592: The Price of Youth
"Link's Finals triple-double, making Grizzly Bear history!"
"The four of them combined for 91 points, what contributed to the success of the Grizzlies' small lineup play?"
"The law of 4+ rebounds must win was broken by Link, and Anderson is no longer magical!"
"The series is 2-1, can the Heat still hold up?"
The day after the series, the world was full of praise for the Grizzlies.
4 people scored 91 points, and Link scored 30 points in the finals and had a triple-double...... These achievements are indeed very dazzling.
Of course, the most talked about is the grudge between Link and Wade.
After the game, Link's lips shouting at Wade were interpreted by the media. In Miami, no one ever dared to say to Wade, "It's not your place,"
Link was the first to dare to do so, and the key was that he actually walked out of the court alive after doing so.
Wade is helpless, if you want to say that he played like the first game, then there is still room for refutation, he can still say, "I will make that little ghost look good in the next game".
But the key is that Wade's performance in the last game was not bad, with 25 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal, shooting 10-of-22 from the field and shooting 45.5%.
With Wade's current health, he really can't guarantee that he can do better than the last game.
Being ridden to the neck and can't fight back, and anyone will feel uncomfortable.
When the Finals first arrived in Miami, Heat fans were thrilled. But now, everyone is scared.
In the last game, the Heat actually lost so much when James and Wade played well, which makes people wonder if the Heat still have the strength to fight.
When the Grizzlies also switched to a small lineup, the Heat didn't seem to have much to resist.
If, just if, the Heat lose the next game...... Then, the Grizzlies will get the match point, and the series total score will become 3-1!
And in the history of the NBA Finals, there has never been a team that can turn the game back from 1-3 down!
So, the Heat can't afford to lose. In the next game, they can only win.
The big three of Wade, James and Bosh have undoubtedly been pushed to the forefront.
But many people overlook the important player who repeatedly saved the Heat from fire and water in the last game. Alan.
Thunder. Allen has rarely been bothered by the media since his move to the Heat. After all, over his head, those three guys attracted almost all the spotlight. He's not a giant in Miami, or a conscientious substitute who doesn't even count as a sixth man.
Here, he doesn't have those damn locker room contradictions to deal with or those embarrassing questions to answer.
All he's going to do is train well, play his game well, and make those threes that he should score.
So, he did the same.
At 8:15 a.m., Ray. Aaron arrived at the training ground on time and began to warm up. It's hard to imagine a veteran who is almost 40 years old and comes to the training gym 45 minutes early every day to prepare for training.
But in this regard, Ray. Aaron is almost never late. Not even a minute is too late.
Stretching, running, shooting, when most of the Heat's talent arrived on the court, Ray . Allen's jersey was already soaked with sweat.
Wade and James were working on how to deal with the Grizzlies' small lineup, and one-on-one defense was the only way to go, because Link's passing ability was just too strong.
The consequence of wrapping Link is yesterday's 30 points and 12 assists.
And Ray. What about Aaron? He just had to think about how to shoot three-pointers. This is something he has done all his life, but he is still trying to improve.
It's like in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, when the Bucks met the 76ers and met the then MVP and scoring champion Allen. Iverson. At that time, Bucks ace point guard Sam. Cassel told Ray. Allen, "Don't think about anything else, you're only responsible for shooting!" ”
So, Ray. Allen scored 31 points in the first game, 38 points in the second game, and scored 9 three-pointers in a single game in the sixth game to break the NBA Finals record, and scored 41 points to drag the game into a tiebreaker. He's so scary when he's only in charge of shooting.
Yesterday, didn't he, who was only responsible for shooting, also scored 21 points at the age of 38 and saved the Heat several times?
Training until 11:30 p.m., Ray. Aaron began to take a nap, but the thunder could not move. Wake up at 1 p.m. and not too late for a minute. Lunch starts at 2:30 p.m., and it is chicken and rice that have not changed for thousands of years, and I eat this almost every day.
At 3:30 p.m., Ray. Aaron was punctual for training. At the end of the 5-point training session, Ray. Aaron went for physiotherapy. As is customary, the Heat players left him with a bed on the far right of the treatment room.
