As it turned out, defending against superior numbers in basketball, especially around the basket at the NBA level, was still far too difficult.
Even Golden State, with a DPOY-caliber help-defense master like Draymond Green on its roster, was no exception...
Time ticked away.
The third quarter soon came to an end.
As another break between quarters arrived, the players on both teams returned to their respective benches under the eyes of the fans in attendance.
By then, most of the Warriors fans in the stands were at a loss for words.
The reason was simple: their team had fallen behind.
Once the third quarter officially ended, the score had swung from 76–69 to 100–109.
The Warriors, who had held a seven-point lead, had actually been outscored 40–24 by the Knicks in a single quarter, leaving them nine points behind.
That enormous gap in efficiency reflected the entirely different levels at which the two teams had played in the third quarter.
And without question, the biggest reason for that outcome was Chen Xi, who had scored 17 points in the quarter and then kept the bulk of the Golden State Warriors' defensive attention firmly trained on him.
His tremendous shooting threat and off-ball threat had left Golden State's perimeter players scrambling to put enough defensive pressure on him.
Meanwhile, after his scoring explosion, Chen Xi had willingly stepped back from being the primary offensive option. He could even shift his energy to defense and further reduce the Warriors' offensive efficiency.
With one side gaining ground as the other lost it, the Warriors naturally struggled to produce sufficiently threatening offense.
Especially during the final three minutes of the third quarter.
Once the teams entered their rotation stretches, Chen Xi even had enough capacity to take over the assignment on Curry...
That left