Chapter 126: Chapter 125: The Impatient Reigning Champions
Golden State Warriors’ head coach, Mike Malone, totally switched up their defensive strategy in Game 5.
With Zack’s incredible rim protection and the combined height and defensive prowess of Brown and Artest, the Warriors stopped playing zone defense. This completely wrecked the Nuggets’ three-point focused offense, especially since Denver was basically gambling their lives on those shots.
George Karl’s wild experiment took a massive hit that night.
Given the defensive rules of that era, and the unspoken permission for more aggressive defensive tactics in that year’s playoffs, unless the opponent stuck to a zone defense the whole game, the Nuggets were bound to face a pretty real problem: How could they get off over forty three-point attempts against such intense pressure?
Maybe to outsiders, Malone seemed slow to react, only adjusting in Game 5.
But considering how desperately the Warriors wanted to win this series with the least amount of effort, it made sense that they’d stuck with a zone defense for the first four games to counter Karl’s crazy experiment.
Plus, the Warriors only lost Game 3 because they underestimated the Nuggets, so who could have predicted that Denver would go full-on superhuman in Game 4?
During a timeout, Billups wanted the Nuggets to speed up the pace, mainly to find openings for three-pointers in a faster game.
This proactive adjustment actually helped Al Harrington find an open trailing three-pointer after the timeout.
On the right side of the court, Harrington didn’t hesitate when he got the pass from Billups, sinking the three-point shot.
Harrington’s three gave Karl some hope to continue his experiment.
But when the Nuggets tried the same play again, Zack rotated to the perimeter immediately, nearly causing a turnover for Anthony right after he received a pass from a teammate.
On the court, seeing there was no space for a three-pointer, Anthony secured the ball, used a jab step to fake Zack off balance, then drove to the other side and confidently took a long two-pointer from the baseline area.
This was Anthony’s signature move, and it was also the foundation for Karl’s wild experiment: the younger Melo’s frequent attacks on the basket and his flawless long two-point shooting always forced opponents to collapse their defense.
However, the moment Anthony released the shot, that sudden massive figure sticking to him made Anthony instinctively shiver.
Zack’s "DPOY" title last season definitely had a bit of a compensatory feel to it.
But this season, Zack, who had always been obsessed with becoming a top-tier defensive player, was a completely different beast than he was last season.
While Anthony did fake Zack off balance, Zack still managed to get a strong contest on his shot with incredible speed and astonishing agility before Anthony released the ball.
Swish!
Anthony, who had fluked that jump shot in, immediately frowned. He’d already experienced how terrifying his good friend was on defense back at the "Divine Selection Training Camp" last summer.
And, unfortunately for Anthony, Zack was probably the player in the league who understood his playing habits best.
Because "Teacher Melo," while teaching Zack his offensive skills without holding back, also indirectly revealed his offensive logic, and even his weaknesses, to Zack.
In that Warriors’ defensive possession, Zack didn’t just accidentally rotate to Anthony.
It was because after the previous four games, Zack knew very well that to stop Anthony, he had to take him on personally.
This was another defensive adjustment the Warriors made that night by tweaking their offense.
Namely, giving the red-hot Baron Davis more shots, which allowed Zack to focus more on defense.
Warriors’ possession. Davis drove hard to the paint off a Zack screen, making a reverse layup against Ben Wallace’s help defense.
Coming back down the court, Billups’ expression grew even more serious, seeing Zack once again proactively rotate to Anthony.
Throughout his career, Billups had always been an observant point guard.
In his eyes, compared to Zack’s already well-known offensive impact, the progress he showed when fully committed to defense was the most troublesome aspect.
More aggressive defense would naturally lead to a decrease in Zack’s offensive output.
But if Anthony couldn’t respond offensively for the Nuggets, it meant Denver would lose their primary source of offense.
In the game, the Warriors’ adjustments on both ends—making it as hard as possible for the Nuggets to shoot threes, reducing their three-point attempts, and sacrificing some of Zack’s offensive capabilities for effective containment of Anthony—had truly pushed these Nuggets to the brink.
Sure, basketball isn’t just math problems, and in reality, the Nuggets might still hit a bunch of illogical threes like they did in Game 4.
But if low-probability events happen all the time, then a miracle wouldn’t be called a miracle.
On the court, Anthony, whose intentions were read by Zack, forced up a shot that missed. Davis grabbed the rebound and immediately launched a fast break.
