Back on the bench, Cole and the players fell into silence. Today's situation was much more difficult than they expected.
Trailing the Trail Blazers by 10 points in a single quarter, this is a very dangerous sign in Kerr's view. He knew very well that if he continued to be suppressed by the Trail Blazers in the second quarter, it would be very difficult to reverse.
He raised his head and put his hope on the second team, because the Warriors only have seven rotations, so strictly speaking, there is no second team at all.
It's not that he doesn't want to use more people, but the situation forces him to only rotate seven people. Only in this way can the Warriors remain competitive enough.
During the rotation in the second quarter, he believed it would be the Warriors' best chance to reverse the situation.
Chasing 10 points in a single quarter is more than enough for the Warriors.
After the three-point shot became popular in the league, the score differences that used to be considered huge now seem to be just water and are not worth mentioning at all.
A few years ago, in the Hukai battle, when the two giants in the NBA met in the finals, the score in the entire game often hovered around 70 or 80, which was called Jiaozuo.
But what now? Fans have rarely seen a game in which neither side scored more than 100 points.
Strong defense and difficulty scoring were a reflection of the game in that era. In such a game rhythm, once a certain team falls behind by seven or eight points, it will appear extremely passive. It may even cause the opponent to completely control the rhythm of the entire game, and the outcome can only be chronic death.
But now, because the tactical status of the three-point shot has been completely developed, even if one side is behind by more than 10 points in the game, sometimes it is not a problem at all.
After all, 10 points can only be recovered with a few three-pointers.
Therefore, a 10-point difference is nothing to the Warriors. Don't forget, they are the best team in the league at shooting three-pointers, so 10 points is nothing!
After the inter-section timeout ended and players from both sides returned, both teams made personnel adjustments.
As for the Warriors, they just replaced Green with Speights, and Iguodala replaced Livingston. The splash brothers Curry and Thompson, as well as the North Carolina Blackhawks Barnes, continue to be present.
In this kind of life-and-death battle, beating the main force became Cole's only option, and it was also the only way for the Warriors to break the game.
As for the Trail Blazers, the number of people rotating is much larger than that of the Warriors.
Lillard replaced Beverley, Aldridge replaced Harrell, Old Carter replaced Barton, Connett Lee replaced Batum, and Jokic replaced Wang Zelin.
Tonight's starting five were all changed in the second quarter!
Many commentators exclaimed. At this time, no one expected that Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts would dare to play five ups and five downs.
Cole is full of confidence. In his opinion, the only thing that the Trail Blazers can pose a threat to the Warriors is Wang Zelin. But Wang Zelin has already left the game at this time. Although Lillard and Aldridge are powerful, the former has offense but no defense. The latter can only run back and forth on the court when encountering five small lineups, which is extremely passive.
Such a lineup cannot contain the Warriors!
Three points is always one point more than two points. This is something even elementary school students can calculate.
As for the other three points of the Trail Blazers lineup...
Vince Carter? He's just an old man. He's almost 40, so we don't expect him to play a big role in this game.
Connet Lee? He knows how to cast this move at a fixed point. It is not easy to choke him.
Nikola Jokic? The slow pace of traditional European insiders is clearly reflected in him. There is a high probability that he will run back and forth on the court more times than Aldridge.
Cole thinks he's got this lineup!
The game restarted, and everyone believed that the Warriors had the upper hand. After all, the power of the water-splash combination was there.
So, the on-site photographer found Wang Zelin and gave him a close-up.
But Wang Zelin in the camera is not anxious. In front of hundreds of millions of viewers on multiple TV stations, there is Ge Youlai, who is very familiar to Chinese fans, with an expression that says "a good show is about to happen".
If it were anyone else, Weber and Miller, who were responsible for the on-site commentary, would definitely ridicule this guy for being blindly confident and pretending to be cool.
But since it is Wang Zelin... Weber believes that the Warriors may really be careful.
On the first attack of the second quarter, the Warriors easily scored the ball and things seemed to be going very smoothly.
After Curry was mispositioned in front of Jokic, he took a tentative stab and then quickly retreated to shoot.
