At 8:26 of the third quarter, Marsin. Gortat squeezed Addison high post after the pick-and-roll, took a step forward from Wall's return pass and used a throw that is rare in the center. The ball would have been a distraction with Whiteside's speed and reflexes, but now the young centre-forward, who was full of chaotic basket protection ideas, was once again a beat slower and made his opponent's throws effortless.

At 67:65, Spoelstra glanced at the score on the big screen and reached out to the referee to ask for a timeout. The scores of the two sides were extremely tight, and although the Heat were always in the lead, the margin was almost negligible.

"Listen to me, Hassan, listen!" The head coach changed his usual gentlemanly and elegant appearance, and yelled at Whiteside who walked off the field with an almost hideous expression, "This is the timeout I called for you!" Prick up your ears and give me a good listen! ”

In just eight minutes, the Heat center had allowed Gortat to score six points on his head, and the Pole was getting better and better enough to keep Whiteside at bay.

"Who do you think you are? Tim. Duncan? Olajuwon?! Do you think you'll be able to become that in a matter of minutes? Do you think it's that style of inside?! ”

Spoelstra's roar rushed into the ears of every player on the Heat team. Deng, James. Ennis and the others were dumbfounded, they had never said that the manager was so emotional. On the contrary, Wade and Addison were like old monks, and they didn't look at the expression on Whiteside's face.

"You are nothing, you are yourself, Hassan. Whiteside! Boy, you see, every good center in this league has a different defense! Is Garnett's defense and Duncan a style? No! But who would dare to deny that Garnett's defense was not strong? No!

"The things I said to you at half-time were to make you see your strengths and weaknesses clearly, not to make you clumsily imitate Tim on the pitch. Duncan!!! ”

Whiteside hung his head and said nothing, and Spoelstra didn't know if his seemingly angry statement had made the young center forward, and he didn't have time to continue. After a brief re-arrangement of tactics, the referee came over and urged the players from both sides to hurry in.

"Listen, boy." When he walked into the court, Wade patted Whiteside on the shoulder, compared to Spoelstra, the Heat team was much more pleasant, "You don't have to worry about anything, you don't have to be restrained by anything." Your defensive talent and awareness are good, it's just that you weren't good at watching your opponents change before. It's the playoffs, maybe you haven't changed, but your opponents are a lot more cunning than before. ”

"Then should I find a way to get stronger...... "The young center muttered a little confused, he had come to his senses, but he still couldn't completely break free from the puzzle he had set for himself.

"Hehe, I said first grade, how can a guy like you with no playoff experience get stronger?" Wade's smile became playful for a moment, and he dropped a sentence as he ran to the frontcourt, "You just have to watch how strong the others become now." ”

Addison could hear the conversation between the two very clearly, and he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth slightly upwards when he took Ennis's serve. Wade is indeed a good fit to be a leader, and the words he says at this time are not grandiose words or chicken soup for the soul, but they are sharp and to the point, focusing on what Spoelstra wants Whiteside to understand.

Perhaps, this is the art of leadership......

***

Since the opening, Addison has basically not singled John on the offensive end. Wall, most of them use the pick-and-roll to shake off the opponent. A point guard like him, who is responsible for organizing the whole team in the playoffs, will always choose the offensive method that is most beneficial to him. Iverson, nor Kobe. Bryant, the Heat's tactics are also not focused on creating strong points one-on-one triangle offense. Pick-and-roll is the most concise and effective way for the Heat's offense, and Addison will not abandon this advantageous tactic just because the outside world complains about his excessive use of pick-and-roll.

The same goes for this attack, using the Ruhr. Deng's cover shook off Wall, and the Chinese point guard quickly made two crotch changes after catching up with the ** supplement, and then suddenly moved to the ground on one side, holding the basketball with his left hand and pushing it out.

The Brazilian's blocking speed was nowhere near as fast as Addison's shooting, and the ball that swiped into the net pushed Addison's score to 12 points, compared to John's 15 points. Wall was evenly matched. And Wall's 15 points were earned with 16 shots, while Addison has only made 10 shots so far, trailing Wade and Ruhr in the team. Deng, even on the verge of being caught up by Whiteside.

"Look at Addison's neat jumper, he was a little bit out of his way in the first quarter, but now he's quite comfortable with the rhythm of the playoffs." Bill. Wharton complimented with a smile, making no secret of his fondness for the Chinese-American point guard, "He made the right and appropriate balance between organization and individual offense, and we have to see that John Brown. Wall is now shooting 7-of-16 from the field under his defense. ”

"We evaluate each player by comparison, so I had to compare Addison and Whiteside in their first playoff game." Drexler threw out his contrasting point of view, "I shouldn't be exaggerating to describe Whiteside's defense in this game as 'suppressed by Gortat'? Yes, I know he's desperately seeking change, but it hasn't worked so far, has it? As for Addison, he is a league-recognized All-Star point guard, and he is a point guard who has produced a playoff-level performance...... While I can't say that Addison played phenomenally, he did play against Wall with a clear eye and didn't fall behind at all. Forgive me for being blunt, Addison and Whiteside are both great newcomers that the Heat have tapped this season, but with their performances in this game, I think it should explain why Addison is a lottery pick, while Whiteside is a second-round pick and has been adrift in the league and overseas for several years. ”

Such words issued in the commentary bench may be considered to be suspected of provoking the relationship within the Heat team, but the objectivity and logic of Drexler's words made most fans who watched the live broadcast choose to nod silently and agree with his statement.

