Chapter 839: Yellow Jesus

Chapter 839: Chapter 839: Yellow Jesus

Chapter 839: Yellow Jesus

The final buzzer had already sounded, but the excitement surrounding the game had not faded.

The broadcast booth was still buzzing.

"Chen Yan has produced plenty of iconic performances throughout his career, but this has to rank among the greatest."

The stat sheet told the story.

46 minutes.

22 of 35 from the field.

11 of 17 from beyond the arc.

11 of 13 from the free throw line.

68 points.

8 rebounds.

7 assists.

3 steals.

2 blocks.

62.8 percent from the field.

64.7 percent from 3.

The numbers were almost absurd.

"This is unbelievable."

The analyst shook his head while staring at the box score.

"This was not a regular season game. It was not just another Playoffs game either. This was the NBA Finals, against the San Antonio Spurs, one of the best defensive teams in basketball."

He paused.

"68 points under these circumstances is ridiculous."

The praise kept coming.

"There are games where people say a player became immortal in 1 night. This is one of them. Even Michael Jordan never produced a Finals performance exactly like this."

San Antonio had tried almost everything.

Single coverage.

Switches.

On ball double teams.

Off ball double teams.

Pressure in the backcourt.

Multiple defenders crowding Chen whenever he touched the ball.

None of it worked.

By the end, Popovich looked as if the loss had taken years off his life.

The moment the game ended, he abandoned any attempt to maintain his usual calm and headed straight toward the locker room.

At the post game press conference, however, there was no avoiding the subject.

Chen Yan.

A reporter asked Popovich about his performance.

Popovich leaned toward the microphone.

"Honestly, the last person I want to talk about right now is that kid."

A few reporters laughed.

Popovich did not.

"We tried everything."

His frustration was obvious.

"And he still took the game away from us."

Popovich shook his head.

"He can beat anyone we put in front of him. Anyone."

"For most of the game, we sent 2 defenders at him. Sometimes 3."

He spread his hands.

"And what happened?"

"68 points."

"Then he still gave them 7 assists, so he was creating offense for everybody else too."

Popovich was becoming more irritated the longer he spoke.

"And people are going to talk about the scoring, but he hurt us defensively too."

"3 steals."

"2 blocks."

"He made several excellent recovery plays and chase down blocks that stopped our transition opportunities."

A reporter followed up.

"How do you plan to stop him in the next game?"

Popovich had just been speaking with obvious anger.

Now he suddenly smiled.

It was not a happy smile.

More like one from a man who had exhausted every reasonable answer.

He adjusted the microphone.

"My suggestion?"

The room went quiet.

"Dissect him."

Laughter immediately broke out.

Popovich continued.

"He is a monster."

Then he leaned back and sighed.

For him, this was one of the most frustrating ways to lose.

San Antonio believed in structure.

Execution.

Team basketball.

Tonight, all of that had been overwhelmed by individual brilliance.

Another reporter turned toward Ginóbili.

"Manu, is Chen the strongest opponent you have faced in your career?"

Ginóbili thought about the question.

"I want to say yes."

He smiled faintly.

"Because if I say yes, maybe it makes it sound like we belong on the same level."

Several reporters laughed.

Ginóbili shook his head.

"But honestly, he is somewhere else."

His expression became more serious.

"The man just scored 68 points in an NBA Finals game."

He paused.

"I do not really know how to describe that."

Then he added,

"People used to call Jordan the Black Jesus."

Ginóbili glanced toward the reporters.

"If I had to describe Chen with something similar, I would call him Yellow Jesus."

The reporters immediately reacted.

Yellow Jesus.

They had their headline.

...

On New York’s side, Nelson was equally amazed.

"Tonight, I was lucky."

A reporter looked up.

"Why?"

Nelson smiled.

"Because I got to be both a coach and a spectator."

He shook his head.

"I was standing a few feet away while Chen gave one of the greatest performances I have ever seen."

Another reporter asked,

"Chen attempted a huge number of 3 pointers tonight and broke the NBA Finals record for made 3 pointers in a single game. Was that part of your game plan?"

Nelson laughed.

"I would love to tell you yes."

The room smiled with him.

"Then I could claim some of the credit."

Laughter spread through the press conference.

Nelson waited for it to settle.

"But no."

"We never specifically told Chen to take more 3 pointers."

