Chapter 613: No Stat Line Can Surprise You
Chen Yan did not pay attention to Michael Jordan's expression on the sideline. His focus was entirely on himself.
Tonight was a game for him to release his anger. He wanted to show that anger to management, to the fans, and even to the entire world.
The Bobcats were simply unlucky. They could only blame their own bad timing for running into Chen Yan on a night like this.
Felton dribbled past half court, then passed to Stephen Jackson after a pick and roll. Chen Yan did not guard him tightly, giving him room to shoot.
Stephen Jackson pulled up.
This veteran of the Warriors' We Believe upset had great confidence in his jumper.
"Swish!"
2 points.
7 to 4.
Phoenix possession.
Chen Yan moved to the top of the arc and took a handoff from Jason Williams.
Chen Yan palmed the ball with 1 hand and saw that the Bobcats still had no intention of double teaming him. He decisively put the ball on the floor and went into isolation.
To be honest, Chen Yan liked opponents like the Bobcats. Their overall defensive ability was average, and their stubbornness was impressive.
This possession came easily.
After a fake, Chen Yan switched the ball from his right hand to his left, lowered his body, and burst forward 1 step. Stephen Jackson, having been beaten on the previous possession, instinctively retreated 2 steps.
Chen Yan pulled up directly from the high arc and shot.
He never deliberately chased 2 pointers or 3 pointers. If the opportunity was there, he shot decisively.
That was Chen Yan's scoring philosophy.
Charlotte came back down and executed a clean give and go. Gerald Wallace scored inside with a high bank shot.
9 to 6.
Phoenix possession.
Chen Yan ran all the way to the logo to receive the ball. Jason Williams understood immediately and fed it to him.
After catching it, Chen Yan quickly stepped into the shot and fired.
No contest.
It went in.
12 to 6.
"Damn it! Get up on him! Why are you giving him that much space?" Jordan roared from the sideline again.
Bobcats coach Larry Brown shouted as well, "Get into him! Be more aggressive! This is our home court! Damn it!"
Larry Brown looked refined, but he was an old school roughneck. His sideline vocabulary often started with curses.
Chen Yan had already scored Phoenix's first 12 points without missing a shot.
Stephen Jackson had a pounding headache. Guarding Chen Yan was not just physically exhausting, requiring him to chase him all over the floor, but mentally draining too.
You never knew when Chen Yan would shoot.
You never knew how he would shoot.
"Why don't you give me a step too?" Stephen Jackson said beside Chen Yan during Charlotte's offensive possession.
Chen Yan did not answer.
Anger made him thirsty, and he did not want to waste any words on Stephen Jackson.
Stephen Jackson used a screen to get free. The moment he found a sliver of space beyond the 3 point line, he pulled up.
"Swish!"
In truth, Stephen Jackson's extra effort was unnecessary. Even if he had shot right in front of Chen Yan, Chen Yan would have done little more than raise a hand.
He wanted to save more energy for the offensive end.
Chen Yan continued with the same setup as the previous possession, catching the ball 2 steps beyond the 3 point line. He first faked a drive to the right, then blasted past his defender with lightning speed before pulling back for a deep 3 pointer.
Stephen Jackson lunged with everything he had.
"Clang!"
The shot missed, but the referee's whistle blew.
A foul on a 3 point attempt.
Jordan finally could not stay seated. Earlier, he had been cursing from his chair, but now he sprang up like he had swallowed a barrel of gunpowder.
"You called terrible fouls when I played, and you're still terrible now? Do you only know how to chew on that whistle?"
The referee heard Jordan's roar, but pretended he did not. He did not dare look in that direction.
The pressure from the Basketball God was not just talk.
Chen Yan made 2 of the 3 free throws.
14 to 9.
His personal total rose to 14 points.
Charlotte possession.
Stephen Jackson was a tough man, and Chen Yan scoring Phoenix's first 14 points over him clearly frustrated him.
After catching the ball, Jackson pulled up for a 3 pointer right over Chen Yan.
Missed.
