Chapter 514: True Brothers Basketball
As soon as the starters checked back in, the Suns immediately found their run and gun rhythm again.
The backcourt pairing of Nash and Chen Yan was simply too seamless. Both could initiate the offense, and both could finish it. That made them an absolute nightmare to defend.
Across the entire league, no other team had a backcourt combination like this. The Nash and Chen Yan two man game struck fear into every opponent, and it was one of the biggest reasons Phoenix had been able to dominate the league.
Stoudemire sat for the moment, while Jordan stayed on the floor to handle the rebounding. Diaw served as the release valve and initial passer, always ready to fling the ball ahead to Chen Yan or Nash the instant an opening appeared in transition.
In the second quarter alone, Diaw piled up 4 assists, a direct reflection of how smoothly the Suns were flowing in the open floor. Chen Yan scored 10 points in the quarter, but he did it with control, deliberately keeping his shot volume in check. Most of his scoring came from clean fast break attacks at the rim.
By halftime, the Suns had reclaimed the lead, 67 to 61.
Even so, they had not created much separation. Nowitzki had stayed hot from the latter part of the first quarter and was almost single handedly keeping Dallas close.
Chen Yan always told the media it made no difference who the Suns faced, but if he had truly been given a choice, he still would have preferred Portland over Dallas.
The Mavericks were not just strong on paper. They were loaded with seasoned veterans who had seen every playoff situation imaginable. The postseason was always a stage where star quality and experience mattered most. That was why every championship team needed older players who had been through wars before.
As the saying went, having an old Grant Hill on your team was like having a treasure.
The third quarter opened with Nowitzki immediately scoring again, using his trademark one legged fadeaway to get Dallas on the board first.
Chen Yan answered at once with a 3 from the top of the arc.
Ray Allen wanted to answer him right back from deep, but the shot was rushed and clanged off the front rim.
The Mavericks hustled back on defense, but Chen Yan still exploded up the floor, drawing the defense toward him. Just as everyone braced for the usual Nash and Chen Yan link up, Nash whipped out a beautifully imaginative no look pass instead.
Old Hill caught it, drove straight to the rim, and laid it in softly off the glass.
72 to 63.
Carlisle was starting to get uneasy.
Not because of the score itself, but because he could see the Suns slipping into the rhythm they loved most.
Once Phoenix started flowing in transition, everything became dangerous. That was what really worried him.
Carlisle was a tactical mastermind, but even he had no perfect answer for the Suns when they were pushing the pace and attacking off instinct.
At that point, the Mavericks could only place their hopes in Dirk Nowitzki.
Over the next several possessions, Dallas simplified everything. Kidd brought the ball up safely, got it across half court, and delivered it to Dirk as quickly as possible.
Nowitzki caught it on one side or the other and went to work with a string of nearly impossible fadeaways.
After watching it happen a few times in a row, some fans at home almost felt like they were caught in a loop.
Was this some kind of illusion?
Carlisle's logic was simple. If there was no great answer, then let the superstar force the issue.
That was the privilege of having a player like Dirk.
There was nothing wrong with the approach. Phoenix did the same thing with Chen Yan whenever the offense stalled. The difference was in the form it took.
Chen Yan could handle the ball from anywhere. He could pull up from 2 steps behind the 3 point line, or take it in the backcourt and attack all the way into the frontcourt by himself.
Dirk, being a big man, still needed teammates to feed him the ball.
That created limitations, and Phoenix began exploiting them by sending hard double teams at him in the third quarter.
Unlike the softer pressure from the first quarter, the Suns' doubles now were relentless. Even when Dirk tried to work off the ball, Phoenix had one defender in front of him and another behind him, making catches difficult.
Even a great passer like Kidd could not thread the ball into Nowitzki cleanly every time against that kind of attention.
For a few minutes, Dallas adjusted. Once Dirk was doubled, his teammates attacked the resulting openings. They converted a series of clean looks and even managed to trim the deficit to 6 at one point.
