I fell in love with Toutiao and became the GOAT.

At Oracle Arena, during warm-ups, Lin Bei spotted Lee Priest in the front row seat on the sidelines.

Sitting next to me was a black woman with high cheekbones and triangular eyes. She was quite tall, probably around 1.8 meters.

Lin Bei thought to himself: This must be Lee Priest's sister, right?

She's a high-class dark-skinned girl, thankfully he had no expectations at all.

He went up and greeted Lee Priest, glancing occasionally at the black woman beside him, waiting for Lee Priest to introduce him.

I had only said a couple of words to him when Little Potato came over.

"Is this your friend?"

Little Potato first met Lee Priest through Lin Bei's introduction.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Bei's pupils contracted slightly as he saw Little Potato naturally stretch out his arm and hug the sophisticated-looking dark-skinned girl.

"This is……"

Little Potato proudly raised his head: "Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, Melody, she's a model."

Lin Bei suppressed his surprise and politely nodded in greeting, "Hello, Melody."

With her strikingly beautiful face, Melody smiled, revealing two rows of dazzling white teeth. She greeted Lin Bei with a "Hello."

After Little Potato dragged his girlfriend to show off in front of the other teammates, Lin Bei turned to Lee Priest and shrugged helplessly: "I thought that was your sister."

Lee Priest had a strange expression: "You kept staring at that black girl, I almost thought you were interested in her."

Seeing Lin Bei shake his head, he chuckled and added, "My sisters haven't arrived yet; they'll probably be a little late."

Lin Bei then noticed that there were three empty seats on the other side of Lee Priest, and immediately understood.

He pointed to the court: "Then I'll go warm up first."

Lee Priest nodded: "No rush, I'll introduce you to them when they arrive."

……

After a ten-minute warm-up, the competition began.

As a starter, Lin Bei stood at the center line, opposite Al Jefferson.

Al Jefferson appears to be about the same height as Lin Bei, but he's actually only about 2.06 meters tall.

However, he was a size bigger than Lin Bei, or more accurately, a size bigger. His muscle definition wasn't as obvious, so he looked more fat than strong.

Al Jefferson's career began with the Celtics, and in 07 he was traded to the Timberwolves as part of the deal to acquire Kevin Garnett.

Last season, the Timberwolves, who unearthed Kevin Love, made another trade, sending Jefferson to the Jazz.

Jefferson, who has played for the Jazz for the past two seasons, can be considered to have reached the peak of his career.

The data didn't increase, but the team's performance was excellent.

Lin Bei didn't know much about Jefferson, only that he was one of the few classic centers in the league today.

He is an offensive kaleidoscope, especially good at low-post back-to-the-basket moves, but his defensive performance is somewhat lacking, making him a typical "strong offense, weak defense" type of player.

Behind Jefferson were the forwards Millsap and Gordon Hayward, and the backcourt of Devin Harris and Raja Bell.

Referee Dick Bavita blew his whistle, and the basketball was launched into the air above Oracle Arena.

"Snapped!"

Amid cheers from the home crowd, Lin Bei quickly dribbled the basketball.

After obtaining [Dwight Dunk], Lin Bei's jumping ability also improved. A short and stocky center like Jefferson would definitely be no match for him in terms of jumping.

Curry controlled the basketball and quickly pushed it across half-court.

At the top of the arc, Lin Bei blocked another attack.

Without any hand-to-hand passing, just a simple, mediocre screen, Curry nimbly shook off Devin Harris and drove straight in.

Based on regular season statistics, the Jazz's defense seemed pretty good, but when it came to a real game, their defense became exposed.

Jefferson and Millsap's inside combination was better on offense than on defense, while the three outside players were either too old (Raja Bell), half-crippled (Devin Harris), or, like the two short inside players, were better on offense than on defense (Gordon Hayward).

The Jazz's seemingly impressive defensive stats are actually an illusion created by their slow and controlled pace.

In this offensive possession, Curry drove straight in and completely pierced the Jazz's defense, launching a mid-range pull-up jumper.

With a whoosh!

The Warriors easily took the first game 2-0.

"Curry is in great form; that shot was incredibly smooth..."

"Of course, Dalin's pick-and-roll screens also played a crucial role. As I said before, if pick-and-roll screens count as assists, Dalin now has one assist on his tally."

Next, on the Jazz's offensive possession, Devin Harris crossed half-court with 8 seconds remaining.

Under the basket, Jefferson had already planted his footing and used his strong physique to push and shove, trying to block Lin Bei behind him.

