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While the coaching staff of the Warriors was deciding on the next direction for the team, there were still some people in distant Dallas watching the game between the Warriors and the Bucks.
At Neelsen's house, the general manager of the Mavericks, Nelson Jr., watched the fantastic replay of the game on the television screen in front of him. He rubbed his chin with his right hand and nodded slowly.
Carlisle sat beside him, also watching the television, and on the table in front of them was a bottle of red wine and two glasses, along with a pile of A4 paper, some pens, and a few empty wine bottles.
Carlisle's face was slightly red, and he spoke in a deep voice:
"What do you think of Bogut?"
Nelson thought for a moment and slowly replied:
"He looks good. He's the best replacement for Chandler. He's better offensively than Chandler, but he can only protect the rim and defend the low post. He doesn't have the mobility or help defense of Chandler. To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical about whether he and Dirk will fit well together; they're both a little slow-footed, and our interior defense might have holes."
He picked up the A4 paper in front of him and flipped through it a couple of times. It was the scouting report on Bogut, along with an evaluation from the scouting department on Bogut's future development.
Carlisle shook his head and said:
"I don't think that's a problem. Don't forget, we have Sean. He's going to be a key part of our team's defense. He can compensate for the lack of mobility from both Bogut and Dirk. And there are only a few teams in the league with enough shooters, so our defense can completely focus on shutting down the inside. With Bogut, we really have the backbone of our interior defense. Dirk has been in great form this season. It's time for Stud."
Little Nelson slowly tilted his head, lost in thought. He looked at Bogut covering Green on the screen, but his eyes weren't focused.
After a moment, he took the wine glass in front of him and drank slowly:
"Alright. I'll get in touch with the Bucks and keep an eye on Bogut, but it's not time to open a trade yet. I'll have to see how the team performs, but I'll make sure to give you an answer in a month."
Carlisle frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the answer, but he also knew what a trade of this magnitude would mean for the Mavericks. Even though Bogut's stats weren't impressive, with the current shortage of high-quality centers in the league, his trade value was high, and the Bucks wouldn't sell him cheaply. Nelson Jr. would definitely have to think it through before making a decision.
He could only insist on one thing:
"Try to be as fast as possible; we need him running after the trade."
Nelson Jr. nodded calmly, not revealing his thoughts:
"I understand. Rick, you go back and think about who's not in your future plans, and I'll make an offer to the Bucks."
Carlisle nodded, stood up, and left.
Little Nelson sent him to the door, watched him walk away, and stood by the door. Feeling a slight warmth in his body, he unbuttoned the top of his shirt, looked up at the dark night sky, and murmured thoughtfully:
"Do we really have a chance to win the championship...?"
In the sky, the Milky Way crossed, and the stars shined.
Meanwhile, in Miami, in the southeastern United States, fans at the American Airlines Center had just dispersed, and the staff was performing the tedious cleaning work.
In the local team's locker room, the Heat players packed their things one after another and prepared to go home to rest.
Today, they had fought a very tough battle, narrowly defeating the Raptors 109-107. The game was very intense, and in the end, the Heat secured this precious victory with Wade hitting 11 of 19 field goals and 9 of 14 from the free-throw line, cutting 31 points and 8 rebounds.
The Raptors made it hard for the Heat to win, thanks to Lowry's excellent play. Against the Heat's weak interior defense, Lowry showcased his strong impact, and his much-improved shooting also caught the Heat off guard. After the whole game, Lowry finished with 26 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, setting a new personal season record.
Fortunately, the Heat had Wade to turn things around, hitting a near-clutch shot in the final 5.6 seconds. Otherwise, the Raptors would likely have won with the "Big Three" and embarrassed Bosh in his first game against his former team.
Naturally, Wade, who had played so brilliantly, was in a good mood. He hummed some rap music, got dressed, and with a relaxed smile on his face, stood up from his seat and patted James, who was sitting next to him:
"LeBron, I'll go first."
James was looking at the data sheet in his hand, and when he heard this, he looked up and smiled:
"Alright, Dwyane, be careful on the way."
"You should head home early and don't forget to come to my place tomorrow." Wade laughed and turned to leave.
As Wade exited the locker room, the smile on James' face faded. He continued to stare at the data sheet in his hand.
Beneath Wade's stats were James's numbers, and in his eyes, this line of stats was so dazzling: 23 points, 11 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, which looked beautiful, but his shooting was really inefficient—8 of 21, less than 40% shooting. If it weren't for 7 points from the free-throw line, his column of data would look even worse.
