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Randolph finally got stuck in position after a battle with Green, raised his hand to ask for the ball, and Conley brought the ball to a 45-degree angle and carefully lifted it.
After receiving the ball, Randolph didn't attack immediately, but held the ball, waiting for his teammates to create space before starting to back Green down, by then the offensive time had already dropped to 14 seconds.
Boom! Randolph and Green collided violently, with Green slightly outmatched by Randolph, being knocked down repeatedly, but not completely out of position, supporting Randolph's first wave of attack, creating time for his teammates to flank them.
Klay quickly shrank towards the basket from the outside and placed Randolph from side to side with Green, but Randolph didn't force his shot, protected the ball, and passed it to Conley, who was left open.
Conley hesitated, missed the shot, dribbled inside, and made a two-point shot, but the basketball bounced out of the rim.
When Conley took the shot, Randolph and Marc Gasol ran into the restricted area of the Warriors, with Chandler and Green fighting them off, Klay and Butler also shrinking under the basket. After a fierce scramble, the rebound was grabbed by Chandler.
Mike Breen said: "Although the Grizzlies didn't grab the rebound, it wasn't in vain, they delayed the fight for the offensive rebounds for a long time, and others quickly repeated, so the Warriors couldn't run their fast-break defense, which they do best. It's clear Hollingsworth deliberately emphasized fighting for rebounds on the frontcourt, Randolph and Marc Gasol didn't return to defense but rushed to grab the rebound first, which is a big risk. If the Warriors grabbed the rebounds easily, the Grizzlies' defense would quickly collapse due to a lack of height."
On the court, Curry dribbled the ball past half-court and reached the top of the arc, with Conley in front of him.
The Warriors took a V-shape, with Klay and Butler in the bottom corner, Chandler on the left side, Marc Gasol on the left, and Green in the high post on the right.
Curry reached a 45-degree position outside the three-point line on the right, Green came up to cover him, Klay slid towards the baseline, running to the opposite corner with Chandler's coverage, and Butler played off the ball on the weak side, with the strong side instantly cleared out.
Green did a solid job covering and keeping Conley firmly behind him, but Randolph didn't defend him and stayed at the free-throw line.
Seeing that Randolph dared to defend him like this, Curry directly pulled up and took a three-pointer. Randolph did everything he could to reach him but couldn't interfere with Curry's shot at all.
Swish! The basketball dropped through the net as the Warriors made the first score of the game.
3:0.
Mike Breen says:
"Good shot! Randolph gave Curry plenty of space to shoot, Curry nailed it easily, didn't Hollins see the first-round series between the Warriors and the Thunder?"
Van Gundy said: "He should be like Brooks, using this defense to test how Curry feels first, and then make plans. Now, it seems Curry has a hot hand, let's see how the Grizzlies adjust their defense next."
Mike Breen nodded, "Alright, oh, Conley and Gasol block..."
As the two commentators spoke, the game was non-stop, and Conley also took advantage of Chandler's crouch to score a two-pointer with Gasol Jr.'s help on the cover.
3:2.
Mike Breen says: "The Warriors have adopted the same defensive strategy as the Grizzlies, and the pick-and-roll defense hasn't extended."
"But Coach Liam and Hollins have a different logic," explained Van Gundy, "The Warriors' core is Curry, and the Grizzlies' core is the twin towers. The Warriors can shrink, but the Grizzlies can't. Curry can shoot off people, and Conley doesn't have that ability."
No sooner had Van Gundy finished speaking than Curry ran another pick-and-roll with Green, and this time Randolph didn't stay inside but defended it.
Seeing this, Curry immediately took two steps back, and Green ran consciously towards the baseline, not giving Conley a chance to exchange with Randolph, who could only follow Curry and be transferred out of the three-point line.
After his teammates created space, Curry began connecting a simple pass to Randolph. Although Randolph is a very flexible big man, his pace wasn't quick, and Curry's skillful change of pace freed him from the advancing space, running toward the three-point line.
