Volume 5: Unrivaled

During halftime, Stotts finally stopped hesitating and adjusted his tactics. "Haha, folks, let's congratulate Green. That brilliant play of his is making this week's Shaqtin' a Fool!" Green came to the frontcourt, stopped at the top of the arc, and waved McCollum over, intending to run a handoff. But this time, after Green went deep into the paint, the Trail Blazers' transition defense completely fell apart. Antetokounmpo took Lopez's pass and finished the fast break with a two-handed slam, 12:2. Barkley's eyes lit up: Green watched his teammates stroll leisurely toward the frontcourt and felt anger rise within him, but he quickly deflated and helplessly brought the ball up. McCollum had no choice but to go one-on-one against Jaylen Brown. Under Jaylen Brown's long-arm contest, his mid-range jumper clanged off the rim, and Lopez grabbed the rebound. But this score gap did not reflect the true difference in strength between the two teams. The Warriors scored with remarkable ease. Curry and Antetokounmpo did not need to force the issue with individual heroics; as long as they methodically ran their sets, opportunities naturally emerged. Their offense was steady and efficient. The Trail Blazers simply did not have the Warriors' defensive resources. Green could not hold off Lopez in the post, while Nurkic was a sieve, defending pick-and-rolls about as well as Towns. One screen was enough to lose his man, and the paint was repeatedly breached. Even when the Warriors' offense failed, Antetokounmpo and Lopez battled for offensive rebounds inside, while Wiggins and Jaylen Brown were also highly active on the offensive glass. The Warriors grabbed five offensive rebounds in the first half and scored eight points off second chances. Stotts's expression was grave. When Zhang Yu had called that timeout earlier, he had guessed that Zhang Yu was about to