Volume 4: Golden State Prosperity

Golden State's Golden Age: An Invincible Team. As long as Curry was not trapped, he relentlessly exploited the Cavaliers' big men in small-on-big matchups. By halftime, the Warriors led 79-61, extending their advantage to 18 points. Zhang Yu's tactics were simple: Curry, Leonard, Antetokounmpo, and Klay lined up in sequence, taking turns initiating offense with the ball. Meanwhile, the Warriors completely cut off the passing lanes between James and his teammates. James committed three turnovers in the first quarter and four more in the second, for seven in the first half alone. At the start of the first quarter, Coach Lu still adhered to the principle of, "The game can be lost, but Curry must die." They guarded the three-point line fanatically. Whenever Curry ran a pick-and-roll or came off an off-ball screen, they either trapped him or switched, leaving Leonard to play one-on-one. Leonard came next. He did not even need to hunt mismatches. James' defense had declined too much, and he also had to help defensively, so Leonard had little trouble taking him one-on-one. By the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led the Cavaliers 43-30, building a massive 13-point advantage. In the original Finals Game 1, the Cavaliers had been able to trade blows with the Warriors early on, with the score once stuck at 4-3 for what felt like forever. After Green picked up a foul and left the game four and a half minutes in, the Cavaliers had even briefly held the upper hand. The Warriors' four stars were perfectly balanced by position, and their skill sets complemented each other. All of them could play off the ball or with the ball, and all could pass. Other than Curry, they were all All-Defensive-caliber players, and they were still young, all in their primes. Zhang