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Chapter 285 Eternal Heroism

Since you can't have your cake and eat it too, halfway through the first quarter, Carlisle simply focused the SuperSonics' defensive resources on Curry.

This is undoubtedly a wise decision.

Because Curry in the current era is still clearly a bit inexperienced in dealing with double teams and semi-double teams.

In Qin Yue's previous life, Curry's peak career period can be roughly divided into two stages.

Curry's three-point shooting was incredibly accurate in the first phase.

However, when faced with intense defense and relentless double-teaming from opponents on the court, Curry is prone to inconsistent performances and frequent turnovers.

It wasn't until the second phase that Curry improved his ability to break through opponents' tight defenses by building muscle.

However, if Curry wants to become the "Devil Muscle Curry" who can take on the Celtics of later generations, he is destined to have a long journey ahead.

Since gaining muscle will inevitably affect Curry's amazing touch, Curry can only gradually gain muscle and rely on time and years to gradually offset the negative impact of muscle gain on his touch.

However.
Unlike someone who needs the team's second-in-command to put on a "Jordan-level" performance to lead the team to the championship.

At Oracle Arena, with the SuperSonics' defensive resources forced to concentrate on Curry and prioritize dealing with the "Li" in the "Core Qin Core Li" combination, Qin Yue practically turned Garnett into a "dead dog" in the latter half of the first quarter.

"You know, playing against him felt like he walked right up to me, kicked me, and then I was 'dead'." On the SuperSonics bench, as he was being substituted by Duncan, Garnett described Qin Yue's "kick to death" during the game in this way.

Upon hearing this, Duncan commented, "You sound like a random person on the street."

Garnett said helplessly, "In front of him, we are all just roadside figures."

With the passage of time, Garnett's physical abilities are no longer sufficient to support him in facing Qin Yue alone in a game.

But Carlisle still had no choice.

Since Qin Yue is currently unstoppable by any player, the SuperSonics can only weaken the Warriors' offensive firepower by first containing Curry, who is likely to be defended.

The SuperSonics' final attack of the first quarter.

They were still trying to wear down Qin Yue's supersonic speed during the offensive, with Duncan lobbing the ball to Yao Ming.

In this game, Yao Ming's efficiency in attacking from the low post was astonishing.

And both Garnett and Duncan were able to get the ball to Yao Ming in time.

However, under Qin Yue's relentless defense, Yao Ming's output was far lower than usual.

For example, in this round.

It's true that Yao Ming used his size advantage to squeeze out Qin Yue.

However, since Qin Yue had not completely lost his position, even Yao Ming had to consider whether his little brother would destroy his basketball dream with an unreasonable "interception" when he finished his attack.

Fortunately, Duncan's timely intervention provided Yao Ming with another option.

In the Warriors' paint, Duncan received an assist from Yao Ming and scored off the backboard.

Seeing this, Qin Yue said disdainfully, "You're a coward, Lao Yao."

In response, Yao Ming laughed and said, "How is this a sign of cowardice? This is clearly a strategic adjustment on my part."

After a pause, Yao Ming said matter-of-factly, "Do you even understand what it means to set up a new track and find new leverage points?"

"don't know."

"It's okay if you don't understand. From now on, you'll learn from your brother Yao."

It has to be said that Yao Ming's skin has become increasingly thick over the years.

In Qin Yue's view, Yao Ming had just made a "James-style" choice, but he described it as something so lofty and impressive.

Is asking questions when you don't understand what "communication skills" are all about?

Oracle Arena, first quarter ended, score 26-31.

The SuperSonics are down by 5 points against the Warriors.

In the second quarter, the use of Duncan and Garnett to keep Carlisle from going all out in the paint finally gave Garnett a chance to vent his frustration.

On the field, the young "Iron Bull" was humiliated by Garnett in two consecutive rounds.

Turning his gaze to Garnett, Duncan asked with a curious look as he retreated on defense, "Why do you look so unexcited?"

Garnett sighed, "What's so exciting about bullying a rookie?"

At this moment, life is not easy. The reason why Garnett sighed was largely because, in his view, Qin Yue, who always had young people around him who needed to grow, had already exceeded his understanding of the sport of basketball.

why?
In the NBA, even if someone always has top-tier teammates, they'll still complain that their teammates aren't strong enough.

