40 points again
"Hey!"
Carlos looked at Curry's serious expression and chuckled, "Curry, don't speak so seriously, as if you can easily beat me."
"Here it comes!"
Curry snorted and stopped talking. He accelerated towards the left wing, attempting to shake off Carlos with his speed, but how could Carlos be easily shaken by Curry.
Just as he got past Carlos.
The next second...
Carlos caught up again...
Seeing there was no escape, Curry suddenly turned his back and made a sharp right turn, moving away from Carlos. He raised his hand for a three-point shot.
Extremely decisive...
And a bit unreasonable.
However...
"Snap!"
As the basketball was released, Carlos's long arms also followed, like King Kong, swatting the basketball out of bounds with a huge palm.
"You can block that?"
Curry was astonished.
With his quick release and a height advantage, very few players in the league could block his three-point shots, especially with a frontal block, which was even more challenging.
But looking at Carlos's indifferent expression.
Curry knew Carlos had done it effortlessly.
"Truly a genius!"
Curry shook his head.
With 8.8 seconds left for the Warriors' sideline possession, and Curry not holding the ball, he passed it to Ellis after a brief isolation screen.
"Swoosh!"
After a single isolation screen, Ellis turned into a hurricane, rushed into the paint, then quickly turned, shook off Frye, and scored a low-hand layup with his left hand.
"Combo guard Ellis, truly the leader of the Warriors. Such a sharp attack is unstoppable."
"Curry needs more practice."
Suns' possession...
Nash passed the ball, handed it to Carlos at the top of the arc after a pick-and-roll screen, and then moved to the side after another screen, creating a mismatch against Stephen Curry.
"This!"
As the two closed in, Curry felt an intangible pressure, coming from the absolute oppression of height.
"Stephen, block me, come on!"
Carlos provocatively challenged.
"Cut!"
Curry snorted but couldn't come up with any unrealistic words like "I'm going to block you."
"Swoosh..."
Carlos smiled faintly, accelerated and dribbled past Curry. Although Carlos didn't have an advantage in strength as a center, facing the smaller Curry, it was easy for him.
In one-on-one, Curry kept retreating step by step.
"Swoosh!"
Carlos suddenly stopped, a mid-range jumper, steady and accurate.
Warriors' possession...
Ellis brought the ball across the half-court, accelerated to the left, shook off Richardson with a quick stop-and-turn, but encountered a double team from Carlos. He tried to shake off Carlos.
Little did he know Carlos wasn't fooled at all.
Richardson came over for the help defense, but Ellis, seeing no retreat, passed to Curry in the left corner. Curry received the ball and attempted a three-pointer, but Carlos rushed over to disturb.
"Clang!"
The basketball hit the edge of the rim and flew out...
Carlos exclaimed, "Good shot, too bad Ellis passed too slowly. If he trusted you enough and passed it to you earlier, giving you a bit more time to prepare, that shot would've gone in..."
Curry wanted to say something but ultimately stayed silent.
Transitioning to offense and defense...
"Clang!"
Nash's three-pointer from the top of the arc missed, Frye tipped the rebound out, and Carlos and Curry grabbed it together. Carlos took the ball and started another one-on-one against Curry.
"Swoosh!"
No fancy dribble penetration, just a jump shot in front of Curry. Relying on his immense talent and physical qualities to dominate.
"Swoosh!"
Another mid-range shot went in...
In the next possession, Carlos ruthlessly made a jump shot over Curry's head.
"Stephen, focus a bit more, get closer, use your speed advantage to force Carlos into mistakes, instead of lazily watching him shoot."
Ellis, looking displeased, frowned and said to Curry.
"Mmm..."
Curry had to heed the lesson from the team leader.
With Wright screening for him, Ellis cut into the paint from the right wing, attacked the basket, got disrupted by Richardson, and the basketball bounced off the rim. David Lee secured the rebound.
"Whoosh!"
Curry, open on the perimeter, had a chance, but Ellis reached out for the ball.
Curry passed the ball, and Ellis, facing a double team, had to pass it to Curry on the perimeter again, but this time Carlos was guarding him.
With limited time for the offense, Curry took a fading, high-arching three-point shot, barely releasing it in time, but it ended in failure.
"You had a great chance earlier. Not taking the shot and attempting such a forced shot is not good. But, there's nothing you can do. Just now, Ellis did have a scoring opportunity. I can only say your positions overlap; otherwise, if they passed the ball to you earlier, you would have definitely made the shot."
Carlos commented.
Curry shrugged, thinking, "I know, but when the team leader calls for the ball, I can't just ignore him."
Next...
Until the end of the first half.
On the offensive end, Carlos kept looking for opportunities to go one-on-one against Curry. Meanwhile, every time Curry attacked, regardless of whether the shot went in, Carlos would praise him profusely.
And...
He would occasionally instill the idea in Curry's mind that he was very strong but his abilities couldn't be fully showcased due to the overlap with Ellis.
So... Curry hovered between being dominated by Carlos and being praised by him. Meanwhile, he also received occasional criticism from Ellis.
The same pattern continued in the third quarter.
Ellis was performing exceptionally well tonight, highly efficient. On the contrary, Curry, with Carlos guarding him, faced repeated setbacks. Despite Carlos's compliments, his offensive efficiency was low.
Even more dissatisfied, the team leader Ellis, watching the increasing point difference, criticized Curry more and more. If it weren't for Curry's easy-going personality, he would have exploded from anger long ago.
"Whoosh!"
Accompanied by another successful mid-range shot.
At the end of the third quarter, Carlos had scored 34 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, provided 3 assists, and blocked 4 shots, helping the Suns lead by 15 points. He dominated both ends of the court, even in the perimeter.
For the Warriors...
Ellis had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, perfect Combo guard stats. On the other hand, Curry, with only 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists, struggled with a poor offensive performance, especially in defending against Carlos.
In the last quarter...
Carlos continued to score against Curry on the offensive end. And when Curry attacked, Carlos continued to instill the idea in him that he was strong but didn't make the most of his opportunities. Ellis occasionally added a few critical comments.
Again and again, the repeated attacks left Curry somewhat confused tonight, questioning whether he was really suitable for playing with the Warriors.
On the court...
With 5 minutes and 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"Whoosh!"
Carlos made a quick stop and jump shot. Despite Ellis's full block attempt, the shot went in, widening the point difference to 21 points and shattering the Warriors' confidence.
"Beep beep!"
Coach Smart called a timeout, surrendering, giving up the game.
"Wow—"
After the game...
Mike Breen, looking at the stats sheet, exclaimed, "Carlos scored 40 points again tonight, two consecutive games with 40+ points, truly amazing!"
"Right..."
Van Gundy was also excited, "Not to mention he's a center, almost all his points come from outside jump shots. It's so unique and powerful. Mike... now I can confirm, Carlos really is not like 'Gustavo Ayon II.' He belongs to himself."
While the commentators were talking enthusiastically, Carlos found Curry and smiled, "Curry, you did well tonight, but I got lucky and won."
Curry smiled awkwardly, saying, "Not at all. I was locked down by you tonight, and my performance was terrible."
"No, no, no!"
Carlos took the opportunity to say, "It's not about not doing well. It's about not having good opportunities. I told you earlier, your position overlaps with Ellis, so you can only attack when he can't. How can you showcase your abilities in that situation?"
Hum!
Curry was momentarily stunned.