Chapter 435: A Poor Man's Chen Yan, Player of the Month
Van Gundy chuckled as the cameras caught Wade jogging back on defense again.
"Dwyane keeps scoring, but the gap is still growing. If this keeps up, you can see the frustration building."
Mike Breen nodded. "Miami has to find something from the perimeter. Otherwise the floor keeps shrinking, Wade's driving lanes get tighter, and any comeback becomes a long shot."
If Wade could hear that, he probably would have snapped back on the spot.
Shoot more from outside? Sure. Great idea. Now all he needed was a roster that could actually do it.
These 2 teams were built like opposites. Phoenix had shooting everywhere. Miami had almost none. That meant Wade had to slam his way into the paint possession after possession, absorbing contact, landing hard, popping back up, then watching Chen Yan calmly bury a 3 like it was a warmup.
This game was starting to feel less like basketball and more like a test of patience.
…
Chalmers brought it up and ran a pick and roll off Joel Anthony, turning the corner to the right.
Raja Bell slid back and reached, trying to disrupt the dribble. Chalmers reacted fast, clamped the ball with both hands, and kicked it out.
Wade was wide open beyond the arc.
Chen Yan closed out under control. He trusted Wade's 3 point shot, and if it went in, he would live with it.
Wade lifted the ball like he was going to shoot, then instantly dropped it to the floor and attacked.
Chen Yan's eyes widened.
Driving from that far out?
Wade's first step was fast, but the bigger problem was the timing. Chen Yan was closing for a jumper, and Wade turned it into a downhill race in one motion. Left hand dribble, then a quick switch to the right, and Chen Yan was already reacting instead of dictating.
Wade powered straight into the restricted area and finished through Diaw.
41 to 52.
The whistle came too.
And one.
Wade yelled as he walked to the line, chest heaving, adrenaline spiking.
Clang.
He missed the free throw, a little too much juice on it.
Diaw secured the rebound, and Wade immediately lurked, hunting the lane between Diaw and Nash like he was setting a trap.
Diaw saw it instantly.
If that had been DeAndre Jordan, Wade might have gotten a gift wrapped assist.
Instead, Diaw slowed, held the ball high, and waited out the danger before swinging it to Chen Yan on the opposite side.
No fast break was there, so Chen Yan eased the pace and brought it over.
A step beyond the 3 point line, he handed the ball to Nash and let the offense breathe.
Nash tapped his head and called the set.
Stoudemire flashed to the elbow. Raja Bell cut along the baseline off Diaw. Nash read the movement, took 1 step right, then fired it to Chen Yan on the low block.
Back to the basket.
Wade did not flinch. He was strong enough to fight in the post, and he believed he could hold his ground.
But Chen Yan never planned to wrestle with him.
The moment he caught, he spun hard toward the baseline and exploded. As he turned, his left arm hooked into Wade's body, protecting the ball and creating leverage. Technically, you could call it, but nobody calls that in the NBA.
Chen Yan's left foot pushed off. His AeroWing sneakers squealed, and Wade felt wind rush past his shoulder.
Too fast.
Chen Yan could not fully contain Wade's downhill attacks, and Wade could not keep Chen Yan from turning speed into separation. When elite guards go at each other, somebody is going to look helpless, possession by possession.
Phoenix fans loved it.
Chen Yan pushed a little too hard, and his momentum betrayed him. He stumbled, hopped to regain balance, and floated a quick attempt at the rim.
Slap.
Haslem met it and blocked the shot.
It was not that Haslem jumped higher, it was that Chen Yan jumped lower. He was still off balance.
But Chen Yan's second jump was vicious.
He snatched the ball back in place, went up again, and this time Haslem could not stop him without fouling.
Beep, beep.
The ball banked in as the whistle blew.
A tough 2 plus 1.
Chen Yan flexed toward the nearest camera, finally showing the edge under the calm.
You will not let me have a clean layup?
Fine. I will take the foul with the points.
The crowd exploded.
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
Chen Yan stepped to the line and knocked it down.
41 to 55.
The broadcast cut to tight shots of Chen Yan, then Wade. For this stretch, it was their stage and the rest of the players were extras.
A few more trips like that, and Wade started questioning reality.
He was fighting for 2s, slicing through traffic, absorbing hits, landing heavy. Chen Yan was answering with 3s that looked effortless, like he was tossing coins into a cup.
Was that fair?
Yes.
A 3 pointer is part of the game. If you do not have it, you do not get to complain that someone else does.
And as the minutes passed, the true gap between these rosters became impossible to hide.
The one shining piece of the night was the duel. Two of the league's best scorers trading blows, each possession louder than the last.
Wade finished with 41 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Chen Yan finished with 58 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Chen Yan's eruption turned Wade's 41 into a brutal kind of empty work.
…
After the final horn, Breen and Van Gundy wrapped it up.
"Wade was terrific," Van Gundy said. "His ability to break a defense is special."
Breen chuckled. "If you ignore the comparison, he had a great night. But when you put him next to Chen, Chen wasn't just better in the box score, he was better in how the game looked. Pick and rolls, transition, midrange, getting to the rim, creating offense, Chen did it all. And Wade doesn't have Chen's high difficulty 3 point shot."
Breen's voice carried a little too much bite when he finished.
"Tonight, Wade looked like a poor man's Chen Yan."
Van Gundy cut in immediately, saving his partner from himself.
"Mike, you're leaving out context. Phoenix can send help at Wade whenever they want because Miami doesn't punish them for it. On the other end, Miami cannot sell out on Chen. They still have to respect Nash and Stoudemire. That changes everything."
Breen did not argue. The game was over and he wanted to get off the air.
"Either way," he said, looking into the camera, "two elite scorers put on a show tonight. Good night, everybody."
Van Gundy nodded. "Good night."
…
Before heading into the tunnel, Chen Yan and Wade embraced.
Chen Yan respected Wade as one of the defining shooting guards of the era, and he genuinely enjoyed a pure scoring battle.
Wade, professional to the core, congratulated him. The loss stung, but it did not break him. Miami's goal this season was the playoffs, not a title chase. There was no shame in losing to the defending champs when you were carrying a rebuilding roster on your back.
…
The next day, the NBA announced the Players of the Month for November.
LeBron James won in the East. Chen Yan won in the West.
Cleveland went 10 and 5 in November, and James was his usual complete package, averaging 27.5 points on 49.9% shooting, plus 7.9 assists and 8.1 rebounds, along with 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks.
In most months, that would have been the loudest stat line in the league.
But the West was a war zone, and the numbers were ridiculous.
Nowitzki averaged 25.5 points and 9.6 rebounds. Chris Paul put up 20.3 points and 10.8 assists. Kobe averaged 25.5 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.4 rebounds while leading the Lakers to a 14 and 1 record.
The Lakers had the best record, but Chen Yan's production was too explosive to ignore.
In November, he averaged 36.6 points, plus 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists, including a completely insane 70 plus point game. With him leading the charge, the Suns went 13 and 3, good for 2nd in the West.
Last season, some people still tried to argue that Chen Yan was just a hot streak, not a true scoring machine.
One month into the new season, those voices were fading fast.
And if anyone was still questioning his scoring now, they were not analyzing basketball, they were just looking for a reason to hate.
.....
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