Chapter 275+6: Father's Day (2-in-1 Chapter)
On June 15, U.S. time, the second game of the finals will continue to be played in San Antonio.
With the first win at the bottom, San Antonio fans looked much more relaxed than they did in the first game.
Even some fans walked briskly and straightened their waists straighter than usual.
With more than 40 minutes left before the start of the game, the ATT arena was already full.
The players of both sides are also making final preparations before the game in the locker room.
"Keep what we did in the last game, believe in yourselves, and we'll still be the winners tonight."
Popovich did a pre-game mobilization before the team set off.
After saying that, he glanced at Leonard more.
They've found a way to win the series, and now it's just a matter of getting the details right.
For example, make more restrictions on James.
After Popovich finished speaking, the players got up one after another, ready to leave the locker room and head to the field.
As always, Leonard took up the cross and said his final prayer to God.
It's just that tonight, he seems to be more religious than ever.
Half an hour before the game, players from both sides came to the field.
The Spurs look defensive, while the Heat are much more serious.
In particular, the head coach Spoelstra has a dark circle under his eyes, and he should not have slept well in the past few days.
The first game was a loss for the Heat, but for him as a head coach, the disadvantage on the inside was more than he could have imagined.
How to limit Duncan will be a problem he will have to think about for the whole series.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.
The Heat took the initiative to change, and Haslem came into the starting lineup instead of Battier.
The Heat didn't play the defensive counterattack they wanted in the first game, and Spoelstra was ready to fight the Spurs.
The Spurs also made a starting change, with Leonard coming in place of Green in the starting lineup.
The old man seemed to have calculated Spoelstra's substitution.
Duncan and Bosh's jump ball.
Duncan continued to press Bosh to give the Spurs the opportunity to take the lead.
Parker got to the front court, waited for Duncan to sink into the low post, and went straight to the ball.
Duncan has a clear advantage on the inside, and there is no need for the Spurs to run complicated tactics at this time.
However, as soon as the ball was in, Chanmos directly shrank the bag inside.
This is Spoelstra's adjustment.
And it's an effective adjustment, targeting the fact that Parker doesn't have three points.
Duncan then clipped the ball back to Parker, who dribbled to the free-throw line and shot straight from mid-range.
Chanmos collected it very deeply, and he didn't have time to pounce at this time.
"Huh!"
Parker's mid-range hollow drop bag.
He doesn't have three points, but he's pretty consistent from mid-range.
The Spurs take the lead!
On the offense of the Heat, Wade took advantage of Haslem's block to break through to the layup, but was interfered with by Duncan and did not score.
Duncan took the defensive rebound, the Spurs pushed to the frontcourt, and the same low-post tactics, Chanmos also closed in.
Parker catches the ball and throws it again.
"Huh!"
Vote for it!
There was a whistling sound.
Duncan's excellent performance in the first game caught the Heat off guard, but Parker played a good season this season!
4 to 0.
While the people who scored were different, the Spurs got off to the same start!
"The Heat didn't find a way to effectively limit Tim." Kenny Smith spoke from the commentary seat.
The scoring was all Parker's, but the opportunity came out because of Duncan's containment on the inside.
Spoelstra's defensive tweaks look to have failed.
James leaned high on Leonard in the front court, and then reached directly for the ball.
After receiving the ball, he directly turned his back to the inside and made a shot after a hard confrontation with Leonard under the basket.
Leonard straightens his long arm to give the interference.
"Bang!"
The ball didn't go in, but James stuck in position and grabbed an offensive rebound to score on a second jump.
Back-to-back play is a new technique James has developed this season, but it's not his preferred style of offense.
But after losing the first game, he couldn't manage that much.
Parker then gave the ball to Duncan.
Spoelstra waved and shouted from the sidelines.
Chammos continued to wrap up, but the rest of the Heat began to switch defenses.
Duncan's ball goes to Parker, who then gives it to Leonard.
"Smack!"
James is out of the cage and makes a steal!
After the steal, he galloped to the frontcourt.
Parker tried to block it, but was knocked out of the way.
James rushed to the frontcourt like a tank and scored with his trademark one-handed tomahawk dunk!
James roared after the dunk.
