The first quarter played eight minutes and the score was 8-17. The away team is in front, the home team is in the back. With only 8 points in 8 minutes, the Heat's offensive efficiency is undoubtedly very worrying. They haven't found their touch on the outside of the shot, but most importantly, the Pacers have done a really good job of defending the restricted area!

Neither LeBron nor Wade could easily score in the Pacers' three-second zone today. It's not that James and Wade have suddenly degraded, or it's because Horford has suddenly become a cornerstone of Chandler's interior defense. All of this just originated with Henson. A little trick by Coach Joe......

At 17-8, Spoelstra took a timeout. He's thankful that it's only the first quarter of the game, and the team still has plenty of time to chase down points and adjust. Horford's defense of the basket today was so good, and this guy usually just stands there with his arms up and waits for you to hit him, so James and Wade didn't get a foul from him.

But Spoelstra believes the Pacers won't be able to maintain that interior defensive intensity after the rotation comes up. Horford was in great form today, could it be that "Birdman" is also in great form?

However, Spoelstra remembered that before the game began, Henson was not just talking to Horford, and Anderson was also by his side. Henson is not a magician, his words can't be so magical, right?

After the timeout, Spoelstra replaced four main players, but James did not come off the court. Since the beginning of his rookie season, James has averaged around 40 minutes per game. So the 8-minute time period is still early for James.

However, leaving James on the court did not solve the Heat's offensive problems, because after returning from a timeout, James hit the basket for the first time and missed the layup again!

"Foul, foul!" James yelled at the referee that he thought the "Birdman" had just made a jump to block the foul.

However, even if this is the case, it is impossible for the referee to change his decision at this time. The fact that the Pacers once again have the offensive ball cannot be changed.

"The results were immediate!" Seeing that James hit a wall again, Vogel, who had always been restrained, shook his fist with excitement, "The set you studied after you asked them to stay yesterday will play smoothly today!" ”

"Hey, LeBron would never have imagined that he would face such a tough inside block today. However, this trick is not enough to help us kill the game, we must be vigilant at all times, Frank. Henson waved his hand, and said that he had learned this trick from his old rival Thibodeau.

The 4 minutes passed quickly, 28-16, and the Pacers led by 12 points into the break! The result of leading the Heat by double digits in the first quarter of the game was undoubtedly extremely surprising.

Mike. Brin smiled, taking advantage of the break to decipher Henson's trick, which was actually too simple.

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The current commissioner of the NBA, David Brown. Twice in his life, Stern heeded the advice of his cronies, both of which had a historic positive impact on the NBA. The first time was when he took office in 1984, when he took the advice of Lakers owner Buss to make the NBA star and go to television. Another time, in 2001, Stern took the advice of the elder Colangelo and changed the league's defensive rules.

After the defensive rules were changed in 2001, the league first eliminated the controversial illegal defense and allowed joint defense and packing. But then came the addition of a three-second rule for defense.

The elimination of illegal defense allows interior players to not have to follow their own alignment. But the rule of defending for three seconds still makes it impossible for the interior behemoths to stay in peace and defend inside. But there is no doubt that this rule greatly enhances the spectacle of the game.

With the existence of the three-second defense rule, the outside players can more easily enter the restricted area, showing their physical fitness against the sky and the difficult dunk and layup skills.

And in 2008, then the Celtics' defensive coach Tom . Thibodeau, using his own invention of the "if-or-leave" method, solves the impact of the three-second rule on the protection of the interior line.

At that time, he asked Garnett to learn to stand in the 3-second zone for 2.9 seconds, come out, and then immediately go in, stay for 2.9 seconds, come out again, and go back in again...... Garnett doesn't have to defend anyone, he doesn't get involved in man-to-man, he just has to stay in and out of the basket all the time. That's what the Celtics mean is able to keep a defensive stalwart under the basket without touching the three-second foul.

Later, after Thibodeau flew solo, he brought this method to Chicago. Undoubtedly, this is also the reason why Noah has been able to dominate the defense of the United Centre penalty area.

But this method is not a panacea, and no tactic in the world is omnipotent. The inside line does not mark the man but the basket, which Garnett cannot use against Gasol because the Spaniard has range. If you don't keep an eye on him, he can hit you hard with mid-range.

