Enough talk. At the referee's whistle, both teams' players came to center court for the jump ball.
Baturu was a little taller than Big Wa, but his wingspan was ten centimeters shorter. He couldn't match Big Wa's leaping ability, either, and Big Wa easily jumped to get the ball.
Morant dribbled across half court, then sent the ball to Noah for the first attack.
That had been the Grizzlies' usual approach in their last ten games: start by letting the rookie, Noah, attack.
Noah was conceited, but to give credit where it was due, he had tremendous talent and ability.
He also had a wide variety of offensive moves.
He could use his quick, nimble drives to get to the basket and lay it in, or shake off a defender beyond the three-point line and pull up for a shot.
The Grizzlies were following Moneyball theory this season, favoring shots at the rim and from three while asking their players to take fewer mid-range shots.
Otherwise, Noah was quite good from mid-range, too.
That was why the Grizzlies let him take the first shot in every game. If he got going, things would be much easier for everyone else.
The Raptors had a defensive plan for Noah, too. They didn't put Zhang Jiacheng on him; instead, they assigned the stronger defender, Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu had grown another three centimeters over the past two months or so, bringing him to 2.02 meters tall.
He had a height advantage over Noah, and his wingspan was longer as well.
In Noah's eyes, though, Zhang Yu was nothing but a nobody.
Zhang Yu had played well this season, averaging thirteen points per game.
But Noah was extremely conceited and didn't even respect the other talented players, let alone this nobody.
On the first