Jokic was staggered. He thought Curry was going to break through, so he took two steps back. But as soon as he retreated, Curry returned directly to the three-point line and made a decisive jumper.
In this way, the difference in defense ability between Jokic and Wang Zelin is visible to the naked eye. Beating Jokic is easy and enjoyable for Curry.
The three-pointer hit the net hollowly, like a cloud-piercing arrow that dispersed the haze hanging over the Oracle Arena.
From the beginning of this game to now, the Warriors have never scored so comfortably.
It’s not easy!
Cole waved his fist excitedly. He thought his prediction was right. When it's rotation time, the Warriors can change everything!
The fans cheered again in the Oracle Arena. After a three-pointer, the score difference was only 7 points in an instant.
Now, Warriors fans are eager not only to get back the score, but to reverse the score before that damn No. 36 comes on the court.
They believe that under the leadership of Curry, the team will soon set off a familiar three-point wave, and then the rhythm will slowly return to the Warriors' rhythm.
Aldridge glanced at the score on the big screen with a serious expression.
The reason why he chose to let go of his proud figure as an All-Star player and decisively gave up his starting position to a mere rookie after the coach proposed a change of strategy was to help the team win.
Now that Wang is taking a break, let me play with you!
At this moment, Aldridge's eyes were extremely determined.
The Trail Blazers moved into the frontcourt, and the Warriors focused their defense on Lillard and other shooters on the perimeter.
The crazy three-point play made the Warriors subconsciously ignore the importance of two points over time, forgetting that this was once a terrifying weapon used by God to conquer the league.
Including their coach Steve Kerr.
No, maybe Cole has not forgotten the horror of two points, but it is precisely after seeing the scenery on the top of the mountain that he becomes more determined that the truly terrifying thing is Jordan, not the so-called weapon.
But in today's league, who can have the terrifying achievements of Jordan in two-pointers?
Even Kobe Bryant, who is said to be closest to God, has never achieved the dominance that Jordan had when he used two points as a weapon!
What's more, the Black Mamba is old, and among the current defenders, there are really not many who can play two points to the extent of a killer move.
At least in Cole's view, except for No. 36, who can use two points as a killer move, no one else on the Trail Blazers is worthy of his attention.
LaMarcus Aldridge?
Who is he?
He's just an ordinary All-Star forward. Is he worthy?
Soon, there was a sound from the basket.
"Damien, give me the ball!"
Lillard quickly hoisted the ball in and handed it to Aldridge.
Aldridge received the ball and played directly with his back, and Jokic also moved to one side smartly to open up the space.
In one-on-one defense, Speights was pushed back continuously, and Aldridge turned over and hit a fadeaway jumper!
34:25, the score difference is 9 points.
Speights expressed frustration.
"Lillard's shot was very decisive! Ade's shot was even more beautiful. It was a pleasure to watch his mid-range shot. This reminds me of Kobe Bryant, who is also a master of mid-range shots..."
At this time, Wang Zelin was resting, and Arab League did not get a chance to play. Zhang Lili's explanation started to go off topic.
"..."
The old partner next to him, Yu Jia, looked ashamed.
No, boss, can you involve Kobe in this?
That high school student has already gone fishing!
But seeing Zhang Lili still talking non-stop, Yu Jia was interested and did not answer. Anyway, the two players that Chinese fans want to watch most are not on the court, so it is better to let the former play freely and create some program effects.
Ahem, that’s too far off topic.
Back to topic.
The Blazers' offense did not change Cole's face at all. Just one two points, what kind of threat can it pose?
Sure enough, the Warriors turned around and attacked.
The familiar library's gravity reappeared. Iguodala ran out of the open space, received the pass on the reverse cut, cooperated with Barnes to assist, and completed a beautiful alley-oop.
Trail Blazers offense.
Aldridge continued to play in singles. This time, Speights learned the lesson and reached out to call someone to help double-team.
But Aldridge also reacted very quickly. He did not choose to go for a layup. Instead, he turned around and retreated, suddenly creating a lot of distance between him and the defender.
Then he leaned back and shot, and the basketball hit the board and went into the frame.
At 36:27, the point difference returned to the familiar 9 points!
(End of chapter)
