Chapter 597: Kobe's Reaction
"What a great play. Chen Yan delivered a beautiful assist and gave his teammate an easy finish," Kenny Smith said.
"Chen didn't force anything there," Charles Barkley added. "He knew Portland's defense was loaded up on him, so he made the right pass to Stoudemire. That's winning basketball."
Barkley's words made Chen Yan's image shine even brighter.
A normal player standing on the edge of a scoring record might have lost control, started hunting shots, and ignored whether the look was good or bad.
Chen Yan did not.
His first thought was still the team's victory.
The Portland Trail Blazers came back on offense.
Miller steadily brought the ball across half court and passed it to Roy, then cut into the paint without the ball.
Miller seemed to want the ball back for an isolation, but Roy did not give it to him. Instead, he called for a pick and roll, then rose directly into a 3 pointer.
Roy wanted to use a 3 pointer to suppress Phoenix's momentum. The idea was good, but the shot was unlucky.
It bounced off the rim.
Chen Yan immediately sprinted toward the frontcourt. Tonight, he was not worried about rebounds or piling up assists. He was focused on scoring.
When a scorer in explosive form focuses completely on scoring, terrifying things are bound to happen.
Diaw fired a 1 handed pass to Chen Yan, a precise cross court delivery.
With Nash out, Diaw was the best passer to Chen Yan in the Suns lineup.
He had the skill, and he understood Chen Yan well enough. The moment Chen Yan moved, Diaw could already guess where he would run next. This was their 3rd year playing together.
After catching the ball, Chen Yan drove inside and drew 2 Portland defenders. Then he flicked the ball diagonally backward, finding White Chocolate Williams, who had a wide open trailing 3 pointer.
"Clang!"
It missed.
However, no one would blame White Chocolate for that shot. Phoenix's philosophy was simple: if you are open, shoot. Missing was not the problem. Hesitating was.
The ball bounced high.
Aldridge drifted into the paint, and just as he thought he had secured the rebound, Stoudemire rushed in from behind and snatched it away.
After grabbing the board, Stoudemire immediately looked for Chen Yan.
To help Chen Yan break the record, his teammates were giving everything they had.
After receiving the ball, Chen Yan first faked a shot, then dribbled with his left hand, lowered his center of gravity, and charged inside.
Portland's double team came too late. Marion could not keep up with Chen Yan's acceleration and could only watch him stride into the lane.
The Trail Blazers now had good news and bad news.
The good news was that Aldridge, who had just missed the rebound, happened to be guarding the paint.
The bad news was that Chen Yan was already airborne.
Chen Yan planted and rose, holding the ball in 1 hand. His lift was too quick.
Aldridge had barely left the floor when Chen Yan's knee was already near his face.
"Boom!"
Aldridge's mind went blank.
By the time he came back to himself, he was already sitting on the floor.
Chen Yan raised both arms and roared toward the camera.
The scoreboard showed 109 to 102.
Aldridge needed 3 full seconds before he realized what had happened.
He had just been mercilessly posterized by Chen Yan.
"Good lord! That was a straight vertical launch."
"Can this man be reasonable for 1 possession?"
"That speed, that height, and you're telling me this is a guy who has already played into the 4th quarter and scored 70 points?"
"Chen Yan has stopped pretending to be human again."
"Today's poster victim: Aldridge."
"Poster collector: Chen Yan."
Fans watching exploded in disbelief.
The reaction inside the Portland arena was similar.
Chen Yan looked like a monster. He had already scored more than 70 points, yet he could still fly through the air. An ordinary player would have been too tired to even shoot.
Aldridge did not stay on the cold floor for long. Roy and Marion pulled him up, 1 on each side.
"The game isn't over," Roy said, trying to steady him. "Forget that play."
Roy had natural leadership qualities, and those were exactly the words a leader should say.
Portland went back on offense.
Miller and Aldridge ran a pick and roll. After driving inside, Miller passed the ball to Aldridge near the elbow.
That area was within Aldridge's range, but he did not shoot. The shadow of being posterized on the previous possession still lingered.
Roy used a screen to get free and ran a handoff with Aldridge. After receiving the ball, Roy immediately pulled up for a midrange jumper.
The missed shot on the previous possession had not affected Roy's confidence. Top scorers needed that mentality. Jordan, Iverson, Kobe, and Chen Yan were all the same.
"Swish!"
The ball dropped cleanly through the net.
109 to 104.
Roy did not let the gap widen further.
Phoenix came back on offense. White Chocolate Williams slowly brought the ball across half court.
As soon as White Chocolate crossed the timeline, Chen Yan started moving.
He knew Portland would definitely double team him now, so he needed to find a window before the trap arrived.
Chen Yan came off a screen to receive the ball, turned, and fired immediately.
There it was again.
A shot from 2 meters beyond the 3 point line.
Portland's defense had no time to react. That was exactly the effect Chen Yan wanted.
The ball streaked across the arena like a meteor.
Got it.
Chen Yan knew the moment it left his hand.
"Swish!"
Just as expected.
The 3 pointer was good.
112 to 104.
McMillan reluctantly called a timeout.
He took 2 deep breaths, trying not to let his frustration show in front of his players. But no matter how hard he tried to control it, the irritation still leaked through.
Chen Yan was simply too hard to contain tonight. McMillan had run out of answers.
"This is incredible, Kobe. Do you know how many points Chen has now?"
The Lakers had no game that night, and Kobe was in the middle of a shooting workout with his trainer. At that moment, the arena security guard suddenly stopped him.
Kobe often came to train at night, and he was familiar with the arena staff, so he did not mind the interruption.
Kobe glanced at the security guard and said casually, "Let me guess. He must have gone high again. 50? Or 60?"
"It's 77 points!" the security guard shouted.
"Oh." Kobe paused for 2 seconds, then slowly raised the basketball in his hand again. "That's incredible."
Then his tone remained calm.
"Too bad my record is 81."
Just as the ball left his hand, the security guard spoke again.
"Kobe, I've got some bad news for you. There are still more than 5 minutes left in the game."
After hearing that, Kobe decisively ended his workout early and went straight back to the locker room to turn on the TV.
Many other stars did the same.
A lot of them had missed Kobe's 81 point miracle.
They did not want to miss this one.
.....
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