Formation Change

Warriors ball. Curry dribbles to the arc... three meters out, Oladipo is already pressing up on him.

He lobs the ball to Green moving up, then quickly cuts toward the baseline.

Green holds the ball at 45 degrees, takes one dribble, and lobs it to Durant. KD catches it on the three-point line, faces up, and goes one-on-one against Roberson.

His trademark oversized double crossover, immediately followed by a sudden stop-and-pop, easily sinks a long two-pointer. Roberson is left standing there, hands on his hips in frustration.

What is positionless scoring? A two-meter-eight height (official stats, actually taller), two-meter-eighty-eight wingspan, pulling up for a jumper right in your face. With his vertical cylinder intact, who can even contest his shot?

As a light forward, Roberson doesn't have enough strength to push him out of his sweet spot. The only option is to pray his touch is off, or that fatigue drags his performance down over time.

The former Explosive Combination now face off on the court, each scoring their team's first points. There's probably a bit of mutual stubbornness mixed in there too.

Westbrook grabs the ball and charges again. This time, facing a double-team from Klay and Green, he finally doesn't force it, whipping a pass to Oladipo on the weak side.

Odie catches it, takes one dribble left, then immediately turns right for a fadeaway jumper. It drops.

4-2. Thunder, as always, playing fast.

The Warriors, on the other hand, are calm and unhurried, completely unfazed.

Curry casually brings the ball upcourt as usual, passes it to Green, then accelerates into his movement. Using KD's screen, he slips between Pachulia and Klay, running toward the right corner. Pachulia and Klay then pinch together, sealing off Westbrook's chase defense.

Textbook Elevator Door Tactic. Curry easily rises for a three-pointer. 4-5.

After Little Sabonis misses a wide-open mid-range, Green immediately pushes the ball up fast. Catching the Thunder off-balance, it's a four-on-three in the frontcourt. From the logo area, he fires a long pass to Klay Thompson in the right corner.

Catch, rise, flick the wrist. Textbook shooting form. Another three-pointer.

4-8.

The strength of the Warriors' lineup is starting to show.

On offense, with three super shooters and a point forward to orchestrate the attack, even if the play doesn't materialize, Durant's positionless scoring is there as a safety net. It pushes the team's Offensive Efficiency to historic heights.

On defense, a DPOY-caliber stopper like Draymond Green can guard 1 through 5, his defensive versatility almost absurd. Add in Klay and Durant at their peaks. Steve Kerr only needs to figure out where to hide Curry against the opponent's weakest offensive threat.

As time ticks by, the Thunder's inefficient offense, a drop in the bucket, lets the score gap widen.

Donovan realizes changes need to be made.

At eight minutes in the first quarter, Chen Xi and Grant sub in for Adams and Roberson. Both have shooting ability, and with Sabonis sliding to center, they form a one-big-four-small Five-Out Lineup.

Thunder ball. Westbrook holds at the left 45. Chen Xi moves up for a pick-and-pop, catches the pass. Facing Curry switched onto him, he accelerates past by half a step, draws Green's help defense, then immediately kicks it to Oladipo. Odie catches it, drives, and kicks again to Grant cutting through the Ghost Position for an easy layup.

"Very patient offense. The Thunder's adjustment after the substitution is paying off. Let's see how the Warriors respond."

This game's commentator, Jeff Van Gundy, has sharp court-reading instincts.

"A one-big-four-small Five-Out Lineup. Unexpected. The Thunder actually have the roster resources to field this kind of formation. On a night when Westbrook and Oladipo have their outside touch, this lineup can unleash huge advantages—against average teams, at least."

"So you're saying you don't think this Thunder lineup will cause the Warriors much trouble?" Reggie Miller beside him immediately plays the straight man.

"Of course. This Five-Out Lineup is really just a Pseudo Five-Out. In the entire lineup, over a Large Sample Size, the only one who can truly be called a shooter is Chris Chen alone."

"Even though his sample is small so far—only five regular-season games—15-of-26 from three, 57.6% Shooting Percentage is enough to earn recognition. This year's 56th Pick already has solid spacing gravity. I'd even call him the Rookie of the Year candidate so far. The Thunder front office's eye for talent is still impressive."

"What good is a good eye if you can't keep people?"

They exchange a glance and can't help but laugh.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about James Harden."

"Of course, of course. After all, when KD left, he was a free agent."

Back to the Warriors' offense. It starts with the usual Green holding the ball while Curry runs his routes. But after spotting the Thunder's lineup change, Chen Xi is forced to stand in front of Durant, who's twelve centimeters taller. Green doesn't hesitate, feeding the ball to KD.

Durant holds the ball on the three-point line against Chen Xi. A simple Triple Threat, then he pulls up, completely ignoring Chen's closeout. Luckily, this one doesn't drop. Westbrook grabs the rebound.

Chen Xi sees the ball bounce off the rim and immediately sprints toward the Warriors' paint. Turning his head, sure enough, there's Westbrook's long-range missile.

The distance is slightly off. Chen Xi jumps to catch it and barely lands on his feet when Durant's chase defense is already closing in. No time to drive to the basket, Chen Xi decides to rise for a mid-range jumper while KD is still off-balance.

The ball bounces on the rim three times before finally rolling obediently through the net.

"Hahaha, holy shit! I just face-shot Durant!!!"

Chen Xi's grin is impossible to hide as he gets back on defense.

"Nice shot, Chris." Westbrook sidles up for a high-five.

"That's it! Be decisive!"

"Hold up on decisive. Jerami, let's switch. I'll take Green!"

Chen Xi isn't about to let one Offense and one Defense make him think he can handle Durant. Without hesitation, he finds Grant and asks for the switch.

Are you kidding me? Twelve centimeters taller, twenty centimeters longer wingspan. Even if I had a gold Defensive Badge, I still couldn't handle that!

Model Monster! A damn Model Monster! Damn it!

While Chen Xi's inner world is screaming, he keeps a straight face and runs over to Green.

Draymond is one-ninety-eight and not great on offense. He's strong, sure, but compared to Durant, he's several tiers easier to guard.

For Chen Xi, before he's put any points into help defense attributes, just locking down his own man is already a job well done.

But that leaves Grant in a tough spot. Even if his size barely matches up, the skill gap is still enormous. He can't cause Durant much trouble.

Luckily, Oladipo's shooting is on point today, giving the Thunder's Pseudo Five-Out some real threat. The two teams then launch into an offensive shootout.