Chapter 694: Reaching Match Point
Chen Yan did not understand why Durant had not replied to his congratulatory text.
Did he secretly go celebrate alone?
Chen Yan shook his head, indicating that he did not care. Everyone had their own private life.
What Chen Yan did not know was that Durant had been sleeping at home for the past 2 days, burying his head under the covers.
Durant had shut himself away.
This time, he had completely shut himself away.
Attentive fans online had already noticed that Durant had not logged into his social media accounts for 2 days.
In the past, he would have gone online to argue with haters.
But this time, he was truly broken.
Chen Yan did not go celebrate with Durant.
The Playoff schedule was tight, and Game 3 was about to begin.
For the Knicks players, the best news was that New Jersey was close enough to New York that traveling back and forth would not waste too much time on the road.
Of course, this was also good news for the Nets players.
The Knicks played very easily in Game 3.
In the 1st quarter, Chen Yan did not perform much, only recording 7 points and 3 assists. Even so, the Knicks still led 33 to 21.
In the 2nd quarter, New York was led by Barea, who had played well in the previous game.
He was still in good form tonight, starting with a beautiful drive and dish, accurately assisting Turiaf for a dunk inside.
The Nets bench players were clearly not in form.
Perhaps they had been affected by the loss in the previous game, or perhaps they were intimidated by the terrifying atmosphere of the Knicks home court.
6 minutes into the 2nd quarter, the lead had already been stretched to 17 points.
The Nets were already showing signs of collapse, and Chen Yan and Curry came on at that moment, determined to deliver the fatal blow.
Avery Johnson also quickly brought in Deron, Anthony, and Lopez.
He understood very clearly that if they could not withstand this wave of offense, then the Nets game tonight could basically be declared over early.
However, even Deron and Anthony found it difficult to stop the Knicks momentum tonight.
Curry immediately used a screen to shoot a 3 pointer.
Swish!
Chen Yan was even more unreasonable, hitting a 3 pointer over Anthony's defense on the next possession.
The lead suddenly reached 23 points, and the game had not even reached halftime.
The Nets morale completely deflated.
Deron and Anthony were not players with especially strong willpower.
At halftime, the Knicks led 72 to 47, a 25 point advantage.
If the 1st 2 games had been back and forth, then in this game, the Knicks made the Nets look like a team that did not belong at the NBA level.
Chen Yan had 16 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds at halftime.
The numbers were very ordinary by his standards.
With his teammates in good form tonight, he did not need to do too much.
Giving his teammates opportunities also helped him conserve energy.
Many people had imagined that Anthony and Chen Yan could ignite sparks, just like Anthony and Kobe.
But the reality was that they did not.
That was because Chen Yan's playing style was completely different from Kobe's.
Kobe's style would ignite Anthony's fighting spirit and desire for physical confrontation.
Chen Yan leaned more toward outside shooting and agile breakthroughs, creating the feeling that he was gently killing you.
In the 2nd half, Chen Yan and Curry continued playing.
A large lead did not make them hold back.
There was no politeness in the Playoffs.
If they could turn the game into a blowout, it might break the opponent's psychological defense and make the series easier to win.
Moreover, the home fans were excited.
They wanted to see the Knicks crush their cross town rivals, and Chen Yan did not want to spoil the fans fun.
The Nets wanted to respond, but they were powerless.
Deron and Anthony both went cold in the 3rd quarter, and the Nets could only rely on Lopez to score some points by forcing his way inside.
But the output was very limited.
After 3 quarters, the Knicks led by 33 points.
A tragedy was about to unfold.
Nelson pulled Chen Yan and Curry, and the other starters also did not plan to stay on the court.
Keeping starters on the floor with a large lead could easily attract resentment and dirty fouls from opponents.
If a starter got injured at a time like this, it would be a pure loss.
"It seems Chen Yan will not be playing again tonight," Kenny Smith said with a smile.
"Chen played so easily tonight," Barkley said. "28 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in only 3 quarters. That is what a superstar looks like when he does not even need to break a sweat."
Chen Yan was not the protagonist on the court tonight.
Curry scored a game high 33 points.
After coming off, Chen Yan sat on the bench laughing and joking with Curry, perfectly happy to be a supporting player as long as the team won.
The Knicks won this home game 123 to 92, a dominant 31 point victory.
6 Knicks players scored in double digits.
Besides Chen Yan and Curry, Al Harrington had 17 points, Kenyon Martin had 15 points, Battier had 13 points, and Barea had 13 points.
After the game, Avery Johnson could not hide his disappointment.
"We did not play to our potential in this game. Our players were a little complacent on both ends of the court. We will go back, watch the film, identify our shortcomings, and work hard to make a comeback next game."
However, in the next game, the Nets did not make a comeback.
They played well in the 1st quarter, trailing by only 4 points.
Anthony scored 13 points in a single quarter and was in good form, but he became a little too excited. Halfway through the 2nd quarter, he had already committed 3 fouls.
His interrupted playing time completely disrupted his hot shooting touch.
The Nets could only rely on Deron to hold on desperately.
Without Anthony, the Nets were a pure 2nd tier team.
If Deron had to lead the team alone, whether they could even make the Playoffs would be a question.
At halftime, the Knicks lead was once again 15 points.
Chen Yan had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists at halftime.
His rebounding numbers exploded tonight. In the 1st half, he repeatedly grabbed rebounds and drove coast to coast for scores.
However, the fans were still not completely satisfied.
The reason was simple.
They had not seen Chen Yan's explosive scoring.
If you asked fans what they loved most about Chen Yan, the answer would definitely be his exaggerated scoring ability and explosive scoring numbers.
But Chen Yan had clearly reined it in across these 2 games.
Actually, it was not that he was holding back.
Rather, his teammates had been in good form in these 2 games, allowing him to create shooting opportunities for those around him while reducing unreasonable shots and improving efficiency.
So far tonight, Chen Yan's efficiency was remarkably high, scoring 18 points on only 10 shots.
He maintained this high efficiency into the 2nd half.
Chen Yan also scored 18 points in the 2nd half, producing a very balanced performance across both halves.
Anthony's efficiency was also good in the 3rd quarter, as he scored 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting.
But at the start of the 4th quarter, he quickly committed consecutive fouls and fouled out.
After leaving the court, Anthony angrily walked off amid the cheers and laughter of the home fans, kicking a water bottle in frustration as he entered the player tunnel.
Anthony's prediction was correct.
After he left the game, the Nets officially lost their ability to counterattack.
112 to 92.
The Knicks took another game.
Leading 3 to 1 in the series, the Knicks had already reached match point.
.....
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