Carrying an old science teacher with him

Chapter 62 A Different Answer

The Warriors started poorly in their away game against the 76ers. Wang Kai missed a three-pointer, and Baron Davis' layup was blocked by Dalembert. In the first two minutes and thirty seconds, the 76ers went on a 9-1 run thanks to Iverson's outstanding performance. The Warriors only managed to score one point from Wang Kai's free throws.

Perhaps due to the excitement of the previous game, Wang Kai also struggled in this game. Iguodala, who was selected by the 76ers with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 2004 draft, is still very inexperienced on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, relying on his excellent physical condition and good defensive tenacity, Iguodala has become the most important defensive player on the wing of the 76ers.

Iguodala's strategy for defending Wang Kai was simple: constantly seek physical contact, create confrontations, disrupt Wang Kai's dribbling and shooting rhythm, and at the same time test the referee's limits.

Before Wang Kai scored 64 points in the previous game, many teams had already begun to study this outstanding rookie. With the emergence of the 64-point game, Wang Kai naturally became the subject of study for even more teams.

The current head coach of the 76ers is Maurice Cheeks, who previously coached the Trail Blazers and achieved some success.

After watching Wang Kai's game footage, Coach Cheeks devised a defensive strategy against Iguodala.

In fact, Iguodala's one-on-one defense strategy is not new. Teams in the league have well-established plans to deal with players with such strong scoring ability. However, such plans are rarely used against a rookie.

After all, this was the 76ers' home court, and Iguodala's defensive actions were constantly testing the limits of a foul, but the referee did not make any call.

After taking the lead, Iverson played more aggressively, but he didn't take every shot one-on-one. After Webber arrived, Iverson was very considerate of Webber's feelings, often letting Webber hold the ball in the high post and initiating play, while he rarely played off-ball.

After realizing he was being targeted by his opponents, Wang Kai voluntarily relinquished possession and began playing off-the-ball offense.

Baron Davis scored repeatedly with back-to-the-basket moves against Iverson after receiving the ball, which helped stabilize the Warriors' situation.

On offense, Wang Kai constantly moved Iguodala around, drawing and stretching the 76ers' defense. On defense, he also double-teamed Iverson. Since his shooting touch wasn't good, Wang Kai decided to hold off on shooting, focusing on defense and positioning while waiting for a better opportunity.

As the game progressed, the 76ers extended their lead to 14 points at one point, with Iverson having 15 points and 3 assists with 4 minutes left in the first quarter.

Wang Kai didn't take many shots, scoring only 5 points from free throws and a steal under the basket.

Among the Warriors' other players, Jason Richardson scored 5 points and Baron Davis scored 8 points, while the rest failed to score.

"Guys, we need to change our style of play. We can't continue like this. We need to speed up the game. Their inside players can't keep up with our speed."

Baron Davis exercised his authority as the team's leader during the timeout, while interim head coach Tom Jackson sat silently to the side, already knowing he would have to step down after Christmas.

After the game restarted, the Warriors began to speed up the pace.

Wang Kai first received a pass from Baron Davis and decisively hit a three-pointer. Then he double-teamed Iverson, causing the opponent to make a passing error. After Baron got the ball, he made a fast break layup.

Near the end of the first quarter, the Warriors narrowed the gap to less than ten points.

In the second quarter, Iverson returned to the court after resting for less than two minutes.

As soon as he stepped onto the court, Iverson used his signature butterfly step to completely shake off Baron Davis and drive to the basket, scoring despite Wang Kai's help defense and drawing a foul from Wang Kai in the process.

Allen Iverson is indeed amazing in terms of speed. He has made a name for himself in a league full of tall players with his height of just over 1.8 meters. Iverson truly deserves his nickname "The Answer".

Like Kobe, despite his many flaws and his less-than-stellar shooting percentage, Iverson is undeniably the player in the league who best combines speed and skill.

After making the free throw, Iverson's score reached 20 points, and the 76ers fans in the arena gave their "Answer" the loudest cheers and chants of "MVP".

Seeing the different "answer" today only fueled Wang Kai's fighting spirit.

If he's not feeling good, Wang Kai plans to keep shooting decisively until he finds his rhythm.

In the next Warriors' attack, Wang Kai made an off-ball run, got rid of Iguodala's pull, received the ball, and decisively shot. The basketball bounced in the rim and then flew out.

The 76ers grabbed the rebound and launched a fast break, but the Warriors quickly recovered and successfully completed the defensive play.

After securing the rebound, Wang Kai launched a counterattack. He dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and, without hesitation, took another three-pointer. This time, the ball hit the front edge of the rim and bounced into the net with great luck.

The 76ers were on offense. Webber passed the ball from the high post, and Korver, using Dalembert's screen, cut to the corner to receive the ball and hit a three-pointer. The score difference between the two sides remained around ten points.

Wang Kai continued his off-ball movement in the frontcourt. After setting a screen for Dunleavy, he didn't run to the weak side but instead made a sudden turnback, received a handoff pass from Dunleavy, and then took another three-pointer.

This time, the basketball swished precisely into the net; his touch had finally returned.

Once he found his rhythm, Wang Kai started scoring. He first faked a shot on offense, fooling Iguodala and drawing a three-point foul from him.

Immediately after Iverson hit a mid-range jumper, the team sped up the counterattack, and once again faked a shot and drove to the basket, fooling Korver who was on the defensive in time, before slamming in a dunk for two points.

Midway through the second quarter, the Warriors narrowed the gap to five points thanks to Wang Kai's individual offense.

Wang Kai scored 11 points in the first half of the second quarter, eliciting gasps from the 76ers' home crowd.

However, in the second half of the second quarter, Iverson turned on his killer mode, constantly using his speed to break through the defense and attack the basket. He not only drew Wang Kai's third foul, but also caused Troy Murphy to twist his ankle and be forced to leave the game.

At halftime, Wang Kai had scored his twentieth point, while Iverson had scored 34 points.

With 34 points in the first half, it seemed that Iverson was about to set a new record of astonishing high scores, just like Wang Kai two days ago and Kobe Bryant one day ago.

The media and fans are all looking forward to it, as such a situation of three consecutive days of amazing high scores is rare in the history of the league.