Chapter 432: Scoring Is the Best Response
After the game, reporters piled praise onto Mike D'Antoni. Only a month into the season, he was already being treated like a front runner for Coach of the Year.
The Suns had not just kept their dazzling run and gun style, they had turned the volume up. Their dominance was clearer than last year. More nights than not, their starters were clocking out after 3 quarters.
D'Antoni did not take the credit. In front of the cameras, he spread it across the entire roster, starters and reserves alike.
Chen Yan did the same.
"I've got the best group of guys in the world around me," he said after the win. "We're mature. Everybody's pulling in the same direction. I like that feeling."
A reporter tried to poke at the only weak point available.
"Chen, you only scored 19 tonight. That's way below your average. Are you frustrated?"
"Not at all," Chen Yan answered immediately. "If I score 19 and we still win, that only means 1 thing. My teammates played better than usual, and I got to breathe a little."
The reporter laughed, and the scrum loosened up for a moment.
People loved Chen Yan's scoring outbursts so much that they were starting to treat them like a law of nature. They forgot scoring was labor. Even in the NBA, everyone had a stamina bar. In real life, it was worse.
After the Grizzlies game, the Suns' internal chemistry had climbed to 90. Their fan chemistry was basically maxed out at 99. For a home team that played beautiful offense and kept stacking wins, there was nothing to complain about.
…
December opened with a marquee opponent. Phoenix hosted the Miami Heat, led by Dwyane Wade.
Miami came in at 7 and 8. That record looked ordinary next to the Suns, but it was still respectable for a roster that was not close to complete. The reason was Wade. He was in his prime, and his overall level was not inferior to Kobe.
Wade was also, in his own way, unusually steady for a superstar. Almost nobody tolerated rebuilding years during their prime. Wade's best help right now was Haslem and rookie Beasley. If this were someone else, there would have been public pressure, trade demands, maybe even a dramatic decision.
Wade just kept going.
You could call it stubbornness. You could call it loyalty. Either way, he treated Miami like home, not a stopover.
Before tipoff, Wade warmed up at his usual pace, calm and sharp. He felt great this season, but he also knew the ceiling. The Heat could fight for the playoffs, but a championship was out of reach. That reality bothered him, yet he never aimed his frustration at management.
On the floor, Chen Yan and Wade met up for a handshake and a quick hug. Chen Yan respected the way veterans carried themselves. Wade respected Chen Yan's rise, and the feeling was mutual.
"Chen," Wade said, smiling, "I never got to congratulate you in person for the 72. That was crazy. Tell me, how'd you do it?"
Wade's compliments came fast, like a tornado.
Chen Yan answered with a straight face. "I just kept putting the ball in the basket until my personal score hit 72."
Wade laughed and patted his shoulder. "Alright. I'll try that tonight."
They both chuckled, then the game started.
Phoenix's starters were the same, Nash, Chen Yan, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Stoudemire.
Miami's lineup was Joel Anthony, Haslem, Beasley, Wade, Chalmers.
Joel Anthony and Haslem might have been the shortest frontcourt pairing in the league. Both were listed at 2 meters, and that was the generous official version.
Miami was not playing small to counter Phoenix. They were playing small because they had to. After Shaq left, their only true center option was Jamal Magloire, and Magloire was no longer the same player. Last season he averaged 1.8 points. Playing him was less reliable than trusting two undersized bigs who at least competed.
It was strange, considering Magloire had once been a quality blue collar center, even making an All Star team during an era when the East was thin at the position. But everything changed after a tragedy in 2005, when his brother Justin was fatally shot. Magloire never looked the same afterward. Grief hollowed out his focus, and the drive that kept him sharp at the highest level faded. He had tried to find comfort by returning to Canada, even reaching out to Toronto in February 2007, but it never came together.
Over the years, the decline became impossible to ignore. Now he was barely a rotation player.
Miami's other interior option, Drew Gooden, was not much bigger than the guys on the floor.
The whistle sounded.
Stoudemire won the tip easily, giving Phoenix the first possession.
Nash crossed half court and called a simple action. The ball moved side to side, then found Chen Yan. Wade picked him up, and the two biggest threats on each team were matched up immediately.
Chen Yan signaled. Diaw stepped out from the high post to the 3 point line and set the screen.
Chen Yan dribbled hard, but Miami switched instantly, taking away space. Haslem ended up in front of him.
Chen Yan glanced at the matchup, lowered his shoulder, and attacked anyway. No fancy setup, just a straight line toward the rim.
The drive bent Miami's defense. Near the baseline, Chen Yan slipped a bounce pass back to Diaw trailing into the lane.
Diaw saw daylight and rose with 1 arm, thinking dunk.
Wade exploded from the side and met him at the top.
Slap.
The ball got smothered cleanly out of Diaw's hands.
"Wow, a clean block," Mike Breen said, voice rising. "Wade just gave the crowd a highlight right out of the gate."
"Diaw rushed it a little," Van Gundy added. "If he gathers, waits for Wade to commit, then finishes, it's a different result. Wade timed that perfectly."
Miami pushed immediately. Chalmers sprinted the ball up and found Wade in stride.
Wade was still riding the energy from the block. He attacked Raja Bell, then spun, smooth and sudden, like his body was on a hinge.
Bell did not bite. The moment Wade turned, Bell slid laterally and used his leg position to cut off the lane, the kind of subtle, veteran defense stars hated. It was a trick Bell had learned from Kobe, and like everything effective in the NBA, it spread fast once teams saw it work on film.
Wade grimaced, adjusted, and changed the angle. If he were that easy to contain, he would not be called The Flash.
He stepped back half a beat, dropped his hips, snapped the ball across his body, and slipped past Bell on the opposite side. Bell chased for 2 steps.
Then Wade pulled it back with a reverse between the legs dribble, one of his signatures.
Swish.
2 to 0, Miami.
The Suns came right back. Nash and Stoudemire ran pick and roll. Chen Yan floated from the weak side to the top.
Nash fired a cross court pass on time. Wade got clipped half a beat by Diaw and arrived late.
Chen Yan caught, rose immediately, and drilled the jumper before Wade's contest could do anything.
Swish.
2 to 2.
Chen Yan did not stare. Wade did not talk. No gestures, no extra drama.
That was how elite scorers spoke.
Scoring was the best response.
.....
[Check Out My Patreon For Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]