Chapter 693: The Most Pathetic MVP
In the 2nd quarter, both teams brought in their substitutes as usual.
The Nets bench once again outperformed the Knicks.
New York's substitutes were truly inadequate. Barea was their only real offensive threat, but his serious flaw was that he was too short. Once the opponent defended him tightly, his drives, passes, and shots would all be severely restricted.
The world of basketball was like this.
Height came 1st.
Very few people possessed Iverson's talent, and even a player as strong as Iverson needed teammates to help cover for him on defense, which invisibly increased the defensive pressure on the entire team.
The lead kept shrinking, and Barkley was already getting restless.
"Nelson needs to make a change soon," Barkley said. "He has to put Chen Yan back in. Otherwise, that advantage they built in the 1st quarter is about to disappear."
Kenny Smith smiled and said, "The Knicks bench strength is definitely the lowest among the 16 teams in the Playoffs. Completing a Black 8 upset with this roster would truly be a miracle inside a miracle."
Without realizing it, Kenny had once again elevated Chen Yan.
5 minutes into the 2nd quarter, the lead had narrowed to only 4 points.
The Knicks made a substitution, bringing Chen Yan and Battier back in.
Nelson did not make a full 5 man change. He kept Barea and Turiaf, who had been playing reasonably well, on the court.
Nelson was exactly that kind of coach.
He did not draw too strict a line between starters and substitutes. As long as a player was in good form and playing well, he was willing to give him a chance.
It was precisely because of this that he became the only coach in NBA history to lead a team to a Black 8 upset 2 times.
A conventional coach would never achieve such a feat.
The Nets also brought in Deron and Lopez, while Anthony remained on the bench resting.
The Nets coach was Avery Johnson, a former disciple of Nelson. He understood some of his mentor's ideas.
But similarly, Nelson also understood Avery Johnson.
So this game was also a contest between master and apprentice.
Facts soon proved that Avery Johnson's substitution was a mistake.
He did not bring in Anthony, their primary offensive threat, in time.
Although Deron was also an excellent offensive player, his ability to create offense was not on the same level as Anthony's.
Chen Yan used his individual offense to suppress the Nets attack.
He immediately hit a 3 pointer off a screen, then quickly counterattacked and scored a 2 plus 1 against Deron.
The Nets response was lukewarm.
Across 2 possessions, only Deron hit a mid range jumper using a pick and roll.
Within 3 minutes, Chen Yan led the Knicks to stretch the lead back to more than 10 points.
Chen Yan scored 15 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound in that quarter alone, bringing his halftime numbers to 34 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.
Chen Yan's focus tonight was scoring, so his other statistics did not increase significantly.
65 to 54.
At the end of the 1st half, the Knicks led by 11 points.
"Chen Yan is really putting in work tonight," Kenny Smith said with a smile. "The Nets defense is clearly struggling."
"If they want to close the gap and even win this game, either Anthony or Deron needs to explode," Barkley said. "If they keep playing this lukewarm, it will not work."
"With Chen Yan in this kind of form tonight," Kenny added, "1 explosive performance might not be enough. Both of them need to step up."
After Kenny finished speaking, both commentators nodded at the same time.
This lead was not particularly large, but if the Nets were careless, it could easily be stretched even further.
During halftime, Avery Johnson did not dare be negligent.
He certainly did not want to lose at home.
In the previous series, the Celtics had fallen into a passive position precisely because they lost a home game, allowing New York to complete the Black 8 upset.
Avery Johnson's strategy was simple.
Double team Chen Yan.
Up high, 2 perimeter players would trap him.
Down low, 1 big man and 1 perimeter player would trap him.
If he drove inside, the whole team would collapse on him.
It sounded brainless, but after thinking about it carefully, there really were not many better options.
Coaches usually used 2 methods to defend Chen Yan.
If Chen Yan exploded as a scorer, they would double team him with multiple players.
If Chen Yan was constantly assisting in that game, they would single cover him and focus on defending the perimeter shooters.
In short, it was like treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.
Chen Yan's scoring decreased in the quarter, as he only scored 10 points, but his efficiency was higher.
He used only 6 shots and also dished out 4 assists.
Not only did the Nets fail to narrow the lead, the gap was stretched even further.
In the 3rd quarter, Nelson continued to play Barea.
Barea had already scored 16 points tonight, playing aggressively and fearlessly.
His impact on the court was even better than Curry's.
Nelson was also very bold, directly letting Curry rest on the bench for a few extra minutes.
Barea remained decisive with his drives in the 4th quarter, drawing 2 fouls from Deron in a short period of time.
Deron was very frustrated.
Before tonight, he had been thinking about how to limit Curry's 3 point shooting. As a result, Nelson, that mad scientist, used Barea to attack the paint, catching Deron somewhat off guard.
6 minutes into the 4th quarter, the Knicks finally brought Curry back in because Nelson saw that the Nets were already intentionally collapsing their defense.
Chen Yan changed his playstyle in the latter part of the final quarter, focusing on driving and dishing.
This change produced a miraculous effect.
Curry was the happiest player on the floor, sinking 3 three pointers in just half a quarter.
The game quickly reached the final 1 minute and 30 seconds, with the Knicks leading by 12 points.
The Nets were unable to turn the tide and pulled all their starters.
111 to 99.
The Knicks ultimately secured the road victory without much trouble, tying the series 1 to 1.
Chen Yan finished the game with 51 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Chen Yan played more like a supporting player in the final quarter, mostly assisting teammates and creating opportunities for them, but he was absolutely the main character of the entire game.
Undoubtedly, this was another night that belonged to Chen Yan.
After the game, the commentators stated that if the Nets wanted to win, Anthony and Deron Williams would have to explode every game, because their explosive performances were equivalent to Chen Yan's normal play.
The next day, however, the most reported news was about Durant.
For once, Chen Yan was overshadowed by Durant on the front page.
That was because the Regular Season MVP had been announced, and Durant was the recipient.
The Celtics had the best record in the Eastern Conference, and Durant's numbers were also impressive, averaging 30 plus 8 plus 4.
David Stern saw that the stats and record were both there, so with a wave of his hand, Durant became this year's Regular Season MVP.
Stern intended to promote new talent.
He did not want Chen Yan to stand alone above everyone else. He wanted to create 2 transcendent talents to guarantee the NBA's viewership.
He simply had not expected Durant to be eliminated in the 1st round.
After all, MVP voting had ended before the Playoffs, but the award itself was only announced at the beginning of the 2nd round.
On the front page, the photo of Durant holding the MVP trophy was particularly striking.
His smile was somewhat bitter.
At this moment, this honor felt like a huge mountain pressing down on him, making it difficult to breathe and leaving him incredibly tormented.
He said a few simple words, but his mind was so muddled that after he returned, he had completely forgotten what he had said in his speech.
Nowitzki breathed a sigh of relief.
He was finally no longer the most pathetic MVP.
Chen Yan did not mind that Durant had stolen his spotlight today.
But for Durant, this was definitely not the kind of attention he wanted.
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]