warrior godfather

Chapter 708 False Home Field Advantage

The Warriors attack, Curry dribbles to the frontcourt, Olynyk and Leonard are in the bottom corners on both sides, Clay opens up the space at 45 degrees, Curry and Antetokounmpo play a pick-and-roll.

The Warriors' tactics are exactly the same as the Rockets', both are V-shaped pick-and-rolls. The difference is that the Rockets dare not let Curry enter the basket.

Ariza and Capela don't have the defensive ability of Leonard and Antetokounmpo, and they can't take into account the shrinking defense and the outside three-pointer.

The Rockets defend Curry and Antetokounmpo's pick-and-roll, or use the method of switching defenses, just to interfere, and winning still depends on the offensive end.

Anderson switched defenses in front of Curry, Antetokounmpo took away Gordon, Curry singled out Anderson, stepped back and made a three-pointer, 104:99.

D'Antoni watched Curry succeed in military training Anderson, and shook his head helplessly.

This is why Harden made 24 of 21 free throws, but the Rockets still couldn't widen the point difference.

Curry only made 6 free throws today, but he has scored 39 points, only slightly lower than Harden, and at least half of them were scored on Anderson.

D'Antoni has also adjusted his defensive strategy, allowing Anderson to delay and then chase back, or Anderson retreats, and Gordon squeezes the cover to chase.But doing so couldn't prevent Antetokounmpo from going down to the frame, and it also gave Curry the opportunity to use the screen to directly pull out a three-pointer. The defensive effect is not as good as switching defenses.

In the end, D'Antoni didn't bother anymore. He changed defenses infinitely, did his best, and obeyed the destiny. He could defend a little bit. Anyway, he had home court advantage today, so he counted on the offense to win.

Looking back, Harden and Capela picked and rolled, and the Warriors switched defenses, but Olynyk didn't force up like in the previous games, driving Harden to the inside.

As long as Harden enters the inside line and lifts his hand up, he will get two free throws. Olynyk dare not "please enter the urn", but stops in front of Harden and tries his best to defend. Behind Antetokounmpo and Leonard Always ready to come over to help defend.

But his defense didn't have much effect. Harden dribbled the ball continuously under his crotch, changed his rhythm, shook Olynik's center of gravity, wiped past him, and rushed into the Warriors penalty area.

Antetokounmpo came to help defend, Harden leaned on him, raised his hands up, exposed the ball, and lured Antetokounmpo to cut.

Antetokounmpo was about to strike, but he held back at the last moment. He just raised his hands high and gave Harden limited interference.

Harden ignored Antetokounmpo's interference and made a rebound, 106:99.

"Beautiful! James!"

"Kill the warrior!"

During the replay, Harden made a celebratory gesture of cooking, which was also extremely exciting.

He has completely found the feeling, and no one can stop his scoring.

On the sidelines, Zhang Yu watched all this, sneered, and with a big wave of his hand, the Warriors quickly rushed across the half court!
Curry still had a pick-and-roll with Antetokounmpo, but when the Rockets were switching defenses, he suddenly dribbled the ball with a backhand, walked to the other side of the screen, and rushed into the penalty area unexpectedly.

Ariza on the weak side came to help defend, Curry gave the ball to Leonard in the bottom corner, Harden rotated to fill in front of him, Leonard immediately transferred to Clay who was emptied at a 45-degree angle.

Clay was undefended around him, shot the ball on the catch, and hit the net with a three-pointer, 106:102.

The round changed, Harden dribbled the ball halfway, Leonard suddenly came up to pinch, Harden took a step back and transferred the ball to Ariza.

Ariza caught the ball open at 45 degrees, did not shoot a three-pointer, and went directly to the inside to kill.

The Rockets have home court advantage, and D'Antoni requires every player to resolutely hit the inside and minimize long-range shots.

Olynyk shrunk to the basket, Ariza didn't score the ball, and against Olynyk's defense, he made a tough layup, 108:102.

"Yeah!!"

A burst of cheers erupted from the auditorium. Trevor Ariza swept away the situation today and scored 13 points. He is an important contributor to the Rockets' lead over the Warriors.

He was inaccurate for three-pointers, so he reduced his three-pointers and resolutely attacked the frame. The penalty was also beneficial to the Rockets, allowing Ariza to score a lot of points at the basket.

When the Rockets fans were still immersed in ecstasy, Olynyk quickly served the baseline ball. After Curry received the ball, he quickly advanced to the frontcourt. The Rockets' defense was chaotic.

There were two guards in front of Curry, and he passed the ball to Clay, who was unattended on the left. Capela rushed over, Clay feinted, and Harden pounced again. Distributed to Olynik who followed up.

At this time, the Rockets' defensive formation was completely chaotic, and Olynyk got a chance to open a big space.

He aimed carefully before he calmly shot a three-pointer, and the basketball went into the net hollow, 108:105.

"Oh……"

There was a loud sigh from the audience, and the Rockets fans couldn't help but laugh.

The Rockets are playing very lively and have been scoring, but the point difference is constantly shrinking, and the situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for the Rockets.

In the next round, Curry continued to flank Harden, and Harden gave the ball to Gordon.

