NBA: Basketball Legend.

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Why Watch the Top Five Plays? Just Watch His Highlights! FedEx Arena, Memphis — NCAA Elite Eight

Chapter 24: Why Watch the Top Five Plays? Just Watch His Highlights!

FedEx Arena, Memphis — NCAA Elite Eight

Halftime came to an end.

The Texas Longhorns were up by 11, leading Georgetown 51 to 40.

Despite that brief scuffle earlier on the court, Chen Yan didn’t let it mess with his rhythm.

Up on the jumbo screen in FedEx Arena, his halftime stats were flashed for the entire crowd to see:

9 of 14 shooting, 0 for 1 from deep, 2 of 3 at the line — 20 points at halftime.

Sure, it wasn’t as wild as the last game, but compared to everyone else on the floor, it was still straight-up monstrous. Especially considering Georgetown had put their entire game plan into locking him down.

Van Gundy, up in the analyst’s box, let out a soft sigh.

”You can’t really shut down a guy like him. Best you can do is try to throw him off rhythm, slow him down from heating up too early.”

In the VIP box above, Jerry West cracked a satisfied smile.

He’d been watching the entire first half in silence, eyes locked on Chen Yan.

This was how West scouted talent—quietly and precisely. If word got out that he was looking at Chen Yan? Yeah, half the league would start drooling over the kid.

And that was the last thing he needed.

Even now, plenty of teams were already circling like sharks.

Back in the Longhorns’ locker room, the vibe was loose. Confident. Controlled.

Up double digits? Check. Chen Yan and Durant clicking like fire? Check. March Madness magic still flowing? Oh yeah.

They’d been rolling like this since Round 1.

Over in the Georgetown locker room, though, it wasn’t total despair.

Down 11 wasn’t the end of the world. Their message was simple—stay united, push harder, chip away.

Even Ewing’s ejection? Honestly? Not a huge deal.

Texas had never made it past the Final Four.

Only three times in school history had they even reached the semis—1943, 1947, and 2003.

Georgetown? They hadn’t touched the Final Four in 23 years.

Both squads were starving for the dub.

---

Second Half — Tip-Off

The whistle blew. DJ Augustin came out aggressive, driving hard—but Hibbert stuffed him at the rim.

To be fair, DJ’s read wasn’t bad. Chen Yan and Durant had cleared the floor, spacing things out. But Hibbert was a certified wall under the basket.

Georgetown flipped the switch and countered on the break.

With numbers up front, Jeremiah Rivers—yeah, Doc Rivers’ oldest son—got an easy layup off the glass.

Score gap: now single digits.

Georgetown fans erupted.

Texas answered fast.

DJ Augustin played it cool, bringing it upcourt before handing it off to Durant.

KD caught it on the wing, faked a hand-off to Chen Yan.

At that instant, Chen Yan exploded off-ball like a damn rocket—drawing two defenders.

KD saw the space, dribbled once to the side and let it fly.

”Swish!”

High arc. Straight net.

Durant didn’t even watch it go in—he already knew. He turned and gave Chen Yan a firm smack on the backside.

”Let’s go, baby!”

Playing with Chen Yan on the court felt like night and day for KD.

Truth be told, he was getting lowkey addicted to the guy’s presence.

Just like the first half, Durant was the primary scorer again, while Chen Yan played the role of tactical hub—pulling gravity, creating chaos, letting KD cook.

Georgetown wasn’t going down without swinging, though.

Hibbert took the brunt of the load, demanding the rock in the post every trip.

Texas stuck with the half-circle scheme, rotating Pittman and Damian James to lean on him.

Once Hibbert got it deep in the paint, it was damn near impossible to stop him. But Texas never let him get comfortable. Even when he caught it, it was always through contact, always draining energy.

Barely 4.5 minutes into the half, Hibbert already looked gassed.

Score sat at 60–50. Georgetown was hanging by a thread thanks to Hibbert’s inside buckets.

Texas Ball

Durant took the rock near the arc, crossed over and glided into the lane.

Just outside the restricted area, he floated one up—soft touch.

”Bang!”

Ball kissed the rim and popped high into the air.

”Rebound!” Georgetown’s coach roared from the sidelines.

Hibbert spun around to crash the glass—

But it was already too late.

BOOM!!

Chen Yan came flying in like a damn missile, snatching the ball mid-air and slamming it down with both hands!

Tip-in dunk!

Behind Hibbert’s back—posterized!

The arena erupted. The Texas fans lost their minds, jumping out of their seats!

Chen Yan had torched the crowd’s senses again—this time with a putback jam that had the rim shaking.

He landed, fists clenched, and roared from the baseline.

First time he’d ever done that in-game. And it felt damn good.

Hibbert just shook his head. The speed—too much. He didn’t even see Chen Yan coming.

But he couldn’t be blamed. Rebounding had always been Hibbert’s weak spot.

He was their shot blocker, not a rebound vacuum. His size hurt his lateral quickness. And once he left the paint? Forget second jumps—those boards were up for grabs.

”Man, that was almost a straight-up dunk!” Durant hollered as he ran back.

Chen Yan grinned.

”Side dunks don’t hit the same. I want it head-on next time.”

The game pushed on.

Georgetown fed Hibbert again.

He muscled in and drew a foul. Two shots at the stripe.

Hit the first.

Just as the buzzer sounded—Georgetown made a sub.

Jeff Green checked in.

The guy had played all 20 minutes in the first half. Coach John Thompson III originally wanted to give him more rest, but with Hibbert sucking wind, he had no choice but to throw Green back in early.