Zack quickly followed up, took a pass from Davis, and slammed it home with one hand.
Then, in his subsequent matchups with Zack, Anthony exposed another weakness.
Why couldn’t Anthony, whose offensive skills were so complete and even flashy, impact the entire game like Zack could?
Because everyone knew that Anthony’s triple threat was actually only a double threat.
And, having played for so long without passing the ball, even when Anthony did choose to pass, it was mostly simple drive-and-kick plays.
So, once Anthony couldn’t use his skills to get away from Zack for an easy shot, he could only gamble...
He could hit those tough contested jumpers, or he could drive into the Warriors’ paint against Zack’s defense or Brown’s help and somehow get that darn ball into the hoop.
This kind of high-difficulty scoring was bound to inevitably lower Anthony’s offensive efficiency.
After all, no matter how explosive the younger Melo was, he wasn’t the kind of guard who, even with Zack switching onto him, would only give the opponent an easy small-on-big opportunity.
So, at the end of the first quarter, it was 17-29.
During the break, Karl was furious, yelling at the Nuggets’ perimeter players for not taking enough three-pointers.
But Billups, in response, hit Karl with a blunt truth.
"Shut up! Haven’t you noticed we’re not not shooting threes, it’s that the Warriors are completely shutting down our three-point angles?"
Karl, stung by Billups’ retort, fired back, "Then why can the Warriors manage to consistently shoot almost thirty threes every game?"
Feeling like Karl had lost his mind from all the craziness, Billups sighed, "Because the Warriors always force their opponents to play zone defense."
The next second, Karl slowly came back from his crazy state.
Billups had hit on the key point.
In that era, the reason the Warriors could overcome the defensive limitations on three-pointers was precisely because they could always force opponents to play a "one-on-one, four-zone" defense.
Since a "one-on-one, four-zone" was essentially a zone defense, the Warriors’ perimeter shooters could feast alongside Zack.
Now, it wasn’t just Billups who felt Zack’s historic dominance.
After accepting reality, George Karl also slowly realized why he had thought the Warriors were so similar to that Bulls team of old.
It was because of Zack’s presence... no matter what tactical adjustments you made, you’d always face limitations.
This was just another manifestation of Zack’s dominance.
Nuggets’ bench.
A calmer Karl pulled out his clipboard and re-drew the Nuggets’ offensive strategy.
How to describe the Nuggets after their offensive adjustments?
Simply put, even the future Rockets, known for their "random offense," looked more organized compared to them.
However, Karl’s "random offense" tactical adjustment received full approval from Billups.
The reason was... at this point, the Nuggets only had one way to win: by throwing wild punches.
"Damn it, which damn bastard said these Warriors were a ’one-man show’ team?" Karl thought angrily from the sidelines, making a desperate last stand.
Are the Warriors a one-man show?
Of course not.
After all, what "one-man show" team also has a super guard who can constantly break down opponents’ defenses, in addition to a top-tier primary ball-handler?
Baron Davis’s incredible form since recovering from his injury had undoubtedly freed up Zack immensely.
And besides... a pre-decline Artest and a Richardson who could randomly go off and destroy you could practically make up another superstar.
Add in the Warriors’ bench, which could go toe-to-toe with any team in that era... "Humble LeBron" hadn’t been wrong earlier. These Warriors were indeed a super team.
It’s just that Zack’s inherent brilliance made these Warriors seem like a one-man show.
On the court, the Nuggets’ desperate gamble ultimately failed.
90 to 110.
Back at Oracle Arena, the Warriors secured a crucial Game 5 victory, witnessed by the never-ending golden wave of fans.
A day later, Game 6 of the series moved to the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Before the game, Nuggets fans, who were desperately hoping their team could pull off another miracle at home, could only be described as wailing in despair.
Even a date with his female fan, Scarlett Johansson, couldn’t stop Zack from going off in Game 6.
In the game, facing Ben Wallace in the post, Zack even pulled off a classic "Yao Ming" type moment from back in the day – when "Big Ben" was shoved aside by Zack’s incredibly strong back-to-the-basket moves, Big Ben could only think, "Why is it always me who gets hurt?"
With a lot of help from the referees, Anthony’s shooting warmed up a bit that night, tallying 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
But against Zack’s 45 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal, Anthony still had to bow down.