Gordon didn't shoot a three-pointer with an open spot, and went to the basket with the ball.

Leonard and Antetokounmpo both shrunk to help defend, raised their hands, controlled their movements, and did not give the referee a chance to whistle.

Under the interference of the two, Gordon missed a layup, and Antetokounmpo turned around and accepted the rebound.

The Warriors immediately set off a counterattack. Antetokounmpo rushed across the half court in a one-stop manner. When the Rockets blocked him, he distributed the ball to Curry who followed up on the left.

Gordon was next to Curry, and when he saw Curry catch the ball, he immediately came up to interfere.

Curry didn't hesitate at all, facing Gordon's defense, he pulled up and shot.

Gordon made a big jump, and his raised right hand hit Curry's wrist, and Curry staggered to the ground, but before that, it had already thrown the ball.

brush!
The basketball went into the net hollow, 108:108, and the Warriors tied the score.

Curry got up from the ground, turned his head to look at the referee, and shouted:
"It's a shooting foul!"

The referee turned a blind eye, and Curry no longer complained, but just cursed angrily and quickly returned to defense.

Zhang Yu reminded everyone before the game that the referee will definitely favor the Rockets today, telling them not to focus on complaining to the referee, it would be a waste of effort.

Hearing Zhang Yu's advice, the Warriors players were a little frustrated, and Antetokounmpo complained:
"Are we going to endure unfair whistleblowing and playing away games in the future? That's too disgusting!"

Zhang Yu smiled and comforted everyone:

"Don't worry, after two more seasons at most, this kind of thing won't happen again, bear with it, maybe next season's playoffs, we won't encounter this kind of problem again..."

Everyone was dubious when they heard the words, but the frustration in their hearts was relieved a lot.

The referee blew a lot of whistles on the Warriors today, but the Warriors players maintained a stable mentality and did not argue with the referee. At most, they complained.

Even Green, who has always been hot-tempered, did not complain after being called for a foul.

No one in the Warriors affected the game because of unfair penalties, and no one received a technical foul because of this, which is an important reason for being able to keep biting the point difference.

But Gordon's three-point foul on Curry was so obvious that even Rockets fans could see that after Curry made a three-pointer, the Toyota Center fell silent.

They were frustrated with Curry's unreasonable three-pointer and felt guilty about the referee's penalty.

This goal also severely hit the morale of the Rockets. The Rockets have been in the leading position since the second quarter, but they were tied by the Warriors at the end of the game, and the players were panicked.

At this time, with the last 2 minutes and 37 seconds left in the game, after Harden dribbled the ball for halftime, Leonard came up to flank and forced Harden to take the ball.Ariza was more witty this time. When Leonard flanked Harden, he chose to cut to the penalty area. After receiving Harden's ball, he directly started to attack the frame.

Antetokounmpo stood in the defensive position in time and stopped in front of Ariza. Ariza took advantage of the situation and gave the ball to Capela who followed up.

Capela took a step after taking the ball, flew up, and was about to dunk, but Antetokounmpo turned around very quickly, raised his long arms, and slapped him directly!

Snapped!
Antetokounmpo slapped the basketball with a slap, and then broke out with brute force, smashing the ball down!
Capela staggered to the ground and took a few steps sideways with his body crooked.

Antetokounmpo landed steadily, turned around to look at the running position of his teammates, and threw the ball forward. Leonard, who was in the front, received the basketball and flew away without anyone guarding him. He started and dunked with both hands, 110:108.

"Di-"

As soon as Leonard landed, D'Antoni called a timeout.

The Warriors players huddled together, waved to the audience very relieved, and celebrated wantonly.

The Rockets players bowed their heads and returned to the bench in silence.

D'Antoni was holding the tactical board, but he didn't know what tactics to arrange. His mind was also confused. He could only emphasize that he should hand over the ball to Harden. At the basket, draw a foul.

On the other side, Zhang Yu has seen through D'Antoni's tactics and said loudly:

"Guys, you guys did a great job! Just play like this, pinch Harden, and then shrink the rim, the Rockets can't shoot [-]s, they are now addicted to false home advantage, thinking about drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. I have forgotten how to play normally. As long as we control our movements, do not foul, pay attention to blocking their shot space, and then grab rebounds, make mistakes and counterattack, we will definitely win!"

……

After the timeout ended, the two sides returned to the field. The Rockets did exactly what Zhang Yu said. Harden drew the defense and played the ball.

The Warriors' defense is extremely targeted, shrinking across the board, sticking to the penalty area, and controlling movements at the same time to avoid fierce physical confrontation. Taking advantage of the two strikers Leonard and Antetokounmpo's height and arm length, they block shot space and pass the ball route.

Warriors players have been targeted by referees many times, and they are very experienced in how to do a good job of defense under strict standards. The Rockets' two subsequent offenses, one with iron and one with a steal, all ended in failure.

The Warriors took the opportunity to push back. Antetokounmpo made a fast-break layup with a European step. Curry chased and hit the net with a three-pointer. The point difference was pulled to 7 points in one fell swoop.

The referee widened his eyes and wanted to call the Warriors' foul, but he never found a chance.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Rockets 115:108, leading 3:0 and winning the series match point.

　One more chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)