And the current Bulls can't use this trick against the Pacers, Noah and Boozer must keep an eye on their opponents all the time, because West and Horford have strong shooting ability, and Horford's range can even extend beyond the three-point line. At this time, if Noah doesn't mark people, Horford can open up the difference with a few three-pointers.

But this method is simply too suitable to deal with the current Heat.

"Coach Henson is very smart, and he borrowed from Tom. Coach Thibodeau's interior defensive strategy. That is, let the interior player not mark the player, but the entire three-second zone. To put it simply, it is a regional joint defense set up separately for the fifth position! "Mike. Brin unveiled such a magical answer to the Pacers' first quarter of the game, and of course, most people were still confused about it.

"So no matter how well the Heat pass the ball, no matter how sudden the breakaway from James and Wade is. Under the Pacers' basket, there must be an interior player waiting for them! And the Heat's two centers, both Joe. Antony is still a Frenchman, and neither has the ability to attack independently. So, the Pacers' No. 5 can ignore them and concentrate on defending the restricted area! I have to admit that Coach Henson is very clever in his handling of interior defense. He greatly reduced the movement of interior players on the defensive end, while also speeding up the interior defense. If you want to break the deadlock and make it easier for LeBron and Dwayne to score, Coach Spoelstra has to adjust the lineup! ”

Mike. After Brin finished speaking, the electronic beep sounded just in time. Brin couldn't help but look at Henson, who was on the sidelines with a relaxed face, what a guy with ideas and very good at learning.

Henson actually suddenly thought that Thibodeau's bulls had used this tactic, so he took the time to study it. A study found that the Celtics had already used this trick in 2008. If there's one most important skill Henson learned from Stevens, it's watching other coaches' game footage and figuring out their tactical ideas!

Yesterday Henson kept the two centre-forwards and today before the game began, and that's what happened!

"The second quarter of the game has begun, how will the Heat break the defense?" Brin stared at the pitch with interest.

In the second quarter of the game, the Heat obviously increased the number of outside shots, trying to solve the offensive problem by shooting.

Today, the Heat feel is average, so the effect is also very average. Although the score was not pulled away again, the Heat was unable to close the point difference.

Aside from occasional attacks into the box, James and Wade mostly scored with mid-to-long-range jumpers.

However, in the final moments of the second quarter, several controversial 2+1 penalties made Henson very angry. Obviously, the interior defense is in place, but you can't give that person an easy three-point opportunity for nothing.

After putting pressure on the referee, Henson also shouted to the players: "If you want to foul, give me a hard shot, don't give them a chance to shoot three points!" ”

With these 2+1s, the Heat barely narrowed the gap to 6 points. Although the point difference narrowed, the powerful Miami Heat was pressed and beaten by the Pacers throughout the first half.

At this point, with 2.6 seconds left in the first half, the Pacers served the baseline shot.

Paul and Matthews rushed to the frontcourt, and the Heat did not dare to slack off, after all, Horford did have the ability to pass the ball long.

As everyone knows, Horford did not plan to take risks, but gave the ball to George in front of him.

George took three steps and made two big strides to the frontcourt, but the time of more than 2 seconds was too short, and George could only make a strong shot without crossing the halfway line!

James turned his head directly and walked towards the players' tunnel, and the first half was considered to be survived. But as soon as he turned around, he heard the sound of "brushing" behind him.

"What!?" James looked back in surprise to find that the entire Consecco players had fallen into a frenzy.

"Hit a three-point shot from a long distance, Paul. George, super whistle! "Mike. Brin's face flushed with shock, and the Pacers players hugged each other.

8 points difference! As soon as the second half came up, the Heat had to face the problem of not falling behind by double digits!

At this point, Henson was just standing on the sidelines with a faint smile, quite out of touch with the frenetic atmosphere around him.

George's ultra-long-range three-pointer was just a gift, a bonus. To Henson's delight, the Pacers' thinking was correct! In the first half of the game, he successfully curbed the impact of the Heat on the inside! However, in the second half, he also had gifts for Spoelstra......

"Coach Henson is as steady as a mountain!" Looking at Henson, who was a little too calm, Mike. Brin added.