Chapter 615: Jordan's Changing Expressions
The Bobcats played a miserable third quarter, and after 3 periods, Phoenix led 97 to 79.
An 18 point deficit was large, but with a full quarter left, Chen Yan was not going to rest that early.
During the break between the third and fourth quarters, Michael Jordan rushed over to the Bobcats players. It looked like he was yelling at them, but in reality, he was trying to pass along his experience.
The Bobcats players felt like they were living through torture.
First Jordan yelled. Then Larry Brown yelled. Then, after Larry Brown finished yelling, Jordan came back and yelled again.
Anyone with a weaker mentality might have developed depression playing for this team.
Fortunately, Charlotte's core players had decent mental toughness, and Stephen Jackson opened the final quarter by drilling a 3 pointer.
82 to 97.
After that shot, Stephen Jackson had reached 30 points for the game.
Stephen Jackson used to believe the only things separating him from star status were touches and tactical priority. But after tonight, his thinking had completely changed.
Only after witnessing Chen Yan's performance did Stephen Jackson truly understand the gap between himself and a superstar.
Even if Charlotte gave Stephen Jackson every possession in the offense, he still could not put up the numbers Chen Yan had after 3 quarters.
The scariest part was that Chen Yan's numbers were not empty stats. He was producing them while keeping Phoenix firmly in control.
Phoenix had the ball.
Chen Yan slowly advanced up the floor, changed direction on the left side, and drove toward the middle.
DeAndre Jordan and Diaw both stepped up to screen.
Now the entire Suns offense revolved around Chen Yan. After 2 screens near the top of the arc, 1 teammate cut inside and the other popped out. Chen Yan paused for a second, then suddenly turned his head toward Diaw at the high post.
Then his left hand snapped forward.
A bullet pass without looking.
Chen Yan's body language deceived every Bobcats defender.
DeAndre Jordan caught the ball with an open lane in front of him. With his explosive athleticism, he naturally was not going to waste that chance.
He planted both feet, rose hard, and finished with a violent dunk.
82 to 99.
After landing, Jordan pointed at Chen Yan in thanks. Chen Yan smiled and nodded.
As an MVP level player, he could switch between scoring and playmaking whenever he wanted.
Charlotte came back on offense.
Felton organized from the top of the arc, failed to find a clean opening, passed inside, then ran to the right wing to ask for the ball again and continue the possession.
He held the ball a little too long, and Michael Jordan could not stay quiet on the sideline anymore. He immediately returned to grumbling mode.
Felton heard him and was startled. Instead of hesitating further, he simply went all in and pulled up from the right wing for a 3 pointer.
Jordan nearly spat blood watching it.
In Jordan's eyes, none of the Bobcats players really knew how to play basketball, because he measured them by his own standards and demanded they reach his level.
Felton's shot did not have much structure behind it, but luckily, it was clean.
The ball swished through the net.
85 to 99.
Charlotte opened the fourth quarter with 2 straight 3 pointers and narrowed the gap.
On Phoenix's next possession, Chen Yan faked coming out to receive the ball, drew a double team, and created a shooting chance for White Chocolate Williams.
Unfortunately, Williams could not cash in. His 3 pointer clanked off the rim.
Charlotte also failed to cut further into the lead. After a series of passes, Gerald Wallace missed a jumper from the free throw line.
Chen Yan grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately pushed the fast break.
That was his 10th rebound of the game.
A 60 point triple double had arrived with ease.
Chen Yan advanced along the sideline. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson quickly trapped him, but Chen Yan flicked the ball forward with his right hand while still running, finding Grant Hill in the frontcourt.
Hill took 1 dribble and finished an easy layup.
85 to 101.
Chen Yan had his 14th assist.
Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace shook their heads at the same time. They truly could not figure out what Chen Yan wanted to do from one possession to the next.
Fortunately for Charlotte, their offense stayed alive. Stephen Jackson used a screen, stopped in the midrange area, and hit a short floater.
87 to 101.
