Volume 4: Golden State Prosperity

But after D'Antoni took over this season, Harden's style became thoroughly Moreyball-oriented, and he hardly took any mid-range shots. Even in the regular season, Antetokounmpo and Olynyk only played facilitator against weak teams. Whenever they faced a strong opponent, Zhang Yu's tactics shifted to ball-dominant schemes centered on individual star power. The backcourt was full of stars, but Paul, Lillard, Westbrook, and Wall had already been eliminated. Rose was still battling the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with the Bulls trailing 2:3 and in dire straits, while Irving, Lowry, DeRozan, and Isaiah Thomas had faded somewhat from the spotlight. A powerful dragon crushing the heroes who dared challenge it was the norm in this world. And Harden's astonishing performances over an entire season had won over countless fans. Antetokounmpo's ability to defend both inside and outside gave Harden no end of trouble. By comparison, because the Warriors were simply too strong as a whole, Curry often clocked out after three quarters. Even when he played in the fourth, they had usually built a lead of more than ten points early on, and games were rarely dragged into crunch time. In the regular season, Harden had repeatedly delivered dominant performances in key moments, breaking deadlocks and even leading his team to comeback wins. He was unquestionably a clutch player. Back when the Warriors' roster was weak, Zhang Yu had no choice but to carefully design tactics and arrange rotations. Now that the Warriors had four superstars, of course he wanted to enjoy some leisure. The Rockets' pick-and-roll was a one-five pick-and-roll, prioritizing chances for Capela to finish inside, or secondly, opportunities for Harden to isolate against the opposing center on a mismatch. Game 7 was played at Toyota Center. At halftime, the Rockets led the Warriors 54:43, taking an 11-point