Gasol Jr. immediately came up to cover, and Randolph also pursued, trying to interfere from behind, but Curry didn't go back to the basket. He accelerated, shook off Randolph, reached the free-throw line a step inside, and took his shot before Gasol Jr.'s defense could get set, and the ball bounced off the rim.
5:2.
On the bench, Hollins frowned slightly after seeing Curry score, but then regained his composure. He was prepared for Randolph not to protect Curry, which was part of his plan.
The round transitioned, the Grizzlies attacked and still played a slow-paced positional battle. Gasol Jr. held the ball high and worked with OJ Mayo, who missed a three-pointer.
Looking back, Curry was still blocked and dismantled with Green, Randolph switched to Curry, stepping on the three-point line to cover his shooting space. Curry used his speed to easily break his defense, faced Gasol Jr.'s supplementary defense, didn't go to the basket, and made a mid-range jumper, but the basketball bounced out of the rim.
Mike Breen says: "Curry misses a two-point shot, the Grizzlies' defense seems to be working. Jeff, Curry has had two consecutive mid-range shots, is this a coincidence?"
Van Gundy thought for a moment, shook his head, and said: "No, this is intentional from Hollins. Curry's shots mainly focus on the basket and beyond the three-point line. His mid-range range is also accurate, but the output is low. Hollins told Randolph to stick to Curry's three-pointers and then let Marc Gasol wait for Curry at the edge of the area, letting him shoot mid-range shots. Clearly, Hollins doesn't believe Curry can hurt the Grizzlies from mid-range."
Mike Breen nodded: "Alright, let's see how the Grizzlies defend later, now it's their turn to attack..."
After a few passes, Randolph finally found an opportunity near the left under the basket and connected with a small hook shot.
5:4.
The Warriors attacked. This time, Curry opted for a screen with Chandler. Marc Gasol's defense was much firmer than Randolph's, Curry passed him with a behind-the-back dribble that changed pace, and the mid-range shot was successful.
7:4.
The Grizzlies attacked again, Randolph posted up and faced Chandler, then passed the ball to Conley, who missed the three-pointer, and Green grabbed the rebound after a tussle.
On the return, Curry and Chandler connected with a one-step shot just inside the free-throw line.
9:4.
Boom! Curry scored consecutively, putting the first 9 points on the board for the Warriors, and the Grizzlies' defense couldn't stop the scoring champion at all—Mike Breen exclaimed loudly.
Van Gundy also shouted: "Even though I've seen Curry's scoring performances live many times, it's hard to believe it's the technique of a second-year player... Curry only took two years to practice mid-range shots without dead ends, and his release is so sophisticated, like a scoring guard who has been working hard in the league for ten years! I can't help but wonder, do we still want to think of Curry as a playmaker? He's the top scorer, maybe he should move to the shooting guard position."
When Van Gundy praised Curry, the cheers at Oracle Center rose and fell, Curry's scoring burst was sudden, and even some late fans had just entered, but it gave them a sense of surprise.
They knew Curry was going to explode, but didn't expect his outburst to come so quickly.
On the sidelines, Hollins furrowed his brows tightly and paced back and forth along the sidelines.
He had deliberately given Curry a mid-range shot, but didn't expect Curry's mid-range to be so accurate, and if Curry kept hitting, the defense he set up would be completely useless. But Hollins hesitated, he still hadn't made adjustments. Three minutes was too short, and he had to use the entire first quarter to observe Curry's state before making plans.
Many times, fans are very confused when a coach insists on a tactic that doesn't change, but any coach understands one thing: tactics can't be changed at will.
Many head coaches go through the regular season without changing their defensive strategy, and when they decide to shut down a player, they keep him shut down, and adjustments can only be made when it matters most.
The form of the players is always changing, the coach must be decisive. You can't change the defense because you score a few goals or don't score a few, and casual changes will only confuse the team.
