warrior godfather

Chapter 780 Harden is also tired?
Paul is tired.

He almost single-handedly propped up the Rockets' offense, and most of them are mid-range shots. No matter how high the shooting rate is, the efficiency is also low. He took 27 shots and scored 36 points. He performed extremely well, but it also consumed a lot of physical energy. .

After the third quarter, Paul returned to the bench, slowly got out of the very excited mental state, and finally realized the physical exhaustion.

He is 33 years old this year, and has suffered serious injuries many times. His athletic ability has deteriorated seriously. He needs to consume more physical energy to make stable technical moves and complete the finish under intense physical confrontation.

Paul played with the ball for most of the court, and he had to do his best on the defensive end. Both offensive and defensive ends were exhausted. After three quarters, his physical fitness was close to exhaustion.

He sat in his seat, listened to D'Antoni's tactics, and kept taking deep breaths, but his heart rate still couldn't drop.

But when D'Antoni asked if he could persist, Paul took a deep breath and replied as calmly as possible:
"I'm OK."

The strong competitive spirit prevents Paul from admitting that he is not physically fit in front of coaches and teammates, and the thrill of scoring constantly makes him addicted to it and unwilling to give up.

The most important thing is that Paul has always had a heart of being a leader. Due to reality, he had to come to the Rockets to be Harden's second in charge, but when the opportunity came, he would never let it go. He must prove to the world that he Still that superstar.

Today, he will personally lead the team to defeat the Warriors, proving to the world that the Rockets are not just Harden's team, he is also the superstar and the god of point guards!
……

At the same time, on the Warriors' bench on the other side of the technical table, Zhang Yu was arranging tactics.

He held the tactical board, wrote and drew on it with a marker pen, made a rather harsh sizzling sound, looked up at the player he mentioned from time to time, and said loudly:
"Giannis, thank you for your hard work. You have done a good job. You have dealt a heavy blow to the Rockets. You have to persevere later... Stephen, are you suffocating? It's up to you in the fourth quarter. You come and Andrew runs the pick-and-roll, puts Harden in front of you, and then shows off your driving skills, and he can't keep up with you! If there is no help, you go up, if there is help, you pass the ball."

"Okay, boss, leave Harden to me!" Curry agreed, quite excited.

After passing the ball for three quarters, he couldn't wait.

Zhang Yu continued:

"You can't be careless about defense. If you look for Harden, Harden may also look for you. Make a good delay. If you can't switch defenses, don't switch defenses. When necessary, you can use a little action. Even if Harden passes by, you should delay as much as possible. His footsteps, fight for time to assist in the defense, the others must do their best to help Stephen, do a good job in assisting defense and rotation, there is only time for the last quarter, hold on, victory is ours!"

"Om-"

After Zhang Yu finished speaking, the buzzer sounded, and the intermission was over. The warrior generals stood up, put their hands together, shouted a cheering slogan, and returned to the field.

On the other side, the morale of the Rockets players was also like a rainbow. They surrounded Paul and yelled, with the same momentum as the Warriors.

When the two sides returned to the court, the first was a contest of rotation. The Warriors were led by Antetokounmpo, and the Rockets were led by Paul, which was the same as the second quarter.

The difference is that Paul's physical fitness is worse than in the second quarter, and facing the Warriors' five small lineups, his offensive efficiency is also lower.

His desire to attack was still as high as in the first three quarters, but his nearly exhausted physical fitness could not support his ambition.

As the main attack point of the Warriors in the first three quarters, Antetokounmpo also consumes a lot of energy, but he is still young and recovers much faster than Paul. Just a few minutes of inter-section rest is enough to revive , Continue to overwhelm the inside of the Rockets.

In just 4 minutes, Antetokounmpo caused 1 foul on Capela, made 2 free throws, made a layup, and had a fast-break European step dunk with one hand, scoring 6 points, but Paul was 4 of 1 shots and 2 points, the Warriors widened the point difference to 7 points.

D'Antoni immediately called a timeout. Although he told the players that it was nothing to be behind, and he recovered with two three-pointers, facing an opponent of the Warriors' level, a single point difference may determine the final outcome. , every round is crucial and must not be taken lightly.

During the timeout, D'Antoni didn't arrange any tactics, he just switched back to the main force, replaced Paul, and fucked Harden.

