Chapter 842: The Foundation for Winning Everything

Chapter 842: Chapter 842: The Foundation for Winning Everything

Chapter 842: The Foundation for Winning Everything

"A full court sprint into a buzzer beating dunk in only 5 seconds. That is incredible."

The broadcast booth was still buzzing over Chen Yan’s final play of the 1st quarter.

"With that dunk, New York tied the game at 23 before the quarter ended. San Antonio defended extremely well for most of the period, but 1 mistake in the final seconds was enough for Chen to punish them."

"That is what makes him so dangerous. You cannot give him even a little space or a moment of hesitation."

Chen finished the opening quarter with 11 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.

He had produced several spectacular highlights, but his overall efficiency had not been especially high.

Part of that was connected to the struggles of his teammates.

When the rest of New York could not consistently make shots, San Antonio could devote even more defensive attention to Chen.

Nelson did not criticize his players.

Missing shots was not a crime.

Sometimes, constantly blaming players for misses only made them hesitate on the next opportunity.

A missed open shot was still better than becoming afraid to shoot.

Popovich took the opposite approach with San Antonio.

He tore into his players during the quarter break.

In his eyes, their defense had become too relaxed during the final seconds.

Against a team like New York, and especially against someone like Chen Yan, there could be no such thing as taking a possession off.

Not for 1 second.

The 2nd quarter began with Chen leading New York’s bench unit.

Nelson had used this rotation several times throughout the Playoffs.

Sometimes, winning simply required leaning heavily on your best player.

The more he did it, the more Nelson found himself understanding some of Mike D’Antoni’s old habits.

Chen led New York’s reserves.

Diaw handled that responsibility for San Antonio.

That was one disadvantage of moving Ginóbili into the starting lineup.

The Spurs’ first unit became stronger.

Their bench lost its biggest source of scoring.

After only 2 minutes, New York had pushed the lead to 31 to 25.

Popovich waited for a dead ball and immediately sent Duncan and Parker back onto the floor.

There would be no careful minute management tonight.

The moment Parker returned, San Antonio’s offense looked different.

He used a screen, attacked the defense, then kicked the ball to Diaw.

Mid range jumper.

Good.

31 to 27.

Parker walked over and exchanged a high 5 with Diaw.

Before Parker returned, Diaw had not been getting looks that clean.

New York came back down.

Barea crossed half court and immediately looked for Chen.

DeJuan Blair was practically attached to him.

Every team in the league had learned the same lesson.

The best time to defend Chen Yan was before he received the ball.

Once the ball was in his hands, the job became much harder.

Beep!

Whistle.

Holding foul on Blair.

The contact was far too obvious.

Blair had almost wrapped himself around Chen just to prevent the catch.

He looked less like a defender and more like an accessory hanging from Chen’s body.

Blair did not seem particularly concerned about the foul.

He was unlikely to play enough minutes for foul trouble to become a serious problem anyway.

New York prepared to inbound from the sideline.

Yi Jianlian passed toward Barea.

The intention was too obvious.

Parker read it instantly.

Reach.

Steal.

Barea turned to chase.

His foot slipped.

He hit the floor.

Even without the slip, catching Parker would have been almost impossible.

The moment Parker gained possession, the little sports car was already accelerating.

He left everyone behind.

Layup.

Good.

31 to 29.

The AT&T Center erupted.

Parker’s return had changed the game immediately.

New York came back down.

3 passes.

2 dribbles.

Barea found space beyond the arc.

3 pointer.

Miss.

Duncan secured the rebound.

He did not immediately throw an outlet pass.

First, he made sure nobody was in position to pressure him.

Then he gave the ball to Parker.

San Antonio calmly entered its half court offense.

Pass.

Another pass.

Nothing opened.

Eventually, DeJuan Blair found himself holding the ball near the top.

He looked left.

Then right.

He hesitated for almost 3 seconds.

Finally, he prepared to lob the ball inside to Duncan.

Chen read it.

Jump.

Interception.

