NBA: Warrior godfather.

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Artest, who was facing Butler, didn't take him seriously and met Butler's offensive play with a rather lazy attitude.

For most of the game, the Warriors' offense was almost entirely driven by their guards. From Curry to Azubuike, to Lowry, and now back to Curry and Azubuike, the forwards had been playing the role of defensive leaders, with Butler being the prime example.

Naturally, these guards wouldn't be the ones to directly challenge Artest. They never even gave him the chance to showcase his defensive skills. At most, he could slide over to help defend and chase Curry around the court when he didn't have the ball—easy enough.

Now, Butler wanted to take him on one-on-one, which caused Artest to lose some of his initial interest.

He had never heard of this unknown player. He had been catching and shooting in the first half. How could this guy possibly handle the ball?

Butler, of course, didn't know what Artest was thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. Facing the Defensive Player of the Year, he would give it everything he had.

Even though Artest didn't take Butler seriously, he knew Butler's signature move was shooting three-pointers, so he stayed close to the three-point line to defend him, not giving him any room to shoot.

Butler raised his hand and faked a shot. Artest thought he was about to take the shot, so he instinctively jumped to block it. However, Butler recovered the ball and jumped to his left.

Artest quickly turned around to catch up, but his lateral speed had significantly decreased compared to his prime, and he was already half a step behind Butler.

Butler sprinted toward the basket, stopped, looked up, and aimed at the rim, then raised his hands and faked another shot. Artest leaped from behind to block it, but Butler was only faking again. Butler flung the ball towards the basket based on feel and was fouled as he was knocked to the floor.

Bip--

The referee's whistle blew, and Butler's first reaction was to look at the basket.

After the ball hit the backboard and bounced off the rim twice, it fell through the net.

2+1!

Butler stood up with the support of his teammates, clenched his fist tightly, and seemed excited as the Warriors players celebrated with high-fives.

This shot was tough and helped stabilize the situation for the Warriors.

On the other hand, Artest looked grim. He hadn't expected this rookie to be so patient. Bynum had been on the other side of the basket and didn't have time to help defend. Butler had the opportunity to make a layup. With immense patience, Artest jumped over to foul him.

Butler didn't play this possession like a rookie at all, but more like a veteran who had been in the league for years, displaying great experience.

Liam clapped from the sidelines. Butler's shot was already showing signs of his top-tier style. This was exactly the type of Butler he had been waiting to see!

In his previous life, Butler led the Heat to the Finals with relatively mediocre talent, achieving a 40+ triple-double and a 35+ triple-double in the finals.

In those two games, he made 12 free throws. Throughout the Finals, Butler averaged nearly a triple-double with 29 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. He shot 60.7% from the field, overpowering defenders like the Lakers' LeBron James.

Butler's shots under the basket appeared almost effortless, not many dunks, but a lot of mid-range shots or layups around the rim. Each of his shots was filled with fakes, confrontations, and evasions. Because of his shorter wingspan, defenders couldn't fully get off the ground to block him or use their bodies to push him off, leaving them powerless to interfere.

Even with LeBron guarding him, whenever Butler found the right space and controlled his position, defenders could only helplessly watch as he attacked the rim.

Butler was tough, but his toughness showed in subtle physical confrontations and his iron will rather than in dunks and screams.

Butler was still very immature and not as refined as in his peak years, but if he could play even half as well as he did then, most of the Warriors' ball-handling problems would be solved.

As Liam lost himself in thought, Butler stood at the free-throw line and consistently made the additional free throw.

With a score of 82–91, the Warriors had closed the gap to single digits.

Inspired by this play, the Warriors worked extra hard on the defensive end. The Lakers' offense couldn't find a good rhythm, and eventually, the ball found its way to Kobe.

Kobe faced Butler and initiated a post play. But Butler had been guarding him tightly throughout the game. He was at the same level as Kobe and was gradually becoming more comfortable guarding him. This time, he bravely blocked Kobe's move to the left, anticipating Kobe's shot, forcing Kobe to miss with a frustrated clang off the rim.