He stared at his stats for a long time, then shifted his gaze to Wade's data. His face was like a frozen sculpture, without any expression, and no one knew what was going on in his mind.
Since the start of the season, the Heat had been in a terrible situation, with only 6 wins and 4 losses, which was seriously inconsistent with the team's Big Three setup. Aside from their 23-point victory over the Magic, no one had a net score higher than 12 points, and two of the losses had been to the Celtics, the biggest playoff enemy.
For a time, the triumvirate that had been ridiculed by the crowd stood at the top, and the whole world seemed to be waiting for them to lose so they could launch the harshest attacks and sharpest sarcasm at them.
Among them, James undoubtedly absorbed the most firepower. As a two-time MVP, in the public perception, James was naturally ranked among Wade and Bosh. He was considered the core player of the Heat and was expected to play his best.
But James knew he couldn't play NBA2K—though he was the MVP and the ball-holding center, Wade was the true MVP of the Heat. He gave the Heat their third championship in team history, fought for the team for 7 years, and was recognized as the team's leader. James, as a newcomer, could not challenge Wade's status.
On the court, Wade was the first option on offense, and he had no intention of giving the ball to James. Both Wade and James played a ball-dominant style, and the more they had the ball, the less James would get, and he needed to make space for Wade. As a result, their stats and efficiency were heavily impacted, which was one reason for the Heat's poor record.
But James couldn't demand the ball from Wade—he was the one who came to warm up on the Heat's team. The Heat was Wade's team, not James's, and both the coaching staff and players leaned toward Wade. James couldn't let Wade sacrifice for him.
After all, from the team's perspective, the current discontent stemmed only from the lack of a clear role distribution, the lack of chemistry between the players, and if they played for a while longer, the team's performance would naturally improve.
In James's mind, the best tactic was to give Wade the ball, and James would draw the defense through his playmaking and lead the team's overall offense. Wade and Bosh would play without the ball, and when the tactics failed, they could hand it over to Wade and Bosh to solve the problem, maximizing his vision and organizational ability, which was also his most useful playstyle.
Monta Ellis had taken on this role when he was with the Cavaliers last season and did a great job in the regular season. The Cavaliers' record went deep into the season, which made James fond of this style of play.
So, this summer, the teams James wanted to join most were the Heat and the Bulls. Both teams had a great guard with the ability to solve problems, allowing James to play "reasonable basketball" when things got tough.
James believed that if the Heat played the way he wanted, they would easily come out of the East and the championship would be in the Heat's hands.
Unfortunately, no one on the Heat, except for James, shared this idea. Even Pat Riley, who had promised him everything, had seen Wade's extremely good performance since the start of the season, which made the team's tactics shift slightly toward Wade, continuing the Heat's previous system with Wade as the core. This was also the coaching staff's most familiar tactic.
James sat in his seat for a long time as his teammates left the locker room until it was empty. James took a bottle of Gatorade and drank it.
He exhaled deeply, stood up, clenched his right fist, slowly tightened it, crushed the Gatorade bottle, grabbed his bag, and left the locker room.
He pulled out his phone and called his agent and close friend, Rich Paul:
"Hey, Richie, there's one thing. Talk to Pat Riley privately and tell him I don't like the way the team is playing."
The joys and sorrows of each team are different, but every team has its own problems and goals.
While the Mavericks and the Heat were working toward a championship, the Warriors' current goal was for Curry to win the scoring title.
Before the league realized it, Curry had quietly started his performance.
After returning to Oakland from Milwaukee, the Warriors had a day off before facing the Pistons on November 15.
It was the second matchup between the two teams in a week, and the only two matchups of the season.
Just like the last meeting, the Warriors defeated the Pistons 115-103, and Curry played well, hitting 6 of 10 from three-point range, scoring 31 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, and scoring 30+ for the second consecutive game.
But this game wasn't all good news for the Warriors. Against the Pistons' defense, Klay was silent, shooting 3 of 13, 1 of 7 from three-point range, and only scored 8 points. His poor performance even allowed the Pistons to take the lead by the end of the second quarter. However, with Curry's hot streak in the third quarter, the Warriors stabilized the situation.
After this game, the Warriors had 3 full days of rest. Liam gave the entire team a day off for the players to rest well, and used the next two days to carefully practice the tactics prepared for Curry to pave the way for his scoring title competition.
On November 19, Oracle Center welcomed the visiting Knicks, facing the only team that had defeated them on their East Coast trip. The Warriors players were full of energy and in good form, and they beat the opponent 8-0 in the opening game, setting the stage for revenge.
