Mike D'Antoni was encouraged by how the Golden State Warriors used elements of his offense in winning one NBA championship in 2015 and then winning 73 games in 15-16.

“O.K., this does work,” D'Antoni told himself. “I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t crazy. You need the right players, the right mentality. But it can be done.”

While away from the game, D'Antoni talked to Alvin Gentry regularly and also touched base with Steve Kerr a couple of times. D'Antoni took mental notes for potential jobs and also began brainstorming ways to replicate Draymond Green.

"If Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey had a baby, it would be James Harden, running high-efficiency pick-and-rolls at the top of the crib," writes Lee Jenkins. "They formed a holy analytical trinity."

“This,” Harden says, “is probably what I should have been doing all along.”

“We’re convinced we can do it,” D’Antoni said.