Chapter 849: A Difficult Choice
The Heat were clearly stunned at halftime, and they had wondered countless times how the Clippers would limit themselves on the defensive end, but in any case, they would never have imagined that the opponent would suddenly burst out on the offensive end.
Defense can lead to offense, and in reverse, offense can also lead defense.
Don't look at the Clippers playing so aggressively in the half, and the defensive end is constantly changing moves, but looking back at the Heat's more than 50+ points in the half, you can understand that the reason that really gave the Clippers a big lead was the offense.
Nguyen Erniu scored 22 points in the half, Paul scored 16, Redick scored 12, Nick Young scored 10, Yi Jianlian scored 10 points, Battier scored 3 points and Kawaii scored 3 points. Jordan Jr. scored 1 point,
Just after the half, five players on the team scored in double figures, which is basically a statistic that can only be completed in the whole game for most teams.
In the Heat's locker room, Spostela didn't have a better way, and in his eagerness he had to sacrifice a trick of the wheel, in addition to asking the Heat players to increase their attention on the defensive end, leaving the Big Three to solve the offensive problem themselves.
In fact, the Heat have never been too complicated on the offensive end, and the so-called efficient offensive and defensive transitions, and the emphasis on three-point play, are all leftovers for the Hawks dynasty.
As the founder of the Hawks dynasty, Ruan Erniu gave the latter quite good restrictions on the offensive end when he faced James, which undoubtedly caused a lot of trouble for the overall operation of the Heat.
The second half of the game started quickly, and James added a ball-handling breakaway, which was what the Heat had left.
Tonight's referee saw that the score gap was too big, and he couldn't take care of the Clippers' home-court advantage, and gave the Heat a lot of help in blowing penalties.
James shot 3 of 5 in the single quarter, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 12 points, Ruan Erniu, Jordan Jr., and Leonard contributed a foul one after another, giving James ample free throw opportunities.
Well, in this Finals, the referee has not given the Clippers home court advantage as usual since G1.
Obviously, the league still hopes that James can grow up, after all, he is the representative of basketball in the United States and the honor of the Millican nation.
As a foreigner, Er Niu knows this very well in his heart, but he is also used to it, kings are born to be enemies of the world.
As far as the facts are concerned, even if the scale of the referee in G2 is more biased towards the Heat, it will be difficult for the situation to turn sharply.
Ruan Erniu also did not relentless in the third quarter, he shot 5 of 6, including 3 of 3 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, scored 15 points in a single quarter, and continued to lead the team to maintain a suppressive posture against the Heat.
The two sides played a low score of 23:24 in the third quarter, and except for Nguyen and Zhan, the other players hit ridiculously low shooting percentages.
Looking up at the scoreboard, the Heat, which had a certain advantage in the penalty scale, actually lost to the home team by one point in a single quarter.
It can only be said that the blowing bias under Stern is still not exciting enough, or that fans have not yet had the opportunity to see what a real historical black whistle is.
At 75:101, after the third quarter, the Clippers had scored more than 100 points, and the final quarter of the game entered garbage time early, but Spostela still did not let the players give up.
At least two of the Big Three are playing on the court just to gamble on a chance to survive.
It's a pity that the Clippers didn't give the opponent any chance, and at the critical moment, it was Sean Battier who stood up to harvest the game.
The Heat finally understood the Thunder's pain.
It's not that I don't want to defend Batman, but when the pickle girl combination broke out at the same time, and Redick and Nick Young needed to defend, it really couldn't involve more energy to deal with Sean Battier.
"Brush!", "Brush!", "Brush!"
Battier maintained a confident smile and used a wave of three-point rain to stretch the difference between the two teams to 30+.
Four minutes before the end, Spostela replaced all three giants and officially raised their hands to surrender.
Nguyen Er Niu and San Pao were also replaced by Thibodeau afterwards, and the game went into garbage time.
With the referee's whistle, the G2 game finally came to an end.
Ruan Erniu, who scored 55 points and 31 boards, did not express much joy in the direct interview after the game.
He said cautiously: "We just just drew and the next three away games are the key to the series. ”
Of course, tonight's press conference is destined to belong to Yi Jianlian, who shot 6 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 2 three-pointers and 2 of 3 free throws, and scored 16 points and 7 boards.
Because Bosh, who was directly opposite him, handed over the stats tonight: 5-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-4 free throws, scoring 14 points and 10 boards.