He also saw that Paul was out of stamina, so he took the time to replace him and rest for a while to prepare for the final moment of the decisive battle.

After the timeout ended, the two sides returned to the court. Mike Breen looked at the players from the two teams and said:

"The Rockets switched back to the starting lineup, and only Paul stayed on the court to rest. The Warriors also played all the main players except Antetokounmpo. The game entered the decisive moment ahead of time!"

Standing in front of the Warriors' bench, Zhang Yu turned to look at D'Antoni, and it happened that D'Antoni was also turning to look at him. The two looked at each other. Zhang Yu was smiling, but D'Antoni frowned and looked away first. .

Zhang Yu expected that D'Antoni would switch back to Harden, and he also sent Curry.

D'Antoni didn't expect that Zhang Yu, who has always believed in long rotations, would become so cautious and start to start.

In normal times, D'Antoni is certainly not afraid of the Warriors' main lineup. He has absolute confidence in the team he has trained and can fight against any team.

But the Warriors are now leading by 8 points. In this kind of high-end game, it is definitely an advantage that cannot be ignored. Whether the Rockets can recover the point difference, D'Antoni has no idea.

Fortunately, the Rockets are only 8 points behind. If they rely on Paul's mid-range shot, it may be difficult to recover these 8 points, but for Harden, it is not difficult.

Like when the Rockets faced backward countless times before, D'Antoni gave all the ball to Harden and pinned all his hopes on Harden.

The playoffs are a super giant stage, and now is the time for Harden to perform. He believes that Harden can save the Rockets again like he has saved the team countless times in the past.

But when D'Antoni turned his gaze and looked at the court, Curry's figure came into view, making his movements pause.

……

After Harden came on the field, he received the baseline ball from Gordon and walked slowly to the frontcourt.

In this game, Zhang Yu arranged for Curry to face Ariza to reduce his defensive pressure, and Harden asked Ariza to play a pick-and-roll.

Curry followed, delayed Harden, and then chased back. Ariza set a false screen, and Wiggins easily circled and returned to Harden.

Harden had no room to shoot, flicked his wrist, and passed it to Ariza, who caught the ball and missed a three-pointer. The rebound was grabbed by Antetokounmpo.

Mike Breen said:

"Ariza-Missed a three-pointer! He didn't feel very good today. He made 4 of 1 three-pointers and wasted a lot of opportunities."

After Ariza hit the iron with a three-pointer, the Warriors pushed back without even having time to regret it. Curry advanced with the ball in the middle, and Wiggins and Jaylen Brown rushed forward. Fortunately, the Rockets retreated quickly and did not give the Warriors a direct Opportunities for fast breaks to the basket.

But the hasty retreat still caused chaos in the Rockets matchup, and Harden directly faced Curry.

After Curry came to the frontcourt, he made an emergency stop and then suddenly started. Harden was caught off guard and only had time to stretch out his hand. Curry wiped past him and broke through to the inside. Capela came up to help defend. Curry Throwing the shot ahead of time, the movement was as smooth as silk, and the basketball went into the net hollow, 97:88.

"Beautiful breakthrough! Harden didn't react at all, and didn't even make a chasing action." Mike Breen said.

Jeff Van Gundy dissatisfied:

"What is Harden doing? He just played, is he tired? If he catches up, at least he can give Curry a little interference. Curry may not choose to throw, and Capela can effectively interfere. The Rockets' defense might just work."

On the court, Harden didn't know Jeff Van Gundy's criticism of him. After Curry scored, he just shrugged, took the baseline ball from Capela, and walked slowly to the frontcourt.

What is defense?
He is a big core with the ball, and he is already very tired. He has no energy to defend, and he is already doing his duty if he can reach out to block it.

After all, defense is not his job, offense is his task, and scoring is his job.

When he came to the frontcourt, Harden swept away his defensive laziness and played a pick-and-roll with Trevor Ariza. The first step was extremely fast, and the moment Curry came up, he rushed directly to the inside.

Now, it is impossible for Curry to chase back after a delay, so he can only stop in front of Harden and block his breakthrough route.

However, there is a big gap between Curry and Harden in physical talent. Compared with Harden, Curry suffers from height, wingspan, weight, and confrontation. It is still the biggest reason why he is not favored in the draft.

He tried his best to hold Harden, but he was still crushed by Harden and retreated step by step.