After the entire game, the Warriors had suppressed the Knicks, and Curry worked the Knicks' weak shooting guard line. He hit 8 of 14 three-pointers, scoring 37 points, 2 assists, and 3 rebounds. The Warriors took a revenge victory with a 125-110 score, and Curry scored 30+ for the third consecutive game.
In addition to Curry's excellent play, Matthews also did well. The Knicks had poor defensive discipline, giving him many open opportunities. Matthews hit 5 three-pointers and made several layups, finishing with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, breaking his career-high scoring record.
Klay also broke his bad streak against the Pistons, hitting 5 of 7 field goals and 3 of 5 three-pointers, scoring 13 points efficiently and regaining his touch.
On November 21, the Warriors left Oakland and traveled to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on the road.
At this point, the Lakers had played over 10 games and had found their rhythm again. Although Bynum still hadn't returned, the Lakers had devised a completely different strategy from the last game, which put the Warriors in a tough battle.
And the Zen Master carefully studied the Warriors' game tape, made specific adjustments, and focused on Klay's offense. Kobe Bryant hit 7 of 10 in the first quarter, scoring 16 points, so Liam had to quickly substitute Tony Allen onto the court to defend Kobe, and the Warriors stabilized the situation.
Then the game played out similarly to the last meeting with the Lakers, with Curry and Kobe Bryant going head to head. However, the Lakers leaned on their offensive advantage to lead the Warriors by 9 points at halftime, which was the result of the Warriors' bench lineup playing well in the first half of the second quarter and closing the gap.
In this unfavorable situation, Liam did not feel irritated or upset but sighed in relief at heart.
He said to Silas with excitement:
"It seems that a little reputation also has the benefit of a little reputation, look at the lineup I put on the court: Tyson, Drummond, and Tony are on the court at the same time, the spacing is so poor, the Lakers didn't even include Stephen, Coach Jackson has left us a way to live."
After the start of the third quarter, the Lakers faced the Warriors, who occupied first place in the league, except for not giving Curry superstar-level defensive attention. They didn't want to take it lightly and showed a playoff-level attitude, handing the ball to strong points like Kobe Bryant and Gasol to attack.
On the Warriors' side, in addition to Curry's absolute offensive power, Liam took Butler as the offensive point with the ball, but Artest suffered Butler's turnovers several times before and was very serious in defense. Butler played some, although he scored a few points, but the efficiency was very poor, and he could only pass the ball to Curry to handle.
Throughout the third quarter, Liam stayed on the sidelines and finished watching, his face very grim, not saying a word, just watching in silence.
In fact, there was no need to say anything, the strategies of the Warriors and the Lakers hadn't changed. The Lakers were naturally a triangle offense, Kobe Bryant and Gasol took turns playing solo, if there was a mismatch, they would share the ball, and if not, they would finish it alone, and occasionally play some blocks.
The Warriors had Curry holding the ball to set up a screen and Green distributing cards in the low post, but Green's passing technique was still very immature and the Lakers' defensive discipline was very strong. The Warriors had practiced running without the ball for more than two months, but it couldn't be effective at all. After Green made some mistakes, Liam no longer let him distribute the ball. The Warriors' offense was completely handed over to Curry, and at most, Butler would play two balls from time to time.
Despite the Lakers' weak defense, Curry still maintained his efficiency, but two fists are hard to defeat four hands. On the court, the Warriors had five players, but three of them had no independent offensive ability, and could only leave Curry alone. The offense was not systematic at all. After the third quarter, the Lakers' lead expanded to 14 points, and the Warriors were in danger.
Fortunately, when the fourth quarter began, the Warriors' bench stood up again. Jeremy Lin became more and more accustomed to the intensity of the NBA. Although he didn't score much on the court, he handled the ball very firmly and controlled the game's tempo well. The Warriors' pick-and-roll played with energy, and the suffocated Klay and Matthews scored consecutive points, reducing the gap back to 6 points.
But then Coach Zen sent the starting lineup and regained control of the game. Liam had no choice but to try, sending in Clay, replacing Tony Allen to strengthen the team's offense and let Butler defend Kobe.
But at this moment, Butler was far from the defensive level he had at his best, and even if he had it, he couldn't protect himself against Kobe.
In the rest of the fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant gave Butler a good lesson, using perfect skills to dominate the mid-range. Under the repeated devastation of Kobe's eighteen offensive skills, such as backward jumpers, upward jumpers, and off-ball jumpers, Butler felt deeply the shadow of Kobe's mid-range shot.