This kind of back and forth scoring was also a strange source of pressure for the Bobcats.
Deep down, the players almost wished they could either erase the deficit in 1 burst or get blown out completely. A drawn out tug of war only meant Chen Yan's final stat line might become even more terrifying.
Phoenix had the ball again.
Chen Yan caught it on the wing, 1 step beyond the 3 point line.
Charlotte immediately sent a double team.
Chen Yan had already expected that level of pressure.
He instantly passed to Diaw, then cut toward the paint himself.
Using screens from DeAndre Jordan and Grant Hill, he redirected himself to the 3 point line on the opposite side.
Diaw found him with perfect chemistry.
Gerald Wallace rushed to recover, while Felton left White Chocolate Williams to help.
Just when everyone thought Chen Yan would finally shoot, he passed again.
He bounced the ball to White Chocolate Williams, who was cutting inside.
Williams caught it, took 1 step, and floated the ball up.
Swish.
The ball dropped cleanly through the net.
87 to 103.
That was White Chocolate's signature kind of shot, soft and reliable.
Chen Yan recorded his 15th assist.
Larry Brown called timeout. He had realized that Charlotte could not defend Chen Yan whether he focused on scoring or passing.
Chen Yan high fived his teammates as he walked off the floor. He did not believe the timeout would change anything.
The Bobcats players were still the same players. What they could not do in the first 3 quarters, they still would not be able to do in the fourth.
Larry Brown's headache only worsened.
If Chen Yan kept shooting wildly, Brown could intensify the double teams. But Chen Yan had chosen the hardest style to defend, mixing drives, shots, and passes together.
Brown could only temporarily return to single coverage, waiting for Chen Yan to show signs of driving before sending help.
It did not sound like a strategy capable of stopping Chen Yan, but Larry Brown had no better choice.
He could not just let Chen Yan keep feeding his teammates, either.
Chen Yan was in excellent form tonight. By the end of the third quarter, he had already drawn up his own blueprint.
He wanted a 70 point triple double.
Maybe even an 80 point triple double.
If he pulled it off, the achievement would be unprecedented and nearly impossible to match. Its shock value would not be any lower than his 101 point game.
The game resumed.
Chen Yan continued along the playmaking path for 2 possessions. Once he noticed the change in Charlotte's defensive strategy, he decisively switched back to his regular style.
With 9 minutes and 38 seconds left, Chen Yan isolated Gerald Wallace on the wing and scored, raising his total to 64 points.
A minute later, he found another isolation chance.
He dribbled between his legs again and again, mixed in a behind the back dribble to find rhythm, then drove left.
Gerald Wallace did not lose position. Mohammed also rotated into the correct help spot.
But they still could not stop Chen Yan.
Chen Yan showed absurd body control, hung in the air, leaned backward, and tossed the ball in with an extreme fadeaway.
His 66th point.
With 7 minutes and 31 seconds left, Chen Yan grabbed another defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor himself.
Gerald Wallace had no choice but to foul.
Chen Yan made both free throws.
68 points.
When Charlotte shifted its attention back to Chen Yan's individual scoring, he delivered his 16th assist at the 6 minute and 19 second mark.
The game had become Chen Yan's personal showcase.
He scored when he wanted to score.
He passed when he wanted to pass.
The Bobcats players had become the closest spectators in the building.
With 5 minutes and 49 seconds remaining, Chen Yan received a handoff from White Chocolate and immediately accelerated.
Gerald Wallace could not keep up and was beaten cleanly. Mohammed rotated over from the middle, only to be violently dunked on by Chen Yan.
His 70th point.
The commentators began shouting that even gravity could no longer hold Chen Yan down.
At that moment, the broadcast finally cut back to Michael Jordan.
His expression was no longer angry.
It was calm.
Or more accurately, numb.
Over the course of the game, Jordan's face had gone through an entire journey.
He entered with a smile.
Then came the furrowed brow.
Then came the angry roaring.
And now, finally, the blank stare.
.....
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