Chapter 521: Taking the Off the Ball Strategy to the Extreme
The Suns stayed committed to putting the game in Chen Yan's hands.
This time Nash simplified everything. He did not even call for a screen. He just dribbled at the top of the arc and waited for Chen Yan to run into space.
Kidd saw it coming, but he did not dare crowd Nash. Nash was one of the best ball handlers and passers in the league. If Kidd overplayed him and got beat, the entire defense would collapse.
Dampier also made a different choice on this possession. He stayed home instead of stepping out, leaving Artest to do all the chasing himself.
At this point Artest felt less like a defender and more like a hunting dog. Every trip down the floor, he was either tracking Chen Yan or trying to catch up to him.
Chen Yan caught the ball, gave a brief stop fake, then exploded the instant Artest lunged. That tiny shift in rhythm created enough separation for him to beat Artest in 1 step.
He drove straight into the restricted area, pulled Ray Allen over as the helper, then whipped the ball out to the perimeter.
Grant Hill was wide open.
He drilled the 3.
9 to 10.
Dallas came back down and tried to get Nowitzki into another mismatch, but Phoenix still refused to give it to him.
The Suns were locked in on doubling Dirk. They did not just want to contest him. They wanted to make it hard for him to even start his move.
Forced to give it up, Nowitzki kicked the ball back out to Kidd.
Kidd took the open jumper without hesitation and knocked it down.
11 to 10.
Phoenix's defensive idea was simple. They would not let Dirk find a rhythm, they would stay attached to Ray Allen on the perimeter, and they would live with the other Mavericks taking shots.
Back on offense, Chen Yan changed directions again, and Artest kept chasing, already looking worn down by all the extra movement.
This time Stoudemire planted himself around the right elbow and screened Artest cleanly. Chen Yan curled toward the baseline, and Dampier hesitated.
Should he switch or stay?
If he stayed back, Chen Yan would get daylight. If he stepped out, he risked getting embarrassed in space.
There was no time to think. Dampier followed instinct and lunged out.
Chen Yan's eyes locked onto him, but the ball went the other way.
No look pass.
Stoudemire cut hard to the rim, absorbed Artest's contact, and forced the ball in.
11 to 12.
Kenny Smith laughed on the broadcast.
"Stoudemire is getting easy money tonight. Chen Yan keeps dragging the defense all over the floor and opening lanes for him."
Barkley followed immediately.
"That's the problem Dallas has right now. Every time Dampier steps out to deal with Chen Yan, the paint opens up behind him. Dampier is out there to rebound and protect the rim. If Phoenix keeps pulling him away from the basket, he's losing his value."
Carlisle had inserted Dampier to change the look of the game. Instead, he had exposed the exact weakness Phoenix wanted to attack.
Dallas went back to work, but Ray Allen's next 3 rattled out.
The Suns pushed again.
This time Chen Yan took over personally.
He started by attacking off the catch after curling around Diaw. Once Nowitzki switched onto him, Chen Yan drove straight past him. Dirk simply could not match that kind of lateral quickness, especially while carrying such a heavy offensive load himself.
After beating Dirk, Chen Yan faked the drive, got Artest to lean toward Stoudemire, and then floated the ball in himself.
Stoudemire's strong start had done its job. Artest had started shading toward him on the drive, and Chen Yan took advantage.
On the next Dallas possession, Kidd tried to thread a pass into a pick and roll window.
Chen Yan read it perfectly.
He jumped the lane, took the ball cleanly, and sprinted out on the break.
Nowitzki and Kidd both got back, but Chen Yan attacked anyway. He first shifted right, then snapped the ball back left, changing direction twice in front of Dirk before taking off from around the free throw line.
Dirk tried to recover, but Chen Yan went straight through the contact and finished for a 2 plus 1.
Dirk could only shake his head.
He had seen trailing 3s. He had seen trailing pull up jumpers. He had never seen somebody turn a trailing layup into a routine weapon.
As Chen Yan walked to the line, the arena broke into a thunderous chant.
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
This was his first home game after officially winning the award, and the crowd had been waiting for exactly this moment.
He knocked down the free throw.
Carlisle called timeout.
After the break, Dallas finally changed the lineup.
Antoine Wright replaced Dampier.
Carlisle still wanted to answer Phoenix with mobility. He just no longer trusted Dampier to survive in the actions being run at Chen Yan.
Phoenix did not change anything. D'Antoni simply told his players to keep playing exactly the same way and to shoot decisively when the windows came.
Dallas went right back to Dirk on the weak side.
The Mavericks wanted to clear the floor and let him work, but Phoenix denied him again. Chen Yan and Stoudemire pinched him immediately in the middle.
Dirk kicked the ball out to Ray Allen. Diaw flew at him. The chain reaction left Antoine Wright open.
Ray Allen recognized it right away and made the pass.
Wright had just checked in and clearly was not comfortable. Even with all that space, he still needed time to gather himself. After lining it up, he let it go.
Miss.
Chen Yan pulled down the rebound and gave it to Nash to organize.
By this point his box score was growing in every category. He was not just scoring and creating, he was cleaning the glass too.
Nash pushed it ahead to Grant Hill, but Dallas had already gotten 3 men back inside the arc. Hill wisely slowed it down and sent the ball back to the top.
Chen Yan never stopped moving.
He circled, cut, changed pace, and used Stoudemire and Diaw like moving walls. The Mavericks kept tracking him, but every switch and recovery created another crack somewhere else.
He caught it again, this time against Antoine Wright.
Chen Yan showed the ball high, gave a sharp shot fake, then drove hard middle.
Artest immediately came from the side to trap.
He had no choice. If Wright defended Chen Yan alone, the next thing Dallas would hear was the rim rattling.
Chen Yan found the opening before the trap fully closed and slipped the ball through to Diaw.
Diaw had space to shoot, but that was not what he saw. He took 1 dribble toward the paint, drew Nowitzki across, and then fed Stoudemire inside.
Another 2 handed hammer.
13 to 20.
Chen Yan did not get the assist, but everyone in the building knew where the possession had really started. His movement bent the defense, his drive forced the trap, and the entire play unfolded from there.
On the sideline D'Antoni clapped over and over, almost in disbelief.
This was not even the exact plan he had drawn up before the game.
The Suns were generating this flow on their own. It was built on their feel, their chemistry, and the fact that every player on the floor understood what the defense feared most.
Phoenix had pushed the off the ball strategy as far as it could go, and Dallas still had not found an answer.
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