Butler secretly vowed that he must practice excellent mid-range shooting skills and no longer wanted to feel the opponent's power on his head and be unable to defend, even if the opponent was Kobe.
Not only did Kobe Bryant activate his Wushuang mode, but Liam's idea of replacing Klay to improve the offense also shattered. In the face of the Lakers' quick rotations, Klay, whose shooting ability was far from the highest level, was inaccurate.
He missed two consecutive three-pointers, and the Lakers managed to score on their turns, and the balance of victory slowly tilted in favor of the Lakers.
When the last quarter reached 3 minutes, the Warriors were already 15 points behind the Lakers. Liam knew the general trend was gone, so he simply threw in the towel and admitted defeat, replaced the starters, and Coach Zen also withdrew the troops and sent in the third team.
However, during garbage time, the Warriors showed the second bright spot of the game besides Curry. Danny Green had a very good performance in limited time, shooting 3 of 4 from three-point range, getting 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks, showing a strong presence on both the offensive and defensive sides.
Liam sat in his seat, looked at Danny Green on the court, and nodded thoughtfully.
In the end, the game ended, the Lakers defeated the Warriors 106-97. Thanks to Danny Green's brave play, the Warriors recovered a significant amount of points in garbage time, making the loss not look so miserable, but the Warriors were suppressed by the Lakers throughout the process except for the transition period when the bench players came in, and the gap between the two teams in raw power was very evident.
Losing this game also brought the Warriors' record to 11-3, still in first place in the West, but the difference in wins with the Lakers was reduced to 2 games. If it weren't for the Lakers at the start of the season, the Warriors' first position would already be in jeopardy.
After the whole game, Curry continued his excellent form, and Bryant played the entire game, also becoming a rebound maniac, rarely posting a double-double of 34 points, 5 assists, and 10 rebounds, scoring 30+ for the fourth consecutive game.
And Kobe Bryant was even better, in excellent form in this game, cutting 43 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, integrating offense and defense, dominating the game, and the Warriors lost unfairly.
Apart from Curry, the Warriors had Butler as their best player, shooting 5 of 12, 2 of 5 from three-point range, 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, and scoring 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals, which was the second-highest scorer for the Warriors in the game.
But the others were mediocre. Klay was inaccurate again, shooting 2 of 7 from three-point range, only 8 points, 1 assist, and 2 rebounds. His efficiency was very poor, and the defensive wing was outperformed by Kobe.
Such a poor performance frustrated the always tough Klay, and after the game, he returned to the locker room without saying a word, covered his head with a towel, and lay down on a chair, motionless.
However, his actions revived the somewhat dull atmosphere in the locker room, and his teammates gathered around Klay to console him, explaining the reasons for the team's loss, but allowing everyone to accept the fact of losing the game first and not get frustrated by the defeat.
Klay also recovered from the relief of his teammates, took the towel off his head, sat up straight, and finally no longer seemed depressed.
Liam had been watching everyone from the side to console Klay and said with a smile: "This isn't the first time Kobe has beaten you, why are you so depressed this time?"
Klay looked directly at Liam: "Coach, it feels so uncomfortable to lose, especially if you lose a game like this...! I definitely won't let Kobe Bryant score on my head easily in the future!"
"Really? We still have two more games with the Lakers this season, are you sure you can stop Kobe?" Liam's voice lightly reached Clay's ears.
When Clay heard this, his face changed, and he lay back again, covered his head with a towel, and said in a muffled voice: "I retract what I just said... I'll work on defense when I come back, and next season, well, next season, I'll definitely be able to defend against Kobe!"
"Hahaha..."
Clay spoke seriously, causing an outburst of laughter, and the shadow of the defeat completely faded, and the locker room returned to its usual lively atmosphere.
Liam looked at everyone with a smile and casually said:
"Have you forgotten that we just lost a game?"
As soon as his words fell, everyone immediately fell silent, and Klay quickly took the towel off his head and sat up straight. All the players' eyes turned to Liam, and their expressions turned serious.
Liam's gaze slowly swept over them and said slowly:
"Originally, I was supposed to practice if I lost, but I have to play against the Nuggets back-to-back tomorrow, so I'm letting it go this time. If I win against the Nuggets, I'll naturally be exempt from training, if I lose... well, you know."
Everyone was filled with joy when they heard this, and Curry immediately said: "Boss, don't worry, we'll definitely beat the Nuggets!"
End of this chapter
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