The Supersonics, boasting the twin towers of Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett, were undoubtedly the side with the greater advantage.

The result of that night's game validated Carlisle's pre-game prediction.

Final score, 91 to 86.

With the "Northwest Three Giants" combining for 71 points, the Supersonics managed to claw back a victory on the road through a brawl-like matchup.

This defeat cost the Warriors their home-court advantage in this series.

"He (Qin Yue) truly is the most outstanding player in the league today. I deeply regret his inability to perform at his best due to injury, but in my opinion, this presents a perfect opportunity for us to beat the Warriors."

After the game, Carlisle candidly expressed that the reason the Supersonics switched to a defensive basketball strategy in the second game was precisely to exploit Qin Yue's injury.

Strike while the iron is hot.

Carlisle didn't see anything embarrassing about admitting to taking advantage of the opposing team's core player's injury.

And furthermore...

Even when playing injured, Qin Yue managed to average 30 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal for the Warriors in the first two games?

Although Carlisle would never fall in love with Qin Yue's ball-dominant style, it doesn't mean Carlisle doesn't recognize Qin Yue's abilities.

"Good thing he's injured."

After the first two games, both Carlisle and the Supersonics players couldn't help but sigh with relief in their hearts.

Especially Garnett.

As the player mainly defending Qin Yue in this series...

After the second game, Garnett, even after the victory, was seen with a face full of melancholy, saying, "There is only one kind of heroism in the world: to know the reality of life and still love it."

A day later, the third game between the two teams moved to KeyArena in Seattle.

ESPN specifically invited Yao Ming's former head coach Jeff Van Gundy to provide commentary.

For Yao Ming, who was increasingly enjoying himself under Carlisle's guidance, Van Gundy said, "Rick has effectively utilized 'Big-Yao's' characteristics and designed a plethora of tailored tactics for him, making him the most efficient scoring center in the league today.

However, I must expressly commend Kevin Garnett... Despite Kevin's personal stats not being outstanding in the Western Conference Finals, he is the most important player for the Supersonics, both offensively and defensively."

Outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the nuances.

In this year's Western Conference Finals, despite Garnett nearly being turned into a philosopher by Qin Yue, this series became a statement for Garnett.

Statistics can't reflect Garnett's role on the court.

To become a player with a championship.

Garnett, who turns left for heaven and right for warriors, has long placed his "life and death" out of consideration, and even knowing that the path ahead could lead to "death," Garnett would charge at Qin Yue without hesitation time and again.

This further exacerbated Qin Yue's pent-up frustration during his injury recovery.

Because he couldn't go all-out to shatter the championship dream of "Full Garnett"...

Even if the Warriors were to ultimately advance to the finals, it would be a significant regret in Qin Yue's career.

After all, who knows how long such a "Full Garnett" could maintain his form?

In the third game, the defensive intensity from the Supersonics remained.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors, who had limited the Nuggets' three-point percentage using a similar tactic, faced the same treatment in this year's Western Conference Finals.

On ESPN, Van Gundy explained to fans the Supersonics' defense: "The Supersonics' four-linked one-on-one defense works well because they have Kevin Garnett to match up against Messiah.

In the second game, Troy Murphy didn't perform well, allowing the Supersonics to use the other four players to collectively limit the offense of the remaining three Warriors players on the court.

As long as 'Big-Yao' can return to the paint, you can never ignore the intimidation his size presents to opposing offensive players."

Beside him, A. Smith chimed in, "So, is this why the Supersonics can disrupt the Warriors' shooting accuracy by upping their defense level?"

Van Gundy nodded, "Exactly, when playing against the Warriors, only by matching them position for position can you ensure relying on a higher level of defense to limit their outside performances."

Matchups are always the most crucial aspect of defense.

If throughout the game, you can't form effective matchups against the opposing players, and you even have to focus additional defensive resources due to mismatches...

Then even the fiercest physical confrontations are destined to struggle to limit the Warriors' offense.

Since returning from his own injury, the never before stymied Baron Davis encountered the rare occurrence of consecutive poor performances.

Facing Cassell, the original Mr. Big Beard could certainly breeze past him.

But...

Facing Yao Ming anchoring the Supersonics' paint, Davis's explosiveness was clearly diminished.

Historically, in 11 career matchups with Yao Ming, LeBron James's overall shooting percentage was only 38.9%.

Back then, the Rockets' overall defense certainly greatly impacted James's shooting accuracy.

But given Young James's tendency to attack the basket more than 10 times per game at the time... Without Yao Ming patrolling the paint, how would the Rockets have defended against James?

In Qin Yue's past life, many fans exaggerated Shane Battier's defensive prowess, but if you exclude games where he played alongside Yao Ming, James's shooting percentage against his defense would undoubtedly exceed 50%.

As Jeff Van Gundy stated, as long as the Supersonics could retract Yao Ming into the paint through their classic basketball, then within the Warriors, including Qin Yue, no one could ignore Yao Ming's 7'6" frame.

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