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April 27th, San Antonio, AT&T Center.
The 18,581 spectators filling the arena, whether Spurs fans, Grizzlies fans from afar, or the occasional neutral fan, were closely watching the players on the court, occasionally glancing up at the giant screen above, fearing they might miss a detail. The tension filled every inch of the space in the arena.
On the court, the Grizzlies and Spurs were locked in a battle of muscle against muscle, defensive battles, suffocating rhythm, and hard confrontation with every possession, making it feel as though they were back in the 2005 Finals when the Spurs and Pistons set the lowest scoring records in history.
Every time the Grizzlies attacked, it was from the low post.
Randolph and Marc Gasol had very complete interior skills and the ability to respond. The Grizzlies used the black and white as their interior axis, complemented by outside shooters Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, Sean Battier, and other helpers. The offensive wing maintained a constant pace without losing efficiency, and the defensive wing was balanced inside and out. Marc Gasol was a bear of a body, while Mike Conley and Sean Battier were like bear claws—hard and flexible.
On the other side, the Spurs, with Duncan supporting the interior offense and defense by himself, had McDyess as the veteran, and Splitter was ineffective. While he still played like a stone Buddha—solid as a rock—he was no match for the two giant bears, one black and the other white. Duncan might block one of them, but two fists were hard to beat with four hands.
When he gave Randolph two big blocks, he could only watch as Marc Gasol delivered a simple but precise and timely pass at the high post, seeing those passes turn into Grizzly Bears' baskets again and again.
On the offensive end, Duncan handed control to Parker and Ginóbili, but he didn't receive the help he deserved.
Neither of them was good at three-pointers, and the Grizzlies were strong in interior defense. Ginóbili, who had been plagued by injuries at the end of the season, hadn't fully recovered after coming back from the G2 line of fire. He only scored 14 points, 23 points, and 17 points in the next three games with extremely low efficiency, relying entirely on accumulating shots. Parker, too, was a god in his own right but was lost in the Grizzlies' defense.
But in this game, things changed.
Ginóbili and Parker erupted. The Argentine "Knife Demon" made 9 shots from the outside, hitting 4 three-pointers, 10 of 18 field goals, 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, finishing with 33 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, completely dominating the game.
Parker also scored 24 points alongside Ginóbili, drawing attention from the defense, and Duncan, who scored 13 points under the Grizzlies' twin towers, combined for 70 points, leading the Spurs to a difficult 110-103 victory, tying the series at 2-3.
After the buzzer sounded, countless streamers fell from the sky, and the Spurs fans who had been nervous throughout the game cheered. The Spurs players on the bench also ran to the center of the court in ecstasy, surrounding Ginóbili, celebrating, and unloading the joy of escaping death.
But not everyone was so happy. Popovich only smiled and clapped after the victory, but his emotions didn't fluctuate much.
Budenholzer smiled and said:
"Greg, Manu seems to have regained his form. As long as we fight hard for G6 and go back to our home court, we'll definitely win the tie-breaker!"
Popovich smiled: "I hope so..."
He patted Budenholzer on the shoulder, but the latter didn't notice the concern in his eyes, shining through his calm expression.
Popovich looked at his celebrating disciples and murmured:
"With this addition, Manu's three-point percentage in this series is only a little above 30%. Can he really shoot like that in the next game... If he can't perform like that, where will the Spurs' offense go..."
Amid the cheers sweeping through the arena, no one heard Popovich's words or thought about the future. The players immersed themselves in the joy of victory, and the fans regained their confidence in the GDP combination, believing that their local team, the number one in the West, would definitely save the day, and it was absolutely impossible to fall in the first round.
They also didn't realize that the losing Grizzly Bear wasn't discouraged at all, and the somewhat divine face of Hollins wasn't angry. He patted each team member on the shoulder and said in a deep voice:
"Everyone did a good job, let's go back to the home stadium and finish them off!"
None of the Grizzlies players felt disappointed. No one was frustrated. Everyone nodded resolutely and silently left the celebration arena of the AT&T Center.
"Hey, Liam, the Grizzlies lost, they'll go back home for G6 against the Spurs!" Silas leaned toward Liam and said loudly.
"Good..." Liam shouted, then turned his attention from the game on the court, looked at Silas with a smile, and said equally loudly amid the noise of the court: "The Grizzlies lost? That's good news! We can rest for two more days!"
After saying that, his gaze returned to the court.
At that moment, the G5 between the Warriors and the Thunder entered the final quarter, half an hour later than the game between the Grizzlies and the Spurs.
Silas sighed:
"Yeah, I really didn't expect the Grizzlies to play like this against the Spurs, Liam, you see again, we should play against the Grizzlies in the second round... The seven seed last year, the eight seed this year, is the dark horse really that useless?"
"Defend, yes, beautiful!" Liam shouted loudly, clapping vigorously, and then responded, "This result actually isn't surprising at all... Backcourt defense, nice ball!"
Liam suddenly paused, unconsciously shouted, and laughed.
