Chapter 371: Chapter 311: In the Playoffs, We’ll Lose Even More Miserably

CLANG!

Duncan suddenly spun, cut to the basket, caught a pass from Parker in mid-air, and threw down a thunderous alley-oop dunk.

McDyess wasn’t completely out of position. He was quick on his feet, only a step behind, and leaped almost at the same time as Duncan.

But Duncan jumped higher, and his arms were longer.

So in the end, Duncan slammed it home right over McDyess’s defense.

Without a doubt, it was a dunk worthy of the day’s Top 10 plays.

Skiles signaled for a timeout.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Phoenix Suns were ahead, but they hadn’t managed to extend their lead. In his eyes, the root cause was Duncan.

Even with an All-Star power forward like McDyess guarding him, Duncan had still managed to score seven points.

And Duncan’s contribution on the defensive end was even greater. His defensive range had clearly expanded.

Aside from O’Neal, the Phoenix Suns were still a team built on driving to the basket, and Duncan’s roaming help defense was causing major disruptions to their offense.

As he watched his players walk off the court, Skiles’s gaze inevitably fell on O’Neal.

One reason they couldn’t stop Duncan was the skill gap between him and McDyess.

McDyess had been an All-Star, so he was definitely a star player.

But compared to Duncan, he was still a notch below in both skill and experience.

Secondly, because their defensive personnel were solid this season, the Phoenix Suns hadn’t been playing zone, relying primarily on man-to-man coverage.

And O’Neal was lazy. On defense, his attitude was basically, ’I’ll handle the other team’s center, and that’s it. Don’t look to me for anything else.’

Expecting O’Neal to provide timely help defense, especially during the regular season, was a complete fantasy.

This allowed Duncan to consistently capitalize on his experience and technique to score.

Finally, Skiles had never expected Duncan to return in such incredible shape. For him to be this good, this strong, in his very first game back was astonishing.

He was running faster and jumping higher. The Duncan of the past two years could never have pulled off an alley-oop like that.

Skiles glanced back at the seats behind the bench where Chen Yu was talking with Nelson, and couldn’t help but sigh.

’No doubt about it,’ he thought, ’this is because of Chen Yu again.’

After his injury, Duncan had already consciously started adapting his playstyle to the team, making his technical skills more and more polished.

And now, after Chen Yu’s intervention, he had regained his athleticism. It was as if his technical skills and physical condition had both reached their absolute peak.

How could a Duncan like this not be dominant?

All Skiles could think was that while Chen Yu was making the Phoenix Suns stronger, he was also creating plenty of troublesome opponents for them.

Meanwhile, on the opposing bench, Gregg Popovich felt like rushing over and planting a couple of kisses on Chen Yu.

Duncan’s form was as good as it could possibly be.

David Robinson was about to retire. If the Spurs wanted to go far in the future, their frontcourt would have to be anchored solely by Duncan.

The importance of a healthy Duncan to the Spurs could not be overstated.

Popovich was even considering whether he should add more above-the-rim plays, like the one they had just run.

The Spurs of old could only grind it out on the floor. Now, they finally had the ability to play above the rim.

After all, Duncan’s old nickname was the "Flying Demon"!

However, amidst his excitement, Popovich also saw some causes for concern.

Watching the game unfold, Popovich still hadn’t figured out a way to contain O’Neal.

Now that O’Neal had improved his free-throw shooting, simply double-teaming or trapping him was having a very limited effect.

And denying him the ball wasn’t a good solution either.

Because of Hardaway.

Hardaway was a player who could attack off the dribble. After creating a threat, he could pass the ball in all sorts of unpredictable ways; he was a player of pure creativity.

Back with the Lakers, there was the Shaq-Kobe connection.

Kobe could also drive and create threats, but his passing ability and creativity were on a completely different level from Hardaway’s.

Just a moment ago, when he noticed the Spurs were denying O’Neal the ball, Hardaway immediately changed his approach. He started relentlessly driving to the hoop, looking for opportunities to dish it to O’Neal mid-penetration, and he did it effectively.

That was why, in Popovich’s opinion, the threat posed by the OP Duo was genuinely greater than that of the OK Duo.

Coming out of the timeout, the Phoenix Suns slowly began to pull away.

"The Spurs’ bench is weak," Nelson remarked.

As a small-market team with a frugal owner, the Spurs not only had trouble spending money but also had little appeal to free agents. In that respect, their strategy was similar to the Phoenix Suns’: rely on veterans for their remaining contributions and try to strike gold with rookies.

But the Phoenix Suns had Chen Yu, which made them unusually attractive to star players. They could easily draw in players like Oakley, who, with Chen Yu’s help, could maintain excellent condition.

So even though both teams were full of veterans, the Phoenix Suns had much better roster depth.

A frontcourt of Sabonis and Oakley was more than capable of wreaking havoc on the Spurs’ interior.

Chen Yu thought for a moment. "I don’t think that’s a huge problem. Come playoff time, rotations shorten to just a handful of players. The Spurs should have enough."

There’s not much point in discussing roster depth during the regular season. After all, the ultimate goal is the playoffs.

When it comes down to a do-or-die moment, you can just play your starters into the ground, and nobody can complain.

So from that perspective, this year’s Spurs could genuinely become a major opponent for the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs.

Nelson saw his point. He then jerked his chin toward Skiles on the sideline and whispered, "Duncan’s in such good form. Skiles must have a splitting headache."

And naturally, that was because of Chen Yu.

Chen Yu shrugged. ’What can I do? I can’t just refuse to treat a patient.’

Just as he said that, Chen Yu let out a small noise of surprise. "Who’s that number 20? How did he just get to the rim like that?"

Because the Spurs’ perimeter players couldn’t shoot, the Phoenix Suns were sagging off them on defense, especially with Duncan playing so well. Skiles had specifically told them to pack the paint.

Just now, that number 20 for the Spurs, a young guy with short hair, had suddenly exploded into motion. It happened in such a blur of twists and turns that Chen Yu couldn’t even follow it clearly, but he somehow managed to squeeze through a seam in the defense. He ended up completely off-balance and contorted, yet still managed to sink a floater.

And the guy wasn’t short, either—he had to be close to two meters tall.

For someone of that height to be able to make a move like that was almost unbelievable.

"You don’t remember him?" Nelson asked, momentarily stunned. Then he slapped his forehead in realization. "Oh, that’s right. You weren’t there."

"So he’s the one we lost to?"

Chen Yu’s gaze locked onto number 20 on the court.

It was only after Nelson explained that Chen Yu learned that the "invincible" Dream Team’s first-ever loss had been to this very Argentine, a man named Ginobili.

Nelson nodded, then added defensively, "Well, you can’t say we lost just to *him*. He played well, of course—led the Argentina Team with 15 points—but I think we lost because of our lack of teamwork."

Thinking back on the Dream Team’s performance in the World Championship, it was all just mindless one-on-one isolation plays. Tactics? Teamwork? They were completely nonexistent.

And the Argentina Team, with their fluid team basketball and intricate passing, taught the Dream Team a harsh lesson.

At the mention of the Dream Team, Chen Yu couldn’t help but sigh.

This year’s Dream Team had been a complete and utter embarrassment.

Not only did they lose, but they lost on home soil.

The media was already clamoring for revenge in ’04.

But this Ginobili was truly something else. According to Nelson, he was drafted by the Spurs back in ’99 with the 57th pick. A player taken that late was generally considered to have little-to-no top-tier talent.

And yet he had led his team to victory over the seemingly unbeatable Dream Team.

But this was the NBA, and Chen Yu could still see that Ginobili was struggling to adapt.

Here, he was still just a rookie.

At the end of the first half, the Phoenix Suns maintained a nine-point lead.

They held onto that lead until the very end of the game.

91-84. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Spurs by seven points.

O’Neal led the team with 24 points.

Hardaway had 17 points.

This season, Hardaway had willingly relinquished his role as the team’s primary scorer, and his scoring average had dropped significantly compared to last season.

But he didn’t care.

Besides, who would dare underestimate him? Come the playoffs, he would still be their most lethal weapon.

On the Spurs’ side, the returning Duncan played 39 minutes and was frighteningly hot, erupting for 33 points and 12 rebounds.

Unfortunately for him, it was all in a losing effort.

"Gregg, we actually played really well. We were just a bit unlucky," assistant coach Budenholzer said, walking up to console Popovich, who was still standing by the court in a daze after the game.

In his opinion, the Spurs had played a good game.

They had done a good job containing O’Neal, holding him to *only* 24 points.

Their perimeter defense was solid, too; Hardaway only scored 17.

Most importantly, Duncan had an outstanding performance with 33 points.

In the final two minutes, the Spurs had a real chance to make a comeback, but unfortunately, Parker missed a wide-open three. If that shot had fallen, who knows what the outcome would have been.

But Popovich shook his head. "Mike, it’s not as simple as being a bit unlucky. I have a feeling that if this is our level, we’ll only lose more badly in the playoffs."

He was nowhere near as optimistic as Budenholzer.

Watching the entire game, Popovich had one overriding feeling: the Phoenix Suns weren’t playing at full strength. Or rather, they weren’t playing with the kind of intensity you see in a do-or-die playoff game.

Hardaway wasn’t looking to score much, focusing instead on passing.

But one shouldn’t forget that he had averaged over 30 points per game during last season’s playoffs.

He was just holding back.

It was a similar story with O’Neal. He was famously lazy, known for coasting and preserving his body during the regular season, only to unleash his full power in the playoffs.

Finally, with such an aging, veteran-heavy roster, the Phoenix Suns were bound to pace themselves during the regular season. They had to save their energy for a playoff push.

And yet, even while holding back, the Phoenix Suns had still easily defeated the Spurs. With only one loss to their name, they stood alone atop the league standings.

And that was the truly terrifying part.

"We need to figure something else out," Popovich said gravely.

At the Spurs’ current level, they would be no match for the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. They had to find a way to get stronger.

"Let’s go."

Glancing from afar at Duncan, who had gone straight to the Phoenix Suns’ bench to hug and talk with Chen Yu the moment the game ended, Popovich took a deep breath and turned toward the player tunnel.

This game, after all, was just one regular-season game.

The Phoenix Suns were still first in the West, and they were frighteningly good.

「December arrived.」

But Phoenix remained sunny, warm, and dry.

On the 5th of the month, the Phoenix Suns had a scheduled practice, but Chen Yu didn’t go to the arena. Instead, he stayed at his clinic, waiting for a patient who had traveled a long way for an appointment.

"Vince, long time no see."

Chen Yu saw his visitor and stepped forward with a smile to greet him with a hug.

His visitor was none other than Vince Carter, one of the league’s most renowned players, hailed as one of the three great shooting guards and nicknamed "UFO."