NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 31: Deciphering Tactics and Making Another Contribution, Full of Strength on Both Offense an

The timeout is over, back on the court.

The Jazz opted to let Conley serve.

The positioning was Gobert in the right corner, Mitchell on the left side of the paint, Royce O'Neal at the top of the key, and Bojan at the free-throw line.

The first movement was a crossover between Bojan and Gobert, with Bojan using Gobert's screen to move to the right corner to receive the inbound pass and shoot a three-pointer.

Green was the one guarding Bojan. As an all-around defensive master, he basically anticipated Gobert's screen route and was very quick to get around the screen, almost without losing his position.

Of course, Bojan is just a decoy; the ball will only be passed to him when there is a very good opportunity. Otherwise, he is just there to create space.

The second wave involved Royce O'Neal running to the left, successfully drawing Green away and clearing the 45-degree area on the right.

Li Xingchen was tasked with guarding O'Neal, but for Kerr, Wiggins is definitely more trusted than Li Xingchen on the defensive end.

Moreover, Mitchell's short and stocky build is the best type of guard for Wiggins to defend. If it were a smaller guard like Trae Young who relies on speed and agility to break through, Wiggins might not be able to keep up with his speed.

On the other hand, although Wiggins is taller and has a longer wingspan than Li Xingchen, he is not as heavy. Therefore, having Li Xingchen switch to the small forward position to guard the opponent's forward is a good option.

Li Xingchen did not disappoint Cole's expectations, performing excellent one-on-one chasing and defense, giving the opponent no space to shoot.

More importantly, his intuition about the Jazz's offensive tactics resurfaced.

This wasn't a hint from the system, but rather a keen sense he'd developed from hundreds of tactical shooting drills over the past few days.

As O'Neal moved to the left to create space, he already sensed what his opponent was trying to do.

Bojan and O'Neal created space by positioning themselves at the right baseline and left 45-degree angle respectively, undoubtedly to allow Mitchell to receive the ball and shoot from the right 45-degree angle!

On the field, without time for further communication, Li Xingchen shouted directly:

"Andrew! Watch out at a 45-degree angle!"

His shout wasn't just heard by Wiggins; the Jazz players heard it too.

But even if they heard it, it was useless. The tactic was already halfway done, and it was a case of "the arrow is on the bowstring, and it has to be released."

Furthermore, the Jazz players were somewhat flustered because Li Xingchen had seen through their established tactics.

With Li Xingchen's prompting, Wiggins glanced at Gobert's position and successfully predicted the route of his cross screen with Mitchell. He took the initiative to occupy the defensive position, making Gobert's screen completely miss and not block anyone at all!

At this moment, the serve, which had only five seconds to run, was about to expire, but no opportunity had yet been created on the court.

With no other option, Conley had to bite the bullet and pass the ball to Mitchell's position as planned.

Wiggins, who was in position early, reached out and scooped the ball out of bounds!

It's a pity that Mitchell was indeed quite strong and blocked Wiggins' position; otherwise, the latter would definitely have had a chance to steal the ball directly.

Even if it was just clearing the ball out of bounds, it was still a very successful defensive play for the Warriors because it broke the Jazz's ATO (Attack on Demand) strategy!

In this round, Li Xingchen used his basketball IQ to anticipate the opponent's offensive tactics and once again made a great contribution to the team.

On offense, he hit a crucial three-pointer to keep the team alive; on defense, he figured out the opponent's tactical setup after a timeout.

Li Xingchen truly mastered both offense and defense!

After the ATO tactic was disrupted, the Jazz certainly had backup plans, but overall the quality and proficiency of their tactics definitely declined.

After a series of passes, because Mitchell was completely covered by Wiggins and couldn't find an opportunity to shoot, the ball eventually returned to Conley's hands.

Rooney, meanwhile, relentlessly guarded Gobert's position under the basket, preventing him from having any comfortable opportunities to score easy baskets.

Green kept an eye on Bojan while also checking the positions of the other players on the court to see if he was needed to help defend.

Bazemore is under a lot of pressure chasing Conley, because although Conley is better at connecting the team and delivering passes, his own ball-handling shooting and driving skills are also quite good.

Moreover, his breakthroughs are not explosive; they rely more on skill and are entirely based on intelligence, which also puts the defender's level to the test.

Ultimately, Conley's choice was to drive to the basket, break through the opponent's defense, and then pass the ball to find three-point shooting opportunities in the corner or on either side of the arc!

Conley broke through on the right wing, and after a hesitant step, he suddenly accelerated, leaving Bazemore half a body length behind, but not completely.

Green, who was in the right corner, dropped back to help defend. Conley immediately passed the ball to Bojan in the right corner, but Green returned to his defensive position very quickly. Before the ball even reached Bojan, Green had already returned to his defensive position.

Clearly, Green wasn't really planning to double-team Conley; he was just doing a simple "swipe" to help defend. His main goal was to trick Conley into passing the ball!

The end result was that the ball came to Bojan's hands, but he still had no space to shoot, and Conley also lost a great opportunity to break through the paint.

This demonstrates Green's ability to read the game in such crucial defensive possessions!

Bojan had no choice but to pass the ball back to Mitchell.

Finally, after a series of ineffective passes, the ball ended up in Royce O'Neal's hands, with the shot clock about to expire.

At this moment, O'Neal, still being watched closely by Li Xingchen and unable to get any effective shooting space, was probably thinking like that meme of a girl pointing at him: Huh? Me?

With no other option, O'Neal had to force a shot despite Li Xingchen's impenetrable defense in order to avoid exceeding the time limit on the offensive possession.

As expected, the shot went wide from the first attempt, barely touching the rim and almost resulting in an airball!

O'Neal shook his head in frustration. He knew that Li Xingchen had made an incredible three-pointer against him in the first half of the game, but he couldn't do the same thing after the offensive and defensive roles were reversed.

It's a bit demanding to ask a 3D player who is only good at catching and shooting open three-pointers to complete a three-point shot while being defended without losing his position.

But the problem is, Li Xingchen's role seems to be that of a 3D player, and he's even a substitute.

How come other people can do it?

O'Neal didn't have time to think about it anymore, because right after his miss, the roof of the Chase Center was almost blown off by the cheers of the Warriors' home fans.

Kerr called the Warriors' final timeout of the game.

This defensive possession began when Li Xingchen figured out the opponent's offensive tactics and ended when Li Xingchen blocked O'Neal's shot.

Li Xingchen's crucial three-pointer on offense and perfect judgment on defense, one on offense and one on defense, earned the Warriors the chance to win the final game!