Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 403 - 135: Crazy Strategy, Making History Again! (16,000 Words Updated in a Single Day, Happy Lantern Festival!) _2
Upon hearing this, Durant, who has never liked lying, shook his head repeatedly in denial.
Don’t joke around, with that kind of hang time...
Durant’s not foolish enough to compete with Qin Yue’s talent.
At this moment, Durant made up his mind:
—No matter how others question his height in the future, he would always be only 6 feet 9 inches (205 cm).
That night, every attack by Qin Yue greatly shook Durant’s young heart.
In Durant’s eyes, Qin Yue is a god that humans cannot confront, even in the NBA Pantheon, ancient gods would have to give way to him.
However, at certain moments...
Durant felt he could do what Qin Yue could.
For example, two possessions later, when he made that successful dry pull in front of Garnett.
Watching this crispy dry pull shot, Durant finally confidently puffed out his chest and frankly told Oden sitting next to him, "I can do this move."
Oden laughed helplessly and said, "Honestly, I can do this move too."
In the third quarter, certain possessions inevitably showed that Qin Yue’s stamina won over his will.
On the Warriors’ bench, Ma Long, who remained clear-headed, actively replaced Qin Yue with two minutes left in the quarter.
"I’ll give you two minutes to rest, in the fourth quarter, whenever you feel your stamina declining, tell me immediately, I’ll apply for a timeout at the first chance."
At Oracle Arena, the subbed-out Demon King finally gave the visiting Supersonic a chance to catch up with the score.
Ray Allen hit three consecutive high-difficulty two-point jumpers on the court.
Due to Jack’s death grip defense, Ray Allen no longer overly focused on triples as before.
However, in critical moments, Artest continuously stormed the Supersonic’s basket, earning opportunities to step to the free-throw line, maintaining the Warriors’ lead.
The lack of damage caused by outside players penetrating is undoubtedly Supersonic’s weakness.
Against other teams, Carlisle could still adjust strategies and design meticulous outside tactics for Ray Allen.
But facing these Warriors...
Carlisle knew clearly that Supersonic must strengthen their outside lineup this summer with the Mid-Level Exception.
Three quarters ended, 80 to 87.
In the fourth quarter, both teams spared no efforts, deploying their main lineup to fight for the win.
First possession.
Qin Yue, who rested for two minutes on the sidelines, actively brought the ball from the backcourt.
This was to regain the feel with the dribble.
If Qin Yue remembers correctly, Kobe did this often too.
Yes, this time, "Kobe did this too."
On the court, dribbling up to the frontcourt, while directing teammates’ positioning, and facing Garnett who was always on guard against him, Qin Yue wasn’t in hurry to make a move.
Until he noticed the Supersonic’s zone defense opened a gap at the flank due to Warriors’ players’ movements.
In an instant, Qin Yue transferred the ball with a diagonal pass to Davis, who cut along the flank.
After receiving the ball, Davis made a bank-shot layup, scoring, and Qin Yue recorded his 10th assist of the game.
On the flip side, it’s Supersonic’s turn for their offensive possession.
Positioned in a 1-2-2 formation, Supersonic, using their sharp horn set, created a two-point jumping opportunity for Garnett near the free-throw line.
Unfortunately, Garnett, who matched up with Qin Yue for an entire intense game, is also a mortal.
Bang!
Under the basket, Qin Yue snatched Artest’s audacious rebound from above his head and successfully protected this defensive board that belonged solely to him.
Seeing this, Artest, startled by Qin Yue, almost reflexively swung his elbow.
Upon turning and realizing that it was Qin Yue who was contesting the rebound, Artest sighed a breath of relief.
Having the lead, Qin Yue didn’t rush into transition offense.
At the high post, after working with Davis in a hand-off, a quick pop out fooled Garnett unawares.
Because Qin Yue hadn’t taken a three-pointer for a considerable time, Garnett couldn’t imagine he’d suddenly move to the perimeter.
On the right side of the court, receiving Davis’s dish from penetration, Qin Yue shot and scored a three, swish!
At the scorer’s table, facing the Warriors’ seemingly tidal wave of offense, Carlisle hurriedly called for a timeout.
After the timeout, Garnett and Yao executed high-low coordination and, receiving Yao’s inside-out pass, sank a jump shot.
On the flip side, Warriors’ offensive possession.
Feeling his hand warming up, Qin Yue didn’t insist on playing the dribble-over-half-court role, instead, he handed the ball over to Davis.
The Warriors spread the offensive space widely, forcing Yao to be pushed up to a higher position in response.
This was Davis’s excellent chance to drive the frame, Qin Yue quickly followed, although he didn’t get the easy layup, he instead gained a much richer return than just a layup.
In the Supersonic’s restricted area, Davis’s layup missed, Qin Yue followed up with a putback dunk, happily collecting two points and a board.
If the current NBA had live-stream bullet comments, now would definitely be flooded with "heartfelt pity for Garnett."
In the previous defensive possession, Garnett, who had to delay immediately and promptly return, simply didn’t have enough time to box out and had to deal with Qin Yue, who had ample jump space.
Playing alongside Yao as a teammate, Garnett didn’t need to bulk up, could even slim down, and certainly extended his so-called career peak...
But compared to his younger days, his footwork speed inevitably slowed down.
This is an issue many professional players encounter:
