Chapter 246: Winning the Game 2
At halftime, the atmosphere in the two locker rooms could not have been more different.
The Suns side was loose and smiling. Up by twenty five, everyone knew the game was basically in their hands as long as they did not get careless.
Across the hall, the Nuggets locker room was dead quiet. Aside from head coach George Karl, almost nobody talked. Heads were down. It looked like most of the players had already accepted another blowout.
Iverson glanced over at the supposed leader of the team. Melo sat in his stall, silent, adjusting his headband and armband over and over.
Iverson felt he could not keep quiet.
He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Guys, we are only halfway through," he shouted. "Second half is a new game. Wake up, man. Come on."
His words bounced around the room and came back to him with only a few weak replies. It was not that the team did not respect Iverson. Reality was just too hard to ignore.
The hole was deep, and not everyone had Iverson's fight.
Iverson saw their faces and stopped talking.
He knew the truth. At this point any speech was just background noise. If there was going to be a comeback, it had to come from how they played, not from what he said.
The second half started.
For the Suns, the lineup was Nash, Chen Yan, Grant Hill, Diaw, and Amar e Stoudemire. That was their normal group to open the half. Using Hill instead of Raja Bell gave them a little more scoring.
The Nuggets stayed with their full starting five.
Quitting at halftime was not an option. If they waved the white flag that early, it would crush the locker room for the rest of the series.
Right out of the break, Iverson came out attacking.
First he drove hard, took the hit, and finished a three point play.
Next trip he went right back at them, pushed the ball off the glass for another score.
No matter the score, he was still Iverson, the same guy who once took on Shaq and Kobe without blinking. He wanted to light some fire under his teammates with pure effort.
After his five point burst, the Suns answered right away.
Their rhythm from the first half was still there.
Chen Yan and Stoudemire ran a pick and roll, then swung the ball out to Nash on the perimeter. After the screen, Chen kept cutting and Stoudemire rolled, drawing eyes.
Just when the Nuggets focused on Chen and Nash, Grant Hill stepped into the open space.
Nash found him in the corner with a clean pass. Hill caught, set his feet, and buried the wide open corner three.
He was no longer the young star who once battled Jordan, but he was still far from washed up.
The Nuggets came back down.
Iverson tried a pull up this time, but the jumper rimmed out.
He did not let up, sprinting back on defense and picking up Chen Yan full court on the next play.
He even waved Carmelo over to trap. Iverson knew better than anyone how dangerous Chen was in transition.
Chen pushed to the free throw line, showing the ball like he might pull up, which pulled both defenders toward him.
At the last second he spun and kicked the ball out to Hill filling the lane at the forty five outside the arc.
Hill caught it in rhythm and knocked down another three.
As the ball dropped, Hill pointed back toward Chen to say thanks.
Two straight threes from Hill and the whole America West Arena exploded again.
This was the Suns identity. Grab the rebound, run, push the ball, shoot when you have space.
It sounded simple, but that was the heart of run and gun.
On TNT, Kenny Smith broke it down.
"The way they are swinging it tonight, Denver is just chasing shadows," Kenny said. "Everybody is making shots, everybody is moving. If Phoenix keeps sharing the ball like this, this game is over early."
Barkley laughed. "Yeah, and you look at Chen, man. He is sitting at eighteen points, seven boards, six dimes already. I want to see if he goes and gets that triple double."
In the third quarter, Chen stuck with the same approach he had used most of the night. He focused on making plays and stretching the floor, not forcing his own shot.
The Nuggets never found a real run. By the end of the third, the gap had stretched even more.
The score was eighty nine to sixty two.
Chen had twenty four points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, one board away from his first playoff triple double.
He and Nash both sat down to start the fourth.
The Nuggets refused to wave the flag. Iverson and Melo stayed on the floor, trying to claw back against the Suns bench.
With Nash and Chen off the court, Denver finally saw a small opening.
Their two stars led a little run and cut the lead down to nineteen.