DeAndre Jordan secured the rebound and passed to Jason Williams.
Williams took 1 dribble, then sent it ahead to Chen Yan.
Stephen Jackson failed to get into Chen Yan's body on the first step, giving him space to accelerate.
Once Chen Yan picked up speed, it was too late for Jackson to recover.
The Bobcats' defense did not fully collapse. Felton and Gerald Wallace had already retreated to half court. They did not dare sink too deep inside the 3 point line, because if they retreated too far, Chen Yan would pull up for a transition 3 pointer. He had done that too many times.
Chen Yan saw the 2 Charlotte defenders hesitate.
Then he accelerated again.
He split the gap between them, and Felton and Wallace instantly lost their defensive positions.
Felton instinctively grabbed Chen Yan's shoulder.
"Ah!"
Chen Yan shouted, took 1 more step, and tossed the ball up for the layup.
The ball kissed the glass and dropped in.
And one.
Chen Yan stepped to the free throw line again.
Jordan was furious, but not just because Chen Yan had scored again.
What truly irritated him was that some fans had begun chanting, "MVP!"
That's right. Some Bobcats fans had switched sides.
After his wild December and his 101 point game, Chen Yan had gained a massive wave of new fans.
Barkley laughed. "Michael does not look happy. The home crowd is chanting MVP for the opponent."
Kenny Smith said, "Chen's performance deserves it. He has accounted for all 16 of Phoenix's points so far."
"Swish!"
As soon as Kenny finished speaking, Chen Yan made the free throw.
His 17th point.
Larry Brown quickly called timeout.
Chen Yan looked unstoppable tonight. He had scored 17 points in less than 5 minutes of the first quarter.
Fans watching on television were buzzing. Some even felt that Chen Yan's performance tonight looked more exaggerated than his 101 point game.
After the timeout, both teams kept the same lineups.
Larry Brown adjusted his tactics slightly, assigning Charlotte's core, Gerald Wallace, to defend Chen Yan.
For whatever reason, Stephen Jackson's performance so far tonight had been far from satisfactory.
Bobcats possession.
Mohammed came out to set a screen for Wallace, who took 1 dribble and passed it back to Mohammed.
DeAndre Jordan was too eager to protect the rim. He jumped too aggressively, bringing his arms down on the contest.
The whistle blew.
Mohammed went to the free throw line and made both.
17 to 11.
Phoenix possession.
This time, Chen Yan was double teamed the moment he caught the ball. Charlotte had clearly adjusted during the timeout.
The Bobcats chose to leave Jason Williams open, since his outside shooting threat was not especially significant.
Chen Yan quickly passed the ball to Williams, then moved without the ball toward Williams's side.
After receiving it back, Chen Yan took 1 explosive step and drove inside.
Mohammed came up to help, while Wallace and Felton chased Chen Yan from behind and from the side.
With a wolf in front and tigers behind, Chen Yan unleashed a gorgeous Euro step in the paint, then finished a reverse layup with his left hand.
It was graceful and violent at the same time.
No matter how many people defended him, Chen Yan's eyes saw only the rim.
After spending most of the quarter venting his anger, Chen Yan gradually regained his composure.
He delivered 2 brilliant passes in a row against the double team.
With 1 minute and 21 seconds left in the first quarter, Chen Yan was finally subbed out to rest.
His temporary stat line was 28 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds.
After his insane run in December, everyone thought Chen Yan's numbers would inevitably fall. After all, things usually reverse when they reach an extreme.
Who could have imagined that Chen Yan would keep rampaging through January, even scoring 101 points in a single game?
After witnessing that 101 point masterpiece, fans no longer felt shocked by any stat line Chen Yan produced.
That made people believe Chen Yan's season scoring average would easily clear 40 plus points per game, with even the possibility of breaking 50 plus.
In the long history of the NBA, only 6 players had ever averaged 35 plus points in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Chen Yan.
After winning the scoring title last year, Chen Yan had already joined that elite group.
And this year, his performance was even crazier.
.....
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