If you just look at the final data, there is not much difference between the two, but when it comes to efficiency, Ah Lian obviously occupies the peak.
Let's take another side comparison that is very popular with various media: the league's basic salary player with an annual salary of 470,000 meters has killed the league's top interior with an annual salary of 16.02 million.
Thibodeau and Yi Kinlian attended the post-match press conference together.
At the press conference, Thibodeau said bluntly: "The ease of reuse is the result of Steve (Cole's) proposal and the final decision of COACH-R, and I did not play a key role.
It turned out to be the right decision, and Yi Yi's performance tonight against Bosh was obvious to all. ”
Later, of course, a reporter asked Alan about his views on why he was able to defend Bosh, and Alan still said a little shyly: "It was the unanimous decision of the coaching staff to let me defend Bosh, and Erniu also invited me to a meal before the game and told me to have confidence in myself, I think I waited for the opportunity I always wanted."
Also, I don't think I'm guarding Bosh, I'm just trying to do what the coaching staff asks me to do, trying to wear down the opponent on both ends of the floor. ”
It's been a long time since Allen had the opportunity to attend a press conference directly, and the last time he did so was probably when he scored his first double-double in his rookie season.
Regardless, God rewards hard work, and Allen has this fight, and whether or not the Clippers win the championship in the end, he can confidently pursue a mid-level contract in free agency in the summer, and in the right system, he is worth the price.
After playing G2, the Clippers team will not have much time to be happy, and they will travel diagonally across the entire United States and fly to Miami for the subsequent G3, G4, and G5.
The finals of the 11-12 season are still 2:3:2, which is actually not good for the team with the better record, because once they lose one game in G1 and G2, they will have to play three away games in a row under great pressure.
I have to say that the inertia is always so strong, even if the empty line of the whole meter has long been able to ensure that the finals are played in a 2:2:1:1:1 format, even if the playoff format has long been changed, but the finals system has still not changed.
"Dad, don't lose the championship in Miami, I'll wait at the Staples Center to see you come back and win!" Eddie said with a serious face.
Ruan Erniu touched his daughter, who was getting taller and taller, and said with a smile: "What if I come back directly with the O'Brien Cup?"
Eddie also laughed, "Then I'll watch you spray champagne directly on the arena screen at the Staples Center!"
"Waiting for my good news!" Erniu kissed Eddie, Dr. Han, and Xiao Tangyuan on the foreheads, and gave them hugs one by one, and then led the team to fly to the south coast.
Although Erniu showed great confidence in his family, they were in trouble from the beginning of G3 - the Heat changed formations:
C Chris Bosh
PF LeBron James
SF Caron Butler
SG Dwayne Wade
PG Mario Chalmers
Bosh has long since recovered from injury to be back in the starting line-up, but the G1 win allowed Spostela to keep him on the bench.
With G2 losing to the Clippers, the Heat are bound to make changes in G3 when they return to the American Airlines Arena, and Spostela does not have the ability to turn decay into magic, so he directly chooses to believe in the offensive talent of the Big Three.
The way there is no way is often the best way.
Especially when Bosh faced Jordan Jr. again in the first half of the first quarter.
Feints, dangling, ball-holding assaults, mid-range shots.
Bosh flew his kite again and again in the face of Jordan Jr., scoring 12 points in the first quarter.
Thibodeau was somewhat restrained, and it wasn't until the first quarter of the rotation time that Yi Jianlian was replaced, but it was too late, and the Heat had already gained momentum and took the lead.
Bosh, who played with a sense of hand, became omnipotent in G3, Jordan Jr., Allen, and Martin took turns to play and did not suppress her, Bosh scored 26 points and 16 boards efficiently, and was the best player on the Heat team.
Ruan Erniu didn't want to help defend Bosh, but James couldn't let go either, otherwise the Clippers would inevitably pay a more painful price.
The two sides played extremely anxiously in G2, and the game lasted until the last less than 1 minute, the score of the two teams was 95:96, the Heat only led by one point, and the Clippers still had the ball.
Paul had a big heart at the critical moment, facing Chalmers with a three-pointer, and overtook the opponent by two points with only 20 seconds left on the clock.
Then, the most controversial decision of the game came to pass.