D Antoni did not like the feel of it. Even with a big cushion, he did not want any bad habits. He called timeout and waved his two guards back into the game.
In the playoffs, "safe enough" still is not safe.
Once Nash and Chen stepped back on the floor, the Suns speed and spacing snapped right back into place.
Whatever hope the Nuggets felt during that push faded fast. The Suns pushed in transition, moved the ball, and the lead went right back up.
Iverson and Anthony started to show fatigue.
Iverson kept attacking, but he had never been about full efficiency, just endless pressure. Melo's numbers were better than Game One, but still not good enough for a number one option. Every empty trip made the comeback feel further away.
While he was out there in the fourth, Chen quietly checked off the last few boxes he needed.
Two more rebounds.
Two more assists.
His first playoff triple double was in the books.
With seven seventeen left, the Suns got a run out.
Chen pulled up for a transition three from the line.
The crowd rose, ready to explode, but the shot hit the back of the rim and bounced out of bounds.
Chen smiled and shook his head.
On the sideline, D Antoni clapped and tapped him on the hip, letting him know the shot was fine.
In this system, every good look is welcome. The Suns did not need to make every single one. As long as they kept their pace and decision making, Denver was not coming back.
With a little over five minutes left, the lead was pushing up near thirty.
The camera cut to the Nuggets bench. The body language said it all. Shoulders slumped, eyes empty.
George Karl stood, stared at the floor for a moment, then started counting substitutions on his fingers.
It was time to pull the plug.
He waved to the scorer's table and took out all his starters.
There was nothing left to chase in this one. Better to save legs and hope to fight at home.
D Antoni responded in kind and called back his own main guys.
As Chen checked out, the broadcast showed D Antoni on the sideline, mustache hiding a wide smile.
The Suns had not just won. They had played their game exactly how they wanted.
On his way to the bench, Chen cupped his hand to his ear and did Iverson's classic "can't hear you" celebration.
The fans saw it and roared even louder for him.
Soon, the last few minutes of garbage time ran off the clock.
The final score was one hundred seventeen to eighty seven.
Another blowout.
Phoenix now led the series two zero.
Chen played thirty four minutes, went eleven for fifteen from the field, three for five from three, and four for six at the line. He finished with twenty nine points, ten rebounds, and eleven assists in his first playoff triple double.
Six other Suns players scored in double figures. It really was a full team performance.
For Denver, the best numbers again came from their golden pair. Iverson had thirty points and seven assists. Anthony finished with twenty eight, but he missed all five of his outside shots and never really found a rhythm.
In the stands, some Suns fans held up signs that read "Bye Round Two," sending a clear message. They were already dreaming of a sweep in Denver.
After the game, the press rooms filled up again.
"Chen, that move when you walked off and did Iverson's ear celebration, was that trash talk?" one reporter asked.
"No," Chen said, calm as ever. "That was a tribute."
"Chen, congrats on your first playoff triple double. Did you know you broke another record tonight?"
Seeing the look on the reporter's face, Chen shook his head. "No, I did not know."
The reporter smiled. "Tonight you passed LeBron James and Magic Johnson. You are now the youngest player ever to record a triple double in the playoffs. Congratulations, Chen."
Chen nodded and thanked him.
"Chen, how does that feel?"
Chen spread his hands. "Feels like breaking another record."
The room laughed. With that one line, the questions started coming even faster.
After a few more, the last reporter stood up.
"The Suns won big again tonight. How would you rate the team's performance?"
Chen leaned toward the mic.
"Our offense is like a math problem nobody can solve," he said.
Over in the Nuggets room, Melo still came out to speak even after two heavy losses.
He kept it short.
After a couple of basic answers, he leaned in and said quietly, "We are on the edge now. See you in Denver."
In playoff history, no team had ever climbed out of a three zero hole.
That meant Game Three in Denver was all or nothing for the Nuggets.
They had to drop the fear, forget the first two games, and throw everything they had at the Suns.
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