warrior godfather

Chapter 389 Trust
After returning from the timeout, Carlisle did not adjust the lineup. He still let Nowitzki play center and fight with the Warriors in a small lineup and offense.

He knows very well that when Curry regains his touch, it is impossible for the Mavericks to prevent the Warriors from attacking, so they can only fight against each other and give it a go.

Carlisle's thinking is correct, this is the only chance for the Mavericks to win, but in the face of absolute strength, the Mavericks' desperate attack is so pale and weak, they can't even close the point difference.

Unlike the Mavericks who can only play against each other, although Zhang Yu also deployed a small lineup, the Warriors' five minors are both offensive and defensive. Needless to say, the Splash Brothers, Butler, Leonard and Green all have league averages. Three-point ability, Butler and Leonard have reached the level of elite spot-up shooters.

The Warriors' death five is a rare true "5-out" lineup in the league. The offensive space is very open. The three strikers also have a very good sense of air cutting and can form a deep threat. Both Curry and Butler Being able to attack with the ball, especially Curry's small attack against Nowitzki, the Mavericks can't parry at all, unless Carlisle lets Nowitzki off the court, but this is impossible.

On the defensive end, the Warriors rely on shrinking help to limit Dirk Nowitzki's post-up singles, and the outside line is a quick rotation to make up for the position. And Kidd's open opportunities, especially Marion, defending him Leonard has repeatedly participated in defense, giving him a lot of space, tempting him to shoot open three-pointers, and Marion's long-range shooting efficiency is really low, and achieved very good result.

In the case of neither offensive nor defensive advantages, the Mavericks not only failed to close the point difference, but were further expanded by the Warriors.

After the third quarter, the Warriors led the Mavericks by 90 points at 75:15, and gradually took the initiative in the game.

……

After the start of the fourth quarter, the desperate Mavericks were desperate. The main players only had a one-minute rest before being sent back to the court by Carlisle to start the decisive battle mode in advance, trying to recover the point difference during the rotation period.

The 15-point gap is too huge, making Carlisle restless. Although the physical fitness of the Mavericks' main players has not recovered, he can't care about the player's load at this time.

There is already a huge gap in strength between the Mavericks and the Warriors. Only by squeezing the playing time of the core stars and main players can this gap be bridged.

But Zhang Yu still adopted a regular rotation, letting Butler lead the four substitutes to play the transition stage. Facing the Mavericks' all-out main lineup, they naturally couldn't stand it.

In the second quarter, they still had an advantage against the Mavericks' rotation, but after all, there was a huge gap between the substitute and the starting lineup.

Jeremy Lin's breakthrough is no longer sharp in the face of the seasoned Kidd. Although his speed is fast, his weakness of not being able to shoot accurately allows Kidd to take a step to defend against him, relying on experience to predict his breakthrough route in advance, and block him. Mavericks outside the restricted area.

When the breakthrough was blocked, Jeremy Lin tried two three-pointers, but unfortunately he missed them. After that, he didn't dare to waste the ball and took shots. He could only use the pass to drive his teammates, and his presence on the offensive end was greatly reduced.

Jeremy Lin misfired, and the Warriors can only rely on Butler's singles as an offensive backing.

But Butler's offensive environment is a bit harsh. Jeremy Lin, Tony Allen, and Whiteside all have room to stretch. Only Yi Jianlian has a three-point threat. The space for the Warriors' connecting lineup is far less than that of the main lineup. Defensive resources are tilted towards Butler, limiting his offense.

Fortunately, Butler's ball-handling offensive skills have continued to improve under hard training. After a season of regular season training, the playoffs have improved to a higher level. Now he has completely ranked among the league's second-tier small forwards, although he is not as good as Durant. Pierce, Anthony and other well-known top forward scorers have the ability to solve hard and can maintain moderately efficient scoring in a harsh main offensive environment.

The Warriors relied on Butler's continuous scoring in individual singles to keep the Mavericks from recovering too many points. However, when Zhang Yu returned to the main force at 7 minutes into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks began to rely on their superior offensive ability. , Chasing the point difference to within 10 points, the Warriors' efforts in the third quarter were almost in vain.