"In the Wizards' offensive round, will we still see Gortat and Whiteside matchup?" Bill. Wharton interjected with a smile, and the Wizards had all settled into the Heat's half.

John. Wall looked at Addison's defense in front of him, and let out a sigh of admiration and annoyance. Wall, who entered the playoffs, has no reservations, and this game is full play. However, in addition to organizing the team's offense well, he still suffered a lot of trouble on his individual offense, which can be seen from his shooting percentage of less than 50%.

Addison's sense of defensive judgment is terrifying, and he has his own split-second prediction of whether to switch to a big man or chase a defender every time he picks and rolls a defensive block, and he is extremely accurate, always able to minimize the team's defensive sacrifice. The Chinese-American point guard is well aware of the playoff John of the playoffs. Wall can't be completely restrained, so his defense aims to entangle his opponent's speed and explosiveness as much as possible, making every shot Wall's every shot as uncomfortable as possible.

- What the hell, he's just a first-year rookie, how can he act like a veteran of the Alliance for several years at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends?! Wall secretly said in his heart, this was not the first time he had made such a surprise when he was facing Addison. You must know that Wall is also an all-round point guard who has made achievements on both offensive and defensive ends, and there is a lot of demand for him to be selected to the All-Defensive Team this season. But these offensive and defensive awareness, which he only summed up and digested after four or five years of ups and downs in the top league, and before meeting Addison, he really didn't believe that a rookie could show these awareness in his rookie season.

- If he continues to work in the league for a few more seasons, how far will this guy grow? Wall, who was cautious on the dribble, couldn't help but think so, but he quickly got rid of these unwarranted speculations and concentrated on the offense.

Marsin. Gortat is in hot form right now, and this attack on Wall is still intended to be handled by the Poles. He made a dummy move with the ball, forcing Addison's defense back a little by half a step, and immediately used his height advantage to hoist the basketball inside.

Behind Gortat, Whiteside still behaved like a slow-thinking 'dumb goose', and the Polish center sneered, thinking that the center of the Heat team had been completely defeated by himself, and two more strong attacks should be able to completely break Miami's interior defense.

Gortat thought like this, stretched out his arm to catch the lob from Wall, but at that moment there was a sudden great impact behind him, and the Pole staggered in his center of gravity. Immediately after that, Whiteside suddenly exploded and completed a dexterous turn forward, instantly stuck in front of Gortat, stretched out his long arm span, and directly intercepted the lob!

"Interception after suddenly stuck in the position! It was as if Whiteside had suddenly come back to life! "Bill. Wharton's eyes widened in disbelief at the unconventional defense, "He's almost twice as fast as Gortat!" ”

The Heat center, who intercepted the basketball, with the instinct cultivated in the team, threw the basketball out of the first place, and although the quality of the pass was not high, the strength was good, and it was not truncated by the Wizards players. Addison, on the other hand, reacted almost as soon as his teammates broke the ball, quickly turning and rushing towards the frontcourt.

After receiving Whiteside's long ball, the Chinese point guard accelerated to sprint, but he could clearly feel the footsteps chasing behind him. John. Wall is one of the few in the league who can catch up with Addison in pure speed, and although he is a beat slower, he can still keep up with the Chinese point guard, from the backcourt all the way to the three-point line!

Although Wade and Ennis also cooperated on both sides, both of them had Wizards players chasing after them, and it was not a good idea to pass the ball rashly. Addison, who had already rushed to the penalty area, suddenly changed his rhythm, and his left hand quickly handed the basketball from behind to his right hand, and at the same time, his left leg took a big step forward and jumped on the ground!

Behind John. Wall jumped up and down, and the arm that intended to block was also raised sharply! Between the lightning and flint, Addison made a 180° turn in the air, and his strong waist flexibility allowed him to maintain his center of gravity, holding the basketball in his right hand and directly changing to a back-to-back reverse basket!

"Bang! Swish!!! The basketball that dodged Wall's block hit the rebound and fell lightly into the basket, while Addison stumbled a few steps after landing under the impact, and hurriedly held on to the basket frame to stabilize his body.

What immediately poured into my ears was the deafening cheers and shouts of the American Airlines Arena......