But what about Qin Yue?

Over the past three years, Qin Yue has not only led his warriors to expand their territory.

Furthermore, when the Warriors boldly used rookies, Qin Yue also had to be responsible for supporting these young players.

However, Garnett wasn't excited about teasing Green.

But blocking Ray Allen's shot on defense is something Garnett should be pounding his chest in frustration and roaring to the heavens for.

"traitor!"

In the SuperSonics' paint, at the very moment Garnett intercepted Ray Allen's off-ball cut and layup, Garnett immediately shouted angrily at his opponent.

However, instead of getting angry at Garnett's sarcastic remarks, Ray Allen asked with a smug look, "Envious?"

"What are you envious of?"

"I envy that I can latch onto the coattails of 'Great Qin'."

"."

How could he not be envious?

In fact, if it weren't for that damn face-saving...

With Garnett joining Li Ning's camp, he was even more eager to dedicate the end of his career to Yao Ming, his "god of wealth."

Before Qin Yue could even seduce him, Garnett would probably have already handed his resume to Qin Yue.

But while that's what he was thinking, Garnett couldn't say it out loud.

“I’m not envious at all, you know what, 'Ray-ray,' you’re just a spineless sissy who sticks his ass out at whoever looks like a champion!” Garnett continued to berate Ray Allen.

Even though Garnett had put it that way, Ray Allen remained unperturbed.

If we were to summarize the feeling Garnett gave Ray Allen at this moment using a single line of classical Chinese poetry, it would be roughly as follows:

—The sourness permeates the entire bay area, and the whole city is filled with lemons.

On the court, the Warriors still had possession of the ball.

After receiving a pass from Jamison, Ray Allen, unaffected by "Iron Bull's" clever screen, sank a three-pointer.

“Looks like your trash talk isn’t working on him,” Duncan said to Garnett.

Upon hearing this, Garnett angrily retorted, "'Ray-ray' is a bitch who'd rather cry in a Maybach than laugh in an old car."

Stroking his chin, Duncan pondered, "You mean, we're an old car?"

Garnett chuckled and said, "What else can we do? Are we going to be Maybachs in front of that guy?"

At Oracle Arena, the SuperSonics received both good and bad news in the second quarter.

The good news is that Martin, who came off the bench, scored a point in the match in Auckland.

In addition, Jeremy Lin, who was eager to prove himself, also showed his talent after coming off the bench.

The bad news is that JR Smith drew the "idiot" card that night, instead of the "god" card. As everyone knows, JR Smith usually plays in "Jordan form" when he draws the latter.

Therefore, the Supersonics failed to narrow the score gap while Qin Yue was resting on the bench.

Furthermore, the Warriors maintained firm control of the game throughout.

Mike Malone, who never needed to think as much as Carlisle, didn't send Qin Yue back onto the court until there were 4 minutes left in the second quarter.

This left Carlisle feeling desperate.

Because Qin Yue had rested well, he completely shattered Qin Yue's illusion that he could constantly wear down his opponent's stamina by putting pressure on him on the offensive end.

And most fatally...
In the latter part of the second quarter, JR even did something that even Curry couldn't do that night.

That is, to prevent Qin Yue from having to think about how to attack.

"Can you pass me the ball a few more times, boss? I feel like I'm having a great night."

On the court, JR looked at Qin Yue with anticipation.

Seeing this, Qin Yue laughed and said, "'Jr,' you need to be mindful of your status."

After a pause, looking at the somewhat bewildered JR, Qin Yue added, "Now you are our absolute offensive core, so don't ask me for the ball, because I will pass the ball to you every possession from now on."

Looking up at Qin Yue, JR was overjoyed, having never felt so trusted before.

In Auckland.

JR seems to always be able to attack in "Jordan form".

why?
Because he has a good older brother who will never make him take the blame and will always trust him.

Most importantly, this "good brother" would take him out for a life of debauchery every day.

Oracle Arena, Warriors' offensive possession.

Receiving a pass from Qin Yue, JR took a probing step and pulled up for a three-pointer, sinking the shot and scoring his 19th point of the quarter.

On the scoreboard, with the first half over, the score between the SuperSonics and the Warriors was set at 57-68.

During the break, Barkley commented on the first half of the game on TNT, saying, "From the SuperSonics' game, we can see that Coach Rick Carlisle has carefully planned a lot of tactics for this game and played a lot of details."