”Bang!”

Hibbert clanked the second free throw, and the ball bounced hard off the rim.

Durant snagged the rebound, his eyes immediately scanning the court—looking for him.

The moment there was even a sliver of a fast break opportunity, there was only one name on the Texas team’s mind: Chen Yan.

Spotting his teammate streaking down the sideline, Durant fired a crisp outlet pass. Chen caught it in stride and immediately turned up the jets.

Jeff Green tried to keep up, but he wasn’t built for speed—and having just checked in, his legs weren’t even warm. Within seconds, Chen Yan blew by him with a nasty burst of acceleration.

Zoom! Chen streaked down the sideline like a bullet, then cut hard at a 45-degree angle just beyond the arc.

He didn’t slow down for even a second—just swerved into the lane, gliding through traffic with otherworldly control.

Now it was two-on-one.

Vernon McLean and Jonathan Wallace closed in to wall off the paint.

But Chen Yan didn’t care.

He lunged forward, stretched his body midair, and yanked the ball wide between the defenders in a huge, sweeping pull!

”Ahhh!!” Chen let out a shout as he got bumped and lost balance.

”Beep!”

The whistle blew as the ball dropped through the net.

And-one!

Durant and Damian James sprinted up from the backcourt, pulling Chen up from the hardwood.

”Yo! That was crazy! That fast break was straight art!”

”Man, Chen’s got that freaky combo—speed, ball control, touch—everything!”

Mike Breen and Van Gundy couldn’t hide the hype.

”Chen might look skinny,” Van Gundy said, ”but don’t let that fool you—his core strength is elite. Even off-balance, his shot doesn’t break down.”

Chen calmly stepped to the free throw line.

Swish.

65–51.

Before Texas could settle, Georgetown had already inbounded. No time to breathe.

Jeff Green used an off-ball screen to shake loose in the corner—cash from midrange.

”Swish!”

But even before the ball hit the floor, Chen Yan had his hand out, calling for it again.

He was locked in now—fully activated.

Damian James grabbed the ball at the baseline and launched a bullet pass downcourt. Chen caught it clean and exploded forward.

Georgetown wasn’t even back on defense yet.

With a long stride and slick hesitation, Chen froze Hibbert at the top of the arc—then crossed right past him.

Hibbert had stayed back the last possession to anchor the paint, but it didn’t matter.

Chen Yan zoomed right by, full throttle.

Boom!

One-handed dunk. Loud and vicious.

67–53.

On the sideline, NBA legends Allen Iverson and Alonzo Mourning looked at each other and just shook their heads.

Damn.

Chen Yan had turned Georgetown’s paint into his personal playground. In and out like he had a key.

Fans in the FedEx Forum jumped to their feet, shouting and cheering. This was the kind of play that made highlight reels. One-stop offense. Straight-up streetball energy.

Georgetown rushed it again from the baseline.

They were losing grip, caught in the chaos of Texas’ tempo.

Hibbert barely made it to the three-point line before Jeff Green swung the ball to Rivers at the 45.

Pull-up three—got it.

67–56.

”The tempo’s wild now,” Van Gundy said. ”It’s turning into a track meet.”

”And Chen’s just cooking,” Breen added. ”Georgetown’s lost in Texas’ rhythm. With Hibbert, they should’ve slowed it down and played in the half court.”

Too late.

Texas was already blitzing again.

DJ Augustin flew past halfcourt and zipped a pass to Chen. The crowd held their breath—he had it again.

But this time? No isolation.

Chen faked the drive, then slipped a sneaky bounce pass to Pittman under the rim.

Wide open.

Too easy—wait.

Pittman fumbled it. Blew the open layup!

Coach Rick Barnes clutched his chest on the sideline like he’d just taken a punch.

Before Pittman could recover, Hibbert came flying in to contest.

Pittman panicked and passed it out—bad move.

Jeff Green, lying in wait, read the pass and stretched out like a spider.

Steal!

He took off in the other direction, but!

Snap!

Chen Yan intercepted it right back in midair!

Counter-steal!

Everything turned to chaos.

Offensive sets? Gone. Defensive rotations? Gone.

None of that mattered to Chen Yan.

He had the ball, he had momentum—and he had only one target: the rim.

Two steps. Launch.

Hibbert barely turned around when Chen Yan took off.

Dude had heavy legs from sprinting back and forth all game. All he could do was throw his hands up to protect his face.

BOOM!!!!

Front dunk. On his head.

Absolute brutality.

By the time Hibbert realized what had happened, Chen Yan was literally on his shoulders.

The whole arena erupted like a bomb had gone off!

”OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!”

Texas’ bench exploded. Players tackled each other, falling over like bowling pins.

If they weren’t pulling each other back, half the squad would’ve stormed the court.

”Timeout! Timeout! TIMEOUT!!”

The Georgetown coach screamed three times before the ref even heard him through the chaos.

Durant and DJ Augustin rushed over and gave Chen Yan chest bumps from both sides—sandwiching him in celebration.

”Bro!! You did it! You really yammed it over him!” Durant kept yelling in his ear.

Meanwhile, Hibbert stood frozen under the rim, dazed.

Only after a teammate tapped him did he slowly walk back to the bench.

Little did he know—this dunk? It was about to go viral. NCAA history.

Van Gundy and Breen stared at each other, both shaking their heads with stunned grins.

”Forget the Top 5 Plays,” Breen said finally. ”Just give us a Chen Yan highlight reel.”

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