Chapter 743: Irving's Shame
4 to 11.
Irving dribbled past half court, continuing his one on one play.
After several crossovers, Irving drove left.
Near the left elbow, he suddenly pulled up and shot.
Irving's shot was decisive, but Chen Yan still interfered with it.
The ball rolled around the rim and came out.
The Cavaliers bench was speechless.
Irving seemed to be torturing himself, constantly lowering his head and charging into the wall named Chen Yan.
DeAndre Jordan grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan quickly advanced, then gathered the ball 1 step outside the 3 point arc at the top of the key.
A simple move made the entire Cavaliers defense tense up.
Anthony Parker, Irving, and Jamison all rushed toward him with their hands extended.
The Cavaliers had a communication problem.
Every player's attention was locked on Chen Yan.
Chen Yan stared at the rim, then flicked his wrist and passed to Beverley beside him.
Beverley passed inside, and the trailing Battier easily scored a layup.
4 to 13.
Knicks fans stood up early, all wanting to see Battier dunk, but Battier had started his run too early on this play. With his average athleticism, he could only finish with an ordinary layup.
Cavaliers offensive possession.
Varejão actively came up to screen for Irving.
His teammates were already getting a little tired of watching him force the issue.
After the screen, Irving immediately passed to Varejão.
After the defensive switch, Chen Yan gave Varejão a full step of space.
Varejão adjusted and shot a mid range jumper.
Swish.
Finally, it went in.
6 to 13.
Varejão's shooting form was a little awkward, but his touch was still soft.
As long as he had enough time to adjust, he could make that shot at a certain rate.
Knicks offensive possession.
The Cavaliers finally double teamed Chen Yan.
Chen Yan immediately passed the ball.
David West caught it on the perimeter, but this was not his preferred shooting area. He held the ball above his head, observed for a moment, then passed to Beverley.
Beverley drove 2 strong steps inside, then flung the ball out to Chen Yan 1 step outside the paint.
Chen Yan had already circled to the corner through a screen.
The Cavaliers could not give Chen Yan such an easy shooting opportunity. Varejão switched out and followed him.
Varejão was very smart.
He turned his body to seal the middle, deliberately giving Chen Yan the baseline.
The baseline space was very narrow and easy to trap. Once a player drove in, the inside defenders could quickly help and form a pocket.
Chen Yan understood Varejão's intention.
But seeing such a good driving opportunity, he would not miss it.
Even knowing there was a tiger in the mountain, he still chose to walk toward the tiger.
Chen Yan dribbled with his left hand, lowered his body, and accelerated, blowing past Varejão in 1 step.
Jamison and Anthony Parker collapsed into the paint at the same time.
Chen Yan had very little room to handle the ball.
Inside that narrow space, Chen Yan took off from 1 foot, twisted his body in the air, then finished with a reverse layup.
The basketball hit high off the glass and went in.
6 to 15.
That shot left Irving stunned.
This was exactly how he imagined himself playing.
But reality had given him repeated misses and blocks.
Irving dribbled to the frontcourt and passed the ball.
After a series of passes, the ball returned to Irving's hands.
Jamison moved to the high post to screen.
After the pick and roll, Irving drove along the baseline.
Jamison cut inside, and Irving threw a lob pass, preparing to feed him.
The idea was good.
But he underestimated Chen Yan's vertical leap.
Chen Yan jumped, leaned back slightly in the air, and tipped the ball out of bounds.
Irving felt helpless.
Chen Yan was like an invisible wall, intercepting both his shots and his passes.
With 13 seconds left on the shot clock, the Cavaliers inbounded from the baseline.
Irving accelerated from beyond the 3 point line and drove in.
Beverley was defending him on this possession.
Just as Irving jumped to receive the ball, Beverley played dirty and lightly pushed him.
The push was neither too light nor too heavy, just enough to make Irving miss the airborne basketball.
"Ah!"
Irving shouted, but it did not catch the referee's attention.
The referee judged it not to be a foul, and play continued.
Chen Yan picked up the loose ball.
Every Cavaliers player focused on him, preparing to defend his advance.
Who would have expected that after Chen Yan got the ball, he did not turn around, nor did he advance it himself.
He flung the ball behind his head.
This pass seemed casual.
In fact, it was indeed casual.
Because 2 Knicks players had already rushed ahead into the frontcourt, and Chen Yan only needed to throw the ball over for a 2 on 0 fast break opportunity.
DeAndre Jordan received the ball, adjusted his steps, and glanced back.
There was no one else besides Battier.
Jordan completed an easy and graceful dunk.
6 to 17.
Byron Scott called a timeout.
Irving was already a little mentally unbalanced, constantly complaining about the previous call.
His mentality had completely cracked.
Everyone could see that the referee's no call was only the fuse.
The real reason Irving had lost his balance was that Chen Yan had taught him too harsh a lesson.
For protective purposes, Byron Scott took Irving out early.
At the 2 minute and 33 second mark of the 1st quarter, Irving returned to the game, his minutes perfectly staggered with Chen Yan's.
