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April 17th.
That night in Auckland, the sun faded to the west of the bay, and the blue sky slowly turned red, then grayish-yellow, then a faint bluish-gray, and finally a particularly deep black under the stars.
Beneath the dark and shining canopy, Highway 880 was filled with traffic, and all types of headlights from private cars flickered, converging toward the Oracle Center.
The vast parking lot of the Oracle Arena was nearly full, and the cars behind it formed a long line that could only move slowly into the stadium. Above them, the dazzling LED sign at the Oracle Center blinked.
Several entrances to the stadium were also packed with people, and the chatter and laughter of thousands of individuals converged into one spot, amplifying the buzz of mosquitoes thousands of times, stirring the already anxious spirits of the Warriors' fans, getting them more and more excited as they stood in line to enter.
An hour remained until the Warriors' home game against the Thunder was about to begin.
As time passed, the line grew shorter, and the spectators entered the arena, walking through the fan tunnel and finding their seats.
Ticket prices for the playoffs had skyrocketed, with the best seats along the sidelines costing tens of thousands of dollars more than those on the top of the hill, but every seat was tied to a loose yellow shirt with the Warriors' logo on the Bay Bridge.
As the crowd filled up, the noise gradually increased, and the fiery atmosphere slowly spread through the stadium. A few fans wearing the dark blue Thunder shirts were scattered among the nearly 20,000 Warriors fans wearing bright yellow, which was particularly eye-catching.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the lights on the dome of the Oracle Arena went out, leaving only the flickering lights to wander over the audience. The big screen in the center of the court first went black and then suddenly lit up. The Warriors' logo exploded on the screen, followed by a promotional video of the Warriors' season, and the cheers of the fans grew louder.
When the Warriors players appeared on the screen, the enthusiastic voice of the live DJ reached everyone's ears:
"Ladies! Gentlemen! Welcome to the Land of the Warriors..."
The opening ceremony at the Oracle Center was passionately presented to every fan who had come to the scene, pushing the emotions of the Warriors' fans to a peak, and the entire arena felt like a volcano about to wake from its slumber, an anxious mood spreading through the crowd.
In the dim light, people's faces were hard to distinguish, and even the Warriors players on the screen were blurry. But at that moment, Silicon Valley's elite and blue-collar workers in Oakland wore the same fanatic expression on their faces, shouting and cheering together. Whether they were sitting in the closest sidelines or at the highest point on the hill, their lives were completely different. There was a huge gap in income and status, but on this night, they gathered at the same place and cheered for the same team.
That's the beauty of basketball.
This anxiety and excitement reached its peak when Curry appeared at the center, ran onto the court, and high-fived his teammates. The restless volcano finally erupted, and in just a few seconds, the Oracle Center became a hell of noise, showing the world their love and support for this baby-faced young player.
Soon, however, the volcano fell silent again. A local black singer from San Francisco arrived at the stadium, the flickering lights stopped, and the melodious tune of The Star-Spangled Banner Never Falls filled the air. The players lowered their heads with their hands at their sides, and the audience stood up en masse, softly humming in a solemn atmosphere.
But not everyone was awestruck by the national anthem. While Liam stood up, he casually looked around, somewhat bored. When the song ended and the dome lights were turned back on, he adjusted the cuffs of his black suit and walked closer to the Warriors players.
Today, he had wanted to wear the gray Zegna suit that had accompanied him throughout his coaching career, but he gave up on the idea when he thought about the inevitable physical contact with the players during the game, which would make him sweat a lot.
After the national anthem, the Oracle Arena seemed to come alive again, and the noise came from all directions once more. Liam and the starting players, who were about to play, high-fived one by one, and he finally whispered into Curry's ear:
"Do you hear the fans cheering? Don't disappoint them, Stephen."
"No problem, sir." Curry rubbed his hands together and nodded seriously.
He ran to the court, bit his braces, quickly ran toward the basket, then turned around and jumped twice in a row. With these movements, Curry shook off the distractions and focused on the game.
He approached the mid-court line and slapped Klay's hand as he passed, calming himself down as he looked to the other side.
Right in front of him was Durant. Curry raised his head slightly, and after the two exchanged looks for a moment, they both turned their heads and looked at Chandler and Perkins, who had reached the mid-court line and were about to jump for the ball.
Neither of them knew what the other was thinking, but there was no doubt that if they wanted to take their teams to the next round, they would have to step over the other's corpse.
"Whistle-"
The referee blew the whistle and tossed the ball into the air. Perkins and Chandler immediately tangled, but Chandler used the rebound speed to tap the ball midair and threw it to the Warriors' backcourt, where Klay quickly passed it to Curry.
Curry grabbed the ball, placed his mouthguard in, and waved his left hand forward. The entire Warriors team ran to the Thunder's half of the court like a tide, and the fans in the stands were also led by the DJ at the venue, shouting "Let's go, Warriors!" and the game officially began.
Curry dribbled to the frontcourt, guarded by Sefolosha, while the Thunder started with Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Perkins.
