Chapter 766: A Rare Supporting Role
The starting lineups for both teams were announced.
New York Knicks: Stephen Curry, Chen Yan, Shane Battier, Al Harrington, David West.
Nelson made a change to his usual rotation.
DeAndre Jordan would come off the bench tonight, with Al Harrington replacing him in the starting lineup.
Nelson wanted to use a smaller lineup from the opening tip and tear apart Chicago's defense with spacing.
Chicago Bulls: Russell Westbrook, Richard Hamilton, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Ömer Aşık.
Chicago had respectable firepower on the perimeter.
Westbrook and Luol Deng were already a strong combination.
Deng was an All Star level forward, while Westbrook, despite failing to make the All Star roster this season, had both the statistics and on court impact of an All Star.
The Bulls had strengthened their perimeter offense further by acquiring Hamilton during the season.
Hamilton was already in the twilight of his career, but his refined mid range shooting remained reliable.
He was simply no longer as quick as he had been during his prime.
At his peak, Hamilton could run Kobe Bryant into exhaustion, practically turning an NBA game into a marathon.
Chicago's weakness was its interior offense.
Taj Gibson and 2nd year center Ömer Aşık offered very little scoring ability or offensive athleticism.
Gibson's offensive game was still extremely raw.
Most of his offensive metrics were below average, including a poor true shooting percentage of 50.2 percent.
He could finish around the basket, but he lacked natural scoring instincts.
His free throw shooting was another weakness.
During his first 2 seasons, Gibson had converted only 67.6 percent and 64.6 percent from the line.
Aşık had similar problems.
The 2 of them formed an interior pairing with plenty of defense but very limited offense.
Aşık struggled to secure the ball cleanly, and his screening technique was not particularly polished.
Only 2 centers in the entire league had a higher turnover rate than him.
His free throw rate of 1.03 was the highest in the league, but that number was somewhat deceptive.
Opponents were often willing to foul him intentionally because he shot only 50.4 percent from the free throw line.
At certain points in games, teams would deliberately send him there.
Even when Aşık caught the ball directly beneath the basket, he often gathered too slowly before attempting to finish.
That extra delay gave defenders enough time to recover and challenge his dunk attempts.
His slow gather also led to him being blocked frequently.
Overall, Chicago's interior offense could largely be ignored.
That was why Nelson felt comfortable leaving DeAndre Jordan on the bench.
The Bulls posed almost no offensive threat inside.
Beep!
Game 1 between the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls officially began.
Aşık defeated David West on the opening tip.
His jumping ability was clearly better than West's.
Westbrook slowly dribbled across half court and raised his head to examine New York's defensive positioning.
Then, without warning, he changed direction at the top of the arc and exploded forward.
"Westbrook is wasting no time," Charles Barkley said. "He is going downhill immediately."
Curry remained focused and did not allow Westbrook to blow past him cleanly.
However, the difference in strength between the 2 guards was obvious.
Near the left elbow, Westbrook used his body to knock Curry back 1 step.
The moment the opening appeared, Westbrook planted both feet and rose.
His pullup jumper came suddenly.
He elevated straight up, hung noticeably in the air, then used the tremendous strength in his fingers and wrist to snap the ball toward the basket.
Swish.
Confidence.
Decisiveness.
Westbrook opened the game by burying a mid range jumper.
"That is pure power," Barkley said. "Everything Westbrook does has force behind it."
Kenny Smith nodded.
"Curry stayed with him, but once Westbrook got his shoulder into him, the size difference mattered."
Westbrook's shooting motion was unusual.
He jumped almost entirely vertically, with relatively little separation between his arms, body, and torso.
His upper body also leaned slightly forward rather than backward.
Fans jokingly referred to it as his zombie jumper.
The reason was simple.
It came from Westbrook's physical profile and years of habit.
His explosiveness and elevation were elite, but his flexibility was not.
As a result, his jumper often looked somewhat stiff.
That stiffness had eventually become part of his unique shooting style.
New York quickly inbounded from the baseline.
After crossing half court, Curry glanced diagonally toward Chen Yan, then raised his hand as if he were going to pass to him.
It was a feint.
Instead, Curry passed to Al Harrington.
Chicago had not yet fully organized its defense.
Harrington immediately fired from beyond the 3 point line.
Clang.
The ball struck the side of the rim and bounced away.
Even though the shot missed, Nelson applauded from the sideline.
