Chapter 600: Consecutive 70 Point Games, Making Harden Cry
After Chen Yan's 89 point night, Li-Ning immediately began pushing him even harder as the face of the brand, preparing to launch a special edition sneaker to commemorate his record breaking game.
Chen Yan's signature line had already reached its 3rd generation, the AeroWing 3.
After the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Phoenix Suns had 1 day off.
Chen Yan decisively flew to Los Angeles. There were too many things he wanted to say to Taylor Swift in person, and too many things he wanted to do with Taylor Swift in person.
The 2 of them originally planned to go shopping in the morning, have lunch at a newly opened French restaurant near her home, watch a movie in the afternoon, and then return to their room in the evening.
But reality turned into something much simpler.
Chen Yan and Taylor Swift stayed together from morning until night.
Absence really did make the heart grow fonder. Chen Yan finally understood that saying completely.
Long distance relationships had their own advantages. Every time they met, there was a fresh sense of novelty.
Their private time lasted until 11 PM.
Even Taylor Swift could not help praising Chen Yan's stamina. He had scored 89 points 1 day, then still had the energy to spend the entire next day with her.
Chen Yan only chuckled.
For Taylor Swift, it might have felt like a battle.
For him, it was relaxation.
On December 19, Chen Yan rushed back to Phoenix early. That evening, the Suns had a game against the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards currently held an 8 win and 16 loss record, placing them in the lower half of the Eastern Conference.
However, compared with the Suns, Washington's roster was far more complete. All their main players were available.
For Phoenix, Nash was still out with an injury, and veteran Grant Hill had also missed 2 games because of ankle discomfort.
Even so, the outside world unanimously favored the Suns.
Chen Yan's form made it impossible for fans to imagine Phoenix losing.
Chen Yan himself was full of confidence as well. The Wizards were a team with no defense, allowing 105 points per game this season, 4th worst in the league.
Chen Yan loved playing against teams like that. Games with open offense and weak resistance gave him no pressure at all.
Tonight, Washington started Nick Young.
Nick Young was no stranger to Chen Yan. Back in the NCAA, he had already been tormented by him.
Now, Chen Yan had grown into an MVP player, while Nick Young was still a role player.
The gap between them was only growing wider.
After the game began, Chen Yan subjected Nick Young to merciless punishment, attacking him whenever he had the chance.
Nick Young's defense was average, and he had no confidence in stopping Chen Yan.
Chen Yan's moves against him were simple.
A jab step into a direct pull up.
Or a step back pull up.
Simple, efficient, and energy saving.
Nick Young also had a decent touch early, hitting a few midrange jumpers.
At first, he felt as if he was trading baskets with Chen Yan. But as time passed, he increasingly sensed that something was wrong.
Damn it.
When he scored, Chen Yan scored.
When he went cold, Chen Yan still scored.
When he was subbed out, that guy was still scoring.
Was this guy a scoring perpetual motion machine?
Chen Yan scored 17 points in the 1st quarter, then became even more dominant in the 2nd, pouring in 21 points.
With 38 points at halftime, fans declared that it was another day of Chen Yan going berserk.
Some fans even said that Chen Yan going berserk was no longer news.
Washington's offense was not bad either. Agent Zero, Gilbert Arenas, seemed to find a 2nd spring in this game, scoring 20 points by halftime. Caron Butler also had 13 points.
Their fatal weakness was still defense.
D'Antoni did not arrange much defense today either. He sent Novak in early to increase the outside firepower.
Danny Green also received more playing time. D'Antoni saw Green's potential. At this stage, he was still inconsistent and needed real games to accumulate experience.
The regular season was the best time to level up, especially against a weaker team like Washington. D'Antoni intentionally gave some of the young players more minutes.
Developing rookies always came with a cost.
Danny Green and Novak were average in this game on both ends of the floor, which indirectly gave Washington plenty of opportunities.
In the 3rd quarter, the Wizards even managed to tie the score.
Although Phoenix never built a huge lead, the Suns always maintained control. That was the rhythm of the game.
In the latter half of the 3rd quarter, Chen Yan continued to apply pressure, and that pressure carried into the 4th.
Chen Yan scored 32 points in the 2nd half, a performance no less impressive than his 1st half.
He played 43 minutes, shooting 23 of 40 from the field, 11 of 19 from 3 point range, and 13 of 15 from the free throw line, finishing with a wild 70 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Arenas finished with 39 points and 5 rebounds. This game helped him rediscover a trace of his peak form, but he never found the feeling of truly trading blows with Chen Yan.
Even someone as competitive as Arenas could only reluctantly say after the game, "He scored 70 points as easily as I scored 20."
Given Chen Yan's recent performances, no one could really go toe to toe with him.
Everyone was simply being crushed from 1 side.
1 day later, the Suns hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This was a team built mainly around young players, and Chen Yan liked playing against young players because they were easy to excite and easy to drag into his rhythm.
Before the game began, Barea quietly approached Chen Yan and expressed dissatisfaction with his playing time.
Barea had originally been the team's 2nd point guard, but after Nash's injury, his position had been taken by White Chocolate Williams. It was normal for him to feel unhappy.
All Chen Yan could do was comfort him and tell him to keep working hard in training.
He would not use his privilege to get more minutes for a teammate. That was not his style.
To earn more playing time, a player had to fight for it himself.
Chen Yan's view of basketball was pure.
Whoever was in better form and whoever better fit the team's tactical system should play.
Nepotism did not exist in his basketball world.
Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chen Yan once again scored 70 plus points.
With a superhuman performance, he gave rookie James Harden an unforgettable lesson.
After the game, Harden said in an interview that he had cried after being beaten so badly.
The reporters knew Harden was not joking, because tears had already welled in his eyes when he said it.
As a rookie who had just entered the league, his mental resilience naturally could not compare with that of seasoned NBA veterans.
When Chen Yan heard about it at the post game press conference, he suggested that the Thunder get Harden a sports psychologist.
He was not joking.
Chen Yan was serious.
He knew confidence was extremely important for a player. Sometimes, 1 game could destroy a person's confidence.
After the game, Chen Yan even sent James Harden a text message, praising his performance and attitude toward basketball that night, while telling him to keep looking forward.
Harden said he took it to heart.
For him, that night was both a disgrace and a source of motivation for his career.
Whenever he felt like slacking off in the future, he would remember that a man named Chen Yan once scored 70 plus points on him.
After these 3 games, Chen Yan was praised heavily by media outlets everywhere.
What did 70 points mean?
In NBA history, only 17 players had ever scored 60 points. As for consecutive 70 point games, only Wilt Chamberlain and Chen Yan had done it.
Wilt Chamberlain was an ancient beast, and many people believed the numbers from his era were inflated.
Because of that, many fans naturally began calling Chen Yan the GOAT.
To score 70 plus points, skill alone was not enough.
Several things were essential.
First, a player needed absolute control of the ball. If he had the ability but not the platform, his talent could never be fully displayed.
Second, he needed to be in peak form at exactly the right time.
Third, he had to be full of energy and possess extraordinary stamina.
Fourth, and most importantly, he needed an unquenchable desire to score.
Chen Yan's performance was so stunning that many media outlets had already predicted he would win regular season MVP again, even though the regular season had only been going for a little over 1 month.
Some outlets even called this season Chen Yan's personal show.
It was as if the NBA were a game, Chen Yan was the only protagonist, and every other player was just an NPC.
.....
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