Watching the Mavericks chasing points step by step, the Warriors fans at the scene were a little impatient. Many spectators in the front row even looked at Zhang Yu frequently, with anxious eyes, and almost reminded him to change quickly.

However, Zhang Yu, under the gaze of the crowd, seemed not to be worried about the situation on the court at all in the frequent rebroadcast shots aimed at him. Well, Adams talked and laughed in a low voice, as if it was not the Mavericks who were chasing points, but the Warriors.

Waiting for the time to reach 7 minutes and 11 seconds, Kidd and Nowitzki played a pick-and-roll, Nowitzki rolled outside, took advantage of Whiteside's weakness, made a three-pointer, and chased the point difference to 7 After the score, Zhang Yucai Shi Shiran called a timeout and replaced the main force.

During the timeout, Yu Jia said with some concern:

"Zhang Yu finally called a timeout, but the score has come to 96:89, the Mavericks chased to only 7 points, the situation is not good for the Warriors...Director Zhang, what do you think of the Warriors' timeout, right? It's a little late?"

Zhang Weiping carefully looked at the players on both sides in the live broadcast, pondered for a while, and then said:
"In my opinion, Zhang Yu must have his own opposite. We all know that he has always been known for being good at responding to changes. He has always grasped the timing of timeouts well... The Warriors have a big enough lead. He called timeouts so late. It is also a strategy to allow the main players to have sufficient rest time."

On the sidelines, Zhang Yu stood up, greeted the players who were leaving the field, gave them high fives, and encouraged them with a smile:

"It's all hard work..."

Then, he looked at the main players and said:

"Have you had enough rest?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

"Very good, you guys will play later, close the game!"

……

On the Mavericks bench, a group of veterans looked tired, sitting on a chair, sipping energy drinks, and taking deep breaths.

After they finished the third quarter, they returned to the court with almost no rest in the fourth quarter. The physical exertion was very intense, and they all took advantage of this timeout to recover as much as possible.

Carlisle dragged a chair, sat in front of everyone, and said solemnly:

"After the timeout, the Warriors will definitely send in the main force. This is the most critical moment. Everyone must withstand their impact and catch up to within 5 points. As long as we do this, the momentum will come to our side , when the time comes to play the critical moment, we still have an advantage in experience..."

……

Soon, the short timeout called by Zhang Yu ended, and the two sides returned to the field.

In addition to Zhang Yu replacing Butler, he replaced all the other four main players. Chandler was the center and no longer played a small lineup with the Mavericks. Leonard replaced Butler and let Butler take the lead. Take a short rest.

Subsequently, the Warriors sent a sideline ball and launched an offense.

Curry and Chandler played a pick-and-roll and chased Nowitzki. The Mavericks didn't switch defenses, but they didn't let Nowitzki squat inside, but directly flanked Curry!
Curry scored 14 points in the third quarter, with extremely high efficiency and a complete recovery. Carlisle was very afraid of him, and finally resorted to the defensive strategy he used against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last season in the fourth quarter, flanking Curry.

Facing Dirk Nowitzki and Terry who were surrounding him, Curry protected the ball calmly, waited for a while, and then dropped it to Chandler who was going down. Nowitzki hurriedly chased back, but his footsteps were too fast. Slow, already out of reach, but the Mavericks have long been prepared for this situation, and Marion in the corner on the weak side shrinks to the basket to help protect the frame.

But his help defense was too late. Curry waited for a while and gave Chandler time to go down. He started directly after receiving the ball, without dribbling, and had a full impact. Before Marion shrank into the penalty area, he was He flew up and dunked successfully.

98: 89.

"Curry passed to Chandler—Chandler smashed Huashan! Curry handled the ball very calmly in the face of double-teaming, and directly penetrated the Mavericks' defense!" Yu Jia said.

Looking back, Nowitzki played Chandler with his back and singles, and the Warriors had no defense. Chandler rested for most of the third quarter and had plenty of energy, while Nowitzki played an entire game with the ball. There was almost no rest in the second half, and he was exhausted. He couldn't shake Chandler's defense. He turned and shot and missed the basket under his interference. The rebound was protected by Green.

The Warriors attacked, and Curry continued to pick and roll to find Nowitzki, but was still double-teamed by the Mavericks, but Marion learned his lesson and made preparations in advance to shrink the frame to prevent Chandler from going down.

