warrior godfather

Chapter 198 A long three for Curry! (5000 words)
In the Thunder locker room, Durant was slumped on a chair, panting heavily, with ice packs wrapped around his legs, sweat dripping from his body like water.

He picked up the energy drink, resisted the feeling of hunger and thirst, drank it in small sips, then peeled off two bananas, chewed them carefully and swallowed them, and then took a long breath.

Brooks glanced worriedly and asked:

"Kevin, how are you feeling?"

"I'm just a little tired, I'll be fine after a short rest, I'm fine." Durant said slowly, smiling at Brooks.

Brooks was still a little worried, but Durant had said so, and he couldn't ask any more questions, so he explained the tactics for the second half:
"We played very well in the first half, and we will continue to work hard in the second half. Kevin, I need you to score more...Russell, I will arrange a pick-and-roll tactic for you. If Chandler comes out, you will be bold. Go to the rim, or pass to a teammate, and someone else will run off the ball on the weak side, attracting the attention of the defense...Jeff, you..."

Durant listened to Brooks' words, his heavy breathing gradually calmed down, and his sweat stopped flowing wantonly. The intermission allowed him to recover a lot of physical strength.

When Durant didn't stop on both ends of the offense and defense in the first half, he had to keep running to find opportunities when he was attacking, and was chased by Curry when he was defending, and he couldn't swim if he wanted to.

Moreover, the Warriors focused most of their defensive attention on him. Curry had to dribble a fancy pass every time, and then shoot a three-pointer or break through. Death would not let him die, Durant felt My pair of long legs have been walking without stopping.

And his physical fitness is not good enough. If he can paddle on the defensive end, it is a little bit reluctant to support 4 quarters, not to mention that he has to go all out on both offense and defense under high intensity. It is only half of the game. His physical fitness It consumed most of it.

Durant finally took another sip of the energy drink, took a few deep breaths, and refocused his eyes.

No matter what, he wants to win this game, and he wants to see the scenery of the playoffs!
……

In the locker room of the home team, Curry relaxed all his muscles, sat on a chair, covered his head with a blue and gold towel in the color of the Warriors, and looked at Zhang Yu who was giving a speech:
"...Continuing to play like this in the second half, the Thunder is at the end of its strength, all we need to do is to put another straw on them, and they will fall by themselves..."

Curry focused his eyes and nodded from time to time. Of course he believed what the boss said, and he keenly felt that Durant slowed down a little in the last few rounds of defending him. Others couldn't see it, but Curry and Durant are facing each other directly, and they feel it most clearly.

"The boss guessed everything right, really amazing..." Butler beside Curry suddenly whispered.

Curry nodded in agreement:
"That's right, the boss said that the Thunder's offense can only rely on Durant, and the rest of the Thunder can't score. In fact, I also know this, because their offense was not good in the last game... But the boss said that Durant Durant's defense is very poor. I was actually a little apprehensive to let me fight him one-on-one and consume his energy. They all said that Durant is talented, tall, long, and fast. He must be very strong in single defense. To think Durant is so bad defensively..."

Butler chuckled lightly:

"Talent? Stephen, defense is the least important thing to look at talent. Defense requires hard work and concentration. A genius like Durant will not devote energy to defense. He is the king of scoring. He doesn't need to defend. He just scores. enough."

Curry squinted at him:
"So you think I need to put energy into defense?"

Butler turned his head, looked at him carefully, and finally stopped on his arm, and said with a smile:
"Of course you need it. You're not a Spider-Man, you're a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Do you have the talent of Durant?"

Curry quit immediately, and punched Butler in the chest. Butler smiled and raised his hand to block it, and was about to fight back when Zhang Yu looked over, and the two quickly stopped.

Zhang Yu looked at the two people who were fighting, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Curry has always been a treasure, but Butler was a bit dull and introverted. After getting along with Curry for a few years, he became cheerful.

