In the arena, the lights were dazzling, and the noise was constant.
Cole stood on the sidelines, his brows tightly knit into a ’chuan’ character, deep in thought visibly in his eyes.
His gaze occasionally swept across the court, mind racing, struggling to find a way to break the deadlock.
Overall, the Warriors’ offensive performance was not the problem; the players coordinated well, the offensive rhythm was smooth, and the efficiency was high.
However, the problem was precisely on the defensive end.
The small lineup the Warriors were using appeared sowhat powerless when facing Zeng Xingyang and Jokic, struggling to effectively restrain their performance.
The pick-and-roll cooperation between Zeng Xingyang and Jokic was ever-changing, rendering the defense susceptible.
They continuously switched, directed, and coordinated on the court, making the Warriors’ defensive players exhausted.
A sudden thought flashed through Cole’s mind: "Find a way to take one of them down." His attention gradually focused on Jokic, the chubby rookie center, perhaps the breakthrough point.
"Stephen, go one-on-one against Nikola." Cole shouted loudly at Curry, with a tone of urgency and expectation.
"Pull him out, exploit his mismatch, and destroy his defense as much as possible." Cole continued, eyes full of firm determination.
Zeng Xingyang was indeed tough to handle on the defensive end, whereas Jokic beca Cole’s target at this mont.
"OK." Curry nodded slightly, a glint of sharpness in his eyes, and replied with full confidence.
Going one-on-one with that rookie center, absolutely no problem.
The short tiout quickly ended, and the ga continued.
The Warriors initiated the attack, Curry quickly dribbled forward.
Curry’s movent was light, his steps agile, and the basketball seed alive in his hands, bouncing elastically along with his movents.
Zeng Xingyang tried to steal the ball from Curry but couldn’t grab it.
While dribbling, Curry quickly scanned the court, searching for the best offensive opportunity. He raised his hand to signal for a screen, Green advanced swiftly, bringing Jokic up with the screen.
Zeng Xingyang, seeing this, quickly turned sideways, tried to squeeze past Green to cover Curry, but his steps were cleverly blocked by Green, failing to succeed.
Curry seized this fleeting mismatch opportunity and quickly turned to face Jokic.
Without stopping the rhythm, Curry executed a nimble behind-the-back dribble, the basketball swiftly swept behind him, and without hesitation, he drove to the left.
Jokic couldn’t keep up.
Curry’s speed was lightning-fast, like a black lightning bolt, tearing through the Nuggets’ defense instantly.
After entering the interior, Curry imdiately faced Grant’s defensive help.
Grant jumped up quickly, trying to disrupt Curry’s shot.
But Curry had predicted this; he leaped high in the air and made a high-difficulty layup adjustnt, throwing the ball out.
Curry was always in control on offense, anticipating that Grant couldn’t block the shot.
As he foresaw, Grant’s defense appeared sowhat passive, as his own pace limited his ability to fully jump to block.
The basketball slid lightly past his fingertips, continuing to fly towards the hoop.
"Swish!" The basketball went through the net cleanly, precisely dropping into the net.
The fans at the Oracle Center instantly erupted in a burst of enthusiastic cheers.
to 65, the Warriors demonstrated high-caliber offense in the third quarter.
At this mont, Zhang Weiping in the comntary booth excitedly said, "Curry, who was silent in the first half, has exploded in the second half." His voice carried a trace of excitent, as if he was also part of this intense ga.
Yu Jia followed with: "Curry always has his monts on the court; the Nuggets need to withstand this period of offense." His eyes were fixed on the screen, expression serious, with a clear judgnt of the ga situation.
On the sidelines, Coach Ma Long saw this and couldn’t help but frown. He knew that Jokic’s defense had been targeted by the Warriors.
Despite carrying a high weight, Jokic’s actions on the court didn’t seem slow, but for a top-tier offensive player like Curry, any tiny disadvantage in speed and agility would be exponentially magnified and exploited.
Next, it was the Nuggets’ turn to attack.
Jokic received the inbounds pass and took large, brisk steps, dribbling forward quickly.
His steps were steady and powerful, each step almost causing the ground to tremble slightly.
After bringing the ball to the top of the arc, Jokic quickly handed the ball over to Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang, receiving the ball on the right side, imdiately raised his hand to call for a screen, Harris ca quickly, and Curry was also brought over by this screen.
This ti, the Warriors chose not to double-team but let Curry face Zeng Xingyang one-on-one. The previous double-team tactic had cost the Warriors dearly, and Curry couldn’t dodge Zeng Xingyang all ga.
Seeing this, Zeng Xingyang waved to his teammates, signaling for isolation, and opened up the space. His solo wasn’t necessarily about finishing the attack himself; more often, it was the starting point for initiating tactics.
Curry stood in front of Zeng Xingyang, eyes revealing a bit of competitive spirit, looking at Zeng Xingyang very solemnly.
His left hand directly rested on Zeng Xingyang’s waist, trying to sense his movent intentions this way.
Curry’s center of gravity slightly leaned to the right. He knew well that if one blocked this usual hand direction, the offensive player would feel uncomfortable while attacking. Clearly, Curry was gambling on one side, betting that Zeng Xingyang wouldn’t be as sharp on the left breakthrough.
Zeng Xingyang sensed Curry’s defensive intention; he made a feint to steal the ball, astonishingly sudden, causing Curry’s hand on his waist to jump away.
"Curry’s defense is really diligent now."
"No choice, he got scared. In Xingyang’s view, Curry is a defensive weak point."
"This defense clearly aims to force Xingyang to the left side."
"To be honest, when the Warriors face other teams, it’s comfortable, but against the Nuggets, it’s painful. Their tactics seem to have been thoroughly studied by the Nuggets."
"Truly, any tactic relies on the player’s personal ability to execute. Xingyang’s ability is extrely strong, so every solo is effective, casting a shadow over Curry."
On the internet, fans were expressing their thoughts in bullet comnts, with various opinions flooding in like a tide.
Zeng Xingyang carefully observed Curry’s defensive position and his teammates’ positions on the court. After a brief consideration, he chose to explosively accelerate from the left.
As a top attacking player, his hands were extrely balanced, whether breaking through left or right, exerting trendous threat to opponents.
Zeng Xingyang darted past Curry in one stride.
Iguodala, seeing the situation unfavorable, imdiately ca to help defend.
At this mont, Grant was left open. Zeng Xingyang, with keen eyes, quickly lobbed the ball high.
Grant jumped swiftly, like an eagle spreading its wings, catching the ball with one hand from Zeng Xingyang’s pass, and seamlessly perford a put-back.
This alley-oop was very smooth, extrely comfortable.
to 65, the Nuggets scored again.
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