The Way of the Center

When Curry threw the ball in against Anjie's defense and showed three fingers, the fans in the entire Moda Center opened their mouths in surprise. Anjie's defensive deterrence is definitely ranked first in the league. A character who can make a "tank" like James afraid, his defensive ability is well known.

But the No. 30 defender, who was biting his braces, didn't panic at all when facing An Jie's supplementary defense. His quick release is just to avoid the block, never because he is afraid.

How terrifying Curry's three-pointer is, fans have seen it this season. It's just that they don't want Curry's sky-defying shooting percentage to be played against the Trail Blazers.

"It's okay, serve the ball quickly!" Seeing that his teammates were in a daze, An Jie took the initiative to pick up the basketball and handed it to Aldridge, signaling his teammates to quickly organize the next round of attack.

Regardless of Curry's performance, first of all, the Trail Blazers themselves cannot be intimidated by Curry. If their morale is shaken, then the game will be really difficult.

Encouraged by Anjie, Lillard once again controlled the ball and advanced. At the same time, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who was watching the game off the court, made a fist bump gesture to the players on the court.

Ricard also discovered this detail, but he didn't know what Cole's gesture meant.

Just as Lillard dribbled the ball across half court, Curry posted it without reservation.

What people are most impressed with the Warriors, except for the three-pointer, is probably Cole's bold small lineup.

However, in fact, the height of the Warriors players is not "small" at all. Curry is 1.91 meters, Thomson is 2.01 meters, Barnes is 2.03 meters, and Green is 2.01 meters. Except for the inside line, this group of Warriors has a height advantage on the defensive end. The natural long arms of this group of guys are enough to allow the Warriors to form a chain defense in the backcourt.

Now, coupled with Bogut, the hard-working gatekeeper sitting on the inside, the Warriors' defense can almost be said to be airtight!

"Did you strengthen your defense?" Ricard frowned, it seemed that Steve Kerr didn't intend to test anything anymore. The Warriors' defensive intensity was raised in an instant, and now Lillard is struggling to control the ball, struggling to find a gap for the pass.

Different from other traditional defensive teams in the league, the essence of the Warriors' chain defense is to cut off the connection between the offensive players to the greatest extent, forcing the opponent to make forced mistakes or even direct steals, and immediately eliminate the offensive threat. eliminate. Although Anjie is still a bomb for the Warriors, as far as it is concerned, it is very difficult for Lillard to safely send the ball to Anjie.

Bogut went around to defend Anjie, and this guy with a lot of small movements would always make Anjie miss the intended receiving position. Aldridge has been following a Green all the time, making it difficult for him to run out of scoring opportunities.

Under the entanglement of the five Warriors, Lillard knew that before the end of the 24-second attack time, he failed to make a successful shot.

In the end, he had to break through forcefully and make a quick stop jumper against Curry's defense. The result of this is obvious, Lillard failed to help the team score, and the Warriors just grabbed a defensive rebound and started to advance at full speed!

The rookie small forward Harrison Barnes, selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick in 2012, rushed to the front without hesitation. Curry, who felt so good about the ball, made a pass. This long pass was as accurate as Anjie's. .

Barnes received the basketball, faced the empty basket, jumped up suddenly, and swung his hands vigorously.

There was a loud bang from the rim, but the Moda Center fans fell silent.

"It's so fast, the Warriors' transition offense was almost instantaneous. God, this is the closest transition offense I've ever seen to the Trail Blazers. You guys are right, this is indeed a strong game. Showdown!" O'Neill praised others rarely. Because he just blinked, the Warriors pushed the offense to the frontcourt. This made O'Neill admire him very much.

The baseline ball was sent again, and the Trail Blazers attacked again. Lillard did not hesitate this time, but passed the ball decisively, intending to let Anjie bite the score.

However, Bogut's enthusiasm even exceeded An Jie's own expectations.

Seeing that the basketball was passed in, Bogut immediately took a step forward.

"Oops!" An Jie knew that something was wrong, but when he was about to compete with Bogut, it was too late.

Bogut, who was on tight defense, rubbed his fingertips against the basketball flying towards Angie. The flight trajectory of the basketball changed, and Stephen Curry, who reacted quickly, immediately picked up the basketball on the ground and launched another fast break!

"He's so fast, only Damien in the entire Trail Blazers can keep up with him! Stephen Curry made a three-step layup! Damien tried his best to interfere, but the height difference was a little bit! The goal was scored! Beautiful Layup, Damien paid the price for his impatience! Although the Warriors are particularly eye-catching offensively, everyone must not forget that they are also one of the best defensive teams in the league!" Mike Breen couldn't keep his mouth shut , because every shot of this game from the beginning to the present is quite exciting.

