallas to switch defenders.
Then he passed the ball back to Nash and ran to a spot 1 step outside the paint.
Nash pulled out 1 step, then lobbed the ball to Chen Yan.
After receiving the pass, Chen Yan used the most bullying method possible.
Post play.
At this moment, Terry was still the Mavericks point guard on the floor, making Chen Yan's matchup with him a clear mismatch.
If Dallas's point guard had been Kidd, Chen Yan definitely would not have played this way.
Kidd was as strong as an ox. Even James might not be able to push him around easily, let alone Chen Yan.
It was irrational to challenge an opponent's strength with one's own weakness.
Of course, weakness and strength were relative.
Chen Yan's physical strength was a weakness against Kidd.
Against Terry, it was a weapon.
Chen Yan backed him down directly. Before the help defense could arrive, he made a graceful turn and scored with a layup.
Terry could only watch the entire sequence.
He was not only weaker than Chen Yan, but also a head shorter. Faced with such bullying, he had no real answer.
Terry crossed half court and passed the ball to Ray Allen.
Ray Allen used a screen to drive to the free throw line, then dished the ball to Haywood.
Haywood caught it and immediately attacked the rim.
Jordan read it perfectly. He leaped up and swatted the ball away.
Chen Yan collected the ball and quickly pushed inside the 3 point line, then made a backward bounce pass to Nash.
Nash had a 3 point opportunity, but he hesitated and did not shoot.
At that moment, Dallas's formation was chaotic, and Artest was guarding Nash.
This was a mismatch.
Nash tried to use a crossover to shake off Artest and create a new scoring chance.
But Artest was no pushover.
After all, he was a former Defensive Player of the Year. Although 6 years had passed since he won that award, and although his physical ability had declined, his defensive awareness was still there.
Artest reacted quickly and poked the ball away during Nash's crossover.
Nash tried to turn and chase the loose ball, but he collided with Haywood, who was rushing back into defensive position.
After the collision, Nash fell to the floor, looking as if he were about to fall apart.
Artest slipped out to the front court and scored an uncontested dunk.
On the other side of the court, Nash was still lying on the floor.
This was not the 1st time he had been knocked down this season.
In fact, Nash had experienced many moments like this throughout his career.
It was hard to say opponents never did it intentionally.
Nash carried many injuries, and his frame was smaller. That made him an easy target for opponents' special treatment.
.....
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