In fact, the beds in the treatment room are just as empty as those on the bus, and there is no indication of which bed belongs to whom. Whoever comes first has the right to choose.
However, Ray. Aaron is stubborn to such an extent that he wants his day to be the same.
When he flies, he doesn't like people to sit in his fixed seat. When he's in Seattle, he's angry that someone is taking up the parking space he's used to parking.
And when he was doing physiotherapy, he didn't like his bed changing position.
After the physiotherapy, Wade and James will be with Ray. Aaron said goodbye. And Ray. Allen will stay and practice a set of shots at his best to see how well he hits.
You won't leave the arena until 7 o'clock. Not a lot of shots for a minute, but never more than a minute.
Spoelstra once joked, "His thunderous schedule is expected to continue until the end of the world." ”
Thunder. Allen's former teammate Pierce once joked, "If I did the same thing every day, I would kill myself." ”
But Ray. Aaron was happy about it.
While everyone was talking about how Wade would respond to Link and how James would defend his MVP status, no one cared about Ray. Alan.
But Ray. Allen clearly remembers every three-point shot he made in the last game, and every time he pulled the Heat back and was kicked down by Link.
His mind was full of Game 4 of the series, and his mind was full of thinking about how to win.
38-year-old Ray. Aaron, unwilling to admit defeat.
A day later, the American Airlines Center Arena. The fourth game of the crucial series has officially begun.
This game, Ray. Allen was mentioned directly to the starting position. He's still doing well, but he's still not the main character of the game.
The protagonist is Wade, who steals Iguodala for two consecutive rounds and does not hesitate to fall to the ground to save the ball. The protagonist is James, who is a dead knock on Link on the defensive end, playing with a dirty face, and doesn't look like a superstar at all.
The main character, the young one, is thought to be about to step on the corpses of James and Wade to start an era of number 0.
Thunder. What about Aaron? He's just in charge of shooting.
The two sides played very anxiously today, and if we talk about the first three games, there are some unexpected changes on both sides. Today, then, there are no secrets between the two sides at all.
The Heat have been on guard against the Grizzlies' small lineup and haven't let the four of them score 91 points again. The Grizzlies also went from being unfamiliar to familiar with the Heat, coping with it easily, and did not let Wade go on a rampage again.
In the final 15 seconds of the game, Link missed a key free throw.
He wanted to win so badly that he knew that if he could make it 3-1, the Grizzlies would be almost touching the championship trophy with one hand.
He'll be able to fulfill that dream, that promise to Upshaw. He was able to wear the No. 0 jersey and lift the highest honor in the basketball world above his head. He can lead the Grizzlies to the first championship trophy in team history and start a golden age!
So, for the first time, Link felt a lot of pressure when he made a free throw. Two free throws, only one hit. The score became 95-97, and the Grizzlies led by only two points.
"Fuck, shit!" After the penalty was missed, Link waved his fist unwillingly, he actually missed such a crucial ball! On top of that, it left 15 seconds for the Heat!
"That's the price of youth, and that's the path Link has to take. However, the 2-point difference is still dangerous for the Heat! ”
Mike. Brin also felt sorry, but on second thought, Link was only in the third grade. It's amazing that he's been able to do this.
Jordan, who entered the league in 1984, only played in the Finals for the first time in 1991. Kobe Bryant in his rookie season had four consecutive three no-touches at key moments in the playoffs. Speaking of which, the young Thunder and Durant last season were not beaten by the Heat.
Link is already the best young man of them all. A missed penalty doesn't look serious.
The Heat called a timeout and laid out the final attack. Don't know why, Ray. Allen thought of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals and the 76ers who celebrated their victory in the Game of Seven.
At that time, the young man missed, and watched Iverson reach the final, achieving Iverson's glory. He was like Link now, he seemed to be perfect, but he always made mistakes.
Thunder. Aaron couldn't help but ask himself, if he had to do it all over again, would he make the same mistakes as Link just now and himself did in 2001?
Didn't wait for Ray. Aaron replied to himself, and the timeout was over.
15 seconds, 2 minutes. The fate of Miami and Link is about to be decided.