Volume 5: Unmatched, Chapter 785: Betting on Wiggins
Wiggins chose to give Harden half a step of space. Harden felt challenged; his previously casual expression darkened slightly as he sneered, his thick black beard trembling twice. Before he had even finished speaking, Markkanen popped out to the top of the arc after setting a screen for Curry, and Curry promptly passed him the ball under the double-team. On the other end, Harden went one-on-one against Wiggins, but his drive and layup were disrupted, and Curry, who had dropped back, collected the rebound. Harden first went between his legs twice, then lowered his shoulder and feigned a drive, fooling Wiggins into shifting his weight backward before suddenly gathering the ball, stepping back, and launching a three. Zhang Yu did not know whether Harden would be hot or cold today, but with Antetokounmpo injured, the Warriors' defensive system had been severely damaged. He could only gamble that Harden's three-point shot would be off. Previously, the Rockets' defensive strategy had always been to switch everything, but after Antetokounmpo's injury, D'Antoni changed his mind. Without Antetokounmpo, the Warriors' offense was already having problems. If their defense also fell apart... The night before, Zhang Yu had found him, given him a starting spot, and carefully explained the tactics for today: They remembered more clearly than Warriors fans just how dominant Paul had been in Game 1, and they also remembered the pain and unwillingness after losing Game 1. The Rockets completely left even the well-established Lopez open, let alone a rookie like Markkanen. On the Warriors' possession, Curry no longer ran pick-and-rolls with Lopez, instead using Markkanen as the screener. Van Gundy strongly approved of this as well: Compared with pick-and-rolls, he now preferred isolation. He had become obsessed with the exhilarating feeling of effortlessly