The rebound was grabbed by Biedrins, who immediately passed it to Curry. As if they had received an order, all the Warriors rushed down the court and started a fast break.

Curry pushed the ball forward quickly and observed his teammates moving. Fisher closely followed him, blocking his progress and not giving him space to shoot.

Curry looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Butler running towards the three-point line, immediately passing the ball to him.

Butler caught the pass, and the defender in front of him was Kobe. Butler anticipated the move and wanted to cut through the left side of Kobe.

Kobe took a step to the side, retreating to defend, closing the space for Butler's shot while providing enough physical confrontation to prevent Butler from accelerating.

Butler only took two steps and reached the edge of the paint. Suddenly, he took a large step backward with his left foot, dribbled the ball under his legs, and leaned back.

After collecting the ball, he slightly tilted his body backward and shot near the basket. Kobe leaped as high as he could to block it, but it was already too late, and he couldn't interfere with Butler's shot.

84–91.

Not just the commentators and fans, but also the Lakers players, didn't expect Butler to explode suddenly and score 5 straight points, against the Lakers' two best perimeter defenders.

Phil Jackson didn't call for a timeout but signaled to his assistant coach to instruct Kobe to play a one-on-one to stabilize the situation.

Though he liked to let the players decide the game on the court, sometimes he would make small adjustments during the game, or else he would truly become a figurehead.

But just as Kobe was about to post up Butler, Liam suddenly shouted,

"Double team, double team!"

Curry, who was closest to Kobe, heard this and immediately rushed towards Kobe. The Warriors changed their strategy, no longer defending Kobe one-on-one, but switching to a double-team attack!

Kobe, used to Butler's one-on-one defense, was caught off guard when confronted with two defenders. Instead of passing the ball immediately, he instinctively moved his elbows side to side to push Curry and Butler off.

Butler saw this and a fierce look flashed in his eyes. Instead of backing off, he went straight at him!

Crack!

With a sharp sound, Kobe's right elbow collided hard with Butler's face, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Bip--

The referee's whistle blew just in time, and he pointed to the Lakers' side of the court: "Offensive foul on Kobe Bryant!"

The fans at Staples Center instinctively booed, but a close-up of Butler's face appeared on the big screen, which slowly quieted the rowdy crowd.

Butler lay on his back, grimacing in pain, covering his face with his hands, slightly writhing. Blood streamed from his left nostril, mixed with sweat, leaving a large smear on his mouth and nose. The sight was quite alarming.

The Warriors players quickly gathered around, and the team doctor rushed from the bench with a medical kit, kneeling on one knee and leaning toward Butler's ear:

"Jimmy, how do you feel? Are you dizzy?"

Liam stretched his neck nervously, watching the close-up on the big screen with concern.

The league strictly regulates that head coaches cannot enter the court casually. Although Liam was anxious, he could only watch from the sidelines, unable to check on Butler himself.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Butler shook his head and slowly regained consciousness.

He felt a burning sensation in his nose and instinctively wiped it, noticing the pool of blood. However, he didn't panic. Instead, he placed his hands on the floor, pushed himself up, and smiled indifferently:

"It's fine, just a nosebleed. The ball's ours, right?"

Butler had been through many street battles in his life, and minor injuries like this were nothing to him. He had even played with broken ribs before, so this was a trivial matter.

Instead, he was more concerned with whether the ball was still in their possession, as that was key to

whether the team could continue to chase the score.

"Are you really okay?" the referee asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Is that an offensive foul?" Butler replied without missing a beat.

After repeated checks from the team doctors and the referee, it was confirmed that Butler had no signs of a concussion, just broken capillaries in his nasal cavity.

The team doctor did some quick work on Butler to stop the bleeding. When Butler heard the referee call an offensive foul on Kobe, he smiled broadly.

At least the collision wasn't for nothing.

