He stood in place with the ball for a moment, waiting for Chen Xi to circle back out of the paint and set a Pick and Roll Screen in front of him.
PG then put the ball on the floor and moved toward the top of the key, bringing Klay, who had switched onto him, over toward Rose.
The two then quickly ran a dribble handoff.
George used his offensive threat to draw the Warriors' defense toward him, then passed to Rose.
The moment Rose caught the ball, he seized the opening and drove.
He accelerated inside the three-point line, gathered into a small hop step, then lofted a floater over TJD's slightly late help defense.
The ball sailed over his head and dropped straight through the net.
5–3.
That was a play Hart and Strus would have struggled to make, and one of the reasons Rose could still hold on to his starting spot.
No matter how badly his body had deteriorated, the foundation of a former MVP-caliber guard was still there.
Rose's ability to handle the ball, especially his knack for finding scoring opportunities within a play and finishing them himself, remained excellent.
New York converted on offense, and possession immediately returned to the Warriors.
Curry dribbled into the frontcourt and initiated the next attack.
Once again, it was a straightforward on-ball possession.
The Warriors' offensive approach over these opening possessions was actually quite obvious: target Rose.
The Knicks' wings were such strong defenders that having Curry go straight at Rose from the outset might actually have been the more effective matchup choice.
After all, given Curry's offensive threat and the limited attention Green and TJD commanded, blindly running a Pick-and-Roll might only have left Curry with even less room to operate...
Chen Xi, George, and Ethan were