The Warriors’ offensive push ultimately came back empty-handed.
The momentum in the arena had completely picked up.
Familiar cheers echoed throughout the stadium.
Randolph continued to play one-on-one against Green in the low post.
But at this point, the Warriors’ three-guard defense strategy showed its advantage.
Their rotation speed in help defense became even faster.
Seeing this, Hansen couldn’t help but reassess his view of Mark Jackson while also feeling that Cole’s credibility was dropping.
Elevator doors play, discovering Green, strengthening help defense with a small lineup—most of the tactics credited to Cole were actually improvements on Jackson’s foundation.
However, the Grizzlies were fully revved up as well, and after a series of passes, the ball ended up in Hansen’s hands.
After receiving the ball, Hansen faked out Green, then turned and stepped through for a layup.
Green’s lack of defensive experience was thoroughly exposed on that play.
After making the basket, Hansen looked at Green with a smile, "You should really learn some Chinese."
Green was taken aback by Hansen’s comment.
"Because you’re going to be playing in the CBA soon."
When Hansen delivered the next line, Green’s face immediately turned red.
Unlike what many people would expect, East University CBA is much more well-known in the NBA than anticipated.
Various reasons contributed to this, such as Yao Ming having come from the CBA and several well-known commentators often making jokes about it.
Of course, the most important reason is that many players who are out of the NBA do end up playing in the CBA.
And this comment hit Green particularly hard.
As a second-round pick, if someone like him failed to make it in the NBA, there was a very high chance he’d end up in the CBA.
Lies don’t hurt people; it’s the truth that cuts deep.
On the Warriors’ offense, Hansen tightly guarded Curry, who couldn’t get the ball, leading to Jack organizing a passing play to Thompson.
Thompson’s shot with Guy’s interference veered off.
Hansen’s example started to have an effect, and scoring became much more difficult for the Warriors compared to before.
But the Grizzlies’ offensive drive did not wane.
Facing Green again, Hansen’s fake got Green to jump this time.
Hansen smoothly drew his second personal foul from him.
With two fouls in the quarter, Jackson subbed Green out for Landry.
Watching Green head to the bench, Hansen waved at him.
This scene was broadcast on the LED screen, and the arena instantly filled with whistles and cheers from the fans.
Although Green didn’t have a high status on the Warriors, his comments on social media garnered plenty of animosity.
So far, Green’s most noteworthy stat in the game was his number of fouls.
Green’s exit also had a significant impact on the Warriors.
In the previous game, even though Green was a substitute, he played a full 35 minutes, essentially taking over David Lee’s spot in the rotation.
His early exit now meant that the Warriors’ defensive strength inside and the quality of their screens on offense would both decline.
This became evident as soon as the substitution was made.
Curry began to intensify his off-ball movement, but Hansen navigated past Bo Gote and Landry’s screens, and Curry still had to face Hansen when he finally got the ball.
Hansen also kept an eye on the positioning of the Warriors’ players setting screens and chose to preemptively double to disrupt the play.
Curry was thoroughly vexed by Hansen’s defense and was eventually forced to pass the ball.
Jack’s final drive into the paint for a floater didn’t get blocked this time, but under the disturbance of Little Gasol, the shot also went off the mark.
The Warriors found themselves in a scoring drought on the court.
At this time, Adam Silva had not yet taken office, and the Warriors had not yet risen, so there were no whistles to help them out.
It wasn’t until eight minutes into the quarter that the Warriors scored with Landry’s putback layup.
By then, the scoreboard read 7 to 20.
The Grizzlies had used just over half a quarter to show everyone their true strength.
Compared to offense, defense is what made this team truly terrifying, and it’s why they often decided games in three quarters during the regular season.
If the Miami people were the best spear in the league, then the Memphis people were the strongest shield.
Tonight, this shield made the Warriors look like a completely different team than in the last game.
The final score settled at 98 to 77.
The game entered garbage time by the end of the third quarter.
Green’s pre-game talk had been half right; indeed, a team got buried tonight, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the Grizzlies—it was the Warriors.
For the Warriors, Thompson scored the most with 17 points, but he took 20 shots, hitting just seven of them.
Under Hansen’s tight defense, Curry only took 14 shots throughout the whole game, making 4, with 1 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 9 points and 8 assists, along with 4 turnovers.
As a consequence, Hansen only took 13 shots himself, scoring 20 points, half of what he scored last game.
The Grizzlies’ top scorer was Randolph, who enjoyed playing inside tonight, contributing 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists.
At the post-game press conference, both Hansen and Randolph attended.
"Apart from Han, the rest of us played terribly last game," Hansen didn’t berate his teammates in the locker room, but now Randolph did it for him at the press conference, and he included himself in the critique.
"Although Han is younger than me, and we’ve been teammates for three years, I can still learn a lot from him. He dares to take responsibility and leads by example; he is a true leader."