James was blocked by Erniu in the low post, Bosh grabbed the rebound and slapped the ball into Wade's hands on the outside, and Wade hit a three-pointer against Kawaii's defense.
"Bang!"
The iron is struck!
"Toot!"
The referee's whistle blew, the Clippers No. 2 fouled, and the Heat got three free throws.
The scene was then immediately defended in slow motion, and it turned out that Kawaii's arm did not touch D. Wade at all.
Thibodeau angrily protested to the referee, only to be given another technical foul.
Fortunately, Kerr and Tyronn Lue both pulled Thibodeau, otherwise the first assistant coach would likely be ejected outright.
Wade made 3 of 4 free throws to help the team overtake the score again, 97-99, with only two seconds left on the clock, and the Clippers had one last chance to attack after a long timeout.
Ruan Erniu ran back on the three-point line, faced James's pounce, and pulled out his hand.
Even if James physically collided with Ruan Erniu in the air, the referee did not blow the whistle......
"Bang!"
If you miss the shot, the red indicator light will come on!
At the end of the game, the Heat won their first home court and temporarily led the Los Angeles people with a total score of 2:1.
Ruan Erniu did not let Thibodeau attend the post-match press conference, he was really worried that the angry Tom would not be able to control his emotions, and he would be fined or even banned for spraying.
Erniu was naturally harassed by local reporters in Miami and those media who used to hack him at the press conference, but he didn't make much defense, but said with a smile: "The finals are not over yet, we will definitely bring the game back to Los Angeles!"
Losing G3 means that Erniu can't fulfill his pride to Eddie, but it doesn't matter, he secretly vows in his heart that he must lift the fourth championship trophy in his life at the Staples Center.
After the end of G3, the two teams only got 2 days of rest.
The shutdown season is also interesting, not to mention the hellish schedule of the regular season, the schedule of the playoffs is loose, but when it comes to the Finals, the pace that should normally be slowed down becomes tight again.
Fortunately, the Heat generals are at their peak, and the Clippers are also young and unlimited.
For the Clippers, who have just lost, they must once again start an urgent intra-team meeting to discuss G4's countermeasures.
To be honest, before the start of the Finals, the Clippers coaching staff's biggest concern was that the Heat were desperate to hack Jordan Jr., make him free throws, and force the Clippers to replace Jordan Jr.
But the reality is that the Heat don't want Jordan Jr. to go down at all, but are repeatedly taking advantage of Jordan Jr.'s inability to pounce, or Bosh's misplacement against Jordan Jr. to gain an advantage.
Bosh's return to the starting lineup meant that the Clippers were vulnerable to being kited by the Heat from the start.
Putting aside the objective bias of blowing penalties, the reason why the Heat were able to take the lead at the beginning of the game is inseparable from Jordan Jr.'s weakness in the face of Bosh.
The members of the coaching staff expressed their opinions one by one, and Thibodeau's opinion was the most radical, and he proposed the idea of directly letting Erniu target Bosh, let Kawaii target James, and let Battier top to the No. 3 position.
But this is also the first plan that Erniu denied, the reason is very simple, that is, the Clippers' rebounding advantage in the first three games will decline rapidly, although the Heat narrowly beat the Heat twice in G1 and G3, but the huge disadvantage in rebounding still makes them win a thrilling point.
Taking the initiative to give up the advantage to fight the opponent is not the best choice for the Clippers at this stage, if it is 3:1 behind the opponent, it is naturally a different matter.
"How about letting Yi be the starting center?"
It was not Cole who made this opinion, but Tyronn Lue, and the radicality of this idea is actually no worse than that of Thibodeau, but it seems so reasonable when it comes out of Tyronn Lue's mouth.
Think about the Finals in '01, wasn't Tyronn Lue just being used specifically against Iverson?
What about Iverson's 35.6 points per game? He shoots just 40.7 percent from the field, and even though Tyronn Lue is averaging only 15 minutes per game, he is impressed with the AI's defensive efficiency.
Can play a good bench, but not necessarily a good starter, give Tyronn Lue 15 minutes, the Lakers won the final championship, if he is given 30 minutes, God knows if it will drag down the Lakers' offensive system at that time?
Ruan Erniu knows very well that his decision at the next moment will directly affect the ownership of the O'Brien Cup.
Xiao Jordan, who has an annual salary of 10 million, or Yi Jianlian, who has an annual salary of 470,000, is a question!