The opening possession saw Davis explode to the Jazz's restricted area, using a screen from Zack to blow past Paul, and finishing with a one-handed power dunk over Okur.
Two months of rest certainly helped Davis get his body back into peak condition. But the main reason this "King of Bragging" went into beast mode was the adjustment to the Warriors' starting lineup made by Mike Malone after the All-Star break, and Davis finally understanding Malone's tactical philosophy.
Unlike last season, where the Warriors needed Davis to control his shot attempts and diligently support Zack, collaborating with him to launch attacks on the court, under Malone's system, the Warriors actually needed Davis to increase his offensive aggressiveness. Especially after Zack officially ascended to the role of primary ball-handler, both Artest and Davis found themselves with plenty of "easy bucket" opportunities on the court.
Why did Artest, who initially thought Malone was going to strip him of his isolation privileges at the start of the regular season, stop complaining as the season progressed? Because reducing inefficient isolation plays never meant eliminating them entirely. On the court, once Zack switched to his "commander" mode, how could he not need teammates to charge into the fray for him?
Before his injury, Davis had boasted to his teammates and coaches that he'd grasp Malone's tactical essence in just a week. It wasn't until his recovery period that he truly understood Mike Malone's tactical logic. Simply put, if Davis continued to play with last season's mindset, with his inefficient isolation plays significantly cut down, he wouldn't just be relegated to the perimeter, relying on his inconsistent career three-point shot to support his teammates. Moreover, since Malone's tactics often originated from big men initiating from the high post or wing players initiating through screens on the sides, you could easily say that Davis, before his injury, had become a spectator in many of the Warriors' offensive possessions.
Actually, as early as last December, Davis had already adjusted his game. Otherwise, even with Zack as his teammate, he would have struggled to compete so fiercely with Nash in the All-Star voting. However, it wasn't until this injury that Davis truly grasped what role Malone wanted him to play.
And after the All-Star break, Mike Malone moved Troy Murphy into the starting lineup, decisively ending the debate about whether Brown or Biedrins should be the starting center. Malone's bold move provided Davis with unprecedented space to operate.
In early February, Murphy, who had just returned from injury and was seamlessly coordinating with Zack on the court, immediately sparked a daring idea in Malone's mind. This idea kept tempting Malone, leading him to put it into action after the All-Star break. Murphy's defensive weaknesses were undeniable. But for the Warriors, who often used zone defenses and had Zack responsible for sweeping up, as long as Murphy could commit fouls in necessary possessions to disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm, why would the Warriors be so afraid of other teams attacking Murphy's defensive soft spot?
On the court, during the Jazz's offensive possession, Murphy perfectly played the role of a blue-collar role player, first hounding Okur in the high post, then retreating to the paint to box out for Zack and help him grab the defensive rebound. On the sidelines, Brown and Biedrins's feelings could only be described as incredibly complex, watching Murphy benefit from their "dispute" like a fisherman.
Back on offense, it was the Warriors' turn. Murphy, who could receive the ball in the high post and help the team transition, successfully freed up Zack. After moving up to the right 45-degree angle to receive the ball and passing it to Davis via a hand-off, Zack followed through the middle, received Davis's drive-and-kick pass, and finished with a soaring layup.
The Warriors' first two possessions tonight already made veteran coach Sloan frown. Compared to their matchup in early February, Sloan found that a fully healthy Warriors team had clearly elevated their offensive firepower to another level. Davis's hot form. Murphy's inclusion in the starting lineup freeing up Zack. Zack's ability to create "easy bucket" opportunities for his teammates due to his own gravity. Mike Malone had, subtly, through a series of experiments and adjustments, molded this Warriors team into one of the most offensively potent teams in the current era.
And compared to last season, Zack, who was always unsatisfied with just being a stat-padder, also used his obsession with defense to make Sloan keenly feel the progress he had made defensively. In the first quarter, Zack, guarding Boozer, didn't apply intense pressure on every defensive possession. Retreating while fighting was Boozer's trademark. But actually, using pick-and-rolls to get into the low post, and then relying on solid fundamental skills to put the ball in the basket, was Boozer's main scoring method. Throughout his career, Boozer's finishes at the rim accounted for about 40% of his shot attempts. This season, that percentage was close to 50%.
Therefore, when Boozer frequently moved up to the high post, Zack often focused on disruption. Even if Boozer could punish this defensive strategy with his signature shoulder-bump shot, Zack remained unfazed. Only when Boozer tried to get deep into the low post to initiate offense would Zack immediately apply full pressure, using his athleticism to suppress Boozer's attack.
This was a defensive trick Zack learned from Marion. That is, the main goal isn't to completely shut down the opponent, but to disrupt the opponent's overall offensive rhythm by limiting their comfortable scoring opportunities on the court.
On the court, Boozer faced Zack in the low post four times, earning two free throws, getting two of his shots blocked by Zack, and missing one shot under strong interference from Zack. Under Zack's defense, Boozer not only had a very uncomfortable first quarter, but after his most effective offensive methods were repeatedly thwarted by Zack, Boozer's subsequent shoulder-bump shots from the high post were also inevitably affected.