"He read the defense and made his own decisions."

"The shots came naturally from what San Antonio gave him."

The next question went directly to Chen.

"68 points. 11 made 3 pointers. You must be thrilled."

Chen smiled.

"I did not know how many points I had."

The reporter looked surprised.

"I also did not know how many 3 pointers I had made."

Chen leaned back.

"When I am completely focused on the game, I do not think about those things."

"If I start telling myself I need 2 more 3 pointers for a record, or 1 more rebound for a triple double, then I am not thinking about the possession anymore."

He shrugged.

"That hurts my game."

"My teammates told me after I came out that I had broken the Finals record for made 3 pointers."

Chen smiled again.

"I thought that was pretty cool."

Then he paused.

"Until I remembered the previous record belonged to me too."

The press room burst into laughter.

Chen’s interviews had always been like this.

Confident.

Relaxed.

Almost annoyingly casual about accomplishments most players could only dream of.

Another reporter asked,

"Stephen Curry returned late in the game. What did that mean to you?"

Chen’s expression became more serious.

"We did not think Stephen was coming back tonight."

"He looked badly hurt."

"When he came out wearing that mask and all those bandages, it gave everyone energy."

Chen glanced toward the side of the room.

"It was not just about what he could do on the court."

"It was about seeing him come back."

"For us, that felt like the return of a king."

"He gave the whole team something emotionally."

"Without that, maybe we do not finish the game the way we did."

In reality, Curry made only 1 mid range jumper during the final 4 minutes.

His greatest contribution had not been statistical.

It had been emotional.

His return reminded everyone that the Knicks were still fighting together.

Naturally, the questioning eventually returned to the confrontation in the 3rd quarter.

"Stephen Jackson’s screen on Curry caused the incident that led to several ejections. What did you think of that play?"

Chen’s expression hardened immediately.

"Calling that unfriendly is too soft."

He stared at the reporter.

"That was malicious."

"And this is not the first time San Antonio has been involved in something like this."

Chen’s voice remained controlled, but the anger was obvious.

"I do not want to say too much right now."

"What I will say is that I hope the league investigates everything carefully."

"The NBA should protect its players and make sure that kind of basketball does not become normal."

New York had won.

Chen was still furious.

His comments drew immediate attention from the league office.

The disciplinary decisions were announced the following day.

Stephen Jackson received a 5 game suspension for the flagrant foul and the fight.

It was the maximum punishment the league issued in response to the incident.

No punishment was given to Popovich or the rest of the Spurs organization.

There was no evidence proving that Popovich had instructed Jackson to commit a malicious foul.

Only San Antonio’s players knew exactly what had been discussed internally.

None of them were going to volunteer that information.

New York also received punishment.

DeAndre Jordan was suspended for 1 game.

David West was suspended for 1 game.

The league had shown as much restraint as possible with the Knicks.

David Stern had no desire to let league discipline become the deciding factor in the NBA championship.

Even so, Game 5 had become extremely difficult for New York.

The Knicks would be without both starting interior players.

And they would still be playing in San Antonio.

The NBA Finals used a different format from the earlier Playoffs rounds.

2 games at the home court of the higher seed.

Then 3 consecutive games at the other team’s arena.

Then, if necessary, the final 2 games back with the higher seed.

The 2 3 2 format had originally been introduced after Red Auerbach complained about the burden of constant travel during the Finals.

His reasoning was simple.

Too much travel during the championship series was exhausting.

The structure solved that problem.

But it also created an unusual disadvantage for the team with home court advantage.

Under the standard 2 2 1 1 1 format, a crucial Game 5 would have been played in New York.

Instead, the Knicks now had to play their 3rd consecutive road game in San Antonio.

And they would have to do it without DeAndre Jordan and David West.

At Madison Square Garden, even with those absences, New York would have felt far more comfortable.

At the AT&T Center, Game 5 suddenly looked far more dangerous.

During warmups, Chen walked onto the court and glanced toward the front row.

One fan immediately caught his attention.

An Asian man was standing there holding a large sign.

2 words were written across it.

"Yellow Jesus."

Chen stared at it for a moment.

After Game 4, Ginóbili’s description had spread almost instantly.

A new nickname had been born.

....

https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR

[If you don’t want to wait for the next update, read 50 Chapters ahead on P@treon.]

[[email protected]/FanficLord03].