Two days later at Oracle Arena.
The roar of Warriors fans was even louder than in the previous game. The proud Bay Area faithful poured all the sting of last game's loss into tonight's atmosphere.
"Whoa, here we go again!"
Chen Yilun, wearing oversized sunglasses, chuckled as he watched a writhing blue-painted fan across the court.
"This guy must go through buckets of paint just to come to games."
"Sir, you're in a good mood today," Tang Zhou, Chen Yilun's apprentice, squeezed through the crowd holding an enormous bucket of popcorn.
"Smart kid."
Chen Yilun grabbed the popcorn and dug in.
"Sir, judging by your mood today… does that mean we've got this game locked up?"
Because of his low standing within the team, Tang Zhou's assigned seat was in the very back row of the bench—practically invisible.
So this time, he just sat in the second row with Chen Yilun to watch the game.
"No way!"
Chen Yilun waved it off. "This is the Warriors. If beating them were really that easy, the other 29 teams in the league wouldn't just sit around acting as their backdrop."
A team's strength isn't just about paper matchups.
Chemistry, tactics, and countless other factors all play a part.
"Last game, we caught them by surprise. We were ready, they weren't. My mentor isn't one of those cagey league veterans—he just blindsided them and stole a win."
Chen Yilun adjusted his sunglasses.
"This time won't be so easy. They've wised up. And besides, they've got a true legend holding down their front office."
He glanced over at the Warriors' bench but didn't see the familiar figure.
"The old man's not here tonight?"
Puzzled, Chen Yilun pulled his gaze back.
But it made sense. The Logo Man's health had been declining for years. There wasn't much Chen Yilun could do about it.
The old man had already lived a long life—no need to stir things up.
Just as Chen Yilun drifted into thought, the game tipped off. He snapped back and focused on the court.
As he expected, the Warriors had indeed changed their approach.
On offense, Barnes carried more of the load, freeing Curry to conserve energy by running off the ball.
More noticeably, they tried pulling Jokić out to the perimeter for isolation plays—clearly aiming to wear him down.
It was almost a copy-paste of the Kings' own strategy from the previous game.
The difference? The Kings didn't have a true elite scorer. Butler was an All-Star, but at this stage his defense was stronger than his offense.
Much of Sacramento's offense ran through Jokić as the engine. Once he sat, their system broke down.
Another new challenge.
Chen Yilun glanced with interest at Malone, seated calmly on the bench.
As the team's future manager, Chen Yilun's responsibility wasn't just to evaluate the players—head coach Malone was also under his review.
In the original timeline, Malone hadn't even lasted two full years with the Kings before Ranadivé fired him. He bounced around before finally finding stability in Denver, where he gradually grew into a championship-level head coach.
But now, Chen Yilun had completely altered his trajectory.
That was why Chen Yilun remained skeptical of him.
"Greg!"
Watching the flow of the game, Malone turned toward Oden on the bench.
"Get ready. You're going in for Nikola."
"Me?"
Oden, towel in hand, froze.
It's only the first quarter. Why send me in this early?
Still, despite his surprise, Oden stood up to check in.
"Nice move."
Chen Yilun watched Malone's decision and couldn't help but give him a mental thumbs-up.
So the Warriors want to limit Jokić's impact and burn him out? Fine, I'll just throw Oden at them!
Oden might not run the offense like Jokić, but if Andrew Bogut thinks he can shut Oden down on his own, he'd better think twice.
And Oden brought another benefit—his presence in the paint would crank up Bogut's workload to the max. On the Warriors, only he and Green could really handle that job.
I'll wear Bogut out with Oden. Once he's spent, they'll have no choice but to throw Green into the fire.
Sure enough, Oden's first play was a post-up isolation against Bogut.
He remembered the coach's instruction: "Don't worry about efficiency. Just pound him! Make him burn his energy wrestling with you!"
One shove. Two shoves. Three shoves.
Oden's powerful frame forced Bogut backward step by step, before he finished with a layup!
"They've figured us out!"
Steve Kerr sat on the bench, face dark. Watching Malone calmly observing from across the court, he seethed. "He's dead set on hammering our weak spot!"
Malone's move to sub Jokić out immediately had made his intentions clear.
You want to target my big guy? Fine—I'll bench him. As long as Green doesn't check in, Jokić won't budge. Let's see who can outlast who.
And so the game slipped into a strange deadlock.
Neither side could build a lead. Curry and Butler, the stars of both teams, seemed to vanish from the game—neither taking on isolation possessions.
"What kind of strategy is this?"
One commentator finally blurted out.
"Did Golden State and Sacramento strike some secret deal to bench their stars?"
He even laughed at his own joke.
"Cut it out! Look—something's changing again!"
His partner quickly stopped his rambling.
On the Warriors' side, Draymond Green was ready to check in at the next dead ball.
The moment the Kings saw him get up, they reactivated Jokić to check back in as well.
That familiar feeling was back!
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser