Chapter 769: A Chance to Break the Record
Chicago came back on offense.
After crossing half court, Westbrook passed the ball to Jimmy Butler.
Butler nearly lost it immediately.
He fumbled the catch, barely recovered possession, and then found Chen Yan pressing him before he could even settle down.
Under the pressure, Butler nearly committed a traveling violation.
Jeff Van Gundy frowned.
"What is Jimmy Butler doing? He looks completely confused. He might still be thinking about the move Chen Yan used on him a moment ago."
Magic Johnson laughed.
"We all know Chen is an incredible scorer, but he has another special talent. He can completely destroy a defender's confidence."
Westbrook eventually regained possession and called for a screen.
Once the pick arrived, he accelerated and attacked the paint.
New York's defense collapsed again.
The Knicks were giving Westbrook's drives special attention.
He was Chicago's only player capable of consistently exploding through the defense. As long as New York could contain his penetration, the Bulls offense would become far more stagnant.
Before the trap fully closed, Westbrook quickly passed the ball out.
Luol Deng caught it, used a shot fake, took 1 dribble with his right hand, then rose for a mid range jumper.
Swish.
19 to 13.
The Knicks quickly inbounded.
Chen Yan stepped up from 1 pace beyond the 3 point line and set a screen for Curry.
After the screen, Chen Yan rolled toward the basket while Curry suddenly gathered the ball.
The 2 moved in perfect coordination and immediately attracted almost the entire Chicago defense.
Westbrook switched onto Chen Yan.
Luol Deng retreated toward the edge of the paint.
Aşık stepped forward from inside, already preparing his body to draw a charge if Chen Yan attacked.
Jimmy Butler switched onto Curry.
Curry almost wanted to laugh.
The 2 of them had drawn the attention of 4 defenders.
According to the original action, Curry was supposed to pass to Chen Yan.
But Curry was not going to follow the play blindly.
Forcing the ball to Chen Yan now would be almost suicidal.
The moment Chen received it, he would face at least 3 defenders.
Unless Curry secretly hated him, there was no reason to make that pass.
Instead, Curry whipped a wide pass across the court toward Battier in the corner.
Battier had clearly been waiting for exactly this moment.
He caught the ball and immediately went into his shooting motion.
He had been standing in the corner for so long that his legs were almost numb.
Now his opportunity had finally arrived.
Swish.
22 to 13.
"That is exactly what Battier does," Kenny Smith said. "You leave him alone in that corner, and he is ready."
Barkley nodded.
"He has made a career out of those corner 3s. If the defense sends 4 guys toward Chen and Curry, somebody else has to punish them."
With Battier's basket, all 5 Knicks starters had now scored.
New York's entire starting lineup was in rhythm.
That was very good news for the Knicks.
Westbrook dribbled past half court.
Chicago kept the next possession simple.
After using a screen, Westbrook found enough space to pull up from beyond the 3 point line.
He fired immediately.
Clang.
The ball struck the rim hard.
Chen Yan and Curry instantly sprinted toward the opposite end.
Meanwhile, Westbrook was still standing in place with his wrist bent, holding his follow through.
It was 1 of his bad habits.
After shooting, Westbrook sometimes preferred to admire the pose rather than immediately retreat on defense.
The Knicks had no intention of waiting for him.
By the time Westbrook realized he needed to get back, Chen Yan and Curry had already crossed half court together.
David West launched a long outlet pass.
Jimmy Butler was the only Chicago player who had managed to retreat.
For a moment, he almost wanted to curse.
He could barely handle 1 of them.
Now he had to defend both?
Chen Yan attacked the paint with the ball.
Then, without looking backward, he bounced a pass behind himself.
At the same moment, Chen Yan used his body to shield Butler from the play.
Curry caught the pass and rose for the layup.
2 points.
24 to 13.
"Beautiful pass," Kenny Smith said. "That is Chen Yan's 5th assist already."
Barkley shook his head with a grin.
"He is playing like a point guard tonight. The man looks like Jason Kidd or Steve Nash out there. He is controlling the entire offense."
Magic Johnson could not help commenting as well.
"Chen is playing almost too rationally tonight."
Van Gundy nodded.
"This shows another side of him. When his teammates are making shots, Chen is perfectly willing to become the facilitator."
After landing, Curry clapped his hands in frustration.
"Chen, I should have dunked that!"
Chen Yan immediately cut him off.
"Stephen, the layup was fine."
Curry remained stubborn.
"If I get another chance, I am dunking. I feel great tonight."
Chen Yan stopped arguing.
He did not understand why Curry was so obsessed with dunking.
He only knew that whenever Curry became determined to dunk, something usually went wrong.
The Knicks offense remained explosive throughout the 1st quarter.
They scored 35 points in the period.