In Zhang Yu's previous life, Butler didn't get along well with his teammates, but now that he has come to the Warriors, that situation will definitely not happen.

"Okay, let's take a rest, let's go all out in the third quarter and win the game!"

Zhang Yu raised his voice and clenched his fist with his right hand. He didn't hold the tactical board. The tactics of this game had been rehearsed many times yesterday.

"Yes, sir!"

……

The 15 minutes, short for the players but long for the fans, finally passed. Players from both sides walked out of the player channel and returned to the field. The second half of the game began.

The Thunder attacked, and Durant continued to run without the ball. With the help of two screens in a row, he got a gap. After receiving Westbrook's pass, he made a jumper.

47: 51.

After he went through the half-time break and replenished his energy, he was in a much better state.

But looking back, Curry asked Butler to come up for the pick-and-roll, Durant's face sank, and he reluctantly followed.

He really didn't want to defend Curry anymore, and he knew he couldn't defend himself, so he yelled at Westbrook:
"Don't change!"

After hearing this, Westbrook struggled to squeeze the screen, but Butler was still in the inertial thinking of the first half, thinking that Westbrook would take advantage of the situation to switch defenses, the screen was not tight, and Westbrook easily squeezed past.

Durant followed Butler, watching Westbrook sticking to Curry again, he was relieved, whoever wants to guard Curry should go, the Lord will not wait...

But he couldn't laugh right away. After the first pick-and-roll failed, Curry initiated the second pick-and-roll without hesitation, and Butler covered him!

This time Butler blocked Westbrook. Although it was only a delay, Durant had to go up to Curry and stretch out his hand to cover his shooting space.

Brooks issued a strict order before the game. Curry must not be given the opportunity to take a three-pointer easily, especially when he is behind a single block screen. Curry used this trick to kill several teams. Brooks did not want the Thunder to become the next branch.

Westbrook still wanted to trade with Durant again, but Butler didn't give him this chance. After the cover, he dismantled it and ran to the weak side. Westbrook chased Curry's figure for a while, turned and followed .

Westbrook saw Curry's gesture to pass the ball to Butler, and he didn't dare to let Butler go. This is what the coaching staff emphasized before the game. Butler can make 37.6 three-pointers with a 2.1% shooting rate per game this season. Dividing the ball is a high-yield and efficient elite shooter in this era, and the Thunder dare not let him shoot.

And in this way, only Curry and Durant were left at 45 degrees on the right side of the three-point line, and Curry got another chance to single Durant.

Curry didn't delay this time. It took a lot of offensive time to find Durant in two pick-and-rolls. He made a simple change in front of his body and dribbled behind his back. Minute!
Durant fought hard to block the shot, but the basketball still flew past his fingertips and was hollowed into the net under the watchful eyes of more than [-] spectators at Oracle Center.

brush!
At 47:54, the point difference that was just approaching was pulled away again.

boom!
After the ball was scored, the Oracle Center was like a volcano that had been suppressed for a long time, and suddenly erupted. Cheers and screams resounded throughout the audience. Almost everyone's arms were raised high, like a forest. , danced happily.

He high-fived Butler next to him and grinned.

"Yes! Curry made a difficult three-pointer against Durant. It can be seen that Curry was chasing Durant. He was very persistent and passed two consecutive pick-and-rolls to replace Durant. In front of myself, that's obviously a tactic for the Warriors," Mike Breen said.

Jeff Van Gundy nodded and said:

"The Warriors have no reason not to play like this. The first half clearly told us that Durant can't defend Curry alone. Based on my understanding of Coach Z, he will definitely not let Durant go."

"Oh? What kind of person do you think Coach Z is?" Mike Brin asked with interest.

Jeff Van Gundy's eyes showed the color of memory:

"I watched a lot of Warriors games this season, and I know Coach Z. He is a coach who is very good at adjusting his tactics according to the opponent's weaknesses. Until the opponent changes tactics. We all know that many coaches believe in their own system. I am the main one and often don’t like to make changes. But Coach Z is different. The game that impressed me the most was his There was a five-shooter lineup with Anthony Tolliver at the starting center, which was crazy, and I don't think anyone else would do that."

"Maybe this is why he can become the head coach of the NBA at the age of 27..." Mark Jackson sighed.

After retiring, he wanted to be the head coach, but he never had the opportunity. He could only be a commentator. Seeing Zhang Yu become the head coach at such a young age, his feelings were very complicated.

Jeff Van Gundy shook his head and said:

"No, Mark, Coach Z can coach the Warriors because he bought the Warriors, otherwise no one would hire a young man in his 20s as a head coach."

When the three were talking about Zhang Yu, the two teams played against each other for a few more rounds, and Curry chased Durant twice in a row, but both failed.

And Durant is not iron, it is impossible to play every round by himself, he gave the ball to Westbrook, but the pick-and-roll effect of Westbrook and Krstic was not ideal, and the score was stalemate for a while.

Under the back and forth between the two sides, the Warriors got the ball. Curry pushed forward with the ball and looked to the sidelines. Zhang Yu gestured to him to continue. Curry hesitated for a moment, but found it through the pick-and-roll Durant.

After a dexterous dribble, he opened up a shot space, but the three-pointer was a little short, and the rebound was protected by Krstic.

Silas asked Zhang Yu in a low voice:

"Ronan, Stephen doesn't feel very good now, should I change my style of play?"

"No, just let him beat Durant, even if he doesn't make it, keep fighting." Zhang Yu said slowly shaking his head.

"But……"

"Don't forget our purpose, as long as we can consume Durant, scoring is secondary." Zhang Yu interrupted Silas and said in a deep voice.

He turned his head to look at the eager substitute players on the bench, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

As long as the game continues at this pace, even if the Warriors lose points in the third quarter, the game will still be won.

……

"Huh...huh...uh-uh!"

On the court, Durant received Westbrook's pass from outside the three-point line, made a super-large change of direction in front of his body, pulled up and shot a three-pointer.

He held his right hand high, maintained the following gesture of shooting, watched the basketball bounce into the hoop, and then put his hand down, breathing heavily to return to defense.

The third quarter has come to an end, and there are only 31 seconds left before the end of this quarter. After Durant made this three-pointer, the score was 68:70, and the Thunder chased the point difference to only 2 points.

And Durant also snatched an attack time. He saw the hope of victory, and it was this hope that allowed him to score difficult goals one after another when his physical fitness was close to exhaustion.

Before the end of the three quarters, Durant had already scored 36 points, and every time he scored was unreasonable, it was extremely difficult, and even the fanatical Oracle Center was shocked.

Durant decisively took over the ball when his teammates couldn't start the situation, fired infinitely, and happened to catch up with Curry's hand feeling briefly slipping for a few minutes. up the score.

But only Durant himself knows that he has everything on the offensive end, and he is facing frequent attacks from Curry on the defensive end, which consumes a lot of physical energy. As a big manager, he can only carry the team on his shoulders with a breath of air.

In order to save energy, Durant slowly retreated back to his own half. Curry on the opposite side quickly advanced and rushed towards him. Durant swept left and right and found no one around him. But Curry stopped two steps in front of him, raised his hand and threw a three-pointer!

This sudden three-pointer made Durant a little confused. He half-raised his right hand and looked back, just in time to see the basketball spinning at high speed and falling straight into the net.

At 68:73, the point difference that was just approaching was pulled away again.

Durant was stunned, and the cheers and shouts from the audience reached his ears, as if they were echoes from a distant place, with a sense of illusion.

He gritted his teeth, wiped the sweat off his face with his jersey, asked for the ball directly from Westbrook, stepped on his heavy legs, and slowly moved to the frontcourt.