Lin Bei showed no sign of backing down and immediately engaged Jefferson in a fierce battle, sticking close to him and suddenly cutting in front of him, blocking Jefferson's path to receive the ball.

Jefferson looked strong, but in a physical confrontation, he was about evenly matched with Lin Bei.

Lin Bei made a frontal run, and Devin Harris abandoned his plan to pass the ball to the basket.

Millsap mentioned receiving the ball at the high post, driving to the basket, and hitting a mid-range shot over David Lee.

Clang!

Under the basket, Jefferson was again trying to position himself.

Lin Bei, however, used the same old trick: using his [Talent: Rebound Sense] to judge where the rebound would land, rushing out to leap first and grab the rebound.

This defensive play started with a fronting maneuver and ended with securing the rebound.

In terms of matchup, Lin Bei and Jefferson are evenly matched.

In essence, Lin Bei prevented Jefferson from receiving the ball and then grabbed the rebound over Jefferson's head, so he naturally won.

After grabbing the backboard and landing, he launched another long pass.

In the frontcourt, Curry, sprinting forward, receives a pass.

Off the court, Mark Jackson realized that Lin Bei's performance against the Heat in the previous game was not just a flash in the pan.

On the counterattack, Curry drove to the basket and scored a layup over Devin Harris.

The Warriors had a smooth start, going up 4-0.

In these two rounds, Lin Bei's presence was by no means weak; one rebound and one assist were enough.

There's no need to mention CCTV's hype anymore. As for the Americans, Bill Walton and Ernie Jensen were the commentators at the TNT commentary booth for this game.

This wasn't the first time Old Walton had commentated on Lin Bei's match. He saw Lin Bei not trying to block the shot but instead rushing out, and he even criticized Lin Bei.

"Best Lin's biggest problem as a center is that he doesn't have the habit of boxing out."

But then, Lin Bei grabbed the rebound, and old Walton fell silent.

After Lin Bei landed and made a long pass that accurately found Curry in the frontcourt, he immediately changed his tune, his tone full of admiration: "Best Lin's passing has really been developed. This accurate long pass directly created this fast break score for the Warriors."

In the subsequent defense, Lin Bei did not go around to the front again.

He allowed Jefferson to easily box out under the basket, prompting Walton to question again, "Why isn't Best Lin fronting him?"

What old Walton didn't know was that Lin Bei was deliberately avoiding the front line.

Lin Bei and Jefferson are roughly equal in strength, so there's no guarantee that every flanking maneuver will be successful.

Then it's better not to go around him, let Jefferson get the ball, and trust your own defense.

After receiving the ball, Jefferson turned his back to Lin Bei, made a feint to try and confuse Lin Bei, and then suddenly flipped over and jumped up, raising his hand to shoot.

But Lin Bei's defensive awareness was already at its peak, and he saw through Jefferson's feint at a glance.

Just as Jefferson turned and made his move, Lin Bei quickly closed in, extending his arm to provide sufficient interference.

Clang!

The Oracle Arena erupted in cheers, with everyone marveling at Lin Bei's outstanding one-on-one defense.

This demonstrates the correctness of Lin Bei's decision not to go around the front. If he had gone around the front, there wouldn't have been this impressive one-on-one defense.

David Lee grabbed the rebound, but he couldn't deliver the kind of cross-court pass that Lin Bei had.

Without any counterattack, the Warriors lost possession again.

At the top of the arc, Lin Bei blocked another shot for Curry.

The quality of the screen was exceptionally good. Even Curry hadn't expected that Lin Bei could completely block Devin Harris, who was chasing him, leaving no gaps in the chase.

But Curry reacted extremely quickly, using a screen to instantly shake off the defense. Looking up, he saw that there was no one in front of him. Without any hesitation, he pulled up and launched a three-pointer.

Swish-!

The crisp sound of the basketball swishing through the net rang out again, and Oracle Arena erupted in an extremely enthusiastic cheer.

"Stephen Curry went on a rampage right from the start, hitting all three of his shots and scoring 7 points in a row..."

Amid the cheers of the home crowd, the Warriors' bench was also in an uproar, except for one exception—Andrew Bodogt.

Bogut frowned slightly, knowing full well that as a seasoned veteran, he understood the situation:

The safest way to integrate into a new team is to build a good relationship with the team leader.

He always felt that after Monta Ellis left, the Warriors' absolute core should be David Lee.