That gave Carlisle and the Mavericks a brief sense that they had steadied the game.
It turned out to be an illusion.
With 5:16 left in the third, Carlisle gave Nowitzki a breather. That was when everything collapsed.
Dirk checked out at 5:16 and did not return until 1:49 remained. In those 3 plus minutes, Dallas scored only 2 points, both from the foul line.
Without Dirk's gravity on the floor, the Mavericks' motion offense turned shaky and disjointed. Terry and Artest combined to shoot 0 for 9 during that stretch. They had to absorb extra shots with Dirk resting, but neither could carry the offense.
The Suns pounced on it, ripping off their own run and stretching the lead to 15 by the end of the quarter.
That was when everyone truly understood just how important Nowitzki was to Dallas.
The fourth quarter began, and Chen Yan pulled out his sniper rifle.
Bang.
A dead eye 3 from 2 steps behind the arc, the kind of shot that felt like a headshot from 800 miles away.
The lead grew again, and the crowd inside US Airways Center roared. A Game 1 win was coming into view.
On Dallas' next trip, the Mavericks committed a turnover.
As the saying went, the more desperate you got, the messier you became, and the messier you became, the more desperate you got.
Phoenix stole it and immediately ran a V shaped break, finishing with a Hill layup.
Now the lead had pushed past 20.
That felt like a real threshold. You could see the energy drain out of the Mavericks.
Carlisle did not explode in anger. He just barked a few instructions, trying to keep his players locked in.
Down more than 20, against Phoenix, on the Suns' home floor, the odds of turning the game around were already slim.
Carlisle was too rational to pretend otherwise.
Still, he did not wave the white flag immediately. This was a series, not just one night. If he gave in too early, it could hurt his team psychologically going forward.
Ray Allen finally knocked down a corner 3, and Dallas cut into the margin a little.
Phoenix did not even hesitate. They inbounded quickly and attacked before Dallas could settle.
Nash pushed up, found no immediate opening, and slowed at the arc to wait for the floor to balance.
Stoudemire came up and screened. Nash bounced it to him.
Stoudemire took 2 long strides and finished a layup.
The large score gap had loosened Dallas' defense a little by now.
It was obvious the Suns were making a conscious effort to feed Stoudemire.
They were not padding his numbers. They were building him back up.
After scoring on back to back possessions, Stoudemire began to feel a bit of his old rhythm return.
"Amare, shoot it with confidence. I'll get the rebound for you!"
Chen Yan's words in transition defense nearly brought tears to Stoudemire's eyes.
What was true brotherhood?
That was true brotherhood.
No long speech was necessary. A simple you shoot, I'll rebound was enough.
To Chen Yan, that was what real brotherhood basketball looked like. Not just collecting talented teammates, but lifting them when they needed it most.
Stoudemire had no idea how a 198 centimeter Chen Yan intended to crash the glass for him, but the message still hit him hard.
On the very next possession, Stoudemire shot again without hesitation.
Clang.
The miss rang out through the arena.
Then, in the very next second, a dark figure flashed past Artest.
As Chen Yan rose, Artest could only blurt out in panic, "Oh no, I lost him!"
Clang!
Chen Yan hammered the ball home over Dirk Nowitzki.
The force of the dunk knocked Dirk off balance and sent the crowd into another frenzy.
Another playoff highlight belonged to Chen Yan.
Stoudemire was thrilled too. Even if his own shot had missed, he had at least helped create the opening for one of Chen Yan's most violent plays.
Carlisle called timeout.
That dunk was the final blow to the Mavericks' spirit.
After the timeout, Carlisle finally gave up on the game and sent in the reserves. Rather than burn more energy, he decided it was better to save his team for the rest of the series.
The Dallas starters seemed to feel the same way. When the camera found them, there was not much emotion on their faces. It was only one road game, after all. The series was still long.
In the end, the Suns rolled to a 121 to 101 victory.
They took G1 in emphatic fashion.
.....
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