In basketball, every player has their most effective scoring methods. Throughout his career, Boozer's long two-point shooting percentage was around 41%. Given the volume of Boozer's long two-pointers, if he couldn't get consistent scoring from his more effective and primary scoring methods, he couldn't beat these Warriors with just long two-pointers.
Of course, Zack could devote so much energy to defense tonight also because Davis had essentially battered Paul to death. In the game, Paul's subtle movements, learned from Stockton, were not entirely ineffective against Davis's powerful drives, but they were certainly overwhelmed. Davis, with his sheer force overcoming skill, would crush all of Paul's tricks in an instant, as long as he found driving space using Zack's screen. It's like in a wuxia novel, no matter how many moves "Eastern Heretic" Huang Yaoshi has, he still needs to channel his internal energy to clash palms with "Northern Beggar" Hong Qigong and his Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms. As long as Paul didn't have that "internal energy," he was bound to be crushed by Davis.
Furthermore, it must be stated for Paul's sake that historically, even in that series where the Jazz eliminated the "Golden State Bandits" 4-1, Deron Williams was utterly pounded by Davis, that "violent motorcycle." Facing Davis, who was averaging 25 points for the Warriors with nearly 50% shooting, Deron, with an overall field goal percentage of only 38.7%, barely scraped by by "hugging his brothers' thighs." If Zack remembered correctly, the reason the Warriors lost that run-and-gun battle to the Jazz was mainly due to Stephen Jackson's overall field goal percentage being under 30%.
Due to the Jazz's overly transparent presence and his own low-key nature, Andrei Kirilenko, who only made the All-Defensive Team three times in his entire career, was the true game-changer in that series for the Jazz. In that series, Kirilenko, who averaged 3.2 blocks per game, not only turned the famous "Martial Saint" into useless trash that anyone would want to kick, but he even had enough energy to help Boozer and Okur with their less-skilled sweeping duties.
However, compared to that "waste" Stephen Jackson, Zack's presence meant Kirilenko couldn't help his teammates with his usual help defense. Therefore, Chris Paul tonight... how can one describe his suffering?
At the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read 24 to 32. Paul had 2 points, 3 assists on 1-for-4 shooting. His counterpart, Davis, had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.
It's well-known in the NBA that even if players share the same position on the court, they don't necessarily guard each other throughout the game. Many teams will use switching to ensure their core players avoid the opponent's offensive primary. But most of the time, some matchups are simply unavoidable through switching.
Take this game, for instance. Even without Zack, the Jazz would still have to use Paul to guard Davis. Because Andrei Kirilenko, the Jazz's strongest defensive player, is 206 cm tall with shoes on. No matter how strong his one-on-one defense is, it's only against wing players at his position, not point guards like Davis who just drive straight to the rim without much fuss. In the Jazz's usual games, besides running into a few "demons," Paul was already the Jazz's most reliable perimeter defender. So Paul simply couldn't escape this confrontation with Davis.
Originally, Paul, being single-handedly dominated by Davis, could have still found a way to get back into the game by orchestrating the offense, just like Deron, by "hugging his brothers' thighs." But alas, with Davis capable of shouldering the Warriors' offense, Zack had already tormented Kirilenko and Boozer to no end on both ends of the court tonight.
Historically, when Deron struggled, the Jazz surprisingly beat the Warriors 4-1, relying on Kirilenko's limitation of Jackson and the excellent play of Boozer and Okur. However, in the later Western Conference Finals where they were miserably defeated 1-4 by the Spurs, Deron, who was averaging 25.8 points and 7.8 assists for the Jazz, could only accept the fate of defeat with his team. Why? Because the Spurs' interior, led by Duncan, had already revealed the Jazz's weakness through every offensive and defensive possession: they were a team lacking "hard solution" ability. In the game, as long as Boozer faced a power forward who could reduce his efficiency, the Jazz would expose their weakness of lacking "hard solution" ability in crucial possessions.
If it were a normal night, Paul could use his rhythm pull-ups to provide that "hard solution" ability for the Jazz in some possessions. But unfortunately, tonight both he and Boozer met their respective nemeses.
In the second quarter, the Warriors simultaneously put Brown and Biedrins on the court. These two interior players, who lacked self-creation ability, gave Mike Dunleavy a taste of Stephen Curry's future treatment a decade and a half early. On the court, looking at the Jazz players who always abandoned guarding Brown and Biedrins to double-team him, Dunleavy wondered what sins he had committed to be on the court at the same time as these two "sleeping dragons and crouching phoenixes." And the most ridiculous thing was that after he hit a difficult catch-and-shoot jumper for the Warriors, these two brothers were busy taking credit. Didn't they know that it was precisely because they always brought double-teams to him that he was forced to shoot over a defender?
