Chapter 670: Too Soft
In the 2nd quarter, Chen Yan did not rest. He remained on the court.
This was Chen Yan's own request, and that decision showed his determination to win this game.
Curry temporarily left the court to rest.
Curry was not a physical monster like Chen Yan. If he wanted to perform better, he had to manage his stamina properly.
Barea replaced him on the floor.
Durant looked a little restless when he saw Chen Yan still on the court.
Rivers noticed his small reaction and said, "I know you are anxious, but do not be."
Rivers calmed Durant down and told him to rest.
Everything was still under control.
In Rivers view, Chen Yan forcibly extending his playing time was a self destructive choice.
"Swish!"
Before Rivers could even finish speaking, Chen Yan hit a 3 pointer.
On the other end, Weaver used a very stylish shake, then pulled up for a 3 pointer.
Missed.
Weaver was a discarded player from the Rockets, known around the league as Little McGrady.
After Chen Yan grabbed the rebound, he turned and advanced to the top of the arc, then immediately took a trailing 3 pointer.
Weaver wanted to make up for his miss and tried to block Chen Yan's shot from the side and behind, but he could not control his body and directly knocked Chen Yan down.
The referee called Weaver for hitting the arm.
It was an obvious foul.
Chen Yan made all 3 free throws amid the roaring crowd.
In the blink of an eye, the lead stretched to 8 points.
Durant became even more restless. He stood up and was about to take off his warmup pants.
Rivers made a calming gesture toward him, signaling him not to rush.
Everything was still under control.
As soon as Rivers turned his head, Weaver took another jumper.
Weaver's strength was his confidence and willingness to shoot.
His weakness was that he was a little too willing to shoot.
His skill clearly did not match his confidence.
"Clang!"
The sound of the shot hitting the rim echoed.
Durant felt like killing him.
Weaver's ball handling was too reckless.
Even Durant, as the team's leader, rarely played like that.
Weaver also knew that his shots on these 2 possessions had been outrageous, so after missing, he quickly retreated on defense and immediately blocked Chen Yan.
Chen Yan did not accelerate toward the frontcourt.
He saw that 4 Celtics players had immediately run back to the defensive half, so there was no good opportunity.
After Barea crossed half court, the Knicks entered a half court offense.
Chen Yan circled out to the 3 point line.
Weaver stuck very close, like a mad dog.
Chen Yan did not tangle with him.
After leaning into him, he turned and cut back toward the paint.
Barea tried to lob the ball in, but the pass was too high.
After Chen Yan received it, Weaver immediately returned to defensive position.
Chen Yan had 100 ways to deal with Weaver.
This time, he chose a back to the basket isolation.
To avoid a Celtics double team, Chen Yan immediately leaned into Weaver after catching the ball, then backed him down twice.
Then Chen Yan used a floating motion, followed by left and right shoulder fakes.
Weaver did not react.
He could not tell which direction Chen Yan would turn.
Weaver could only follow after Chen Yan turned, and that created another problem.
He would be half a beat late.
After Chen Yan's fake, his body shifted outward.
Weaver immediately reacted and took a step forward.
Chen Yan leaned back slightly and paused for a moment.
The instant Weaver came up, Chen Yan suddenly used his right foot as the pivot and stepped forward with his left.
Mamba Step.
Chen Yan easily and elegantly danced past Weaver's defense like a magnificent tango.
Immediately after, Chen Yan pushed off the floor and jumped.
Nate Robinson in the corner and Troy Murphy in the paint immediately came over to help.
Chen Yan performed a scoop layup motion, then elegantly dished the ball to the open Turiaf.
With no one guarding him, Turiaf dunked with both hands.
Turiaf excitedly high fived Chen Yan.
People said scoring was 1 person's happiness, while an assist was 2 people's happiness.
That was true.
Barkley could not help exclaiming, "Chen did not just dance on the floor. He waltzed in the air too."
After that basket, the gap reached 10 points.
This time, before Durant could become restless, Rivers himself could no longer stay calm.
He immediately called timeout and put Durant and Rose on the court together.
After coming on, Durant played too hastily and missed his first 2 shots.
In the following possessions, he changed his strategy and began driving to the basket to draw fouls.
That approach was correct.
This was Boston's home court, and as long as Durant aggressively attacked the paint, he would get calls.
Rose's shooting touch was also mediocre today.
Most of his scoring came from drives and free throws.
By the end of the 2nd quarter, the Knicks lead had reached 11 points.
At the start of the 2nd half, Durant immediately used his signature wide crossover into a jumper.
Battier contested the shot perfectly, and the ball bounced off the rim.
On the other end, Chen Yan gave him a live coaching lesson.
Using the same move, Chen Yan shook off Daniels, then hit a fadeaway before Durant's help defense arrived.
"Watch closely. Learn well."
After scoring, Chen Yan did not forget to trash talk.
That immediately got under Durant's skin.
For the next few minutes, Durant entered personal isolation mode.
Durant began taking difficult shots frequently.
Although he made some of them, his overall efficiency was not high.
That was exactly the effect Chen Yan wanted.
His trash talk had affected Durant's mentality.
Perhaps if someone else had said that, the impact would not have been significant.
But Chen Yan was different.
He was the person Durant had always wanted to catch up to and surpass.
Durant desperately wanted to defeat Chen Yan, and he cared deeply about outside comparisons between the 2 of them.
From the start of the 3rd quarter, Rivers continuously called timeouts and tried various double team tactics to disrupt Chen Yan's offensive rhythm.
But the results were not good.
Chen Yan had already found his rhythm in the first 2 quarters.
Trying to double team him now was too late.
Moreover, Boston's bigger problem tonight was not defense.
Even if they stopped Chen Yan, how would they catch up?
Rose could not find his shooting touch tonight. All his points came from drives and free throws.
Durant's touch was not completely cold, but he was playing too emotionally and wasting many of the team's possessions.
That meant the performance of the team's 1st core, Stoudemire, was limited.
So far, Stoudemire had taken only 7 shots, making 4 of them. He was also 3 for 3 from the free throw line, totaling 11 points and 5 rebounds.
In the 3rd quarter, Chen Yan displayed his superb ability to break double teams, delivering a fatal blow to Boston.
Not only did he score himself, but he also assisted teammates twice in a row.
The Celtics became more and more disorganized, gradually losing their fighting spirit.
The home fans never expected Game 1 of the 1st round to turn out like this.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, the lead had reached 19 points.
In the 4th quarter, Durant and Rose briefly cut the lead to 10 points, but that was the closest the 2 teams got in the final period.
Chen Yan did not let victory slip through his fingers.
He led the Knicks on a 9 to 2 run and sent the Celtics away.
Ultimately, the final score was 110 to 97.
The Knicks secured a huge road win.
Celtics legend Maxwell, who was watching the game, could not help cursing afterward.
"They were too soft. I did not see the Celtics players dedication or desire to win tonight."
Another legend, Bill Russell, was not as intense with his words, but he could not hide his disappointment either.
"They should have played better. These are talented, passionate young men. Losing at home is hard to accept, but it is not the end of the world. There are many more games waiting for them."
.....
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