Chapter 430: Assassin Chen Yan, the Peculiar Brain Circuit
About 1 and a half minutes later, McHale pulled OJ Mayo early.
Part of it was mercy. Part of it was self defense.
The more Chen Yan scored, the more Mayo wanted to answer with a forced isolation, and every one of those possessions dragged Minnesota farther away from what McHale actually wanted to run. A rookie getting humiliated is bad. A rookie getting humiliated and hijacking the offense is worse.
With Mayo off the floor, Chen Yan's edge cooled a little. Eight minutes into the 1st quarter, D'Antoni swapped him out for Azubuike. Chen had 13 points in the quarter, but his appetite clearly dipped once his chosen target disappeared.
A great coach is a great coach. McHale's timing was clean.
Phoenix led 29 to 20 after 1, up 9.
Minnesota was not completely hopeless. Several starters could score in isolation, but they had no real chemistry, no rhythm, no shared habits. That was not even a coaching issue as much as a personality issue. Too many guys wanted the ball to prove something, and not enough guys wanted to do the quiet work that makes an offense breathe.
…
Early in the 2nd, White Chocolate Williams finally checked in.
Since joining Phoenix, he had been sitting behind Barea, basically the third point guard in the rotation. But D'Antoni did not treat depth charts like law. Whoever played better got the minutes, unlike certain rigid coaches around the league who treated rotations like stone tablets.
Williams played like a man trying to extend his career by force of will.
In 4 minutes, he knocked down a mid range shot, delivered a couple of clean assists, and even snatched 2 rebounds. The energy was real.
The flash was still there too, but it was controlled. The wildness from his younger days had been trimmed down. His passes no longer made teammates hold their breath on the break. Chen Yan knew it, even if some fans still clung to the old label, flashy but empty. That reputation was the price Williams paid for being too far ahead of his era when he was young.
At 7:41 in the quarter, Williams jumped a passing lane, stole Brewer's pass, and finished a layup. Chen Yan stood and applauded from the bench.
He was not the type to freeze Williams out just because he was close with Barea. If anything, Chen wanted them competing. Competition was fuel.
Then the accident happened.
About a minute later, Williams came off a screen, collided hard with Ryan Gomes in the paint, and went down.
He grabbed his forearm immediately, face tight with pain.
He still walked to the line.
He still took the free throws.
He missed both badly.
The collision had clearly rattled him. After the attempts, he was subbed out and headed to the tunnel with the team doctor.
Nobody wanted to see that.
The broadcast tone shifted too. The commentators talked about the injury, the bad luck, the way he had actually been playing well. Then the game rolled on, because the game always rolls on.
Barea filled in for a minute, and then Phoenix brought the starters back.
Nash had rested most of the quarter and came in fresh. First possession, he hunted a switch, got Bynum on him, and put on a clinic. A few fakes, a rhythm step, a quick burst, and he slid by the big man for a smooth right handed layup that looked effortless.
Next trip, Chen Yan called for space.
Corey Brewer was on him, a familiar matchup from the NCAA days. Brewer competed and defended with discipline, but he was not a true stopper. Chen rocked a few crossovers, let Brewer hover in that uncomfortable middle zone, then rose into a long 2, right in his face, and drilled it anyway.
Then Stoudemire joined the party, exploding into the paint for a violent 2 plus 1.
The final stretch of the 2nd quarter became a showcase for Phoenix's stars, pure talent, clean reads, no panic.
At halftime, the Suns led 60 to 41, up 19.
…
During the break, the broadcast crew barely talked about Minnesota's chances. They were already looking ahead, discussing Phoenix's stability this season and how they were handling business against weaker teams.
The conversation drifted to the real looming shadow, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Camby had strengthened their interior defense. Garnett benefited from that, because Camby's presence let Garnett conserve energy and lean harder into offense. The last time the Lakers beat Phoenix, Chen Yan had been suspended. The next major showdown would be a month away, the Christmas Day game, a full strength collision.
Everyone talked like this one was already over.
And on the floor, Phoenix played like it was.
…
The Suns opened the 2nd half with their usual pace lineup, Nash, Chen Yan, and Azubuike in the backcourt, Diaw and Stoudemire up front.
Azubuike's role had grown this season. Grant Hill was another year older, nearly 37, and more of the bench scoring load was falling onto Azubuike's shoulders.
First few possessions, he used a screen, got downhill, and finished with a long gliding floater.
The Suns kept stretching the gap. Minnesota's defense loosened. Phoenix, smelling it, started turning the game into a show, the same way they had against Oklahoma City.
Then came the loudest moment of the night.
With 8:10 left in the 3rd, Nash pushed in transition like a quick little sprite, twisting into the paint, drawing Bynum and Odom, and then flicking a behind the back pass that felt like it came from a second pair of eyes.
The ball found Chen Yan trailing.
Chen caught it a step outside the restricted area and took off immediately.
Bynum turned, and Chen was already above him.
At that point, Bynum could only raise his hands and brace.
Bang.
A 2 handed poster dunk that made the rim scream.
Bynum, unstable after the turn and never built for contact, got dumped to the floor and slid all the way toward the baseline camera crew.
The crowd exploded, half shock, half laughter, all volume.
Somewhere online, fans were already writing jokes like it was a crime report, calling Chen Yan a killer, calling the dunk a murder scene, editing highlights like evidence.
Bynum finally got pulled up by teammates. He stared at Chen with resentment.
Chen, completely calm, pointed at Bynum's hair and nodded.
"Hey, nice haircut."
Bynum had gotten a half shaved cut a few days earlier.
The mood on his face changed instantly. Like someone flipped a switch.
"Bro, you got a good eye."
That was Bynum's wiring. Compliment his game and he might not care. Compliment his hair and he was suddenly your friend.
A peculiar brain circuit, but at least it was consistent.
…
Early in the 4th, Chen Yan and Nash sat. Stoudemire played a short stretch with the reserves, then joined them. The game was deep into garbage time, and there was no reason to risk legs on a back to back.
Phoenix had cruised. Nash only played a little more than 2 quarters. Chen Yan clocked out after 3.
On the bench, Stoudemire patted Chen on the back.
"So where we going after the game?"
Chen smiled. "It's freezing out here. Going where? Let's take the win and get out."
"Too cold?" Stoudemire grinned. "Then go back in and warm up a little."
"No thanks. We're up 26. Playing more would be rude."
Stoudemire laughed loud. The whole bench was loose, joking, enjoying the easiest kind of basketball, the kind where the scoreboard does the arguing for you.
By the final horn, the Suns had stacked another win, comfortable and clean.
Chen Yan finished with 27 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds. Nash had 16 points and 8 assists. Azubuike scored 18 with 4 rebounds. Raja Bell added 11. Barea chipped in 10.
Phoenix had 5 perimeter players in double figures.
The league already knew it, and nights like this only confirmed it.
The Suns' perimeter was the strongest in basketball. It was not just Chen Yan and Nash. It was the depth behind them, the firepower that kept coming in waves. In Phoenix's run and gun system, guards did not just survive.
They flourished.
.....
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