In the first half of the second quarter, a physically and mentally exhausted Dunleavy had never longed for Murphy so much. And on the Warriors' bench, Malone was already planning to retool the Warriors' roster after this season. In Malone's view, besides needing to add an interior player with playmaking ability to rotate with Murphy, the Warriors were definitely going to choose to keep only one between Biedrins and Brown. However, due to Brown and Biedrins's personal friendship with Zack, Malone had never explicitly stated this. Malone knew very well that for a franchise player of Zack's stature, no matter his reasons for wanting to adjust the roster, he had to communicate with him beforehand. Otherwise, there was a high probability he would find himself looking for a new job the next day.
In the latter half of the second quarter, Zack and Davis returned to the court. It's worth noting that Paul's individual collapse did not lead to a team-wide breakdown for the Jazz. The disciplined Jerry Sloan very rationally chose to avoid a head-on collision with the Warriors in the rest of the game. By actively slowing down the game, organizing offenses more patiently, and constantly increasing their defensive intensity, the Jazz still had a chance to win the game until the fourth quarter.
Having successfully won the championship last year, this Warriors team not only transformed in their demeanor but also developed some "bad habits" characteristic of strong teams in their playing style. The NBA has 82 regular-season games in a year; no team can treat every instruction and every game as seriously as a military unit. Therefore, Mike Malone could only tacitly allow the Warriors' players to "not feel right unless they're playing recklessly" on the court.
However, in the fourth quarter, the Warriors ultimately secured the victory at home, "slow-cooking" the game before "reducing the sauce" with the final 17 points scored by Zack and Davis combined. The final score was 101 to 114.
Davis had his best game of the season, scoring a total of 35 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals for the Warriors. Zack easily notched a 30+ triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal.
As for Zack's good buddy, Chris Paul? After the game, as players from both teams shook hands and hugged, Zack went around asking everyone, "Have you seen my good buddy, Chris Paul?" Paul, who mysteriously disappeared during the game, finished with a total of 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. For Zack's ugly post-game demeanor, exasperation was undoubtedly Paul's most accurate post-game description that night.
But Paul doesn't need to be too sad, because in the Warriors' March journey, Baron Davis, who "sliced Kidd, slew Nash, punched Deron, and stomped Parker," pretty much trounced every notable point guard in the current era.
For this, Anthony Lester, a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, described Davis's performance since his return: "Baron has shown the world just how furious he was about missing the All-Star break due to injury."
Throughout March, Davis averaged 27.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists for the Warriors (these stats only include March). The excellent play of the original "Mr. Beard" allowed the Warriors to successfully overtake the Suns and claim the top spot in the Western Conference by the end of March. Moreover, this suddenly surging superstar guard threw a century-old problem at the Warriors' upcoming opponents. If one Zack was already a massive headache, then adding a red-hot Davis... how could anyone beat them, facing the Warriors' relentless, tsunami-like waves of offense?
In April, with the world's questions in tow, the Cleveland Cavaliers, dominant in the East, arrived in Oakland led by LeBron James. As the top team in the East, they would face the newly crowned top team in the West, the Warriors, at Oracle Arena for their second, and final, regular-season matchup.
Although James and the Cavaliers suffered a complete defeat in their previous encounter last year, the resilient Clevelanders eventually recovered from that devastating matchup. Before the game, The Cleveland Plain Dealer hyped up this upcoming East-West showdown, stating: "Last year's matchup holds no bearing. It proved that LeBron simply needed more time to gel with his new teammates."
Before this game, the Cavaliers had already secured 53 wins, just 4 less than the Western Conference-leading Warriors. Although the difficulty of the East and West schedules this season couldn't be compared, as James led the Cavaliers to win streak after win streak in the East after the All-Star break, as another major contender for this year's regular season MVP against Zack, people had every reason to believe that after several months of growth, "Young LeBron" and his increasingly harmonious "King's Guard" were ready to defeat the defending champions.
This is precisely the most interesting aspect of competitive sports. Beautiful success always makes people forget painful pasts in an instant.
Moreover, as James led the Cavaliers to grow stronger and stronger in the regular season's closing stretch, after the twists and turns, those influential figures who had previously intended to build the rivalry between Zack and James into the "Great Competition" of the 21st century realized that James, who always bounced back after every defeat, had objectively ignited the "Great Competition" they had been yearning for. After all, no matter the difference in schedule difficulty between the East and West, at least the Cavaliers were currently first in the East, and the Warriors they were about to challenge were first in the West. If a showdown between the first in the East and the first in the West couldn't be called a "Great Competition," then what kind of matchup could?
The Cavaliers arrived in Oakland on April Fool's Day to be in optimal condition for the East-West showdown on the evening of April 2nd. On the same day, Warriors head coach Mike Malone, after reviewing the Cavaliers' recent games, changed the "go all out" tag he originally assigned to this game to "just have fun."
This was by no means an April Fool's joke. In Mike Malone's view, the upcoming Western Conference playoffs were the true "three rounds of Finals." As for after emerging from the West after three rounds of Finals?
"I don't want to say that if we make it out of the West this year, it's equivalent to defending our title... but I think it's the truth," Malone stated during the Warriors' final practice session before their game against the Cavaliers.