Barnes saw an opening inside, made a reverse run, and then cut in, shaking off Zeng Xingyang and gaining half a body position to get through.
Green made a bounce pass to Barnes, who caught the ball and took a step to fly.
If it were anyone else, they might have given up defending after losing half a body position.
But Zeng Xingyang didn’t; he gritted his teeth and almost launched into the air along with Barnes.
Zeng Xingyang’s extra-long wingspan gave him an advantage. Barnes, worried about being blocked, was disturbed on the layup, and the shot was off.
The rebound was controlled by Jokic.
Jokic and Nelson coordinated and passed half-court.
The Warriors’ defense indeed changed; Barnes stuck close to Zeng Xingyang, then Green and Thompson also approached Zeng Xingyang. Every time he received the ball, he would be surrounded.
Jokic held the ball at the right side of the free-throw line and decisively initiated a post-up play when he saw this.
Izzy felt enormous pressure.
Jokic pushed step by step inside.
Green came to double Jokic.
At this time, Galinarli was open in the corner, and Jokic hurled the ball over.
Galinarli is also a good shooter.
Caught the ball and shot, a high arc.
The score gap continued to widen.
Seeing the team unable to score for an extended period, Curry chose to take matters into his own hands.
Curry’s attack was very straightforward.
Outside the three-point line, using Green’s screen, positioned one meter outside the right three-point line.
Decisively launched a long three-pointer.
Shot was very quick, Galinarli didn’t even have a chance to interfere.
After scoring, Curry opened his arms, reveling in the cheers.
This small deficit at the start meant nothing to Curry.
In the following minutes, Zeng Xingyang faced the defense intensity of a championship-level team.
No matter when, there was at least one person in front of him, and it was hard for him to even find a chance to get the ball.
The Nuggets’ offensive rhythm was not disrupted by this.
Mike Malone promptly brought Barton, who has strong offensive capabilities, onto the court.
Jokic showed his power as a coordination master, continuously delivering various brilliant passes.
Warriors overly focusing on defending Zeng Xingyang gave Jokic opportunities.
Facing tough battles, Jokic never held back.
Even if the opponent was the powerful Warriors, he would distribute the ball in each round like a robot.
Barton, Galinarli, and Harris successively hit three-pointers.
The Nuggets rained threes at Warriors’ home court.
Then on defense, tonight’s Nuggets united with each player showing strong resistance desires.
Obviously encountering such powerful foreign foes, they quickly bonded together.
Ending the Warriors’ super winning streak; such news is like hormones to the players.
This made the somewhat relaxed Warriors’ pace messy.
When their pace was disrupted, their shooting accuracy dropped.
As long as they couldn’t score, Nuggets rushed counterattacks, each like carrying a pack of explosives.
The first quarter with 2 minutes and 12 seconds remaining, the score was 30 to 18.
Unexpectedly, the Nuggets were leading by 12 points.
Walton, seeing the Warriors in trouble, became somewhat anxious.
He didn’t expect that after limiting Zeng Xingyang, the opponent’s whole team exploded instead.
Walton called for another stoppage of the game.
Oracle Arena was very silent.
The Warriors’ home fans were silenced from booing.
Tonight’s Nuggets seemed more like a team with 18 consecutive wins.
They have a bright future.
This was the thought of the Warriors fans.
Soon, the game entered the phase of competing with the second lineup.
After Zeng Xingyang and Jokic were in the starting lineup, Barton was liberated.
Barton’s recent performances have been either god-like or ghost-like; when he plays well, he’s like a superstar, but when he doesn’t, it feels like he would be cut next game.
And tonight, it was evidently one of his god-like games. He became the firepower outlet for the Nuggets’ second lineup, continuously breaking in and scoring.
Then Darrell Arthur also stood out from the bench, hitting some miraculous shots.
Even into the second quarter, Warriors were still suppressed as Nuggets’ second lineup continued to extend the lead.
Warriors still hadn’t returned to form; the entire second quarter was sluggish, mistakes were constant, as if they hadn’t found their rhythm.
The first half ended quickly with the score at 72 to 52.
The Nuggets were leading by 20 points on the road!!
Everyone on the Nuggets was very excited; many nearly popped champagne in the locker room to celebrate.
Leading the defending champions, the 18-game undefeated Warriors by 20 points on the road!
Isn’t this a likely victory?
Many teammates were celebrating, but Zeng Xingyang appeared very calm.
Based on previous data and his own memory, he knew clearly that the real test was yet to come.
The Warriors’ third quarter is famously known as "War Three Madness!"
Although they hadn’t obtained Durant yet, their Death Lineup was not used.
In the Death Lineup, they’re truly the Super Warriors!
points meant nothing against a crazy Warriors.
After all, in reality, Warriors seemed more like the truly destined team, and Stephen Curry was more like the protagonist from various books..
Such opponents cannot be underestimated in the slightest.