Chapter 770: The Assists Just Keep Coming
Inside the Knicks locker room, Beverley stared at the halftime stat sheet with excitement.
"Boss! Go for it in the 2nd half and break the Playoffs record!"
Beverley had always been perceptive. By now, every time he saw Chen Yan, he naturally called him Boss.
"What record?" Chen Yan asked in confusion.
Chen Yan rarely checked his own statistics during games.
That complete focus on the game itself was often what allowed him to produce outrageous numbers.
If a player constantly thought about how many points or assists he had, those numbers could easily become a burden.
Beverley somehow produced a paper stat sheet and handed it to him.
"Boss, look. You are only 10 assists away from the Playoffs single game assist record."
Jeremy Lin laughed.
"14 assists in 1 half is ridiculous."
Curry wore an innocent smile.
"Pass me a few more in the 2nd half. I will definitely help you break it."
His teammates seemed far more interested in Chen Yan's numbers than Chen Yan himself.
Chen Yan smiled.
"That does not matter. We will play normally in the 2nd half. As long as we win, that is enough."
Everyone nodded.
That was 1 of the qualities they admired most about Chen Yan.
He rarely cared about personal statistics.
Victory always came first.
The 2nd half began with both teams returning to their starting lineups.
Hamilton finally escaped Chen Yan through a series of screens and buried a mid range jumper.
70 to 54.
"Defense! Defense!"
Westbrook shouted loudly, trying to energize his teammates.
Among the Bulls players, Westbrook was clearly the most natural emotional leader.
Luol Deng and Hamilton were both much quieter personalities.
New York came back the other way.
The moment Curry crossed half court, he gave up the ball and immediately began moving without it.
Chen Yan controlled the offense from the top of the arc.
After surveying the floor for a moment, he passed to Curry.
Westbrook was guarding him tightly.
It was not a particularly good shooting opportunity.
Curry still fired.
Although Chen Yan did not care about breaking the record, his teammates did.
Curry especially wanted to help him reach it.
Years earlier, Curry had viewed Chen Yan as an idol.
Now, Chen Yan had become an older brother and close friend.
The shot missed.
Westbrook grabbed the rebound and prepared to push the pace.
Chen Yan immediately stepped forward and applied pressure, preventing him from accelerating freely.
The tactic worked.
The moment Westbrook saw Chen Yan approaching, he spun backward to protect the ball.
The move also forced him to slow down.
Chen Yan stayed with Westbrook as he crossed half court.
Unable to find an opening to accelerate, Westbrook passed to Luol Deng.
Deng used a jab step before attempting a mid range jumper.
Missed.
Al Harrington grabbed the rebound and passed to Chen Yan.
After crossing half court, Chen Yan suddenly slowed down before passing backward to the trailing Harrington.
Harrington caught the ball 1 step beyond the 3 point line and immediately shot.
His thinking was similar to Curry's.
He wanted to help Chen Yan collect another assist.
But the more deliberately they chased the record, the worse things became.
Harrington's shot bounced off the rim.
As the Knicks retreated, Chen Yan immediately shouted at his teammates.
"Play normally! Only shoot when you are actually open!"
On the next possession, Westbrook found room to accelerate and attacked Curry directly.
He failed to score, but he drew Curry's 3rd foul.
Nelson did not want to risk Curry getting into deeper foul trouble, so he temporarily removed him and sent Beverley onto the floor.
Westbrook made both free throws.
70 to 56.
Knicks possession.
Chen Yan received a handoff from Beverley.
David West moved to the high post and set a solid screen, completely blocking Hamilton.
Chen Yan dribbled to 1 step inside the 3 point line on the wing and rose immediately.
Swish.
A long 2 pointer.
No complicated move.
Just a simple pullup and the most efficient possible finish.
Whenever New York's offense began to stall, Chen Yan could always rely on his individual scoring ability to break the defense.
72 to 56.
Chicago pushed the ball back up the court.
Beverley picked up Westbrook with pressure across the entire floor.
He understood exactly why Nelson had put him in the game.
As a scorer, both Barea and Jeremy Lin were better than him.
Beverley's job was to make Westbrook uncomfortable.
He constantly applied physical pressure and used subtle contact whenever possible.
He was not merely trying to defend Westbrook.
He wanted to irritate him.
Westbrook's emotions could flare quickly.
Sure enough, he immediately shifted into isolation mode.
Beverley closed off the middle and deliberately left the baseline available.
Westbrook accelerated and attacked.
Chen Yan instantly left Hamilton and rotated over to help.
Hamilton cut toward the basket.
Westbrook saw him and prepared to pass.
But Chen Yan seemed to anticipate the idea.
He stepped backward before Westbrook could release the ball.
Westbrook awkwardly picked up his dribble.
Beverley immediately crowded him.
Chen Yan then pretended to come forward for another double team.
He took 1 step toward Westbrook, then immediately retreated by 2.
The sequence completely scrambled Westbrook's decision making.
In the end, Westbrook passed the ball directly into Chen Yan's hands.
Turnover.
Chen Yan immediately launched the fast break.
Beverley abandoned Westbrook and sprinted forward.
These transition layups were exactly the type of scoring opportunities he loved.
Chen Yan drove all the way toward the paint, drawing Luol Deng and Westbrook toward him.
Then he slipped a diagonal pass forward.
Beverley caught it in stride and banked in the layup.
74 to 56.
Beverley immediately pointed toward Chen Yan in appreciation.
That was Chen Yan's 15th assist.
Over the next 2 minutes, the assists kept coming.
Chen Yan added 3 more.
1 went to Battier.
The other 2 went to David West.
West was also shooting extremely well tonight.
He had attempted only 6 shots but made 5 of them.
With 1 minute and 55 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, the connection many Chinese fans had been waiting for finally arrived.
Yi Jianlian grabbed the rebound and immediately passed to Chen Yan.
Then Yi sprinted straight toward the frontcourt.
Chen Yan pushed the ball toward the logo.
Without slowing down, he launched a long lob ahead.
The basketball dropped perfectly into Yi Jianlian's path.
Yi did not dribble.
He gathered and took off immediately.
Boom!
A powerful dunk finished the play.
The crowd erupted.
Chen Yan's assist total had climbed to 19.
And the assists showed no sign of stopping.
....
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