pertwk Chapter 18: When Curry was resting, it was time for Stars to shine!
Chapter 18: When Curry was resting, it was time for Stars to shine!
On the court, Gobert was still standing under the basket on the other side, looking somewhat dazed.
Shouldn't I be receiving a high-lob pass from Conley, easily dunking it, and then having the home crowd cheer for me?
How did it turn into the opponent scoring with a dunk? What exactly happened?
In fact, it wasn't just Gobert; most of the players on the court hadn't even reacted yet. Draymond Green was even starting to regret his mistake of losing his position while defending Gobert, only to turn around and see that his team had scored two more points.
"Beep—"
The referee blew his whistle, and this time it was Jazz head coach Snyder who called a timeout.
The score was 11-14. Although it was only one possession, the Warriors' momentum from this steal and score was too strong. Moreover, judging from the state of their own players on the court, several of them seemed quite dazed. At this point, it was necessary to call a timeout to let them come off the court and clear their heads.
On the Warriors' side, the players on the bench had all stood up the moment Wiggins successfully stole the ball, and they were waving towels in celebration.
Cup Cat patted Wiggins' butt and said excitedly, "Andrew, your steal was amazing! How could you judge it so accurately?"
Brother Mouth smiled shyly and spread his hands: "It wasn't my judgment, Li told me to do it."
Green excitedly came over and bumped into Li Xingchen's shoulder—thankfully, Li Xingchen was sturdy enough and heavy enough; if it were Poole, that skinny stick, standing here, he would probably have been knocked over by Green.
"Dude, you guys are amazing! I thought I was out of position and was considering whether to foul, but you guys stole the ball from the outside!"
Curry didn't say anything, but he was also beaming with joy. He had been carrying the team almost single-handedly throughout the later part of the season, including the first few minutes of this game.
He feels great now that someone has finally stepped forward to help him.
Meanwhile, fans watching the live stream in China were all amazed by the incredible steal followed by a fast break dunk.
"Wow, that's awesome! That hat-grabbing move was so cool!"
"That should be considered a steal, right? Conley was obviously going to pass the ball to Gobert under the basket, and Gobert was completely stunned when he didn't receive it, hahaha."
"Brothers, don't just praise me! Isn't Ah Chen's fast-break dunk awesome? The last player who excelled at fast breaks was the champion who just won the championship last year!"
"Speak out boldly! You'll be exiled to Jinzhou!"
"It wasn't just the dunk. Didn't you guys notice that the Warriors suddenly switched guards during the transition defense? And it seems like it was our Star Brother who initiated the switch with Mouth Brother? Was this steal his decision and the playmaker?"
"Seriously? Has our Li's basketball IQ really gotten this good? That one-two shot made a difference of four points, and the Warriors' momentum is completely on fire!"
……
It's unlikely that fans will get a definitive answer right now; perhaps they'll be able to find out after the game when a blogger watches the replay and analyzes it carefully.
However, the Warriors' coaching staff and all the players on site already knew that this perfect steal and fast break was entirely the result of Li Xingchen's judgment and planning, and that Mouth Brother simply executed his instructions perfectly.
After learning the full details of this round, Kerr and Curry's gazes towards Li Xingchen changed.
One of them, as the team leader on the field, and the other, as the head coach of the entire team off the field, failed to accurately judge the opponent's tactics, or rather, even if they had some judgment, they were not sure, and therefore did not make a very effective response.
However, Li Xingchen was extremely confident in his judgment and, with Wiggins' cooperation, perfectly completed the defensive play.
What terrifying football intelligence, and... courage!
Fortunately, Li Xingchen was their teammate.
If the opposing team has a player who has never performed before but is actually good at scoring, defending, and even has an exceptionally high basketball IQ, it's like a divine intervention, which is a real headache.
The Warriors were at a disadvantage after their offensive play failed to materialize following the last timeout, but fortunately, under Li Xingchen's command, they executed a perfect defensive counterattack on the ensuing defensive possession, displaying unparalleled momentum.
Therefore, Kerr has no plans to make any changes or adjust the strategy for the time being. He simply reminded everyone to be more decisive when they have the opportunity to shoot from the outside.
Unfortunately, when the Jazz don't have a defensive weakness like Clarkson to exploit, they can execute an unlimited switching defense on the perimeter. This allows Gobert to avoid being pulled out of the paint as much as possible, making it incredibly difficult for the Warriors to attack from the inside.
Therefore, the best course of action now is to open up the outside shooting and create enough shooting threat in order to better draw the defense and find opportunities in the paint.
Back on the field, both sides basically continued to execute the same tactics as before.
The only change is that, having learned from their previous experience, the Jazz seem to have become more cautious in their offensive choices, and their passing has become much more deliberate than before.
While this approach prevented mistakes and eliminated any opportunities for the Warriors to steal the ball, there are always trade-offs. This cautious approach also caused the Jazz to miss out on many potential offensive opportunities.
The Warriors' offense wasn't exactly smooth either. Curry's touch had slipped a bit, and he only succeeded once out of three possessions. In the other few passes, only Wiggins made a three-pointer. Li Xingchen's only shot was a wide-open mid-range jumper, but unfortunately, he missed.
—These past few days, he's been training mostly on three-pointers, since three-pointers are the most important skill for his current role on the team.
Therefore, his system training tasks have progressed more than halfway in three-point shooting, but only slightly more than 30% in mid-range shooting.
Seeing his open mid-range shot miss, Li Xingchen shook his head in frustration, clearly dissatisfied with his performance.
"Looks like I'll have to practice my mid-range shooting more when I get back..."
The game time quickly reached eight and a half minutes.
Curry and Bazemore were substituted out for rest, while Jordan Poole and Toscano Anderson came on. During the transition periods when Curry was not on the court, Wiggins and Green, the two starters, mainly carried the team.
The Jazz substituted Clarkson in and rested Mitchell.
There's no way around it; the Jazz don't dare to put Clarkson on the court unless Curry is off.
If a team has a single, significant defensive weakness, it can easily trigger a chain reaction that affects the entire team.
Finally, it was time for Curry to leave the court, so Snyder let Mitchell rest for a while and let Clarkson continue the scoring.
Curry was substituted, but Li Xingchen remained on the court.
Seeing the changes in the lineups of both sides, Li Xingchen knew that his most important moment to shine was about to begin!