These substitutes for the Warriors were carefully selected by Deng Fang, and everyone has considerable ability.
In addition, the Warriors often disrupt games and their substitutes play a lot of playing time. Therefore, the Warriors' substitutes have very strong combat capabilities.
Ty Lawson was badly repaired by Livingston, and Jr. Smith didn't have any good chances to make a shot.
Soon the Nuggets fell behind by more than ten points.
George Karl was forced to become the main player again.
Deng Fang didn't play Azubuike this time. He had been fighting for a long time.
Deng Fang went to Belinelli.
Belinelli is young and only came on the field in the second quarter. He has just played for a few minutes and now his hands are getting warm.
The Nuggets' defense without the ball is very poor, but after a period of adaptation, Curry's off-ball moves are rarely missed.
No matter how much he is an NBA player, it would be hard to save face if Curry is allowed to run out of the open space and shoot three-pointers again and again!
Defending one shooter's movement without the ball can still work with tacit understanding and concentration, but it won't work if there are two.
Deng Fang fell in love with Belinelli because of this point.
Curry and Belinelli ran back and forth without stopping for a moment. The two of them made the Nuggets' Nene, Martin and Anthony dizzy and distracted.
Pay attention to this and forget about that. Both of them pay attention to the basket and it is empty again!
For a time, the Nuggets' defense was full of holes.
The Warriors once again hit a small climax!
Fortunately, the Nuggets also performed well from the outside and made several three-pointers, keeping the score within a small margin.
At the end of the half, the Warriors led by 14 points at 73:59.
The Warriors' outside shooting percentage is as high as 50%!
Although both Billups and Afflalo have good three-point shooting percentages, Billups is older and Afflalo has just entered the league and is still in the evolutionary stage from a defensive player to an offensive player.
There is still a big gap between the two of them compared to Curry, Laga Bell and Belinelli.
These five Warriors are all good three-point shooters!
Compared with physical confrontation at the basket, shooting and off-ball movement have relatively low physical requirements.
This is also the reason why the Warriors players did not have much physical impact when they came to Denver.
After a fifteen-minute break, the second half started on time.
As expected, George Karl replaced Martin and replaced Jr. Smith.
No matter which team, as long as there are two big men in the paint, it will be very difficult to face the Warriors' lineup.
If the Warriors can't be punished on the offensive end, they will definitely be overwhelmed on the defensive end.
The Warriors were carefully selected by Deng Fang. Basically, everyone can attack and defend.
Even Lopez and Curry will not suffer in their respective positions as long as they don't encounter particularly powerful players.
Lopez is on par with most centers in terms of height and weight.
And Lopez's shot blocking is also top-notch.
Although Curry lacks explosive power, he is tall enough and his effort level is first-rate.
For defense, the willingness to work hard always comes first.
The hardware is complete, coupled with the arrival of defensive guru Ron Adams to make up for the deficiencies in the software, the Warriors' defense is now at the league's top level.
So most teams have a hard time facing the Warriors' defense.
Deng Fang had long expected George Karl's move.
Trailing by 14 points in the first half, it turned out that the Nuggets' lineup could not match the strength of the Warriors.
If they continue to play like this, the Nuggets will definitely lose miserably.
So change!
If you change, you may not win; if you don't change, you will definitely lose.
Deng Fang also stopped starting Belinelli and replaced him with Azubuike.
The Nuggets let Anthony play the fourth position, and the one guarding him was Prince.
Laga Bell came to guard Billups, and Azubuike still faced Jr. Smith.
In this way, every strong point of the Nuggets is guarded.
The two teams started to attack again.
The outside firepower of the Nuggets' lineup is very strong, and the Warriors don't dare to attack casually.
However, the Warriors don't need too many flanking attacks.
Prince is taller than Anthony and has an even wider wingspan.
Although there is a difference in weight, Prince can limit Anthony's offense to a large extent with his height, wingspan and rich experience.
Lagabell's defense also made Billups uncomfortable.
Billups' biggest advantage is his calmness and rich experience, but Lagabell is not bad at all in this regard.
Even Jr. Smith had a hard time under Azubuike's physical harassment.
As for Afflalo, his current offensive skills are still very average. The Warriors use Curry to defend him, and he cannot punish the Warriors with his own personal offense.
The Warriors can match up at every point, and with fewer double-attacks, it will be difficult for the Nuggets to have good shooting opportunities from the outside.
George Karl had a headache.
The last two inside warriors were flanking each other, but the outside firepower was insufficient, and they were prone to mistakes and counterattacks.
The speed of the first and fourth small players is enough, but the Warriors no longer double attack, and the Nuggets' offense is equally uncomfortable.
The Nuggets are having a hard time, but the Warriors' offense has little impact.
Since the Nuggets play one senior and four juniors, Curry rarely moves without the ball.
They are fast enough, so it is no problem to help defend and cover positions.
However, the pick-and-roll between Curry and Lopez is still unsolvable.
Just one question, can you get out Nene?
If you don’t come out, I’ll vote!
If I switch defenses, I'll challenge him!
If you are flanked, I will pass the ball!
Let’s see what you do!
It’s hard to do anything!
Curry shot two, Lopez shot two, and Azubuike shot two more.
The one who was helping the defense pounced outside?
Then I'll go to the basket!
For a time, the Nuggets defense became a sieve again.
The Warriors' scores were rising sharply.
The Nuggets also want to use the same method against the Warriors.
But they don’t have Curry!
Billups is indeed experienced and very accurate in three-pointers, but most of his three-pointers are open shots.
Not everyone can do a three-pointer off the dribble.
In 2009, there were few players in the entire NBA who could shoot pull-up three-pointers.
Even if there were, no coach would dare to let him shoot like this!
Why?
Afraid of jokes from other team coaches!
How bad does this coach have to be to allow his players to shoot like this!
Isn’t it embarrassing?!
Taking a step back, even if a coach does suffer from Alzheimer's disease and allows his players to shoot like this, there will be no players who can guarantee a hit rate!
Of course anyone can shoot randomly, it only makes sense to put the ball into the basket.
It is precisely for this reason that no coach will let players do this.
I'm not a fool!
Those who can reach that position and get that high-paying job are all talented people!
Seeing Rondo miss several consecutive three-pointers with pull-up stops, if you, the head coach, don't take him off and scold him, then you will be dismissed from get out of class the next day!
Therefore, Curry's way of playing was very different in 2009.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that they could still play like this!
