Chapter 1 The Grand Finale

The two-day schedule passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the highly anticipated Western Conference Finals Game 6 officially kicked off in Oakland.

"I won't say we need to try our best to win tonight's game, and I certainly won't say what will happen if we lose this game. I just want to say, screw the Pelicans, screw New Orleans, we will win, we must win!"

In the Warriors' locker room before the game, Green strained his voice, pumping them up.

"Who are we!"

"Warriors!"

"What do we want!"

"Championship!"

……

It has to be said that Green, as a locker room leader, plays a very obvious role at critical moments.

Kerr's pre-game tactical arrangements, coupled with Green's pep talk, made the Warriors' morale extremely high.

Oracle Arena was already packed to capacity, with fans holding up signs for Game 7, cheering for the team to win tonight's game.

At the same time, far away on the southern coast in New Orleans, Pelicans fans also flocked to the New Orleans Arena to watch the game via live LED broadcast.

Many fans had streamers and other celebratory items ready, preparing to celebrate a possible Western Conference championship.

In the commentary booth at Oracle Arena, in addition to Mike Breen and Reggie Miller, there was also special guest Mychal Thompson.

Originally, ESPN wanted to invite Dell Curry, but Curry Sr. was worried that his commentary would be too biased, so he declined.

"This may be the Warriors' last game of the season. If they can't make some effective adjustments, then the Pelicans will beat them here tonight and advance to the Finals with their heads held high."

Commentary needs a good cop and a bad cop to be interesting, and Breen was playing the bad cop tonight.

"I think the Warriors still have a good chance of winning tonight. They played very well in their two previous home games."

Miller played the good cop.

As he spoke, he turned to look at Mychal Thompson.

"Yes, I agree with Reggie's point. The team's performance will be different at home and on the road. The Warriors' performance at home in this series has been better than on the road."

Thompson nodded in agreement.

"Mychal, we've noticed that Klay's performance in the Western Conference Finals hasn't been too outstanding. Does he have the ability to change the game?"

Breen continued to ask.

ESPN invited Curry Sr. and Thompson Sr., certainly not just to have them express their support for the Warriors, but to stir up some topics.

"Yes, I know that in the past week or so, he has been practicing three-pointers until very late every day, and I believe he will have a great game."

Thompson Sr. gave a very positive answer, showing that he was quite confident in his son.

Breen pursed his lips and then nodded.

This topic was good. If Thompson could really put on a great performance today and help the Warriors win, it would be big news after the game.

Just as the three commentators were talking, the opening ceremony began.

Both sides still hadn't made any adjustments to their starting lineups.

But on paper, the Warriors would have an advantage tonight.

In the past two days, fans' attention had been focused on Pachulia and Tang Tian, and no one had noticed Jokic's injury report.

A sprained ankle, requiring nearly a month of rest.

Jokic's subconscious dodge still had a certain effect.

Even this period of rest itself was not considered long, and would not be a big deal if it happened in the regular season.

But at this time, he couldn't play in the Western Conference Finals, including the Finals afterwards, which was a huge blow to the Pelicans' strength.

It should be known that after Jokic entered the Western Conference Finals, although he did not start, his condition was hot.

It was his excellent performance in the last game that allowed the Pelicans to take the lead.

Now that he and Pachulia can't play, it's like removing a weight from both sides of the scale.

But it was very obvious that Jokic's weight was much heavier than Pachulia's.

If the balance was originally leaning towards the Pelicans, then now it was at least even.

After the opening ceremony, the starters from both sides took to the court one after another. Davis won the tip against Green, officially opening the curtain on Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Pelicans attacked Davis first. Davis posted up Green, a beautiful turnaround hook shot, but unfortunately the ball hit the rim and bounced out.

Back on the other end, Curry and Durant did their classic pick-and-roll.

This was the tactic that Kerr disliked the most, but in order to win, nothing else mattered anymore.

After Curry saw that the Pelicans' defense wasn't switching, he took his signature long three-pointer.

The trajectory of the ball was very straight, but the ball hit the back of the rim and bounced high out of bounds.

In the Pelicans' attack, the ball reached Tang Tian's hands. Tang Tian dribbled the ball towards the inside against Thompson.

But as soon as he took a step, he found Durant appearing on his path.

He wanted to lower his body to dribble and change direction, but Durant's long arms covered the lower half of his body, and he was forced to retreat to the three-point line.

Tang Tian broke through again, with the same defensive method. His fadeaway rhythm hadn't been smooth in the last few days, and the ball also hit the rim and bounced out.

The rebound was collected by Green.

Back on the other end, the Warriors played the Durant-Curry pick-and-roll again. This time the Pelicans switched. Curry passed the ball to Durant, and Durant broke through to the inside.

His movements were very fast, but Davis' help defense was in place, providing enough interference after the contact.

The referee didn't blow the whistle, and Durant's shot bounced on the rim a few times before rolling out.

The Pelicans launched a counterattack, and Holiday received a pass from Tang Tian for a three-pointer in transition.

"Clang!"

It didn't go in either.

These first few possessions were a microcosm of the first quarter.

In the last Game 5, both teams were in hot form, making all kinds of difficult shots, but in Game 6, both sides' touch cooled down at the same time.

But this was also reasonable.

If the Warriors lost one more game, they would go home to fish, and if the Pelicans won one more game, they would advance to the Finals.

Both sides wanted to win, and they would do their best on the defensive end. The intensity of the defense on the court was very high.

The two sides played for more than four minutes before Thompson caught the ball on the outside and hit a three-pointer, scoring the first field goal, which was also the first point on the court.

Davis's strong attack under the basket still didn't go in.

Back on the other end, the Warriors continued to play infinite off-ball movement, and Thompson caught the ball and shot again.

Ariza's defense on this ball was very good, completely covering his face.

Thompson almost threw this ball entirely by feeling.

"Swish!"

But the ball still went in!

The continuous scoreless start made the fans feel suppressed. Thompson's two three-pointers were like throwing a match into a gasoline barrel, completely igniting the emotions on the scene.

On the Pelicans' side, Tang Tian finally stood up. He received a pass from Davis and cut in for a layup, scoring two points and breaking the Pelicans' scoring drought.

But back on the other end, it was Thompson again, catching the ball two steps away from the top of the arc, jumping up in the air to face Holiday's help defense, and throwing the ball into the basket!

His third consecutive three-pointer!

The fans at the scene instantly went wild.

The Splash Brothers, when Curry and Durant were both feeling cold, Thompson finally broke out!