Chapter 823: A Tough Nut to Crack
New York finished Game 1 with 5 players in double figures.
Chen Yan led the way with 43 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
He finished only 1 rebound short of a triple double, but Chen did not care.
He had long since reached the point where individual statistics no longer dictated how he played.
Winning mattered more.
Curry recorded 23 points and 5 assists.
David West added 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Al Harrington contributed 12 points and 3 rebounds.
Barea scored 10.
For San Antonio, Parker finished with the strongest numbers.
Despite playing well for only about half the game, he still recorded 22 points and 7 assists.
Duncan had 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Ginóbili scored 11.
Diaw finished with 10 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Those were the only 4 Spurs players to reach double figures.
Almost immediately after the final buzzer, fans began declaring the series over.
"That looked way too easy. San Antonio cannot match New York."
"Youth beats age. Basketball is no different. The Spurs are old."
"San Antonio belongs to the previous era. The league has already moved on."
"Chen scored 43 and it did not even feel like he fully exploded. What happens if he really gets hot?"
"San Antonio has 1 solution. Call Bowen out of retirement and have him injure Chen."
"Bowen would probably get himself beaten up first."
"Leonard is still too inexperienced. He cannot contain Chen at all."
"Why would Popovich put a rookie on Chen Yan in the NBA Finals?"
"You are underestimating Leonard. His individual defense is already excellent. He only looks helpless because he is guarding Chen."
"That is the problem. Chen makes every defender look like a rookie."
"The Spurs played suspiciously clean tonight. I almost did not recognize them."
That last point quickly became a major topic.
Chen's comments before the Finals had placed San Antonio's physical style under intense public scrutiny.
He had openly accused the Spurs of crossing the line and injuring opponents in the past.
The discussion became so widespread that every hard foul in Game 1 was going to be examined closely.
San Antonio had clearly felt that pressure.
At his post game press conference, Popovich addressed it directly.
"Chen was playing mind games."
His expression was cold.
"What he said before the series affected the way this game was officiated and the way our players defended."
Popovich shook his head.
"We were too soft tonight. That was not Spurs basketball."
When a reporter later relayed the quote to Chen, he smiled.
"Everybody can decide for themselves whether what I said was slander."
He leaned back.
"But Coach Popovich is right about 1 thing."
The reporters waited.
"That was not the real San Antonio Spurs tonight."
Chen's smile widened slightly.
"The real Spurs are much dirtier. Tonight they played almost normally."
The room immediately reacted.
Chen had no intention of ending the verbal battle.
Basketball was not fought only between the lines.
Pressure created through the media could matter too.
Another reporter changed the subject.
"You started the game extremely hot, but you finished with only 43 points. Were you intentionally conserving energy?"
Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Only 43?"
Several reporters laughed.
"I think you people expect too much from me."
Chen continued.
"Go check NBA Finals history. I would guess you can count the number of players with 40 point Finals games on 2 hands."
He smiled.
"I am worried new fans are going to hear questions like that and start thinking scoring 40 in the NBA Finals is easy."
Game 2 was scheduled for 2 days later.
Popovich spent the break making changes.
The most obvious adjustment was defensive.
He was no longer willing to let Chen establish rhythm against single coverage.
From the opening possession, San Antonio sent 2 defenders.
Chen used a screen.
Leonard stayed with him.
Diaw immediately stepped up.
Trap.
The broadcast booth reacted at once.
"San Antonio is doubling him from the opening possession. There is no waiting tonight."
"It makes sense. If you wait until Chen catches fire before sending help, you may already be too late."
San Antonio had changed its tactics.
New York changed its personnel.
Nelson removed Battier from the starting lineup and replaced him with Patrick Beverley.
There were 2 reasons.
First, Beverley would pressure Parker.
Second, Battier could come off the bench and spend his minutes chasing Ginóbili.
1 adjustment solved 2 problems.
The resulting starting group was New York's ultimate small lineup.
Beverley and Curry formed a 2 guard backcourt.
Chen moved to small forward.
The benefits appeared immediately.
New York scored 33 points in the 1st quarter.
The weaknesses were just as obvious.
The Knicks were undersized.
San Antonio repeatedly used Stephen Jackson and Leonard to hunt Curry through switches.
Leonard, who had scored only 3 points in Game 1, attacked much more aggressively.
He finished the quarter with 7 points and became one of San Antonio's most productive scorers.
Beverley did his job against Parker.
By the end of the quarter, Parker was only 2 of 6 from the field.
Even with his free throws included, he had just 6 points.
But Beverley's aggressive defense came at a price.
3 fouls.
In a single quarter.
After 12 minutes, New York led 33 to 27.
The Knicks had used pace and perimeter offense to score efficiently.
San Antonio answered through patient half court execution.
During the break, Chen sat beside Curry.
Curry looked frustrated.
San Antonio had spent the entire quarter searching for him on defense.
Whenever possible, one of the Spurs forwards switched onto him and attacked.
Chen leaned toward him.
"Stephen, do not let that get into your head."
Curry looked over.
"Play to your strengths."
Chen continued.
"Your job is to destroy them on offense. You do not have to stop every bigger player they switch onto you."
He pointed toward the floor.
"If they score 2 points against you, come back and hit a 3."
"Make them pay more than they get."
Curry nodded.
"I will not let them break me."
The 2nd quarter began.
Ginóbili immediately looked like a completely different player from Game 1.
He scored again and again.
Although Ginóbili came off the bench, his scoring bursts could rival almost any star in the league.
When he found rhythm, even elite defenders struggled to contain him.
Battier became increasingly frustrated.
Nelson had specifically moved him to the bench so he could match Ginóbili's minutes.
Instead, Manu had caught fire anyway.
Ginóbili led San Antonio's second unit and gradually erased New York's advantage.
By halftime, the game was completely even.
58 to 58.
Before Game 2, Popovich had delivered a simple message to the entire roster.
Play tougher.
His players listened.
San Antonio's defensive intensity was noticeably higher than in Game 1.
So was the force behind its fouls.
When Chen returned to the locker room at halftime, several bloody scratches were visible across his arm.
Most fans watching on television could not see the marks clearly.
The broadcast cameras simply did not capture that level of detail.
DeAndre looked at Chen's arm and laughed.
"Boss, you might need an arm sleeve in the 2nd half."
Chen glanced down.
"It is nothing."
He smiled.
"Let them keep playing like this."
He moved his arm slightly.
"I do not like sleeves anyway. They always feel like they are restricting me."
Chen rarely wore much protective equipment.
At most, he used an elbow pad.
Even that was mainly because the item had come from the system store and provided a small increase in shooting stability.
By halftime, 1 thing had become obvious.
San Antonio was not going away quietly.
The fans who had spent the previous 2 days predicting a sweep had suddenly become much quieter.
Whatever era they belonged to, the Spurs were still the Spurs.
They were always a difficult team to finish.
The 2nd half soon began.
Both teams returned with their strongest lineups.
New York Knicks:
Curry.
Chen Yan.
Shane Battier.
David West.
DeAndre Jordan.
San Antonio Spurs:
Tony Parker.
Manu Ginóbili.
Kawhi Leonard.
Boris Diaw.
Tim Duncan.
Before stepping onto the court, Chen tapped Battier on the shoulder.
"I will take Ginóbili."
Battier looked at him.
"Switch with me."
Battier nodded.
His defense against Ginóbili had not been effective enough tonight.
Maybe a different matchup would produce a different result.
Chen walked onto the floor and looked toward Manu.
San Antonio had proven it would not be easy to break.
Fine.
Then New York would simply have to hit harder.
....
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