The Warriors had an absolute advantage on the court, leading the Thunder by as much as 17 points. Only 6 minutes were left in the game, with a wide score of 1:3 and a nearly 20-point gap, which caused the Thunder players' morale to plummet. Both offense and defense lost their discipline, and the general trend had gone.
The crowd stood up, wearing the golden t-shirts handed out by the team, a golden ocean surging in waves. Led by the DJ, they sang "Warriors" in unison, the sound resonating throughout the arena, creating an impactful energy.
Larry Riley was in the second row at the edge, surrounded by the Dale family and Ayesha, Mary Green from Sequino, Michigan, the Leslie family from Townball Houston, the Markbaums in suits and their kind wife Rosie, the Stevens family from Indiana, and Jeremy Lin's family driving from Palo Alto...
They stood up with the rest of the crowd, more excited than the average fan, and Larry Riley clapped the whole time, smiling and whispering:
"Alright, alright, we'll make it to the second round, we've finally successfully rebuilt, I'm no longer the GM of a bad team, I'm no longer the GM, no longer the..."
Leslie, on the other hand, raised her hands and screamed every time Butler held the ball, pointing at Butler on the court with a trembling finger and proudly shouting to the unknown audience around her:
"Look, that's my brother, haha, Jimmy Butler is my brother!"
Mark Baum simply crossed his legs, pretended to calmly take Rosie's hand, and said: "Liam has done a good job, he led the Warriors to the playoffs in two years, my vision really isn't wrong."
Rosie looked at him blankly: "Who said yesterday that the Warriors should have invested 100 million?"
Mark Baum chuckled dryly: "I wasn't joking..."
Jeremy Lin's parents are doctors and are more reserved, but they kept laughing and clapping, looking at each other with eyes full of emotion. Lin Jiming said with relief:
"Shuhao is out, we can be sure of the future..."
With tears in her eyes, Mary Green silently watched Green battling on the court, placed her hands on her chest, and praised God reverently.
The Dale family had been watching their father play on the bench since they were children, and they weren't as excited. They just laughed, cheered, and celebrated with the other fans. Only Seth watched his brother who caused a tsunami of sound after scoring on the court. His eyes glowed with envy as he whispered:
"Stephen, I will definitely catch up!"
As everyone's expectations rose, time passed slowly. Liam no longer had to pay attention to the game when the substitute players replaced the starters. He sat and looked at Silas:
"Where did I just go?"
"You said the Spurs' loss to the Grizzlies wasn't an accident!" Silas had to raise his voice amid the noise and answered loudly.
"Yes, that's right, that's it!" Liam nodded and said: "The Spurs lack shooters, only Duncan inside, Jefferson has seriously declined, the team is in transition, the overall defense has seriously dropped, these issues weren't obvious in the regular season, but in the playoffs, they've all become Achilles' heels. Oh, by the way, Ginóbili is also plagued by injuries, which is even worse for the Spurs."
Silas nodded thoughtfully but still said somewhat perplexed: "You say the Spurs have a lot of problems, but they managed to get the best regular-season record, 15 wins ahead of the Grizzlies. No matter how weak they are, they must be better than the Grizzlies, right?"
Liam chuckled: "If you said this two months ago, it might have been true. When the Grizzlies played around Rudy Gay and had a record of 31-26, just over a .500 win percentage. But after Rudy Gay got injured, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol became the offensive and defensive axis for the Grizzlies, and their record went to 17-8, with a win rate of nearly 70%. Rudy Gay was the Ewing of Memphis, and the current Grizzlies are not necessarily weaker than the Spurs."
—Yes!!
After Liam finished speaking, suddenly a deafening round of applause erupted in the arena, and he looked toward the court, but it was Yi Jianlian who received the pass from Jeremy Lin and ran into the paint for a dunk, prompting fans to celebrate wildly.
"Alright, let's think about how to fight against the Grizzlies tomorrow. We only need to celebrate today!" Liam laughed, clapped, raised his arms, and stood up.
The last two minutes of the game seemed to pass very slowly amidst the crowd's noise. Everyone stood up, and the applause gradually resonated through the arena, from the initial chaos to a neat rhythm, then sweeping across the court, with Warriors fans present showing their support to the Warriors players still battling on the court, the players who had left the court, and Liam, walking on the sidelines.
With 34 seconds left, Jeremy Lin suddenly fouled Harden and sent him to the free-throw line. As he approached the sideline, he grabbed one of Liam's hands, raised it high, and waved it vigorously at the crowd.
The fans instantly understood what he meant and shouted in unison:
"Coach L—"
Liam was a bit confused by Jeremy Lin's surprise attack, then reacted, slapped his chest, and scolded him with a smile:
"Jeremy, kid!"
Jeremy Lin laughed:
"Coach, this is what we've discussed, if we can win at home, we'll let him accept the cheers from the fans at the end, he deserves everything!"