"Keep playing like that. If you are open, shoot it."
That was exactly why he had chosen a smaller lineup with 4 shooters.
He wanted New York playing fast on both ends.
Whoever found space outside had permission to shoot without hesitation.
Westbrook had no intention of waiting for the Knicks to establish their half court defense.
He turned, collected the rebound himself, and immediately pushed forward.
Aşık moved into position to screen for him.
This had become a familiar Chicago sequence during the season.
Aşık would clear a path, while Westbrook grabbed rebounds and immediately turned them into transition opportunities with his speed and explosiveness.
That was also 1 reason Westbrook's triple double total had exploded this season.
He had recorded 18 triple doubles in 66 regular season games, 2nd only to Chen Yan in the entire league.
Westbrook benefited greatly from the arrangement.
Aşık sacrificed quite a bit.
He averaged only 6.9 rebounds, partly because his 1st instinct when the ball came off the rim was often to create space for Westbrook instead of attacking the rebound himself.
Westbrook secured the ball and shifted into full attack mode.
Once he built momentum, Curry could not slow him down.
Westbrook charged all the way into the paint, used his strength to knock Curry aside, and finished a floater off the backboard.
The referee blew the whistle.
The basket counted.
And 1.
Westbrook strutted past the baseline camera with complete confidence.
"Curry cannot absorb that kind of contact all night," Barkley said. "Westbrook is running right through him."
Swish.
Despite the loud boos from Madison Square Garden, Westbrook calmly made the free throw.
5 to 0.
His mental toughness was never in question.
After being scored on twice in a row, Curry's competitive fire immediately appeared.
He crossed half court, passed the ball to Chen Yan, and started sprinting through the offense.
Chen Yan did not dribble immediately.
Instead, he watched Curry weave through traffic and use screens to create separation.
Off ball movement was 1 of Curry's greatest strengths.
In that area, he was every bit as dangerous as Chen Yan.
The moment Curry broke free, Chen Yan's pass arrived.
Curry caught the ball from roughly 30 degrees on the right side beyond the 3 point line.
Catch.
Rise.
Release.
By the time Westbrook recovered, the ball had already left Curry's hands.
Swish.
5 to 3.
"That is beautiful offense," Kenny Smith said. "Curry does not need much space."
Barkley laughed.
"And that was personal. You can see it on his face. Westbrook went at him twice, and Curry wanted an answer."
Chicago came back the other way.
This time, Westbrook did not isolate.
Even though he was the Bulls star guard, Chicago was not his team alone.
Luol Deng and Hamilton were both established veterans.
No matter how hot Westbrook became, he could not simply bring the ball up and attack by himself on every possession.
He still had to involve his teammates.
Hamilton immediately went to his signature weapon.
Constant movement without the ball.
He ran repeatedly along the baseline before finally using Aşık's screen to create separation.
Westbrook saw him break free and passed immediately.
Hamilton caught the ball and rose for the jumper.
He believed he had created a good shooting opportunity.
He had underestimated Chen Yan's explosiveness.
Chen Yan slipped around the screen and covered the distance in 1 violent step.
He extended his arm toward Hamilton's release.
He did not block the shot.
But the contest was enough.
Hamilton's jumper rattled off the rim.
David West grabbed the rebound and immediately threw a long outlet pass toward Chen Yan.
Chen Yan caught the ball and pounded it forward, trying to build as much speed as possible.
Then, 2 steps beyond the 3 point line, he suddenly slowed down.
Without looking behind him, Chen Yan whipped a diagonal pass backward.
Curry was trailing the play.
He caught the pass, used a shot fake, then lowered his head and attacked the basket.
Westbrook defended aggressively.
The instant Curry began his drive, Westbrook applied his body and tried to knock him off course.
Curry had taken only 1 step when the referee blew the whistle.
He reacted immediately.
As soon as he heard it, Curry threw the ball toward the basket.
Swish.
Continuation.
The basket counted, and Curry would receive an additional free throw.
Curry did not possess Westbrook's overwhelming athleticism.
But his scoring ability was still among the best of any point guard in the NBA.
He was not going to absorb Westbrook's attacks without responding.
These 2 possessions were his answer.
For once, the opening stage of the game did not belong to Chen Yan.
Westbrook and Curry had taken center stage.
Chen Yan, unusually, was playing the role of the supporting star.
....
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