This change showed Byron Scott's wisdom.
In the final 2 minutes and 33 seconds of the 1st quarter, Irving scored 5 points and drew a defensive foul from Beverley.
In the 2nd quarter, Irving continued playing with the bench lineup.
Nelson did not let Beverley rest.
He did not have enough trust in Jeremy Lin.
Jeremy Lin had not yet received a chance to play in this game, even though he had been preparing on the sideline.
Less than 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter, Beverley committed his 3rd personal foul of the game.
Beverley's defensive movements were too aggressive tonight.
Irving's flashy dribbling had clearly irritated him.
Nelson could only pull Beverley at the next dead ball.
"Jeremy Lin, stay steady. Do not turn the ball over. Hold your defensive position and do not reach randomly."
Nelson put his arm around Jeremy Lin's shoulder and gave him his instructions.
His demands for Jeremy Lin were not high.
Just do not make mistakes.
Jeremy Lin nodded, his expression still a little nervous.
In the 3 possessions after he came on, Jeremy Lin performed adequately.
On offense, he mechanically dribbled past half court.
On defense, he stayed in position.
Chen Yan could tell that Jeremy Lin still had not shed his mental burden.
In other words, he could not relax.
3 minutes later, Nelson substituted Chen Yan for Jeremy Lin.
Jeremy Lin left the game with 0 points, 0 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Nelson patted him on the shoulder as encouragement.
Nelson was actually quite satisfied with Jeremy Lin's performance during those few minutes.
He had not expected much from Jeremy Lin in the 1st place. As long as Jeremy Lin avoided mistakes, that was enough.
Jeremy Lin looked very annoyed.
He was not satisfied with his own performance.
Before coming on, he had repeatedly recited Chen Yan's words in his mind, constantly reminding himself to play freely.
But once he stepped onto the court, his mindset became completely different.
Chen Yan returned to the game as the point guard and immediately delivered a brilliant pass, assisting Yi Jianlian for an open long 2 pointer at the top of the arc after a pick and roll.
Yi Jianlian's shooting talent was actually average.
But before every game, he practiced open 2 pointers 1 hour earlier than the other players, waiting for opportunities exactly like this.
Yi Jianlian's professionalism was absolutely unquestionable.
Chen Yan, who had transmigrated from a previous life, knew this very clearly.
In the era after Yi Jianlian, not only was there no one as capable as him, it was difficult to even find a player as dedicated as him.
There was no need to look at anything else.
Just looking at his physique was enough to confirm it.
Irving came back on offense, dribbled between his legs twice, then drove hard to the basket against Chen Yan and made an incredibly difficult reverse layup while off balance.
After the ball went in, Irving sat on the floor and pumped his fist.
This shot carried a little bit of triumph.
"Whoa," Barkley exclaimed. "He finally got 1 against Chen Yan."
Kenny Smith was more restrained. "That shot was extremely difficult. You cannot make those every possession."
Kenny's words were accurate.
In the next few possessions, Irving was once again completely shut down by Chen Yan.
That previous reverse layup felt like a rare treat, like eating dumplings on New Year's Day.
The difficult shot directly excited Irving.
The Knicks inbounded from the baseline, and Irving immediately applied full court pressure on Chen Yan.
Chen Yan was a little baffled.
This kid got excited too quickly, did he not?
The crowd screamed continuously.
Everyone was cheering.
Knicks fans wanted to see how Chen Yan would stylishly handle the Cavaliers former number 1 pick.
Chen Yan changed direction and moved the ball to his left hand.
Irving increased his intensity, trying to force Chen Yan out of bounds.
Chen Yan proved with his actions that Irving was truly naive.
Since Chen Yan chose to walk along the sideline, he had 100 percent confidence that he would not turn the ball over under Irving's pressure.
Chen Yan lowered his body, bent at the waist, and suddenly accelerated.
As Chen Yan's rhythm changed, Irving's rhythm was also forced to change.
Just past midcourt, Chen Yan immediately performed a behind the back dribble, switching the ball back to his right hand.
Screech.
A sharp sound suddenly came from the floor.
In the picture, Irving's legs were spread wide, performing a split for the fans.
If Chen Yan had accelerated past him at that moment, Irving's embarrassment would have only lasted as long as the split.
But the most audacious part was that Chen Yan paused in place.
The moment Irving adjusted his center of gravity and was about to follow, Chen Yan made a quick early change of direction.
Slap.
After getting past Irving, Chen Yan drove along the baseline.
From the corner of his eye, Chen Yan glanced to his right and saw Irving fall straight to the floor.
More accurately, Irving landed on his backside.
After Irving lost his position, his teammates quickly came over to help cover for him.
Chen Yan casually tossed the ball into the air, yet it found DeAndre Jordan with pinpoint accuracy.
Jordan caught the ball and dunked, completing the alley oop.
Boom.
Jordan made the rim rumble.
At that moment, Irving's head was buzzing like the rim.
As an ankle breaker himself, Irving found it hard to accept being shaken like this.
But it had all just happened.
.....
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