Chapter 695: Advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals
Game 5 was held on the Nets home court.
They could not afford to lose this game.
A loss would send them home for an early vacation.
After 2 crushing defeats, the Nets players mentality had clearly become unbalanced. From the opening tip, their actions were extremely aggressive.
The referees warned them repeatedly, but it had little effect.
In this kind of situation, the referees could only try to persuade them to control their emotions. If they rashly called fouls too tightly, they might provoke the Nets players and cause an even bigger conflict.
After the 1st quarter, the score was tied at 25.
During the break, Nets head coach Avery Johnson shouted, "Be tougher! This is our home court today. Do not let them get comfortable shots. If you foul, foul aggressively. Do not give them chances for 2 plus 1 plays. Either do not foul, or foul hard!"
Avery Johnson clearly felt that the referees had been favoring them in the 1st quarter. Under such loose officiating, he encouraged his players to become even more physical.
Indeed, the referees leniency continued into the 2nd quarter.
The Nets were extremely aggressive, yet the Knicks only received 9 free throws in the entire 1st half.
Many driving fouls were ignored by the referees.
By the 2nd half of the 2nd quarter, no Knicks player was willing to attack the paint anymore. There were no whistles, and there was also the risk of injury. No normal person would keep doing something like that.
Entering the 2nd half, the 2 teams nearly came to blows.
During 1 double team, 2 Nets players intentionally used force and knocked Chen Yan to the floor.
After this play, the Knicks intensity also increased.
The referee constantly had sweat on his forehead, looking visibly nervous.
The situation was developing in an uncontrollable direction.
Nelson kept pressuring the referees from the sideline.
In the 3rd quarter, the officiating finally returned to normal, and the referees called several consecutive fouls on the Nets.
The score remained very close for a while.
The 4th quarter became a scoring duel between Anthony and Chen Yan.
The fans enjoyed it.
Everyone liked watching star matchups like this.
With 2 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game, the score was tied at 106.
Anthony activated isolation mode, using a triple threat from a standstill before hitting a jumper.
108 to 106.
Chen Yan also wanted to respond with an isolation.
Gerald Wallace defended him on the perimeter. After Chen Yan drove inside, Lopez and Anthony formed a double team.
Chen Yan had fierce physical contact with both players in the air, and his shot missed.
The referee's whistle did not blow.
Chen Yan's temper immediately flared.
He roared at the referee.
The referee instantly called a technical foul.
This action changed the course of the game.
The Nets gained an extra free throw and possession, and Chen Yan's mentality also shifted.
On the other end, Anthony scored 4 points through a combination of free throws and a made shot.
The lead suddenly expanded beyond 6 points.
Chen Yan drove and passed to Battier in the corner.
Battier missed the 3 point shot.
However, even if it had gone in, it would not have counted.
The referee had already called an offensive foul on Chen Yan for charging the moment he passed the ball.
The Nets extended their lead to around 10 points, and the Knicks were powerless to turn the tide, suffering a defeat.
The series score became 3 to 2, with the Knicks still leading.
The Nets home fans wildly taunted the Knicks players, finally getting revenge for the previous 2 games.
The Knicks players returned to New York with anger in their hearts.
Before practice, Chen Yan declared, "Game 6 will be our last practice game."
During practice, the players truly went at each other.
Curry and Battier collided, and blood was spilled on the court.
Nelson quickly stopped the practice game, worried that his players would all get injured before the actual game began.
Sensationalist reporters immediately spread gossip.
Internal conflict inside the Knicks.
Players fighting each other.
Curry bleeding on the court.
This cast a shadow over the Knicks ahead of Game 6.
The fans, who had originally been confident, began to worry about whether the team could win this game.
Because if they lost Game 6, then the result of Game 7 back on the Nets home court would become unpredictable.
Before the game, Chen Yan stabilized the team's morale with a motivational speech.
After the game began, the Knicks showed tremendous momentum, primarily focusing on attacking the paint from the start.
This style of play was very unlike the Knicks.
But it demonstrated the players bloodlust and competitive spirit.
The Nets were intimidated by New York's momentum.
Their shooting touch was cold in the 1st quarter, and they scored only 17 points.
The Knicks, meanwhile, poured in 28 points, establishing a double digit lead in the 1st quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, both teams benches came on.
Barea led the Knicks on a surge, forcing the Nets to stop the game.
On the defensive end, the Nets did not dare play as wildly as they had in the previous game.
This was New York's territory, and the referees would not favor them.
Anthony hit 2 consecutive 3 pointers in the final minute before halftime.
But that only narrowed the deficit to 12 points.
Anthony's burst came a little too late.
In the 2nd half, Chen Yan and Curry each hit a 3 pointer to answer back.
Deron tried to respond to Curry but was called for an offensive foul.
While arguing with the referee, Deron was whistled for a technical foul.
From this detail, it was not hard to see that the Nets players mentality had already begun to deteriorate.
Chen Yan and Curry's firepower was not as fierce as in the previous game, but they steadily and continuously widened the gap.
Both of them possessed the ability to combine shooting and driving.
Once the Nets compressed their defense, they shot from the perimeter.
If the Nets extended their defense, they drove inside.
Even if there was no direct scoring space, they could still disrupt the Nets defense and create opportunities for teammates.
By the 4th quarter, Chen Yan directly took over the offensive responsibility alone.
Anthony's performance was not as good as in the previous game. After the 4th quarter began, he made only 2 of 5 shots.
The Nets could only rely on Deron, who played well in the 4th quarter and continuously scored with mid range shots off pick and rolls.
However, it was still the same old problem.
The Nets had no shooters.
Anthony was 1, but he was not good at playing without the ball.
Deron and Gerald Wallace had mediocre 3 point shooting.
Relying solely on Deron scoring 2 points at a time could not close the gap.
By the 2nd half of the 4th quarter, the difference between the 2 teams remained around 15 points.
The Nets played without energy, as if they had already lost their fighting spirit.
"This game is basically over," Barkley said. "Anthony has 26 points tonight, and Deron has 29. Both played well, but they just cannot close the gap."
Kenny Smith saw the problem clearly.
"Deron and Anthony have no chemistry. Their individual stats look good every game, but they do not create a 1 plus 1 greater than 2 effect."
Many knowledgeable fans also noticed this.
Anthony needed to handle the ball, and Deron generally did not play without the ball.
Their styles conflicted, just like Iverson and Anthony back then.
They were destined not to create any sparks together.
Chen Yan scored 45 points, 9 assists, and 3 rebounds in this game.
Curry had 29 points and 7 assists.
The Knicks won at home, 114 to 100, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 4 to 2 series victory.
In the final moments of the game, MVP chants once again resounded throughout Madison Square Garden.
Undoubtedly, they were all for Chen Yan.
If someone had told Knicks fans 1 year ago that they would reach the Eastern Conference Finals next year, the fans 1st reaction would surely have been to slap that person twice, because they would have thought he was a trolling hater.
But the Knicks truly achieved it this year.
Chen Yan changed the entire team by himself.
Anthony walked back to the player tunnel dejectedly.
His only goal in coming to the Nets had been to win a championship.
But after this series, he was still far away from that goal.
It could even be said that he saw no hope.
.....
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