However, Curry did not give up in the face of difficulties. He fought and retreated, quietly pulling Harden's jersey in his hand, and with his sensitive lateral movement, he blocked Harden's side in front of him, messing around, trying his best to delay Harden's breakthrough. pace.

Curry's efforts worked. Although he only slowed Harden a little, it gave Lopez time to help defend. He let go of Capela, took two steps forward, and stopped Harden. At the same time, the other long arm was extended horizontally, blocking Capela's body, ready to return to its position at any time.

Harden has no room to break through, and he has no chance to pass to Capela. He can only stop, choose to step back in the middle distance, and hit a jumper with an emergency stop, 97:90.

"Oh……"

There was a huge sigh from the audience. Every time the defense failed, the fans would be very disappointed, but then, they would cheer up, shout passionately again, and cheer for the team.

But Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction, and even encouraged loudly:

"Well done, just defend like this!"

Curry can force Harden to choose the mid-range step back that is not expected to be efficient in one possession, which is already a very successful defensive effect-even if Harden makes it.

Looking back, Curry and Wiggins found Harden in a pick-and-roll, and the Rockets switched defenses directly.

The others pulled away, and Curry singled out Harden. He dribbled the ball from the crotch to the back, completely swayed Harden, and broke through to the inside. Harden only took two symbolic steps before stopping.

Facing Capela's defense, Curry hit the ground and passed it to Lopez, who turned around and dunked the basketball with both hands, 99:90.

Jeff Van Gundy shook his head and said:
"Harden was passed by Curry again, and it was so easy! Just now Curry defended him, but he tried his best. When Lopez came to help defend him, he forced him to shoot a mid-range shot he didn't like, but Harden was passed. Curry took one step, although they both scored, but Curry's defense succeeded, Harden's defense failed..."

In the next round, Harden learned to be smart, and first directed Trevor Ariza to cover for Gordon, put Curry in front of Gordon, and then played a pick-and-roll with Gordon.

Gordon is too small and the quality of the screen is not high, so he simply made a false screen, disassembled it in advance, and looked for an open three-pointer.

Harden wanted to throw the ball to Gordon, but Curry had quick eyes and quick hands. Even if it was a big delay, his attention was always on Harden. When Harden passed the ball, he subconsciously raised his hand with superhuman reaction speed. He stopped the ball and rushed to the frontcourt immediately.

After Harden was cut off, he turned around and chased for two steps, trying to reach out for the ball, but was swayed away by Curry's quick change of direction, so he stopped chasing and defending, but stopped and watched Curry rush into the penalty area. Gordon chased all the way to the basket, but it was too late, and he could only watch Curry steal and counterattack for a one-stop layup, 101:90.

After Curry scored, Gordon picked up the dropped basketball and spread his hands dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to explode, and obediently sent the ball to Harden who returned to the backcourt to ask for the ball.

Harden came to the frontcourt slowly and picked and rolled with Ariza. This time Ariza's screen quality was very high, keeping Wiggins firmly behind him, and Curry had to switch to Harden.

Harden didn't make fake moves, and with a heavy shoulder, he rushed in with Curry on his shoulders.

Curry couldn't stop Harden, so he could only do his best to block him. He followed Harden's side, raised his right hand high, and covered Harden's head, preventing him from throwing shots while walking. jersey, slowing down Harden, trying to stay in place.

The two entangled all the way to the paint area. Lopez was ready to help defend at the basket. Covington also shrank in from 45 degrees and stopped in front of Harden, ready to steal the ball at any time.

Harden's breakthrough route was completely blocked, and he could only pass the ball to Tucker who was emptied at 45 degrees. Covington immediately returned to his position.

But at this time, there were only 6 seconds left in the offensive time, Harden made a hasty shot and missed a three-pointer, and the rebound was grabbed by Lopez.

The Warriors immediately turned from defense to offense. Curry advanced to the frontcourt, faced Ariza, pretended to break through, and suddenly retreated and made a three-pointer.

"Bang! With a three-pointer from Curry, the Warriors extended their lead to 14 points, the biggest difference in the game!" Mike Breen yelled.

"MVP! MVP!"

There was thunderous cheers in the auditorium. Curry took off his braces and danced, which pushed the atmosphere of the audience to a climax.

D'Antoni looked at Curry who was shaking his head, his face livid.

He thought it was Harden's stage tonight, but he didn't expect it to be Curry's stage.

(End of this chapter)