Chapter 690: Battle of Arch Rivals
The news of the Knicks upset victory ignited the entire basketball world.
Everyone outside was praising Chen Yan and the Knicks.
Chen Yan himself remained very calm.
He would not get carried away just because they had passed the 1st round. If he had that kind of personality, it would have been difficult for him to achieve such brilliant results over the past few years.
For Chen Yan, the upset was only the beginning, not the end.
New York's next opponent was the Nets, led by Deron Williams and Anthony.
Fans from both sides placed enormous importance on the outcome of this series.
Knicks fans declared that they could lose to anyone except the Nets.
Nets fans stated that they would overturn the Knicks in this series.
The Knicks and Nets had a rivalry similar to the one between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
2 teams in the same city were bound to have friction.
This rivalry could be traced back to Christmas 1984.
On Christmas Day in 1984, Bernard King scored 60 points against the Nets, not only breaking the Knicks team scoring record, but also setting a mark that stood for nearly 30 years.
Even more astonishing, he scored 40 points in the 1st half, a half time scoring record that remained untouched for a long time.
Of course, that record had been broken by Chen Yan this season.
As the Playoff berths were confirmed one by one in 1994, a fierce battle seemed inevitable between Pat Riley's beloved Knicks and the rising Nets led by Dell Curry.
In the regular season, the Nets held an overwhelming 4 to 1 record against New York and completely crushed the Knicks in an April game.
Because of that, a confident Williams boldly declared, "If we meet the Knicks in the 1st round, I guarantee we will beat them."
He did fulfill that boast, at least in 1 game.
In the end, however, the Knicks easily won the series, 3 to 1.
When Kidd arrived in New Jersey in 2001, the situation changed.
The Nets had long lived in the shadow of the Knicks, but Kidd's arrival changed everything. Under Kidd's leadership, the Nets went 24 and 7 against New York, completely dominating the win percentage, including a 4 to 0 sweep in the Playoffs.
In 2002, the entire Knicks team had already circled the games against the Nets on their tactical board early on.
However, Byron Scott, then head coach of the Nets, said that the Nets and Knicks were not arch rivals, because arch rivals usually described 2 strong teams, like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Knicks star Allan Houston refused to accept that.
He scored 29 points and helped his team narrowly beat the Nets by 2 points, giving Scott the strongest possible response.
There were many, many more stories between these 2 teams.
This year, after being reinforced, the Nets were full of confidence that they could beat New York.
They not only had Anthony and Deron, but also home court advantage.
Knicks fans certainly were not convinced.
They had Chen Yan.
And the Knicks had just eliminated the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference.
Their momentum was at its peak.
For a rivalry like this, NBA commissioner David Stern was naturally delighted.
This series meant storylines.
Storylines meant traffic.
And traffic meant real money.
Time quickly arrived at May 12, the day of Game 1 between the Knicks and the Nets.
New Jersey's home court was packed, and the atmosphere was hotter than ever.
Every fan wore the white shirts distributed by the team, creating an imposing scene across the entire arena.
Taylor Swift cheered for Chen Yan from the sideline.
New Jersey and New York were separated only by a river, so she could attend every away game in this series.
ESPN commentator Magic Johnson said, "This will definitely be a shootout. The Knicks have shooters like Chen Yan and Curry, and the Nets have Deron and Anthony."
Van Gundy said, "This series looks like it will be another offensive battle. If the Nets want to win, they must show stronger firepower than the Knicks."
The 2 commentators chatted before the game, both expecting tonight to become a high quality shootout.
Over on TNT, Barkley and Kenny Smith were also predicting Chen Yan's numbers.
Barkley believed Chen Yan would score at least 50 plus, while Kenny said 30 plus 10 plus 10 was the minimum.
Chen Yan's explosive statistics had spoiled the fans appetite.
Now, outside expectations for him were extremely high.
The starters for both teams came out, and Chen Yan high fived Anthony.
Their relationship was decent.
During the 2008 Olympics, Chen Yan had even taken Anthony for a massage, and the media had captured it.
It was that experience that caused Chen Yan, James, Anthony, Wade, and Paul to be jokingly called the Five Tigers of the Red Dust by fans online.
In reality, Chen Yan did not have much private interaction with them.
His personal life was relatively simple.
The Knicks starting lineup was the same as the previous round.
Stephen Curry, Chen Yan, Shane Battier, Al Harrington, and Kenyon Martin.
The Nets starting lineup was Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, Anthony, Sheldon Williams, and Lopez.
Gerald Wallace carried the heavy responsibility of guarding Chen Yan tonight.
Wallace was considered a defensive stalwart, but he had already been in the league for 10 years, and age was a factor.
It would be too difficult for him to keep up with Chen Yan every possession.
The Nets coaching staff understood this as well.
Their pregame philosophy was to score as much as possible, then slow the pace into half court offense.
This was almost the standard approach for every team that played against the Knicks.
The game began.
Lopez won the opening tip against Kenyon Martin, and the Nets had the 1st possession.
Deron crossed half court.
Anthony called for the ball, but Deron did not give it to him. Instead, he called for a screen at the top of the arc.
Since arriving in New Jersey, Deron and Anthony had been competing for leadership, which was currently the Nets biggest hidden concern.
After the screen, Deron moved to the right.
Lopez rolled a little slowly, which caused Deron to be double teamed by the Knicks.
Deron passed the ball laterally to Anthony.
After leaving the Jazz, Deron's pick and roll effectiveness had dropped significantly.
After all, not every big man had Boozer's basketball IQ, mid range shot, and agility.
Now, Deron mostly scored by isolating 1 on 1 at the top of the arc.
This was the method Deron preferred.
Under Sloan, he had felt restricted. That silver haired old man always made him constantly set screens and seek picks.
Deron believed true superstars should isolate and score.
He did not understand that this was Sloan's way of protecting his body.
Sloan knew how to extend players careers and keep them healthy.
Deron only cared about the present.
Anthony received the ball and went into a continuous triple threat.
Battier did not bite.
The next second, Anthony quickly put the ball on the floor, dribbled only once, and immediately pulled up for a jumper.
This kind of sudden shot was extremely difficult to defend.
Whether it went in depended entirely on the shooter's touch.
"Swish!"
2 points made.
It seemed Anthony was in good form tonight.
.....
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