394: Champion Challenger
The starters from both sides stepped onto the court, and the lineup on the Heat's side was the same as usual, the Big Three + Chalmers and captain Haslem.
The competition has not even started, and now the atmosphere is lively. The Grizzlies have won five in a row recently, and they are invincible. Therefore, Grizzlies fans naturally hope that the team can top the defending champion in one fell swoop.
And the Heat will do their best to fight the Grizzlies to the end for the top spot in the East. Everybody knows that the grizzly bear is an embarrassing bone, so James will gnaw on you.
After the referee's whistle, the two centre-forwards began to scramble for the ball.
Bosh was not a pure No.5 player, so he couldn't beat Gasol Jr. in the jump ball. Although he lost the jump ball, James was extremely excited.
In the first round, he will meet the Grizzly Bear No. 0's attack first!
As soon as Link passed halftime, before he could catch the ball, he was entangled by James. The cheers of the audience immediately rose an octave, and the most exciting part of the game was actually staged at the beginning!
"LeBron vs. Link, it's definitely one of the few matchups in a season. It can be seen that LeBron is very strict against Link. Link is going to have a very difficult time just trying to catch the ball now. "Hubby. Brown feels like he hasn't been so energetic for a long time, and because of his age, the old man has not come to the scene to comment on every Grizzlies home game this season, and he is not so energetic.
But today, Hubi. Brown felt as if there was blood boiling in his old body.
Link and James, their matchup will certainly not end in a hurry like Link vs Harden.
Link had just confronted James when he felt the tremendous pressure James gave to his opponent.
His mental, physical and physical strength was stressful.
It's not easy to get rid of James, but it's not impossible. While James was close to him, Link secretly pushed James and ran out of the three-point line!
As soon as James wanted to chase, he saw Randolph's sinister smile. In the next second, Randolph's off-ball cover was formed! Although James tried his best to squeeze through the pick-and-roll, he still gave Link a space.
I have to say that the quality of Randolph's pick-and-roll is really high. His flesh is not for nothing.
"Damn!" James didn't expect Link's off-ball offense to be so superb, he tried to chase Link, but at the moment when James just jumped, Link also gave the basketball in his hand.
The first offense, I chose the three-point shot!
James knew he barely interfered with Link's shot, but he still reflexively stuck the position to prevent Link from going in and rushing for the rebound. Link's offensive rebounds have been a threat, and all James has to do is eliminate any threat from him.
However, when James was stuck with his back, he didn't feel that Link was fighting for position with him.
James couldn't help but turn his head and find that Link was already on his way to his own half!
So confident!?
Before James could twist his head back, he heard the beautiful notes of the Nets tumbling. Of course, at this moment, this voice is extremely harsh to James!
"The ball is in! Link scored a three-pointer as soon as he came up! Beautiful off-ball offense, Link isn't afraid of LeBron. James' pressing. Instead, calmly look for opportunities and seize the gap to deliver the fatal blow! Link is such a cold-blooded killer! ”
Hubi. Brin is dancing with his hands, and Link can score goals under James's tight defense, which is enough to show his current strength!
James shook his head in disappointment, but was not discouraged. In Link's state, the game is interesting!
The Heat's offense is not too complicated tactics, and it is not difficult to see from the Heat's data that the scoring task is basically divided equally by the Big Three. In the first two seasons of the Big Three, the Heat averaged only James, Wade and Bosh in double figures per game.
There's one more thunder this year. Allen, the Heat are expected to have a fourth player to average a double-double in points per game.
James holds the ball, Haslem blocks and Bosh opens up space. This simple operation is already a tactic for the Heat.
For a player with particularly strong individual ability, he can play well even without complex tactical support.
Moreover, the tactics themselves are not as complex as possible. The more complex the tactic, the more sophisticated it is, but the lower the success rate of execution. Often, the more simple and straightforward the tactic, the higher the success rate.
So, when to deploy simple tactics and when to deploy complex tactics is also a matter of science for the manager.
In Spoelstra's opinion, with the Big Three, he can keep everything simple!
James' breakthrough didn't have so many bells and whistles, and when Haslem's block was in place, James immediately accelerated and hit the basket directly!
Seeing this, Iguodala immediately walked behind Haslem and stuck to James' side. But James' confrontation ability is very strong, and he is extremely solid in every step, even if he is a strong number three like Iguodala, it is difficult to shake his rhythm!
Link felt terrible when he saw it, and defending James was really not a bad thing.
In this way, James simply and rudely leaned on Iguodala to the basket. Spoelstra smiled slightly, isn't the offense done? It doesn't have to be complicated at all!