Butler stopped in front of him. Durant stopped one step ahead of Butler and dribbled the ball slowly. The Warriors did not double-team him. He looked up at the timer, and it was about to run out in 24 seconds. From time to time, he collected the ball and raised his hand, collected the ball much slower than usual, and shot a super long three-pointer.

When Durant took the shot, a drop of sweat just slipped from his forehead to his right eye, but he didn't blink, and gently flicked the ball out with his right hand, exactly the same as he had done thousands of times on weekdays.

brush!
At 71:73, Butler was still unable to interfere with Durant's extremely high shot. The basketball hit the net hollowly. Durant heaved a sigh of relief when he landed, and then felt his heart beat slowly like a heavy drum. The sound of "dong dong" made him feel like he couldn't breathe.

After the ball was scored, the Warriors still had 3.2 seconds left to attack. Chandler quickly served the baseline ball. Curry quickly advanced to the frontcourt after receiving the ball. He followed Curry for two steps and raised his hand symbolically.

Curry rushed past Westbrook with a backhand dribble, but there were less than 2 seconds left, and he had just passed the halfway line, and he was still stepping on the logo of the Bay Bridge. From the position of horseback riding and archery, he pushed the ball hard from his chest.

All eyes were on the orange basketball, and the huge Oracle Center fell into silence, except for the long "beep" sound when the red light came on after the ball flew more than half the distance. out of the arena.

Bang—swipe!

Under the eyes of everyone, the basketball rebounded into the basket after hitting the board, 71:76.

"Yes!! A long three, from Curry (a super long three-pointer from Curry)!"

Accompanied by Mike Brin's passionate commentary, there was a crazy shout that seemed to overturn the ceiling. After a short silence, the Oracle Center burst into earth-shattering cheers. The fans collectively stood up from their seats and stood up. Lin's arm worshiped this shocking three-pointer at the buzzer logo.

The Warriors' bench was also crazy. Together with other Warriors players on the field, Qi Qi rushed towards Curry, surrounded him, and wildly celebrated this three-pointer that was even rarer than a lore.

"Huh...huh..."

Durant leaned on his knees with both hands, looked at the celebrating Warriors with a blank gaze, and then looked up at the score on the big screen blankly, the anger that supported him in his heart quietly dissipated.

He dragged his tired body back to the bench, slumped on the chair, the soreness and powerlessness suppressed by the desire to win surged up.

Curry can even make such a shot, can the Thunder really win?
On the other side of the technical stage, Zhang Yu laughed and applauded, and said to Silas:
"Stephen, we won!"

……

The fourth quarter was spent in a calm atmosphere. After the Warriors came off the bench, they quickly expanded the score to double digits, but the audience and commentators felt that this seemed to be a matter of course. No one is surprised by this.

Curry's two ultra-long three-pointers gave the whole team a shot in the arm, turning the Warriors players into tigers, as if they were going to tear their opponents in half, and their strength on both ends of the offense and defense was full.

The momentum of the Thunder chasing points was completely wiped out, as if they were stunned by Curry's three-pointer and played chaotically.

No matter how much Brooks calls a timeout and emphasizes tactics, it’s useless. Durant, who was put on the court by him ahead of schedule, is no longer as amazing as he was before. With his physical fitness close to exhaustion, he made continuous shots and was counterattacked by the Warriors, and the point difference was quickly pulled Open to about 20 minutes.

Five minutes into the fourth quarter, the game entered garbage time, and Brooks withdrew.

Zhang Yu waited for Curry to score a three-pointer after the three-pointer, and the score reached 40 points before replacing the starter.

When Curry left the court, the shouts of MVP in the Oracle Center lingered for a long time.

Zhang Yu put his arms around his chest and smiled slightly. He used to be a fan, and he knows best what fans like to watch. On this point, he doesn't know Cole.

　Thanks Yu Qingfeng for the reward!I still owe thirteen thousand, please ask for a monthly ticket and a recommended ticket~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)