Volume 5: Unrivaled

The Warriors' defenders fought over every screen from above, funneling Clippers players into the paint, while Lopez played drop coverage. The Clippers could take as many mid-range shots as they wanted, and pulling up directly off screens was fine too, but getting to the rim or calmly launching threes was out of the question. This time, however, Lopez had just joined the Warriors and had already become the anchor of their interior, holding up the sky by himself. The Warriors' paint defense was impregnable. Gobert scored only 4 points, while Westbrook, trapped by the joint blockade of Lopez and Antetokounmpo, simply could not break through. The Thunder, who had beaten the Warriors twice before, suffered two crushing defeats this time. Westbrook's driving force was completely neutralized. Lopez was like a gatekeeper, a wall of sighs. The Suns lacked discipline on both offense and defense. Even knowing Lopez was guarding the paint, they mindlessly attacked the rim, giving him perfect opportunities to pile up blocks and rebounds. With the Warriors, all he needed to do was shoot threes, protect the rim, and secure rebounds. He had no other responsibilities. He barely even entered the paint, scoring only twice on simple cuts while spending the rest of the time spacing the floor outside. Whether the Lopez trade had been worthwhile seemed to have an answer now. Once Lopez vacated the paint offensively, Antetokounmpo could fully unleash his game without worrying about Looney clogging the lane. Many tanking teams were like this. At the start of the season, their young players played fearlessly and with tremendous energy, quickly climbing near the top of the conference standings. Westbrook and George both scored over 30, yet the Thunder still suffered a brutal defeat. If Westbrook's touch had not been so good in the first quarter,