Curry was the most impressive scorer, finishing the quarter with 10 points.
Chen Yan recorded only 4 points but delivered 6 assists.
For Chen Yan, having more assists than points after an entire quarter was extremely rare.
Fans joked that Steve Nash must have secretly taken control of his body tonight.
At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, Chen Yan and Curry rested on the bench as usual.
Both looked relaxed.
New York already held a double digit advantage.
Nelson sent out a reserve lineup featuring 2 point guards, with Beverley and Jeremy Lin sharing the floor.
Barea, formerly New York's primary 6th man, did not enter the game.
Since returning from injury, his form had been inconsistent.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Lin and Beverley had both performed well this season.
Barea had therefore found himself competing with them for minutes.
New York's roster had become somewhat unbalanced.
The team carried 5 point guards.
Even excluding Anthony Carter, who was approaching retirement, there were still 4 legitimate players competing for minutes at the position.
The competition was fierce.
Aside from Curry, each of the other 3 point guards played with maximum effort whenever Nelson gave them an opportunity.
Everyone understood that New York would almost certainly reduce the number of point guards on the roster next season.
Every player wanted to remain with the Knicks.
And even if they could not stay, strong performances could attract interest from other teams and help them remain in the NBA.
That competition had produced excellent results.
All 3 guards had delivered strong performances during the final month of the regular season.
Nelson had frequently used lineups with 2 point guards during that stretch.
Recently, he had even begun wondering whether he could play 3 point guards together and maximize New York's offensive firepower.
For most coaches, that might have remained nothing more than a strange thought.
Nelson was different.
He was a basketball mad scientist.
If an idea entered his mind, there was a very real chance he would eventually try it.
Yi Jianlian also received playing time.
He immediately brought energy to the floor and rejected CJ Watson with a powerful block.
Yi had extra motivation tonight.
Chicago had once given up on him.
Now he wanted to prove something against his former team.
2 possessions later, Yi made a backdoor cut and tried to dunk over Brian Scalabrine.
He attacked the rim with too much force and completely missed the dunk.
Even so, the Madison Square Garden crowd gave him loud applause.
The fans could see the determination from the usually quiet big man.
New York's 2nd unit completely overwhelmed Chicago's reserves.
With 4 minutes and 30 seconds gone in the 2nd quarter, the Knicks led 50 to 31.
The advantage had grown to 19 points.
Thibodeau called timeout.
Chicago appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
Westbrook personally asked to return earlier than scheduled.
The moment he came back, he used a screen to attack Yi Jianlian after the switch.
Westbrook exploded past him, challenged DeAndre Jordan at the rim, and finished through contact.
The referee blew the whistle.
And 1.
Even with his team trailing badly, Westbrook remained completely engaged.
Before the game, he had promised that the Bulls would not disappoint their supporters.
Westbrook intended to keep that promise.
No matter how large the deficit became, he would continue playing at full intensity.
His fighting spirit would not disappear simply because the scoreboard looked ugly.
Westbrook's drive immediately revived Chicago's offense.
During the next 2 possessions, veteran Richard Hamilton made consecutive mid range jumpers.
The deficit quickly dropped below 15 points.
New York had no intention of allowing Chicago to build momentum inside Madison Square Garden.
After the timeout, Chen Yan, Curry, and Al Harrington returned to the court.
Beverley and DeAndre Jordan remained in the lineup.
Nelson wanted Beverley to apply pressure against Westbrook, while Chen Yan shifted to small forward.
On the 1st possession, Chen Yan immediately called for a double screen.
Chicago's defenders chased him relentlessly.
They assumed that because Chen Yan had spent most of the 1st quarter passing, he had probably been conserving his energy.
Surely he was preparing to explode as a scorer in the 2nd quarter.
Instead, Chen Yan twisted his body and slipped a pass inside to DeAndre Jordan.
Jordan caught the ball beneath the basket and banked it in.
Chen Yan's 7th assist.
Even after returning in the 2nd quarter, Chen Yan continued focusing on organizing the offense.
His teammates were shooting extremely well.
For Chen Yan, passing the ball to them felt effortless.
By halftime, New York had restored its large advantage.
70 to 52.
Scoring 70 points in a Playoffs half was already absurd.
Chen Yan's individual numbers were even more unusual.
12 points.
14 assists.
6 rebounds.
During the halftime discussion, Van Gundy turned toward Magic Johnson.
"Magic, your Playoffs single game assist record might be in danger tonight."
The Playoffs record for assists in a single game stood at 24.
Magic Johnson had originally set it in 1984, recording 24 assists in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
4 years later, John Stockton tied the record in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Magic smiled.
"If Chen breaks it tonight, I would be honored to watch it happen."
There was nothing forced about the smile.
Magic Johnson meant every word.
....
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