Volume 4: Golden State Prosperity

Golden State's Golden Age: Repaying a Peach with a Plum. In the third quarter, James tried to hunt Curry on every possession, but it consumed too much of the shot clock, and his scoring efficiency was worse than simply bulldozing through the Warriors' wings and driving to the rim. After James joined the Cavaliers, he took on the responsibility of organizing the offense, completely freeing Irving to focus on isolation. In crunch time, James was also happy to surrender the ball and let Irving break down the defense himself. Their strengths complemented each other, and the Cavaliers' record soared. To Zhang Yu, Curry had gone from the super superstar he could only look up to in his previous life to his proudest disciple, a brother and friend who supported him unconditionally. Irving had played poorly in the first quarter and was criticized by the fans, but that was because the Warriors' roster was simply too absurd. So, once the starters returned to the court, Irving's presence diminished considerably. Only players who led their teams to strong regular-season records and performed toughly in playoff crunch time could be called superstars. A team's ultimate goal was still to win a championship, and the ability to create offense in the playoffs was indispensable. Although Zhang Yu was the head coach of every Warriors player, he had his own selfish motives as well. James wanted to hunt Curry, but Curry was not so easy to target. Such selflessness, such a mentality of caring only about winning—looking across NBA history, only a handful of players like Duncan possessed it. Zhang Yu would never let James simply steamroll Curry all the way to the basket. Only by pulling up directly from the perimeter could James avoid facing help defense from a second defender. The Cavaliers had