David Lee is a consistent 20+10 player, and his stats perfectly outshine the current young Warriors team.

But seeing Curry scoring repeatedly made Bodog suddenly realize that he seemed to have chosen the wrong person.

David Lee was not the leader of this Warriors team, which was something he never expected.

"Stephen Curry?"

Bodog frowned; he had seen Curry and Lin Bei interacting intimately countless times in the past two days.

"Fk!"

What made Bodog even more defensive was that Lin Bei's performance on the field was also outstanding.

Although he didn't score, two excellent screens and a direct assist led to Curry scoring 7 consecutive points.

He also had one rebound and a successful defensive play against Al Jefferson.

He immediately made a judgment: "This guy is a formidable opponent."

……

Let's leave aside Bodog's ability to break through defenses for now.

On the court, Curry quickly got into the game, scoring 7 points in a row, and the Warriors got off to a perfect 7-0 start.

Turning around, the Jazz's offense only managed to break their scoring drought early in the game thanks to a mid-range jumper from Millsap.

But then, during the Warriors' attack, Lin Bei took off right under the basket.

He started with a pick-and-roll, and after the screen was set, he drove inside.

Jefferson, who was defending, couldn't keep up with Lin Beishun's pace, so Curry made a high pass.

Lin Bei leaped up, caught the basketball in mid-air, and slammed it into the basket with a bang!

With a score of 9-2, the Warriors secured a 7-point lead.

The Warriors practically ended the suspense of the game from the very beginning.

Off the court, Mark Jackson watched Lin Bei's defensive matchup against Al Jefferson—

Jefferson's attempts at one-on-one play almost always failed to break through Lin Bei's defense.

The Jazz had to shift their offensive focus to the perimeter, relying on Millsap's face-up offense and Gordon Hayward's cuts or isolation plays to barely keep up with the Warriors' scoring momentum.

In the first quarter, the Warriors led 31-23, gaining an 8-point advantage.

Lin Bei played the entire first quarter, and even hit a three-pointer on offense, scoring 5 points in the quarter.

However, the rebounding was a bit of a letdown. Jefferson had a few chances to box out, and coincidentally, he ran into Lin Bei's predicted landing point on the backboard.

Lin Bei couldn't get around Jefferson's positioning and could only watch helplessly as the opponent grabbed the rebound.

Overall, he still managed to grab 5 rebounds in the first quarter, which is typical for a center.

With an additional two assists, Lin Bei delivered a well-rounded performance in the quarter, totaling 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists – a truly outstanding showing.

Amidst the thunderous cheers at Oracle Center, Mark Jackson gave a wry smile.

"A happy problem, Mark."

Mark Jackson shook his head at assistant coach Mike Malone's teasing, not seeing it as a happy problem.

While there's no such thing as a "starter guarantee" in the NBA, the addition of a player of Andrew Bogdanovic's caliber would almost certainly guarantee him a starting position.

With Lin Bei's performance, there's no reason for him to be promoted to the substitute.

Mark Jackson was caught in the middle, facing a difficult choice.

He even hoped that Bodog would produce a big one next, so that he wouldn't have to worry about it.

……

In the second quarter, Bodog finally took to the court.

The Warriors' rotation has essentially returned to what it was before the trades and Lin Bei's suspension.

That is, Lin Bei plays one quarter, and Bodog comes off the bench to play another quarter.

This is the fixed rotation order for the first half; the second half may be different.

When Ekpe Udoh is on the court, Lin Bei will play a longer portion of the second half, which will highlight Lin Bei's status as a key player.

Unlike Udoh, Bodog's arrival may change the rotation order in the second half.

Lin Bei didn't care. He was satisfied as long as Mark Jackson could guarantee him about 30 minutes of playing time per game.

In the second quarter, Bodog entered the game, and Lin Bei finally had a chance to look at Lee Priest in the front row.

The empty seats on Lee Priest's side were already occupied by three girls of different heights.

They're both fair-skinned, look somewhat alike, and are both quite pretty, but they look a bit...too young!

"The youngest looks only eight or nine years old, is she really a little sister?"

Lin Bei shook his head helplessly. Sure enough, he couldn't have any expectations of the sister that Lee Priest mentioned.

The game was in full swing, and Lee Priest and his team were positioned opposite the bench.

Lin Bei couldn't cross the court to greet him, so he could only wave from afar as a greeting to Lee Priest.

It wasn't until the first half ended and he was leaving that he had a chance to go over and meet the three "sisters" that Lee Priest had brought.