He vented all the frustration of the first scene to this one!
4 to 4.
James scored four straight points to prevent the Heat from falling into the same passive situation as Game 1.
Popovich got up and walked to the sidelines.
Leonard rarely took the initiative before the game, but it didn't look like the defensive effect was good.
It's not that Leonard's defense is not as good as Dio's, but James's offensive desire this time is much stronger than in the first game.
If it really doesn't work, the Spurs will have to go to the bag.
"Kehuai, you restrict him from receiving the ball, and now you can't resist him one-on-one."
Tang Tian took the initiative to run to Leonard's side to remind.
Although James has suffered a lot of doubts, his hard power is the absolute No. 1 small forward in history.
One-on-one, even Leonard at his peak, is at most a restriction on James, let alone now.
So the limit is the only way.
Leonard nodded, except for Popovich, who only listened to Tang Tian now.
The Spurs attacked up front, and Duncan passed the ball directly to Leonard this time.
Leonard caught the ball and pulled out his hand, still having a bit of Kobe charm.
"Huh!"
However, he didn't have the spirit of a mamba in this ball, and went directly into the net.
Although James was beaten on the defensive end, he looked good on the offensive end tonight.
"A nice shot."
Barkley also spoke in the commentary seat.
This shot is beautiful, and more importantly, it is thrown, which will bring more defensive pressure to the Heat.
Tang Tian took the initiative to find Leonard at this time and slapped him.
Playing against James is not an easy task, and Leonard needs that kind of encouragement too.
James continued to turn his back to the ball in the frontcourt.
Leonard chose to half-wind forward at this point.
Chammos didn't dare to give the ball and gave it to Wade.
Wade walked around, glanced at Leonard's position, gave James a look, and then threw the ball directly over the basket.
James understood, turned around and shook off Leonard, jumped up in the air to grab the ball with one hand, and smashed the ball directly into the basket!
Relay in the air!
Jenway Connect!
"Bang!"
This slam dunk caused an exclamation from the fans at the scene.
James's physical fitness is really against the sky!
Popovich reached out and rubbed his jaw.
It looks like James is going to be a big problem for the Spurs tonight.
This empty catch was successful, and the Heat's bench was boiling.
The gloom on Spoelstra's face finally lifted.
James plays like this, and the Heat can firmly seize the initiative on the court.
Basketball games are all relative, and how the Spurs defend James will be a bigger problem than how the Heat defend Duncan.
After all, where is Duncan's age and limited playing time, but James's words are a man who can directly play the whole game!
"My bad."
Tang Tian took the initiative to find Leonard at this time and said.
"I should control Wade's passing."
The two of them didn't do a good job defending the ball just now, but Tang Tian took all the responsibility at once.
Whether Leonard can do a good job of defending James is the most important thing for the Spurs.
Dion's inside missed Duncan's pass, and Haslem defended the rebound.
The Heat attacked the frontcourt, and James continued to ask for the ball with his back.
After the success of the previous aerial relay, the Heat grabbed James and beat him to death.
This is to build momentum in waves.
Leonard continues to half-circle forward.
Tang Tian also gave Wade enough oppressive force at this time.
Wade opted to drop the ball in.
James jumped up to catch the ball.
But Leonard was smart enough to get the ball to the counterpoint before James jumped.
James didn't grasp the jump ball and slid his hand out of bounds.
"It seems that LeBron should rub more magnesium powder on his hands before the game, instead of throwing it into the air."
O'Neill spoke.
Barkley and Smith were already laughing on the sidelines.
O'Neal complained about Kobe Bryant before, and now he is hurting James.
It seems that he didn't accidentally injure his former teammate, but caught in the dark!
Tang Tian went to Leonard's side at this time and stretched out his hand to applaud him.
Popovich looked at these details on the court with a smile on his face.
Tang Tian really saved him a lot of heart.
The Spurs' frontcourt attack, Tang Tian took advantage of Leonard's block, received Duncan's pass, and shot three points against James.
"Huh!"
Hand up and knife down.
The Spurs overtook the score again 9-6!
The scene erupted in cheers.
The deterrent power of the little emperor's defense is really useless here in Tang Tian!