The other players on the court and on the bench also gathered around. The crowd screamed even louder, and the referee waited a moment to come and take the man off the court. But nobody paid attention to Harden, who was shooting free throws, and the shouts of "Coach Liam" echoed throughout the arena.
The fan favorite of the Warriors was Curry, but everyone knew that Liam was the savior of the Warriors.
Harden, who had gone unnoticed, quietly made two free throws. Unlike Westbrook and Durant, who sat on the court looking lost, Harden's expression remained calm, as if what the Thunder was about to lose wasn't a life-or-death playoff game, but a regular-season game.
Ron Adams noticed this, pulled the applause from Silas beside him, and said:
"Look, James Harden remains as calm as usual, and he's not frustrated at all because he's about to lose. No one else on the Thunder can do that."
Silas carefully looked at Harden's bright eyes and nodded:
"That's right, Harden doesn't seem affected by the result at all. He needs to stay calm in critical moments to create miracles, and Harden will become a great weapon in the future!"
In the remaining dozen seconds, the Warriors did not attack again, and when the 24-second shot clock expired, the focus of the crowd was not on the court. Liam became the center of attention of the audience until the Thunder silently inbounded the ball, and the game ended. The buzzer rang for a long time, the red light came on, and confetti fireworks fell from the sky. The stadium erupted in a deafening ovation.
— Yes!!!!
"WE WON, WE WON, WE'RE IN THE SECOND ROUND!"
"Warriors——Warriors——"
"Ooohhhhh!"
In an instant, the Oracle Center became a roaring inferno like a volcano erupting, and the players on the Warriors' bench rushed to the court with Liam, shaking hands with the Thunder players and quickly gathering together to celebrate their advancement in their own way.
Curry and Green high-fived, and Green let out a long roar as he looked toward the sky, then turned and slammed Klay against his chest.
Butler approached the Lesliesley, hugged Leslie, and shouted:
"I did it, Leslie, we won the series!"
Chandler and Tony Allen hugged, the two veterans had been through so much and weren't as excited as the others, just smiling at their young teammates who were filled with excitement.
After high-fiving their teammates, Lin and his teammates approached their families, hugging their fathers and mothers.
Big Z and Kirilenko, two European players, came together, and Kirilenko was a little surprised, saying:
"They look so happy, I haven't experienced this atmosphere in a long time..."
Big Z smiled:
"Stay, Andre, that's why I turned down the Heat's contract and stayed here on the minimum salary. Haven't you always wanted to dedicate yourself to the joy of basketball? The Warriors play Happy Basketball!"
Kirilenko hesitated, shook his head, and sighed softly:
"Let's talk about that..."
Yi Jianlian hugged Liam, his Cantonese bursting out enthusiastically as he loudly said:
"Thank you, Brother Liam, without you, I wouldn't even be able to play the playoffs, let alone talk about the second round! I couldn't even stay in the NBA!"
Liam patted Yi Jianlian on the back and smiled:
"Emirates, don't get too excited. This is just the beginning. What's the second round? There are still the Western Finals and Finals later. We're going to win the championship!"
Yi Jianlian nodded repeatedly:
"Brother Liam, I believe everything you say, and you're absolutely right!"
...
After a period of chaos, everyone finally regained some composure, and under Liam's instructions, they lined up and bowed to the fans around the world to thank them for their support of the team.
After bowing to the Quartet, Liam took the microphone handed to him by the Warriors' PR representative, and the camera on the scene was also pointed at him. The arena gradually quieted down. The fans sitting courtside stood up and looked at Liam, and the fans sitting on top of the stands looked at the screen in the air. Everyone was waiting for Liam's speech.
Liam looked around, brought the microphone to his mouth, and slowly said:
"Today, we won, we made it to the second round, which is the first round for the Warriors after the Seven Black years in 2007!"
Wow...
As soon as he finished speaking, applause erupted. Liam paused, and after the applause subsided, he continued:
"I still remember when I lost to the Suns last year, I said here: next year, we'll win. Today, I've fulfilled my promise, and the Warriors have kept their promise!"
Wow...
Another round of warm applause mixed with high-pitched whistles. Liam stopped and, after the applause decreased, raised the microphone again:
"I want to thank all the fans who support the Warriors, not just those of you sitting in the arena, but also the Warriors fans all over the United States, and the world. Thank you!"
Wow...
The applause became more and more enthusiastic, and the atmosphere in the arena grew louder. Liam finally said loudly:
"However, this is just the beginning. We are still very young. This is the second year that the new Warriors have played together. I just said when I spoke with Yi: the second round of the playoffs is just the beginning, and then we have the Western Conference Finals, the Finals, and the championship. Please continue supporting us, support the Warriors, and I promise you that your love will not be disappointed!"
Wow...
After Liam finished speaking, the applause at Oracle Center seemed to tear the roof off. The crowd clapped endlessly, and the eyes of an elderly man with white hair sitting at the edge were already filled with tears. He raised his hands with some difficulty and shouted in a hoarse voice:
"Unity is strength! Let's go, Warriors!"
End of this chapter
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