NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 72: Four Minutes of Star Player Showdown, Stephen's Touch Drops!

In the very first possession, the Warriors' offensive strategy was very clear.

Curry calls for a screen from Looney, then picks Morris on the one-on-one!

Since the Clippers have fielded this small-ball lineup, they must be implementing a defensive strategy of switching on every screen.

Kawhi Leonard, who is responsible for guarding Curry, is not a slender, speedy forward like Wiggins or Royce O'Neal. His defense usually relies on his wingspan to cover his opponent, as well as his strong core strength and his advantage in physical confrontations.

However, his tall stature puts him at a disadvantage when it comes to finding cover.

Looney's screen quality is superior to Green's, so if the Clippers choose to squeeze through the screen without switching, it's essentially giving Curry a half-open shot opportunity.

If you can switch on defense, a slow-footed big man like Morris is basically just a scope when facing Curry.

The first possession ended with Curry hitting a three-pointer after being called up against Morris.

Simple and efficient.

The Warriors' offensive strategy in this series should be very clear: Curry initiates pick-and-rolls at the high post, forcing the opponent to switch.

As long as you can target and score against the opponent's slower big man, you can then flexibly choose to either take a three-point shot or drive to the basket yourself, or draw double teams and help defense before passing the ball to a teammate who has the opportunity.

Unless the Clippers change their defensive strategy and double-team Curry, or Curry's shooting touch declines and he starts to miss shots, this tactic could theoretically continue indefinitely.

It's that time of year again when one trick is all you need to succeed.

It all comes down to which side, attack or defense, gives up first.

However, the Warriors also face considerable pressure on the defensive end.

The Clippers have almost a five-foreign-player lineup, with all five players possessing impressive three-point shooting ability, which is even more outrageous than the Jazz in the first round.

—At least the Jazz have Gobert, who isn't good at shooting.

Therefore, they can use their shooting threat to completely stretch the floor, creating one-on-one opportunities for Leonard and George.

In the Clippers' first offensive possession, Leonard didn't even ask for a pick and roll.

After receiving the pass from Reggie Jackson, he signaled to his teammates to spread out so he could take on Wiggins one-on-one.

This scene, this boldness, there are very few people in the entire league who can do it.

No picks or screens, no tactics needed, they just come in and head-on to take on your defensive blocker one-on-one, without flinching!

Wiggins cautiously stretched out his hands and lowered his center of gravity, facing the renowned and talented robot Kawhi Leonard alone. Naturally, he was under considerable pressure.

Unfortunately, all his teammates had been pulled to the other side, and no one dared to leave their defensive positions to help him defend, so he had to rely on himself.

Leonard dribbled with one hand, keeping his center of gravity low, and without any fancy techniques, he relied on physical contact to overpower Wiggins and drive him inside.

Wiggins is one of the fastest forwards, but his core strength is slightly lacking and his weight is relatively light, so he often suffers in physical confrontations with other forwards in the same position.

Even though he tried his best to resist, Leonard kept pushing him back to the free-throw line.

Seeing that he was in the right position, Leonard immediately gathered the ball and raised his hand.

Wiggins, who was so tense, was immediately jolted awake by Leonard's raised hand gesture.

The moment he jumped, he already knew the outcome.

Oops, I accidentally ate something awful again...

After shaking off Wiggins, Leonard, with virtually no further interference around him, calmly launched a mid-range shot.

The shot arc was very flat, yet the ball would still manage to slip steadily into the basket, as if drawn by some mysterious force.

This is Leonard's signature move that made him famous: an almost unstoppable one-on-one mid-range shot. It is theoretically the least efficient way to score, but in his hands it is always rock solid, as if he will never miss.

In the first leg of the match, both sides scored in their most effective way.

Curry's pick-and-roll three-pointer and Leonard's unstoppable mid-range isolation plays.

Neither side's defense had any major problems; they were both executing their established defensive strategies.

This is what a true high-level playoff game should look like: even if neither side makes any mistakes in defense, the star players on both sides can still score points with their outstanding individual abilities.

For the next few minutes, the two sides went back and forth, neither giving an inch.

Curry would target Morris on the same team every possession, primarily driving to the basket, and occasionally hitting a three-pointer over him.

On several other occasions, when Batum, who was guarding Draymond Green, came over to help defend, Curry quickly passed the ball out. The local four-on-three situations organized by Green were also quite effective. Looney contributed a two-handed dunk under the basket, and Wiggins also found an opportunity to hit a mid-range shot.

On the other hand, the Clippers' tactics were somewhat similar to a variation of Jordan's triangle offense. Leonard held the ball at the high post as the starting point for the offense, while George and Batum, who were relatively strong offensive players, supported the offense on both sides.

Then Leonard will either finish the game with a one-on-one attack, or he will draw double teams and pass the ball to the receiving points on both sides to launch an attack.

George and Batum also contributed three-pointers or mid-range shots, either assisted or indirectly assisted by him.

Both sides had a high success rate in their attacks, and what was even more remarkable was that after several minutes of play, there hadn't been a single foul called, and neither side had made a single mistake!

The match was fierce and exciting, and naturally, more and more people flocked to the live broadcast room to watch the battle from the front lines.

"This match is going to be interesting; both sides seem very strong."

"I love watching star players go head-to-head, and these two sides really have very different styles, each with their own strengths."

"The referees were unusually quiet today, with both sides putting up a lot of defensive pressure and not calling a single foul yet. But it's precisely under these circumstances that star players can still score through individual skill, making the game truly exciting! If it's just free throws all the time, it really won't be very interesting."

"Listen to me, I feel the Warriors are going to lose... Their three-point shooting percentage is too high right now, which is difficult to maintain consistently. The Clippers, on the other hand, aren't taking as many three-pointers, so their mid-range and rim-based scoring should allow them to maintain a consistent scoring pace for longer..."

……

This is not the statement of a Warriors hater, but a reasoned and well-founded analysis.

In fact, three-pointers are more explosive but less consistent, so if a team can't pull away from three-point range even when they have a three-point explosion, it is indeed a rather dangerous sign.

With five minutes remaining, the score was 11-12, with the Warriors leading by one point and in possession of the ball.

But it seems that the fan's prediction was unfortunately correct: if the offense relies too much on three-point shooting, there will always be times when it goes cold...

Curry once again singled out Morris, taking a three-pointer, but this time it hit the rim.

This was actually his first missed shot of the day, which didn't seem like a big deal.

However, in the next three consecutive possessions, Curry failed to score for his team, whether he attacked himself or passed the ball to his teammates.

The score, which had been alternating, suddenly reached 16-12, and it seemed that the Clippers were about to pull ahead.

The Warriors regained possession of the ball, and Curry once again dribbled the ball up the court.

He began to feel a little anxious.

The ball-handling and shooting tactic is impossible to play for the whole game, because playing like that all the time is too exhausting for him, and it's only a matter of time before his efficiency declines.

He just didn't expect that he would start missing shots so often after only a few minutes of the game, which was much earlier than he had anticipated.

At this point, the offensive tactics should logically be changed, with the ball given to Draymond Green to organize the offense, while he makes more off-ball runs and cross screens with all his teammates to create more offensive opportunities.

However, since we're changing tactics, shouldn't we call a timeout first to give everyone a chance to regroup and avoid problems during coordination?

As Curry was pondering this, he suddenly heard Li Xingchen's soft voice in his ear as he dribbled the ball across half-court.

"Stephen."

"How about I give it a try?"