Golden State had needed less than ten minutes to build a ten-point lead.
They were gaining a point a minute!
At that rate, wouldn't they win by 48 over a full forty-eight-minute game?
Huh? Still not enough to reach 58?
Sorry, CP3. The Warriors had done their best~~
The timeout didn't last long.
Before long, the Knicks returned to the court with a reshuffled lineup and a revised defensive strategy.
Chen Xi now led the unit on the floor, joined by Hart, Strus, Horford, and Adams.
This lineup offered both offensive spacing and rebounding protection, but its fairly obvious weakness was its overall athleticism.
With Horford and Adams out there, the Knicks' speed in transition and getting back on defense was bound to suffer...
Overall, it had its share of strengths and weaknesses.
Whether they could play to those strengths and cover those weaknesses would depend on the players' performance on the court.
The Warriors, meanwhile, went straight to a five-man small-ball lineup of Poole, Podziemski, Klay, Payton, and Green.
The lineup's overall height was very "Kerr," but so was its mobility.
With such contrasting lineups, the final two and a half minutes of the first quarter would come down to which team could better control the pace.
A whistle from the sideline official soon got the game underway again.
The Knicks inbounded in the backcourt to Hart.
Hart took the ball and hurried across half court, then turned and passed to Chen Xi as Poole picked him up.
Klay was still the man standing in front of Chen Xi.
This time, though, only Green remained behind Klay. Without Wiggins and TJD there to cover for him, Chen Xi had far more room to work on his drives.
Chen Xi slowly lowered his center of gravity as he dribbled.