After the game, Zack, who had another date to rush to, said in an interview, "I don’t care who our next opponent is. I only care that we found ourselves again by making it through the first round of the playoffs."
In Zack’s opinion, unexpectedly losing two games in this series against the Nuggets due to underestimation and their opponents’ hot streaks wasn’t a bad thing.
Overall, the Warriors, forced to play two extra games, actually gained valuable lessons from it.
As for the physical toll of playing two extra games?
No worries... The Warriors, who eliminated the Nuggets with a 4-2 series win, were already the easiest team to advance from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs that year.
The Suns’ overexertion in the regular season had already greatly affected their playoff journey that year.
After six games... The Suns and Jazz, having each won three games, were headed for a Game 7 at the US Airways Center.
And the SuperSonics, who were up 3-1 but were stubbornly pushed to a 3-3 tie by the Lakers, made the same mistake as the Warriors.
Again, in competitive sports, the so-called "underestimation" isn’t something you can just avoid if you want to.
Because humans can never be emotionless like robots.
Next, the SuperSonics would battle the Lakers in a Game 7 at KeyArena for the other semifinal spot.
Meanwhile, the Texas rivalry between the Mavericks and the Spurs also went to Game 7.
Although their playing style was completely countered by the Warriors, the Mavericks were indeed a top team in the Western Conference at that time.
And Kidd, who had been traded to the team early, could always stop "General" Johnson’s idea of replacing Nowitzki with Josh Howard at critical moments.
This year, besides the Warriors-Nuggets series, the other three first-round series in the Western Conference all had to go to Game 7...
Therefore, compared to the valuable lessons learned in the first round of the playoffs, the physical toll of those two extra games for the Warriors was nothing.
"After what’s being called the most brutal game day in history, the Western Conference will host three Game 7s simultaneously this year!" – ESPN News Flash
"After convincingly eliminating the Wizards 4-0, LeBron James responded powerfully to Gilbert Arenas’ pre-game comments with a perfect performance of 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game." – The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Gilbert Arenas said that while the Wizards were indeed outmatched this year, it doesn’t mean LeBron James’ game-winning shot last year wasn’t a travel. The Wizards’ star player stated that in the NBA, no one can guard a player who can just dribble the ball wherever he wants on the court." – The Washington Post
"Against the Pistons’ powerful defense, Dwight Howard doesn’t seem ready to lead the Magic in the playoffs yet. After being swept 0-4 by the Pistons with the Magic, Dwight admitted he still needs Patrick Ewing to teach him more offensive skills." – Orlando Sentinel
"Pat Riley, who led the Heat to a 4-0 sweep of the Bulls, frankly stated that if it weren’t for Jermaine O’Neal’s timely return, the Heat might have been the team that got swept. ’Our score difference with the Bulls was within 5 points every game; Jermaine was definitely the key to us winning four straight.’" – Miami Herald
"Deron Williams’ 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game 6 for the Hawks led them to a 4-2 series win over the Raptors. After the game, Deron said in an interview, ’I’m so happy to advance to the semifinals with the team; this is definitely the most wonderful night of my life.’" – TNT Live Interview
"The Messiah, who was photographed on a date with Scarlett Johansson, denied that they were in a hot romance, stating that they were just ordinary friends. ’We just played Texas Hold’em all night.’ And Scarlett Johansson said that the Messiah’s Texas Hold’em skills were clearly better than she expected, and when asked about a potential romance with the Messiah, Scarlett said, ’We really are just ordinary friends.’" – The Sun
Zack never expected that simply trying to find a "card buddy" to "practice his card skills" would get him noticed by the famous The Sun.
And more importantly, they actually brazenly fabricated a story about him wanting to be in a relationship.
For Zack, who only wanted to be a playboy in this life, this undoubtedly greatly harmed his reputation.
So, while waiting for the Warriors’ next opponent, Zack promptly contacted Brooklyn Decker, whom he had met during a Sports Illustrated cover shoot. Through another date with her, which was again photographed by The Sun, he restored his good reputation in the industry.
Regarding this, The New York Times described the new GOAT as follows: "The Messiah, who has recently taken a keen interest in Texas Hold’em, is enjoying a remarkably leisurely time. And this, undoubtedly, also serves as a reminder to the other Western Conference opponents who need a Game 7 to decide their fate: you need to hurry up, the reigning champions are getting impatient."