"As for the warriors?"

"All I can say is that if Coach Mike Malone is considering retirement, I would not hesitate to take my coaching talents to the West Coast next season."

During halftime, Malone was interviewed by the host and, upon learning of Barkley's assessment of him, laughed and said, "Charles really said that? Well, please tell Charles for me that I have no plans to retire for the time being."

In the world of basketball, a great coach can indeed cook up a more delicious dish than other coaches.

But why would truly top-quality ingredients require complicated preparation processes?

In the unseen locker rooms of the two teams, the starkly different scenes between the Warriors and the SuperSonics during halftime created a striking contrast.

The home team's locker room.

It's Curry complaining to everyone that Ariza scratched his arm at least several times.

It was Brown and Tie Niu giving Da Qin a back massage and shoulder rub.

It was Wallace, who was having a long talk with Butler about whether Batman could beat Captain America.

And the away team's locker room
The image shows the SuperSonics players listening attentively to head coach Carlisle's tactical instructions with a high degree of professionalism.

no doubt.

If he hadn't experienced it firsthand, Ray Allen wouldn't have believed that the SuperSonics were once competing against such an unreliable team.

But that's what makes a warrior.

The intermission is over.

All eyes turned to Qin Yue.

No major tactical adjustments are needed.

No encouraging words are needed.

This mighty army exuded an awe-inspiring power of dominance from the inside out.

In the third quarter, Green, whose fairytale-like performance continued, put pressure on the SuperSonics with a three-pointer.

Then, let's go back to the beginning.

Yao Ming, who had been cursing Qin Yue every night in the DOTA2 client for the past few months, was also retaliated against by Qin Yue.

In the Warriors' no-fly zone, Qin intercepted Yao Ming.

Although Yao Ming couldn't fly at the moment he completed the side hook shot.

But Qin Yue's volleyball-style block still managed to slap the basketball hard out of bounds.

comfortable.

After intercepting Yao Ming, Qin Yue admitted that his block was indeed somewhat driven by personal grudges.

Do not ask.

The answer is that GOAT never holds grudges.

Because GOAT will take revenge on the spot if they have a grudge.

In the second half, the Warriors started with a 9-0 offensive surge, which established their winning momentum.

The final score was 102 to 121.

The Warriors secured a resounding victory at home, giving them a winning start to their Western Conference semifinals series.

In a post-game interview, Carlisle said with a sense of helplessness, "We tried everything in the game, but the Warriors still beat us with their superior strength."

In response, a reporter deliberately embellished Carlisle's helpless words when relaying a message to Warriors head coach Malone, changing it to "Our tactics are better than the Warriors', it's just that the Warriors' players are stronger."

Malone responded by saying, "I admit that Rick is an absolute tactical genius, but he can't simply attribute the team's loss to our overall superior strength. I think he should take a look at the advanced tactical plays the Warriors made under my leadership; that's the main reason we were able to beat them."

Advanced tactical coordination?

Does this mean handing the ball to Qin Yue, or handing the ball to Qin Yue, or handing the ball to Qin Yue?

At the press conference, Warriors assistant coach Hollins, who was present with Malone, didn't even want to expose Malone's flaws.

In Hollins's view, a bastard like Malone, who always relies on Qin Yue to show off, would definitely go to hell after he dies.

Damn it, Mike!

What makes you think you deserve the opportunity to teach the Messiah?

On the other hand, Garnett, who was under intense scrutiny from Duncan and Yao Ming before the game, ended his interview with a philosophical quote: "Life doesn't offer second chances; once you start, you can never go back."

Perhaps Garnett, who never had the chance to ride on Qin Yue's coattails, was genuinely envious of Ray Allen.

But since Garnett ultimately chose to stay and accompany Yao Ming.

In this era known as the Qin Dynasty.

How could these old soldiers, who were not dead but gradually fading away, willingly watch Qin Yue walk step by step to the end of that long stairway to godhood?
In this world, there is only one kind of heroism.

That is, to still love life even after recognizing its true nature.

……

PS: Update delivered! (Oops, I was just saying the Pacers would win the championship yesterday, and the Knicks won today. Is it too late for me to shout "Thunder champions!" now?)
(End of this chapter)