It's in the playoffs that Hollins would consider dedicating just one quarter to observing Curry's offense, which is enough to show how much importance he places on Curry. Many teams won't adjust their tactics freely in the first game of the playoffs when the sample size is too small.
So, Hollins was no longer tangled in his heart, calmly observing the game and watching Curry's performance.
And Curry didn't "disappoint" him. It wasn't fussy at all, as Hollins only gave him mid-range shots. Curry took full advantage, nailing shots and making baskets one after another, often using Gasol Jr.'s positional errors to successfully feed Chandler.
As the game continued, Butler, Klay, and even Danny Green, who replaced Klay in the second half of the first quarter, no longer ran without the ball, but stood in the bottom corner to create space, clear the air, and move up, seeing Curry, Green, and Chandler alternating in blocking and dismantling cooperation, always ready to catch the ball and shoot, Green had completely transformed into a blocker + finisher + placer, never once distributing cards.
This is the offensive philosophy of Liam, who likes the beautiful combination of passing and cutting, but also knows that the more passes there are, the greater the risk, especially in the playoffs, and blind passing is simply suicidal.
Liam isn't like Kerr, who insists that passes and cuts are the "high-level" way of winning, and that screens and singles are "low-level" offenses.
He believes that solving problems with one pass, not two, and getting the ball in the basket is most important, and passing the ball just for the sake of passing will only increase turnovers.
Liam admires Harden's style with the Rockets, which is a representative style of superstar basketball that maximizes Harden's scoring ability.
Later, it was found that such an offensive model has a very high lower limit, and many have followed suit, which is why the most popular configuration of modern basketball is a ball-holding core + three shooters + one finisher, a new generation of ball-holding cores like Doncic, Trae Young, and others quickly shone in the league as soon as they appeared, benefiting greatly from this basketball concept.
Now, Liam had created this offensive model a few years earlier than expected.
Curry has all of Harden's skills, except for drawing fouls, and is much better than him at shooting and breaking, and can easily control this tactic, handling the ball and playing magnificent stats, which is also an important reason he won the scoring title in his second year.
Of course, this is also because the Warriors' passing and cutting haven't been practiced at home yet, but even if the Warriors have all the conditions to play passing and cutting in the future, Liam would never allow Green to distribute cards at the top of the arc all the time, let Curry keep running laps and use role players to generate shots, especially Klay, who isn't good at handling the ball, shooting only for finishing.
He hopes to build Curry's confidence with an offensive system similar to Harden's, let him grow, and when he reaches the peak, he will become a top scorer.
It's clear that Curry can create shooting opportunities with just a single pick-and-roll, so why bother with so much effort?
The main purpose of all offensive tactics is to find open opportunities, followed by searching for opportunities out of place. Thus, the screen and dismantling form the foundation of most offensive tactics. The ball handler can temporarily shake off the opponent's defense with the help of the screen and calmly execute shots, advances, passes, and other actions. The dismantling of the screen can cause chaos in the opponent's defense, leading to countless changes down the road.
The same goes for passing, where the goal is to find open opportunities through off-ball cuts and screens, which requires a strong perimeter shooting threat from the off-ball player. Otherwise, the opponent has no need to closely follow, just surrounding the screen.
So, in Liam's previous life, only the Warriors could play passing basketball, while other teams focused on screens because there was only one Curry in the league, and there would be no pass cuts without Curry.
Curry is indeed a system player, the Warriors' system relies entirely on him. Many players have performed well with the Warriors and have struggled when leaving the team because they could benefit from Curry's terrifying gravity to make the game easy. Once outside Curry's gravitational influence, their true skills are revealed.
Under Kerr's leadership, the Warriors appear to play team basketball, but in reality, it's extremely star-driven basketball.
Green is a very obvious example, he has almost lost the ability to play independently, being tightly connected to Curry. His offensive role completely depends on feeding Curry to make an impact. When Curry is not on the floor, Green plays almost no role on the offensive end, forcing his teammates to play in smaller lineups, sometimes even four or five.