Seeing Butler's tough performance, the fans in the arena naturally felt embarrassed for booing the referee and instead began clapping for the tough player.

In the live broadcast room, messages flooded the screen: "Wow, is Butler really this tough? That elbow was brutal!"

"Kobe just took someone out!"

"Don't make assumptions. Kobe didn't mean to hurt him. Just watch it again and repeat what you saw."

"As expected, he's tough!"

"??? I suspect you're driving and the evidence is clear!"

After Butler was taken care of, he returned to the court and the game continued.

The Warriors had possession of the ball, and Butler walked towards the frontcourt. Kobe passed by him and whispered:

"I'm sorry."

Butler was stunned for a moment. By the time he reacted, Kobe had already moved on to defend Curry, who had the ball.

In the minutes that followed, due to Butler's slight injury, the Warriors couldn't afford to let up their toughness on the front line. Their morale soared, and their enthusiasm on both offense and defense reached new heights.

After Butler unlocked his ball-handling skills, his confidence skyrocketed. Liam also adapted his tactics to let Butler take on some of Curry's responsibilities, handling the ball and initiating pick-and-rolls.

In fact, Butler's skills weren't fully refined, but since he had never played with the ball before, the Lakers hadn't yet figured out how to defend against him, and he was able to hit multiple shots, including some mid-range and near the basket.

The Lakers only managed to adjust after several possessions.

But that was enough. Thanks to Butler's sudden explosion and his passion on the defensive wing, the Warriors quickly closed the point gap.

At the end of the third quarter, the score was 97–100. The Lakers had scored over 100 points, but the Warriors weren't far behind.

Liam embraced the players leaving the court, looking up at the scoreboard, feeling relieved.

His plan had succeeded, relying on pre-game preparation, Curry's three-pointers, and Butler's unexpected explosion. The game had turned into an offensive battle.

This was exactly what Liam had aimed for: it was hard to recover from the Warriors' defense, and no major improvement could be made in a short period of time. Instead, he lowered the opponent's defense to the Warriors' level and allowed both sides to depend on offense to decide the game!

Using this strategy, the Warriors had defeated the Cavaliers and Mavericks, and now, they were tied with the Lakers going into the final quarter.

But unfortunately, Liam had run out of cards, including the unexpected Butler. The Warriors had no more offensive resources. When Curry formed a double team, they could still maintain offensive firepower comparable to the Lakers.

In other words, the Warriors had reached the end of their game.

As the final moments approached, Liam looked across the technical area. Phil Jackson's eyes were on him too.

The two exchanged glances, and Phil Jackson gave a small smile and a nod toward Liam, sending a quiet greeting between old friends.

Liam turned his head with a grim expression. He knew Phil Jackson had seen it too. If he couldn't show more winning cards, the Lakers would take this victory.

But in truth, there was no real solution left. searched Liam deep within but couldn't find any better way to develop his offense.

"Should we let Big G play individually? No, too slow. Bynum can stop him easily…"

As Liam pondered, Curry approached:

"Boss, let me go out there later!"

"Are you sure you want to play without resting?"Liam asked, surprised.

"It's fine!" Curry nodded firmly.

Liam hesitated no more. With the short rest time between quarters, he said decisively:

"Alright, when you get out there, try to score as much as you can. Kobe will definitely have to rest. After he enters, I'll rely on you to break Kobe's defense one-on-one!"

"Got it."

"The Lakers' defense is too strong. I don't have a good solution right now. Even though we've closed the score, Phil Jackson will definitely make adjustments. By then, Jimmy will also be locked down, and once they form a double team, they'll trap you. If we want to win this game, I need you… to break Kobe's defense one-on-one!" said Liam solemnly.

Curry's pupils narrowed, but he nodded slowly and firmly:

"I'll do my best, boss!"

He looked at Ayesha, who waved at him, smiling like a flower, shouting "Stephen, let's go!" and an infinite fighting spirit ignited in his heart.

They must win this game!

End of this chapter

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