Presti followed Brooks' advice and made a midseason trade, sending Jeff Green to the Celtics in exchange for Perkins and Nate Robinson, strengthening their interior while freeing up space for Ibaka.
The deal also activated Harden, who gained more possession and improved his stats post-All-Star, feeling more comfortable in the role of the team's sixth man.
Curry didn't choose to play aggressively against Sefolosha but instead followed the usual Warriors routine, handing the ball to Green in the low post. Chandler provided coverage, and the three worked together on the strong side to create an open three-point opportunity for Curry.
But the Thunder was prepared. When Sefolosha passed the ball to Green, Curry, always mindful of Chandler's position, turned behind him in advance and stayed on Curry to prevent him from taking an open three-point shot.
While the Thunder's defense was focused on Curry, the Warriors had opportunities elsewhere.
Defending Klay, Willis kept an eye on the ball side, and Klay used Butler's coverage to move from the weak-side corner to a 45-degree position on the weak side. Green, always observing his teammates' movements, immediately passed the ball over.
Westbrook's eyes followed the basketball's flight path, and when he saw Klay in the open position, he rushed to catch up as if waking up from a dream, but it was too late. Klay caught the ball and shot, the wide-open three-pointer went in.
With the score 3-0, the Warriors made a great start.
On the bench, Liam clapped to signal that Klay was playing well, while Brooks on the opposite sideline could only shake his head helplessly.
This was Westbrook's old problem. He was full of passion when defending the ball and was happy to defend against the ball. If the opponent could only hit spot-up 3s, it was fine. But when facing an off-ball master like Klay, Westbrook's defense made people's heads ache.
Looking back, the Thunder attacked. Westbrook, inspired by the atmosphere in the Warriors' home court, buried his head in the Warriors' interior after half the possession, even if Klay tried to reserve a step for reaction. He used his speed and strong impact to drive past, avoided Chandler's screen in midair, and finished with a layup in front of Chandler.
3:2.
After scoring, Westbrook jumped two steps with unfinished thoughts before returning to defense, his speed not much slower than when he had powered through just a moment ago.
The Thunder's bench also cheered for his powerful play, and Brooks nodded in satisfaction. Although he had instructed Westbrook to attack the interior more before the game, he didn't expect such a good effect. It seemed Westbrook was in great form tonight.
But soon, he couldn't laugh anymore. As soon as he turned around, Curry found Perkins, and after using a single screen, he launched a three-pointer directly. The basketball sank into the net, and the Oracle Arena, which had fallen silent after Westbrook's violent dunk, erupted once again.
9:4.
After shooting the three-pointer, Curry didn't celebrate as wildly as Westbrook but calmly patted his chest and pointed to the sky as he retreated. In the deafening cheers of the Warriors' fans in the audience, his three-point shot seemed wilder than Westbrook's violent dunk.
Brooks' expression turned solemn again. He didn't know that this type of three-point shot had been Curry's daily practice since his first year, and that seemingly difficult three-point shot with the ball had been engraved into Curry's bones, forming an indelible muscle memory.
Brooks' decades-long basketball philosophy made him not believe that a player could consistently hit such difficult three-pointers. It seemed that he should maintain normal defense and wait for Curry's hand to fall back, but the reality before him reminded him that he should send two players to block Curry so he couldn't take those kinds of difficult three-point shots.
In the end, Brooks' deep basketball knowledge prevented him from making a change, and he didn't plan to adjust his pre-game strategy so quickly.
In the following round, Curry missed a three-pointer after using a single screen, which seemed to prove that he was right, making Brooks even more determined in his thoughts.
On the other hand, when Liam saw Curry's missed three-pointer from the Warriors' bench, he not only wasn't disappointed but smiled, while Silas, who was sitting next to him, said in surprise:
"Liam, you guessed it! Brooks really didn't do anything—he just watched Curry shoot threes!"
Liam smiled and said:
"I've watched a lot of footage of the Thunder, combined with our games against the Thunder. It's not hard to see that Brooks' response on the court is very poor, which is the Thunder's weakness. But the continuous improvement of Durant and Westbrook masks this."
Of course, I've been watching the Thunder for years to be this confident... Liam silently added in his heart.
In his previous life, although Brooks led the Thunder to quickly complete their rebuild and reach the Finals, his rigid in-game responses were still criticized.
Brooks, who studied under George Karl, is a firm believer in rotations and fixed tactics. His tactical adjustments are usually a big change, allowing players to play freely on the court, which certainly gives Westbrook and Durant full space to showcase their talents and spirit. But it also makes it easier for the opponent to play effectively against the tactics.
In the next game, Curry made Brooks pay a heavy price for his stubbornness. He played the entire court in the first quarter, and didn't even take many shots inside the three-point line, shooting 6 out of 10 three-pointers, 1 out of 2 two-pointers, most of which were ball-holding shots after setting a screen, and scored 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in a single quarter.
