With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, making up a 7-point deficit in 3 minutes was more than enough time for the Warriors.
Ever since three-pointers became rampant throughout the league, deficits that once seemed enormous now barely seemed worth mentioning.
A few years ago, when the Lakers and Celtics met in the Finals, scores often ended somewhere in the eighties to seventies. But now? You rarely saw a game where neither team scored at least 100 points.
Strong defense and difficult scoring defined games in those days.
At that pace, falling behind by seven or eight points could put a team in an extremely passive position.
But now, with the three-pointer fully unleashed, even being down by more than ten points sometimes meant absolutely nothing.
After all, a deficit of more than ten points could be erased with just a few three-pointers.
Therefore, a 7-point gap was nothing to the Warriors, especially when they held the advantage in personnel on the court.
After the timeout, both teams made substitutions when the players returned to the floor.
For the Warriors, Barbosa replaced Curry, while Speights replaced Green. Livingston, Thompson, and Barnes remained on the court for the time being, while the other two starters who had gone out would rest for a minute or two before coming back in for them.
Rotating rest—that was Kerr's seven-man rotation strategy.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, made far more substitutions than the Warriors.
Dellavedova replaced Conley, Iguodala replaced Tony Allen, Vince Carter replaced Link, and Gasol replaced Harris. Of the five starters, only the most durable one, Jimmy Butler, remained.
Kerr was brimming with confidence. In his view, Gasol was the biggest threat in the Grizzlies' second unit.
But no matter how good Gasol was, he could only pound away for two points at