But Curry's vision is very wide, and he noticed the change in the Mavericks' defensive formation. He threw it directly to Green in the corner. Watching Green hit this small open three-pointer with an ugly posture and a slightly stiff rhythm.

101: 89.

After making the three-pointer, Green was very excited. He held his head high, raised his arms, and showed his strong muscles to the audience. He was full of passion. Those who didn’t know thought that he didn’t hit an open three-pointer just now, but made a one-pointer. Remember the buzzer lore.

Round transition, Kidd and Nowitzki play a pick-and-roll, Nowitzki and Terry hand-in-hand, Terry Biao scored a difficult three-pointer to help the Mavericks stabilize the situation.

101: 92.

Looking back, the Warriors insisted on their own style of play. Curry and Chandler played a pick-and-roll, trying to find Nowitzki, but the Mavericks refused to let him find him, pinching him to test his ball.

So, Curry once again found Leonard who was in the open position. The speed of the Mavericks' rotation to fill the position was not fast enough. After making some adjustments, Leonard made a fixed-point three-pointer.

104: 92.

On the sidelines, Zhang Yu nodded slightly after seeing Leonard's goal, turned to look at Carlisle, who was frowning, and smiled playfully.

He would like to see if Carlisle will always flank Curry. Last season, the Warriors only had Curry as a stable offensive point, and they were very afraid of opponents' flanking.

But this season, the Warriors' young players have grown rapidly, and the offensive end has become more and more stable.

And if the Mavericks don't flank Curry and choose to switch defenses, Nowitzki is Curry's cash machine. There are two bottles of poison in front of Carlisle, and he must choose one.

Zhang Yu looked up at the big screen. There were 4 minutes and 56 seconds left in the game. These 5 minutes were the Mavericks' last chance. He was very much looking forward to Carlisle's choice.

……

Carlisle still did not change his defensive strategy, he kept flanking Curry, and Zhang Yu also cooperated very well, letting Curry hold the ball and play pick-and-rolls with Chandler, attracting flanking and splitting the ball.

Both were tacit, Carlisle didn't believe the Warriors' role players could kill the Mavericks, and Zhang Yu believed they could punish the Mavericks' defensive strategy.

Conversely, Carlisle let Nowitzki keep playing singles with the ball. He believed in Nowitzki's offensive ability, while Zhang Yu kept Chandler defending alone. He believed that under Chandler's defense, Nowitzki played Undead warrior.

At this point in the game, it is no longer a tactical competition, but a competition between the two coaches' confidence in the players.

Zhang Yu will not rack his brains to design tactics for Curry to let him get rid of the Mavericks' attack, and Carlisle will not try to cover Nowitzki to let him get rid of Chandler's defense.

They all believe that their tactics are correct and their players have enough strength to beat their opponents.

The only difference is that Zhang Yu put the outcome of the game on Curry's pass and on the shots of Clay, Butler and Green, while Carlisle put the outcome on Nowitzki's singles.

In the end, Zhang Yu won the bet and Carlisle lost the bet.

Carlisle underestimated Chandler's defense. If Nowitzki is in his prime and full of energy, Chandler really can't limit his scoring, just like he couldn't defend Nowitzki in the first half. The superstar is It is impossible to be restricted by single defense.

But Nowitzki played a fast-paced confrontation with the Warriors in the third quarter, and only rested for 1 minute at the beginning of the fourth quarter. His physical fitness was close to exhaustion. Chandler rested for a long time in the third quarter. Plenty and in perfect condition.

With his best defense, Nowitzki didn't get too much money. Every shot was very difficult, the scoring efficiency plummeted, and the Mavericks' offense also collapsed.

On the defensive end, they couldn't prevent the Warriors' offense. Clay continued his good touch in the first half. Green withstood the pressure at the critical moment. Staying in the ground, severely punished the Mavericks' strategy of flanking Curry, and made the Mavericks pay a heavy price.

With 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the game, the Warriors re-extended the point difference to 16 points and completely took the initiative.

Carlisle saw that he was powerless, so he stopped making unnecessary struggles, replaced the main force, and conceded the defeat.

In the end, the Warriors beat the Mavericks 117:102, leading the series 1:0 and getting off to a good start in the playoffs.

(End of this chapter)