Although Durant squeezed Green's possession, after Durant left, Green has not regained his peak shooting ability for two consecutive years, which explains many problems.
Passing the ball to the all-time highest scorer is addictive, and it can even make people forget that he can shoot the basketball.
Playing next to the all-time highest scorer is also addictive, and it can even make people forget that offense is not just about making screens for Curry; it's as simple as cutting and dunking in the air after he pulls two defenders.
This offensive style, which utilizes Curry's gravity to the extreme, is what makes the Warriors increasingly reliant on Curry to the point where it's hard to win without him.
This isn't to blame Curry. Many players who once had the ability to shoot were transformed by Kerr into "high IQ" players who could only pass, screen, and rebound once they joined the Warriors. Players like Cosby, Jerebko, and others have become "specialized players" only suited to play beside Curry. If Curry doesn't play, or if they leave Curry, they naturally can't perform.
And Liam would never tolerate such a thing. Even if the passing and cutting system helped the Warriors win the Triple Crown, he would never allow his team to become "Curry's team."
He would rather "waste" Curry's off-ball gravity to some extent, not using his off-ball ability to its fullest potential, and not letting everyone else suffer from Curry's dependency.
For a team, the scarcest resource is developing offensive abilities, which is also the most valuable skill of all a player's attributes.
This is why Kerr continues to think of ways to use Curry's off-ball gravity to give role players more easy offensive opportunities.
This is actually a compromise due to Kerr's lack of a second ball handler in the Warriors' lineup, and when Durant was near, he didn't let Durant play solo.
And Liam knows better than anyone which player will develop into a great talent, which star is still undervalued. The Warriors won't lack players who can handle the ball in the future, and he doesn't need to make a big deal out of Curry, squeezing all of his value out to support role players.
Liam won't let the passing and cutting system control him. The core of ball handling is Curry's positioning, and on this basis, complementing it with the ability to play both with and without the ball, and change freely, is the most unpredictable Curry. It's not about putting the cart before the horse, letting Curry take the running circles around Green as his main business, and almost never playing with the ball.
Green is a product of Curry, and Green must adapt to Curry. Curry does not need to adapt to Green.
The effectiveness of passing and cutting depends on the opponent's defensive discipline, and it is only suitable as a complementary offensive tool, not the primary tactic of a team.
In the first quarter, Curry followed Liam's concept and displayed great power.
On the other hand, the Grizzlies' offense, with Randolph and Gasol Jr.'s strong post play, faced tough resistance. Chandler, needless to say, Gasol Jr., in his third year, was still immature. Chandler was deflated several times in individual play and then obediently went to the high position to respond, not daring to challenge the defense of the boxing champion at will.
Although Randolph was confident in playing against Green, it would take time. Green's footwork and confrontation could make him hold on for a while, and it was at this moment that other Warriors players were able to pinch Randolph.
Randolph is not a head-scratcher; he passes the ball when trapped, but his passes are not as precise as Gasol Jr.'s. Randolph can distribute to his open teammates, but if you want him to make subtle assists, it's embarrassing.
Fortunately, apart from Conley, OJ Mayo and Sam Young were very accurate from three, hitting some open triples, but Liam remained unfazed, still insisting on a defensive strategy focused on reducing the interior play, with Randolph and Gasol Jr. as key defensive targets.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led the Grizzlies by four points, 27-23.
The role players of the Grizzlies shot very accurately from open three-point positions, but Curry's scoring efficiency was higher. His pick-and-roll was a small and large misalignment, and the Grizzlies required a more complex set of frontal actions, like Randolph's positioning, receiving the ball, simple moves, attracting and pinching shots, and sharing the ball to create open opportunities. Their offensive rhythm was much slower, and their shot attempts were fewer than the Warriors', naturally putting them behind on the scoreboard.
End of this chapter
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