Spoelstra rubbed his face vigorously on the sidelines.
He wasn't surprised by Tang Tian's shot, it was Tang Tian's ability to shoot.
As Smith said in the commentary booth, the Heat's old problem is Duncan.
Although Duncan has not scored yet, he has already handed out three assists.
He then looked at James.
If Duncan really can't be restricted, then it can only depend on James's play.
As long as James can play, then as said before, the Heat will still have an advantage.
James switched to attacking with the ball in the frontcourt.
After taking the ball, he motioned to his teammates to pull away from the three-point line, and then continued to lay the crotch on the spot.
After glancing at the Spurs' interior defensive position, he suddenly accelerated and rushed inside.
"Smack!"
But the moment he started, Leonard directly cut off the ball in his hand!
Death Coil!
Leonard made a steal and went straight to his own fast break.
The steal occurred at the three-point line, and the rest of the Heat team didn't react.
Leonard rushed to the frontcourt, rushed to James to chase the block, and scored with a two-handed dunk directly.
11 to 6!
There was a whistling at the scene.
"Oh, this young man is in great shape tonight."
Barkley said loudly from the commentary box.
One caused a mistake by James and one was a direct steal from James.
Leonard's defense in those two rounds was really good.
Tang Tian gave another high-five to Leonard, who came back.
Tonight, he is mentally prepared.
He's going to take a mini five-pair, five reminders, five high-fives.
James didn't attack the front court again.
He is the kind of player with a high ball quotient, and when he saw that he did not have an absolute advantage in the position, he began to take the initiative to hand over the shot to the players.
Popovich nodded in satisfaction when he saw this.
At this point, Leonard has lived up to the expectations in his heart.
Wade scored a goal on a breakaway to help the Heat continue to score.
Although the regular season was plagued by some injuries, the Flashes have been in excellent form this season.
The Spurs' Zip hammer tactics in the frontcourt, Tang Tian's running position pinned down the Heat's defense.
Duncan crosses inside to Dio, who then gives the ball to Leonard in the corner.
Leonard's open three-point opportunity.
"Huh!"
The three-point shot goes straight into the net!
Leonard has scored 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting in this quarter!
Not only did he have a strong presence on the defensive end tonight, but he also had a very eye-catching performance on the offensive end.
Tang Tian was really happy for Leonard at this time.
If Leonard can also grow, then the two of them starting together will definitely be a big test for the opponent's forward players.
And in the long run, he's definitely going to be the heart of the team, and he's going to need a strong defender around him.
Even Michael Jordan still has Scottie Pippen next to him.
Wade was in good form tonight, and after James was limited by Leonard, he began to create more opportunities for Wade.
However, Wade obviously brought less defensive pressure to the Spurs than James.
In addition, Tang Tian is defending, and Wade's scoring efficiency is not particularly high.
The Spurs won by a few points in each quarter, went into the final quarter with a double-digit lead, and withstood the Heat's comeback in the final quarter to win the game 101-93.
In terms of statistics.
On the Heat side, James had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists, Wade scored 29 points, and Bosh had 21 points and 1 board.
On the Spurs' side, Duncan had a triple-double of 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Parker had 23 points and 5 assists, Ginobili had 14 points, Tang Tian had 11 points and 3 boards, and Dior had 10 points, 8 boards and 3 assists.
Limit James, limit role player play, and build an inside advantage.
The Spurs have played everything Popovich wants this time.
And they also harvested Leonard, a wonder soldier.
Leonard scored 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals on 6-of-9 shooting, setting a new personal playoff high in all statistics.
After the game, the Spurs players were all shouting and celebrating wildly on the sidelines.
After winning two home games in a row, they took a 2-0 lead by the big score.
Holding on to two home courts, they were in full control of the series.
Leonard sat there wrapped in a towel, his body trembling slightly, as if he was sobbing.
Tang Tian walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
Leonard looked up, his eyes were red, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes.
"He'll see."
Tang Tian stretched out his hand and pointed at the sky.
Other people may think that Leonard is excited tears after a good performance, but Tang Tian knows what Leonard is crying for.
Such devout prayers before the game, so hard played in the game, this reaction after the game.
It's all because it's Father's Day.