However, in the next second, little Gasol raised his arms high to make up for the defense, just waiting for James to hit his head!
James carried the opposite position and forced a layup as always, but in the face of the heavy center's supplemental defense, even James played very uncomfortable. His ability to fight against heavy centers is not so big.
Eventually, James' layup slammed under Gasol's raised arms. Gasol Jr. reached out and took the defensive rebound, and the Grizzlies successfully defended!
"It's down! LeBron. James didn't succeed! The Grizzlies' defense was layered, and when Iguodala was broken, Gasol Jr. immediately rushed back to the box. The Grizzlies are one of the best defensive teams in the league, and it seems that LeBron wants to score points at FedEx Arena, and it will take a little more effort! ”
Stevens secretly swung his fist off the court, and his strategy worked!
Heavy center is the best way to defend James! Once heaping a heavy center on the interior who can make up for the basket in time, James' threat plummets.
But then again, there aren't even a few pure centers in the league right now, let alone fast-moving heavy centers. Bynum, who was clearly dominant with the Lakers last season, immediately reimbursed the season this season, which greatly reduced the number of good centers.
Therefore, playing most teams, James is an invincible presence.
But it's a pity that the Grizzlies' biggest advantage is precisely the inside!
James frowned, he was actually deflated in the first round! Originally, it was very physically demanding to fight against Iguodala, but after beating Iguodala, there was still little Gasol waiting.
Before James could catch his breath, Link ran towards him again, and James had to start trying to defend.
The continuous wheel battle gave James no time to think and breathe, and this is how Stevens dealt with James!
Don't look at the young marshal's beautiful face, there are many bad ideas.
This time, Link pulled James into the bottom right corner. Conley then hoisted the ball to Randolph, who singled Haslem with his back!
Although Haslem is the captain of the Heat, Haslem is convincing because of his professional attitude and prestige, not hard power.
Although Haslem is still very active today, it is not enough to be positive on the basketball court where he speaks with strength.
Randolph's upturn in form this season is visible to the naked eye, and he has a high success rate by holding the ball and playing Haslem alone!
James wanted to help Haslem, but because Link was in the bottom corner, James didn't dare to act rashly.
Link had already made a three-pointer just now, and now if he is directly emptied, the Heat will lose more than they lose.
So in the end, James chose to stay with Link, and Haslem had to figure out how to deal with the big guy in front of him.
Randolph sat back twice, then rolled over and threw a jumper. Haslem desperately blocked, a little too much, and hit Randolph directly.
The referee noticed everything and immediately blew the whistle, this is a shooting foul!
As soon as the whistle sounded, the basketball crashed into the net! Randolph let out a bear roar, and he got a chance to hit a three-pointer!
"Damn it!" James shook his head helplessly, Haslem was not to blame for this goal, he tried his best. But this feeling of watching his teammates being bullied and being powerless made James very annoying.
Link completely pinned James beyond the three-point line, leaving him unable to do anything.
This is a star who gives the opposition a huge threat to the defense. Dare to move? Try it!
At the free-throw line, Randolph added a free throw. This means that the Grizzlies took the lead in scoring 6 points with a devastating offensive after the opening!
"Even the defending champions have to be careful in Memphis! After all, this is grizzly bear territory!
In Hubi. Under Brown's ridicule, Wade's pull-up jump shot also ended in failure.
Today, it was Link who defended Wade. Link could clearly feel how obvious Wade's degradation in speed was.
Not to mention compared with the peak, compared with last season, it has degraded a lot.
Wade's knee has not been sound since college, having his meniscus removed before entering the league. Now that I am getting older, all kinds of injuries have begun to erupt. Although Wade has been out for a game, his knee is still a little sore, which greatly affects his breakthrough speed.
As a result, Link easily followed Wade and interfered when he was shooting, and thus won his first matchup with "The Flash".
The Heat's offense failed again, and the Grizzlies quickly counterattacked!
This time, Link ran through the half court very quickly, not giving Wade and James a chance to switch defenses! Conley understood and quickly put the ball on to Link!
In the face of Wade's defense, Link switched to back-to-back attack after receiving the ball. Link, who has the advantage in height, shook his shoulders and then threw a jumper straight back, which was especially difficult for Wade, who had a weak knee.
In Wade's desperate eyes, Link's turnaround jumper hollowed into the net! The fans cheered, and in just three rounds, Link scored a goal each on the head of James and Wade!
And the score on the field also became 8-0! Defending champion Miami Heat, in a tough battle!
As soon as Link scored, Spoelstra called a halt to the game.
The Filipino coach was a little surprised, and the Grizzlies' progress was more obvious than he had imagined.
A new Championship Challenge seems to have been born.