Chapter 502: A Crushing Sense of Pressure
Chen Yan put up 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in the first quarter, accounting for more than half of Phoenix's offense.
From Utah's perspective, their defense in the opening period had been a complete failure.
Sloan kept smacking his clipboard, barking at his players to be tougher, even tougher, and to stop Chen Yan from scoring so easily if they wanted to call themselves men.
The day before, Sloan had deliberately shown them clips from the 1998 Finals. He wanted them to study how their predecessors had dealt with Jordan, then bring that same edge against Chen Yan.
The second quarter began quickly. The Suns gave their main starters a brief rest, and Utah also turned to its second unit.
Okur came in firing and buried a 3.
On the next possession, Korver drilled another 3 from the wing. Utah's bench unit looked completely different from its starters. Their shooting was sharp, and every touch felt dangerous.
Phoenix's reserves failed to answer with the same force. Azubuike, in particular, struggled badly, going scoreless in his 4 and a half minutes in the second quarter. He was an excellent sixth man, his offensive game was growing every month, and his bag was getting deeper, but he was still young. Expecting him to explode every night like Ginobili was unrealistic.
On top of that, Utah's home court atmosphere put real pressure on Phoenix's bench. The noise never stopped, and the energy in the building made every possession feel heavier.
The Jazz used that stretch to close the gap. After a dead ball, both teams brought back their strongest lineups.
From there, the game turned into a tug of war.
Phoenix leaned heavily on its backcourt. Chen Yan and Nash kept the offense alive, while Stoudemire still looked rusty. The goggles seemed to have locked up his rhythm. Outside of the monster dunk early, he had mostly disappeared on offense, occasionally treating the crowd to a brick laying exhibition.
Even so, D Antoni kept him on the floor.
Part of that was to let him play himself back into rhythm after the long layoff. Part of it was simple gravity. Even out of form, Stoudemire was still Stoudemire. Utah would never dare leave an All Star power forward completely alone, and that alone eased some of the burden on Chen Yan and Nash.
Once the Jazz got a feel for the officiating, their defense turned even more physical.
With 3 minutes and 27 seconds left in the half, Chen Yan got loose in transition and attacked Deron in the open floor. Utah responded with a straight up mugging. Deron and Brewer wrapped him from behind and from the side, yanking him hard to the floor.
The message was obvious. You can score, but you are not going to score comfortably. Every bucket will cost you.
Fans exploded.
"What is this, basketball or wrestling?"
"Throw Deron and Brewer out."
"The Jazz are filthy."
"That was aimed at the man, not the ball."
On the floor, though, Chen Yan did not lose his cool.
He got up, brushed off his collar with exaggerated calm, then walked to the line as if nothing had happened.
Swish.
Swish.
Both free throws dropped cleanly.
Phoenix led 44 to 43.
The gesture said more than any trash talk could have. Utah's little tricks were not getting into his head.
Chen Yan stayed calm, but his teammates were furious.
At that point, Phoenix had a mixed lineup on the floor. Stoudemire and Diaw were resting, while Barnes and Jordan were in the game.
On the very next Suns possession, Barnes set a screen for Nash and leaned into Deron with just enough force to send the chunky guard sprawling.
Deron popped up immediately, knowing exactly what it was. Barnes stared back. The two stepped forehead to forehead.
The building erupted.
Players from both teams rushed in, shoving and barking, but the referees stepped in fast and kept it from turning into something uglier.
Every championship team needs someone willing to play the villain. The Bad Boy Pistons had Bill Laimbeer. The Bulls had Oakley first, then Rodman. The Spurs had Bowen. On this Suns team, Barnes filled that role. He was tough, nasty, and experienced enough to know exactly where the line was.
The crowd wanted chaos. A lot of fans would have loved to see another Chen Yan knockout moment.
Real Suns fans were thinking something else entirely. This was the playoffs, not the regular season. If emotions boiled over and somebody got suspended, the whole series could change.
After the brief chaos, the game settled again.
Chen Yan never directly went after Utah physically. Instead, he took his anger out where it mattered, on the scoreboard.
Over the next 3 minutes, he ripped off 10 straight points. He scored on drives, bombed in jumpers, and buried two deep 3s from way beyond the line.
Kenny Smith could only shake his head.
"Utah paid for getting too physical. They wanted to wake him up, and now he is fully awake."
Barkley laughed.
"The Jazz tried to rattle him with rough defense, but they did the exact opposite. Some guys need a home crowd. Some guys feed off hatred. Booing, shoving, cheap shots, that is their fuel. Chen looks like one of those guys tonight."
On the sideline, Sloan wore the expression of a man watching his own plan backfire in real time. He had told his players to bring Jordan era physicality, not to turn Chen Yan into Jordan.
With 27 seconds left in the half, Utah had the ball, trailing 56 to 50.
Deron waved everyone out and signaled for a clear out. He wanted Nash alone at the top for the final possession.
He started the move with 7 seconds left, one step beyond the 3 point line.
Nash pressed up tight. End of quarter possessions are far more likely to end in jumpers than drives, and he knew it.
Deron went into a quick crossover, then hit another one.
That signature double crossover bought him half a step, and he rose for the jumper.
Clang.
It missed.
But Boozer had already slipped to the weak side and carved out rebounding position on Barnes. He snatched the offensive board and powered the putback home.
56 to 52.
After the basket, Boozer pounded his chest and roared.
That was his 16th rebound of the half.
He had just set a playoff first half rebounding record in Salt Lake City. That was not a minor thing in a franchise that had seen Mark Eaton and Karl Malone patrol the paint. Boozer was dominating the glass almost by himself, and that rebounding edge was the biggest reason Utah had stayed close despite its shaky shooting.
Phoenix inbounded quickly.
There were 3.6 seconds left before halftime.
Nash caught the ball in the backcourt, took two fast dribbles, and tried to fire a long pass up the floor to Chen Yan. The connection between those two had been lethal all quarter, and Deron read it this time.
He dove, got a fingertip on the pass, and knocked it out of bounds.
Phoenix now had the ball in the frontcourt, but only 0.9 seconds remained.
Barnes inbounded from the sideline. Chen Yan came back almost to midcourt just to create enough space for the catch.
The moment he touched it, he shot.
There was no time to think, no time to settle.
The ball left his hands just as the red light flashed.
The shot was clearly short. It started dropping halfway through the flight.
But before it could land, the whistle sounded.
Foul.
And not just any foul. A 3 point shooting foul.
The Utah crowd grabbed its collective head.
On the replay, the call was obvious. As Chen Yan rose, both Deron and Kirilenko flew at him. They collided in the air, lost their balance, and Kirilenko came down first, tangling up Chen Yan's legs and kicking his calf out from under him.
There was no debate. It was a foul.
Against most players, defenders might just raise a hand in that situation and live with the result. Against Chen Yan, they panicked. With him, even 0.9 seconds felt dangerous. That is the pressure he put on a defense.
Chen Yan walked to the line with 3 free throws waiting for him.
.....
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