Volume 5: Unrivaled

Looney was so effective switching onto smaller players—why hadn't Coach Z played him earlier? If he had started in place of Lopez, Paul definitely wouldn't have had such an easy time in the previous games. And while Curry focused on facilitating, the other Warriors stepped up. "Looney with the putback! Since checking in, he's been outstanding on both ends!" With unwavering belief, they gave everything in adversity, waiting for Curry's first three-pointer, waiting... for the chance to turn the game around! Although Paul scored on that possession, only scattered cheers rose from the stands. Rockets fans looked grave, while the few Warriors fans present applauded Looney instead. Without Antetokounmpo, the Warriors no longer had a dominant interior scoring threat capable of exploiting the Rockets' weak interior defense. Wiggins, Brogdon, and Bogdan were only average isolation scorers, and against the Rockets' elite small-ball lineup—with strong perimeter one-on-one defense, rotations, and help defense—they found it difficult to make an impact. After the second quarter began, just as people expected, Paul controlled every possession and began targeting Looney. Mike Breen praised him loudly: "Paul attacked Looney twice—one was stopped, and on the other, he was forced into an impossible shot. He made it, but Looney's defense was still a success." In the second quarter, Curry went 0-for-4 and remained scoreless. D'Antoni deployed a box-and-one, and with Antetokounmpo injured, Curry struggled under the enormous pressure of carrying the team alone. He had two decent looks, but missed both. Curry went scoreless in the first half, and a tidal wave of mockery came crashing down. Warriors fans were frantic, but Zhang Yu remained as steady as Mount Tai and never placed even the slightest pressure on Curry. Looney knew full well that he was only a blue-collar player. Flashy statistics were never meant for him.