The first quarter of the playoffs between the two young teams was a frenzy of streaks. Both teams were young and vigorous, both known for their fast breaks. Neither team took the initiative to slow the game down; they just came at each other, and the dazzling scene left the audience mesmerized.
But the Warriors' defense, which ranked third in the regular season, remained solid in the playoffs. They didn't rush their transition between offense and defense; everyone did their part, and their defense remained organized—something the Thunder couldn't do.
Although Westbrook was particularly excited in the first playoff game of his career, showing a strong impact, and even though Liam took on a smaller interior defense against him, his mid-range shot was very accurate, and he was in a brave state, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, the Thunder were still behind the Warriors by 10 points at 25:35.
After the second quarter began, Liam and Brooks sent in a rotation lineup for the transition period. The Warriors were Jeremy Lin, Big Z, Klay, Kirilenko, and Yi Jianlian, or the regular rotation.
The same happened with the Thunder, with Harden leading players like Daquin Cook, Eric Maynor, Nazr Mohammed, and Nick Collison against the Warriors.
After Silas saw the Thunder's rotation lineup, he said with a bit of an awkward tone:
"Did Brooks really let Harden lead the transition by himself?!"
Ron Adams was also confused:
"Why didn't he let Durant play? Durant didn't play much in the first quarter, so he should be very energetic…"
None of them could understand Brooks' rotation arrangement. The Warriors only had Curry as a stable and reliable ball handler, and Jeremy Lin could only lead the second unit. But Liam still had Klay rest early in the first quarter and come out to stabilize the offense, while the Thunder had two stars, yet they didn't fully utilize their advantages and let Harden lead the transition offense by himself—this was really strange.
Liam was also a bit surprised but then smiled and said:
"Don't forget, the Thunder is playing its first playoff game. From coaches to players, they have no experience, and we weren't much better than them last year."
He paused and continued:
"However, we still have to thank Brooks for this gift. We can't afford to waste such a great opportunity!"
—"Jeremy!" He stood up and walked toward the bench, signaled to Jeremy Lin, called him over, and then admonished: "Try to attack inside as much as you can, score as many points as you can, go for it!"
Jeremy Lin nodded heavily, taking Liam's words seriously.
Later, he used the space provided by Big Z and Yi Jianlian on the offensive side to frequently attack the Thunder's weak interior defense. Nick Collison, a highly respected locker room leader in the Thunder, wasn't enough to defend the Thunder's interior line, and Jeremy Lin continuously gained the advantage.
Brooks quickly gave the order to shrink back, but Klay, Yi Jianlian, and Big Z could all shoot. Although not efficiently, they could still punish the Thunder's defensive strategy.
While the Warriors' offense was going well, James, supported by two shooters, Daquin Cook and Eric Maynor, also began to show his strength on the offensive side.
It was just that his form wasn't too good, shooting 0 for 3, relying only on free throws for 2 points. The difference soon grew larger, and by the 6-minute, 50-second mark of the third quarter, the Warriors had an 18-point lead at 52:34.
At that moment, even the usually stiff Brooks couldn't stay still, and Harden's aberration was unexpected to him, so he immediately called a timeout and replaced Westbrook and Durant to improve the Thunder's offense.
The effect of the two on the court was immediate, and soon they relied on their individual skills to help stabilize the situation. Westbrook continued his good form from the first quarter, though his zombie-like jump shot was stiff, the basketball with a mediocre arc still managed to go in. Durant also used his inexplicable height and arm span to score consecutive mid-range points.
However, when Brooks adjusted the lineup, Liam also returned as a starter. The Warriors' passing and cutting competition wasn't too high, but it was enough to handle the Thunder. Curry and Klay used off-ball movement to score three-pointers, and the quiet Butler in the first quarter also began to hold the ball against Durant's defense, using confrontation and strength to attack the basket and draw fouls, preventing the Thunder from closing the gap too much.
By the end of the second quarter, the score was 65-52, with the Thunder having recovered five points. But the Warriors still won the second quarter by three points and went to the break with a 13-point lead.
As soon as the Warriors returned to the locker room, the sophisticated and efficient halftime review quickly finished. The Warriors didn't make too many mistakes in the first half, while the Thunder didn't show anything new, so the Warriors didn't need to make many changes for the second half.
Although there were still problems like the high turnover rate and poor three-point shooting in open positions, these were persistent issues that couldn't be resolved quickly. Liam just told everyone to pay attention to them without too much emphasis. The atmosphere in the locker room was relaxed and harmonious, with no tension at all in the playoffs.
In the visitor's locker room, the scene was the complete opposite. The first half had made the Thunder players a little depressed. Durant and Westbrook weren't good at motivating their teammates, and the room was silent.
Brooks looked around, took a deep breath, and said loudly:
"Guys, we played the first half without too much trouble. A 13-point lead is not a big gap. Everyone stay positive. Today is the first playoff game for many of us, including myself. Look at Kevin and Russell's fight. We're a team, and I hope everyone can step up and defend this playoff that belongs to us."
End of this chapter
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