Capítulo 1335: Chapter 536: Two Unstoppable Teams

During regular time, there’s no need to worry about attacking, which for Durant means one less shackle on his stamina! And it’s the heaviest one!

This situation was not anticipated during their preparation. The strategy Kobe helped devise, focusing on limiting Durant and the Warriors’ regular-time offense, has largely become useless!

Zhang Yang, while watching the replays, didn’t see Durant release the ball so early before.

Or rather, Steve Kerr didn’t treat Durant like ‘one of their own’ in previous games, but purely as a workhorse.

Zhang San: Wait… could the Tsunami Combination be emulating us?

He suddenly realized that in regular time, they didn’t attempt strong plays or overuse one point, when Harden was limited, DeRozan would step up, and if DeRozan was also limited, he would take over.

With so many capable players, they played the ‘Spurs system’, sharing the pressure is basic practice. But with Kerr’s ability, he might not have thought of it. However, coaches are static, and players are dynamic. The Warriors don’t lack smart players, and it’s routine to study and learn from them.

The game had just started, but it seemed that they had already lost the strategic initiative.

Zhang Yang found it… exciting!

Since the preset defensive strategy failed, it would be based on intuition, and the response strategy would be simple.

Attack!

As the team leader, Zhang Yang led the charge!

The other Lakers players, initially a bit flustered by the unexpected offense from the opponents, discarded their distractions and aggressively attacked under Zhang Yang’s lead!

The Warriors, from the start, were already fully engaged in offensive plays.

The Warriors players didn’t consider how to defend at all during their preparations.

The Lakers topped the league in regular season with 115 points, higher than the Warriors’ average of 113 points. Their playoff offense remained explosive, averaging 114 points against the Trail Blazers in the first round and an astounding 121.5 points against the Clippers in the second round.

The Compton Three Giants, both on and off the court, were close like brothers, willing to sacrifice for each other to achieve the best team collaboration. They cared even less about individual stats and playing time than Duncan did during his fourth peak, focusing solely on team success.

Everyone said the Spurs were at their peak with Duncan in his last season in 15-16, pushing the ‘Spurs system’ to its pinnacle. However, in the eyes of the Warriors’ players, it was the Compton Three Giants who truly brought the Spurs system’s concept to the extreme, making them indefensible.

So the Warriors players concentrated all their prep efforts on offense.

DeRozan made a mid-range catch-and-shoot fadeaway, Curry responded with a reverse layup after cutting along the baseline on a pass from Green.

Zhang Yang received the ball on the move and passed to little Nance cutting to the basket for a two-handed alley-oop slam; Curry initiated a pick-and-roll, drove to the elbow, and made a direct pass inside, Pachulia received and dunked it.

DeRozan missed a three-pointer, Green grabbed the defensive rebound, passed to Durant running fast, who drew defenders into the paint and then passed back to the top arc, Curry followed up with a three-pointer; on the return, Harden suddenly passed to the right side, where Zhang Yang pushed past Thompson, stepped outside the three-point line, caught the ball, ignored the flying Thompson’s defense, leaped up, shot a three, and hit a strong shot in a set play, responding to Curry…

The offensive exchange between the two teams was insane, with scores rapidly increasing and shooting percentages astonishingly high, while the crowd continued to cheer wildly.

Neither team dared to slack off; as the league’s first and second offensive powerhouses, they both knew a momentary lapse could allow the opponent to widen the gap.

Even after entering rotation time, both teams’ firepower showed no sign of weakening.

Among the Compton Three Giants, at least two stayed on, Harden rested, replaced by Clarkson, one of the best backup point guards in the league;

DeRozan rested, replaced by Louis Williams, one of the best backup shooting guards in the league;

Zhang Yang rested, replaced by Boyan, reputed as a rookie better than the best rookie, though his playing time wasn’t as much as Phoenix Suns’ rookie Brandon Ingram. During the mass slaughter of the Clippers, with DeRozan seeing less time on the court, Boyan got more playing time, averaging 15.5 points with 47.3+45.4% shooting rates over four games, hitting 10 out of 22 three-pointers, making a name for himself and alleviating the Lakers’ management and coaching staff’s concern about the high likelihood of Louis Williams pursuing a big contract.

Inside, with at least one of little Nance and West constantly available, they were responsible for helping with outside passes and coordination.

At the center position, Blake, Zubac, Nene, and Ed Davis rotated according to need. If the opposition had a strong, slow defender like Pachulia, they’d opt for fast players like Blake and Ed Davis, but if McKie was up, then Nene or Zubac would be used, focusing on creating mismatches offensively.

Of course, such a center rotation made them susceptible to mismatches too, but they didn’t have a big center like Gasol or Aldridge to hold the fort inside, making this inevitable, and opting for the most offensive benefits was suitable, especially since the opposing team had even fewer centers, just two.

On a positive note, having all role-players at the center position had its advantage; whoever was in form played, with no need to worry about stars finding their rhythm or catering to their egos.