Champion Creed

Targeted defense, that's the biggest difference between the regular season and the playoffs.

Some star players might perform brilliantly during the regular season, but come playoffs, their true nature is revealed.

The reason is they can't handle the targeted defense set by the opposing team.

The regular season is like a whirlwind tour, with many games and short intervals between them; you don't have much time for detailed analysis of your opponents.

But playoffs are a completely different matter, akin to the difference between a girl from KTV and a formal girlfriend. For a girlfriend you'll be with for a long time, you have to study her tastes, temper, and favorite topics to cater to her.

And because it's a life-or-death series, some extreme tactics that are impossible in the regular season might appear in the playoffs.

Take last round's game seven, for instance, where Roger adopted the tactic of both playing the attacking game and desperately supporting the defense, a strategy impossible to employ during the regular season.

All these factors make the playoffs unique.

Gregg Popovich arrived at the Oakland Arena with his carefully studied targeted strategy, ready to once again take down the crown on Roger's head.

Both teams' starters took to the court, continuing the feud from last season, marking the shift in power for this era.

Saying this is no exaggeration, because Roger has never dominated Tim Duncan.

All his victories against Duncan have been in the inconsequential regular season.

In the playoffs, Duncan could lift the championship in Roger's era and directly knock down the guy referred to as god in the series.

This is what makes San Antonio's number 21 so different.

If there's any blemish in Roger's career thus far, it's Duncan.

So this series could be considered a war for dominance.

If Roger still can't defeat number 21, his dominance will be shaken.

Duncan is unlike most NBA star players; he doesn't talk trash.

But that doesn't mean he won't talk tough before the game.

"I think you might need some experiences of failure to enrich your monotonous career," Tim Duncan told Roger expressionlessly.

"Tim," Roger's expression was equally cold, "people say you're a boring person, but I find you the most amusing speaker among all defeatists. I'm not going to shut you up completely; I'll keep your life and tongue to tell me cold jokes."

No aggressive cursing, nor warm greetings to each other's families.

Roger and Duncan's tones were very calm.

In fact, the emotions of Roger and Duncan were stable all night.

Before the game, reporters asked Roger how he would respond to Popovich's claim "I've never watched a Warriors game tape."

He just shrugged: "Trust me, he'll be staying up late watching tonight."

And when reporters asked Duncan what this series means, Duncan simply replied: "It means I have to endure Tony Parker for 48 minutes again."

The atmosphere of this series is completely different from the previous one; the last round, the Lakers and Warriors were both yelling to kill each other. But this round, the Warriors and Spurs are like two old politicians campaigning for president.

On the surface, both sides maintained basic decency and smiles, but internally, both are plotting to take each other down.

The game started, Marcus Camby secured the possession for the Warriors.

Duncan is like a nuclear threat from the low post; according to Hubie Brown's strategy, Mutombo should start against the Spurs.

But after the previous series, Erik Spoelstra decided to increase Camby's playtime. He believes Camby's energy will create more trouble for Duncan.

Warriors on offense, Roger noticed the Spurs didn't trap him instantly near the three-point line like other teams do.

They only sent old acquaintance Bruce Bowen to Roger, while Duncan eagerly moved a few steps forward, ready to assist; the others stuck closely to their matchups.

Roger actually welcomes double-teaming; it means there will be open spots and easy scoring opportunities on the court.

In this way, the game can often be resolved effortlessly.

Throughout the regular season, those games where the Warriors won big weren't when Roger scored 40 or 50 points. In those victories, Roger's stats are usually 30+10.

He would score 30 points himself, then make 10 assists to teammates, converting those opportunities, and the game would smoothly slip through like soap.

When Roger needs to score 40 or 50 points, it actually means the game is intense.

The Warriors' three-point shooting is a deadly weapon often overlooked by other league teams.

Allan Houston, Tayshaun Prince, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy, Cattino Mobley… The Warriors might have the best three-point resources in the entire league.

And with Roger's overall view improving yearly, once you choose to double-team Roger, he can always find the open response point immediately.

This is why most teams who simply choose to double-team Roger end up unable to stop his personal scoring, and also can't stop the Warriors' overall offense, resulting in a direct loss.

During the regular season, the Spurs also defended Roger like this; Popovich would use Bruce Bowen to primarily guard and then use Payton to assist.

But since neither Bowen nor Payton was particularly fast, unable to reposition in time, the Warriors could always capitalize on those open three-point opportunities.