The basketball leaked from the net hit the ground hard, the referee blew his whistle, and Ricard was the first to call a timeout.

In Oakland, countless Warriors fans cheered. In just a few minutes, the Warriors stopped the Trail Blazers for two consecutive championships in the away game! It seems that their victory in the regular season is no coincidence!

"It's too messy! What, you can't take it anymore if the opponent increases the defensive strength a little bit!?" Ricard yelled again, and Divac immediately rushed up with the tactical board and blocked Ricard. behind myself. Continue to yell like this, Divac is really worried that this guy will relapse.

"Okay, it's okay, we're just a few points behind each other. Ann, later I want you to actively play more pick-and-roll cooperation with your teammates. After the pick-and-roll is over, you can roll down or stay where you are and wait for the open shot according to the situation. Listen, we can't continue to fight the Warriors with this kind of standing style play. Maybe this move can be used against the Grizzlies, but the Warriors, absolutely not! The defensive weakness against the interior, but it does not mean An can pose a threat to the Warriors by standing directly on the inside. Bogut’s footsteps can’t prevent you with a lot of pick-and-rolls! Let’s not sit still, take the initiative to attack, and shorten the Warriors’ chain defense!” After Ricard finished speaking, the original The clean tactical board has also been messed up by him.

"The Warriors are not without flaws! Let them see what the strength of the defending champion is!" Ricard finished speaking and waved his fist.

Steve Kerr, who was arranging tactics for the players, couldn't help turning his head to look at the other side of the pitch when he heard the yelling. He deserved to be the defending champion and George Ricard. In this case, they can still maintain high morale.

But sometimes morale isn't everything. Cole smiled to himself: "Rickard, you can do whatever you want!"

The timeout ended quickly, and the game resumed to the roar of the fans.

This time, it was Iguodala who took Aldridge's free throw on the baseline instead of Lillard.

In the perimeter position, perhaps only Iguodala's physical condition has an advantage over his own matchup. Harrison Barnes wanted to stop Iguodala's advancement, but he found that this guy who just looked at the data and didn't know what he did was full of strength!

Iguodala pushed forward all the way, but Anjie, who was fighting for the position, suddenly made a precondition and prepared a pick-and-roll for Iguodala.

Iguodala broke through at a high speed. Although Barnes predicted the direction of Iguodala's breakthrough, but because of Anjie's pick-and-roll, he had to watch Iguodala pass by him.

Bogut, who was originally raised to defend Anjie, now had to follow Iguodala's footsteps and retreat. However, how can Bogut's slightly slow footsteps keep up with Iguodala?

Seeing that Bogut was about to be completely broken through, Barnes left Anjie behind and surrounded Iguodala. He didn't think Iguodala, who was facing away from Anjie's breakthrough, would find such a vacancy out of sight.

Although Harrison Barnes is very talented, he is still too young. It is not the eyes that organize the attack, but the brain!

"Fucked!" Iguodala, who was in the middle of a breakthrough, raised his mouth slightly, and he dribbled the ball under his crotch. When his palm came up again, the basketball was gone!

"Back!" Bogut opened his mouth and yelled, and Barnes turned his head to find that Angie had raised his arm and was about to shoot. Just now, Iguodala's pass from his crotch to the back was so stealthy and beautiful that Barnes didn't even notice it.

Harrison Barnes, who was reminded by Bogut, immediately rushed towards Anjie, but Anjie was not disturbed in any way. Harrison Barnes may still have a height advantage when defending outside players, but in front of Anjie, Barnes can't cover Anjie's sight at all.

This two-step mid-range shot within the three-point line was steadily thrown into the basket by An Jie. Although Anjie prefers to wreak havoc around the basket, his mid-range shot is actually a very lethal weapon. When he entered the league at the beginning of the year and his body was not so strong, Anjie created countless opportunities by relying on his mid-range shot.

Now, Steve Kerr, who had been calm for the entire game, began to frown. Although Anjie was just an ordinary mid-range shot, the tactical cooperation of the Trail Blazers made Cole a little worried.

That old fox, Rickard, seems to have found a way to break the chain defense......

Under the excellent performance of the Warriors, the Trail Blazers are still in a backward position. But in the next game, it may be very difficult for the Warriors to maintain the lead.

While retreating, Anjie gave Iguodala a high-five. This small interaction between the two is a powerful signal to Cole. This represents the Trail Blazers' counterattack, which has officially begun!