NBA: Warrior godfather.

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James stopped in front of him and waved his hand:

"Come on!"

Curry smiled slightly, showing no intention of dueling James. Instead, he passed the ball to Lowry and sprinted off-ball.

He had grown up in NBA arenas. This wasn't his first rodeo. Trash talk wouldn't throw him off his game, so he ignored James' words without losing focus.

James had no choice but to keep up, but Curry quickly shook him off. The weak defensive lineup of the Cavaliers' bench couldn't stop Curry at all. Lowry found himself wide open and passed the ball back to Curry, who sank a clean three-pointer.

ESPN's commentators praised the shot, with Jeff Van Gundy saying:

"Beautiful execution. The Cavs are terrible at defending off-ball movement. How does Curry get such an easy look?"

After sinking the three, Curry bit his mouthguard and shrugged at James.

Seeing Curry's smug expression, James felt an overwhelming urge to humble him.

This kid's expression is too arrogant and smug!

In the next two minutes, the Warriors capitalized on the advantage of starting their bench early. Curry's off-ball movement repeatedly caused trouble, and others, like Mo Williams, also exploited defensive weaknesses to attack.

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, they still had James. When Mo Williams was contained by Matthews, James put the team on his shoulders, driving hard to the basket against the Warriors' defense to keep the score close.

At the 6:23 mark of the final quarter, Cleveland's starting lineup finally returned, with J.J. Hickson subbing in for O'Neal.

Mike Brown had adjusted, determined not to give Curry easy targets.

On the TNT broadcast, Reggie Miller analyzed:

"The score is 108-105, Warriors leading by 3. The Cavs' starters are back, and so are the Warriors. This is it—the final showdown. Charles, who's your pick?"

Charles Barkley chuckled and said:

"Who'd have thought these two teams would engage in such an offensive battle? I gotta lean towards the Cavaliers. James is in full playoff mode tonight. Maybe that pregame interview by Liam Gonzalez fired him up."

Reggie added:

"I'm not so sure, Charles. Something seems off with the Cavs. James has only 5 assists despite multiple opportunities to pass. He's forcing it, and that might backfire. Even though the Warriors' defense isn't top-notch, they've been slowing him just enough."

The audience across America was glued to their screens. With the spotlight on, the final six minutes began.

Both teams now knew each other's strategies and were prepared to counter.

On Cleveland's next possession, James attacked inside, but Matthews made a surprise diagonal lunge and intercepted the pass mid-air.

James stumbled and nearly fell but was "kindly" held up by Matthews.

Once steady, James turned and shoved Matthews, shouting:

"What's your problem?"

Matthews raised his hands innocently, replying:

"I didn't mean to bump into you."

"You did that on purpose!" Monta Ellis rushed in to defend his teammate.

Stephen Jackson, mouth agape, stepped up, spitting venom:

"Kid, you wanna fight? I'll take you on anytime!"

Before things escalated further, Curry darted between the towering players, fearlessly pushing back:

"Back off! Don't you dare touch my guy!"

Meanwhile, Caron Butler clenched his fists silently, muscles tense, walking toward the scene with a cold expression. His streetball experience taught him that real action didn't require shouting—it was all about readiness.

As tension reached a boiling point, the referees hurried in, blowing whistles and inserting themselves between the players.

"Calm down! Everyone calm down!"

Azubuike pointed at James and shouted:

"He pushed first!"

Hickson retaliated:

"It was that punk's cheap foul!"

The referees reviewed the footage and, after deliberation, assessed Matthews a common foul and James a technical foul.

The Cavs were livid, surrounding the referees in protest, but the explanation was clear:

"Matthews made a play for the ball and took protective measures. There's no flagrant foul here."

James made one of two free throws for Cleveland, while Curry hit the technical free throw for the Warriors.

109-106.

Liam Gonzalez stood on the sidelines, arms crossed, smiling calmly at the commotion.

Silas whispered, "Liam, how did you know James would lose his cool like that?"

Liam shook his head:

"I didn't. I'm not a prophet."

"Then why'd you tell Matthews to foul so hard?"

"I just wanted to make him earn it. If James attacks the rim, that's almost two guaranteed points. At the line? That's not as certain. Who knew he'd take it so personally?"

"Will you keep fouling him?"

"Of course. Unless he hits every free throw, I'll keep hacking," Liam responded decisively.

Silas hesitated:

"But James shoots 78% from the line. This might backfire."

Liam smiled:

"I know, but what other choice do we have? We don't have a dominant center, and our frontcourt is young. We can't stop him outright, so we have to make him work for it. He's James, a physical monster who won't tire even after 48 minutes. We can't rely on luck—we have to disrupt him however we can."

Back on the court, Curry hit a tough triple over Jackson, and Liam clapped, murmuring:

"We're not strong enough yet. If we had the strength, I wouldn't need to resort to these little tricks."

The next possession, James drove to the basket and was fouled hard by Azubuike. Though Azubuike's swipe at the ball landed on James' hand, it was a clean enough play to avoid a flagrant.

James winced slightly but hit one of two free throws.

On his next possession, he adjusted and hit both free throws.

112-109.

Seeing this, Liam signaled his players to stop fouling James. The mission was accomplished. James' visible frustration was proof enough.

"Why are they treating me like Shaq?" he fumed internally.

Now James had one thought: Dominate. Crush them. Prove everyone wrong.

With both teams battling exhaustion, Curry struggled to shake off James' relentless defense. His legs felt like lead from the continuous movement and physical play.

Still, he managed to get the ball from Lowry at the top of the arc, breathing heavily.

End of this chapter

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