The play was part anticipation and part athleticism.

Chen had understood what Blair wanted before the pass even left his hands.

He landed and immediately attacked.

Transition.

Blair turned and chased.

Chen powered past him.

Blair had no choice.

Foul.

Chen walked to the free throw line.

He made the first attempt.

Popovich immediately called for Ginóbili.

Blair headed to the bench.

If he stayed on much longer, Chen might force him into enough fouls to end his night before halftime.

With Ginóbili back, San Antonio returned to its strongest actions.

Parker used screens to attack the paint.

Ginóbili did the same.

Whenever Duncan established position inside, the Spurs went to him.

The strategy could not have been clearer.

Attack New York’s weakest area.

The paint.

Up in the stands, David West and DeAndre Jordan watched with growing frustration.

Their suspensions prevented them from sitting on the bench.

They were forced to watch from the stands instead.

Neither man had considered staying home.

If New York won tonight, the championship trophy would be awarded immediately.

There was no chance they were missing that.

San Antonio’s efficiency improved significantly throughout the 2nd quarter.

The Spurs attacked more decisively.

They drove harder.

They created better shots.

New York began to struggle.

With 3 seconds remaining before halftime, San Antonio led 59 to 46.

Battier inbounded.

Long pass.

Perfectly placed.

Chen caught it.

Turn.

He did not shoot immediately.

Instead, he took 1 dribble to his left.

2 San Antonio defenders were already rushing toward him.

Had Chen pulled up immediately, the contest would have been heavy.

So he changed the angle.

1 dribble.

Drift backward.

3 pointer.

Release.

The ball hit the glass.

Then dropped through.

49 to 59.

A banked 3 pointer at the buzzer.

There was some luck involved.

Basketball had always required a little of that too.

The broadcast booth erupted.

"Another buzzer beater from Chen!"

"That makes 2 straight quarters ending with a Chen Yan basket."

The 1st had been a violent dunk.

The 2nd was a deep banked 3.

Even with San Antonio playing excellent basketball, Chen continued finding ways to keep New York alive.

Still, the problem remained obvious.

"Chen is doing everything he can, but New York needs another scorer."

"If the supporting cast continues shooting like this in the 2nd half, San Antonio is going to load even more defenders toward Chen."

By halftime, Chen had produced another outstanding line.

24 points.

7 assists.

5 rebounds.

He had scored nearly half of New York’s total points.

The rest of the team had struggled badly.

Without Chen included, New York was shooting only 30.5 percent from the field.

From beyond the arc, that number dropped to an ugly 23 percent.

Only Curry and Battier had made a 3 pointer besides Chen.

During halftime, Chen walked over to Curry.

"How are you feeling?"

Curry removed his mask for a moment.

"Awful."

He rubbed carefully around his nose.

"They keep finding chances to hit me there."

Chen had noticed.

San Antonio’s defenders had repeatedly used small bits of contact against Curry throughout the half.

Nothing dramatic enough to draw major attention.

Enough to keep reminding him about the injury.

Chen’s expression hardened.

"Those bastards."

He patted Curry on the shoulder.

"I will make them pay in the 2nd half."

Curry immediately looked at him.

"Chen, stay calm. We still need you."

Chen shook his head.

"I am talking about basketball."

He smiled coldly.

"I will make them pay by scoring."

Curry relaxed.

"I can stay in the corner and give you more space."

Chen shook his head again.

"I need more than spacing from you."

Curry looked at him.

"I need you to score."

"You have to take some of this pressure."

Curry nodded.

"I will shoot more decisively."

Nelson delivered almost the exact same message when the team gathered.

He knew the perimeter shooting had been poor.

That did not mean he wanted fewer shots.

Quite the opposite.

He wanted the Knicks to stop hesitating.

Open shot?

Take it.

Miss?

Take the next one too.

That had always been Nelson’s philosophy.

A team could survive missed shots.

It could not survive fear.

Confidence in your own shot was the foundation for winning everything.

....

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