Chapter 187: The X-Factor of the Grand Final
The Western Conference Finals are over, and the fans' attention is focused on the battle for the Eastern Conference title. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
In fact, even if the Western Conference Finals are not over, the Eastern Conference Finals are far more watched than the Western Conference Finals, because the Eastern Conference Finals are played last season by the defending champions of the season, because the Heat have a big three.
What's more, compared to the Spurs' 4-0 sweep of the Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals, the matchup between the Heat and the Pacers on the other side is also more attractive in the process, and the two teams played from 1:1 to 3:3.
The Eastern Conference Finals tie-break has attracted the attention of many NBA fans, as well as the attention of the entire Spurs team, who are waiting for their opponents in the Finals, and are also observing their opponents in the Finals.
As with the previous two big scores, this game started very closely, and it looked very likely to be a tug-of-war, with the Pacers taking a slight lead by 2 points after the first quarter.
However, after the start of the second quarter of the game, the Heat suddenly made a strong effort, and they scored 33 points in a single quarter at home, while only allowing the opposing Pacers to score 16 points, and winning 17 points in a single quarter gave the Heat a 15-point lead after halftime.
"Our opponent should be the Heat!"
After the first half of the game, the Spurs players who gathered to watch the game basically made a judgment.
In fact, before this, they have been preparing for the Finals to play the Heat, although the Pacers' performance in this year's series is very good, but the Spurs do not think that the Pacers can prevent the Heat from entering the Finals.
In the second half, the Pacers really failed to pull the score back, but were narrowly widened by the Heat. At 76:99, the game ended, and the Heat defeated the Pacers by 23 points and entered the Finals for the third consecutive year.
It also means that the Spurs' opponent in the Finals has been determined - the defending champion Heat.
The Heat advanced to the Finals again, and the outside world naturally began to report on a wide range of them for the first time, which was much more powerful than when the Spurs first entered the Finals, after all, the opponent was the defending champion, and there were many superstars on the team.
After a wide range of reports, it is inevitable that many media will begin to make various comparisons and predictions for the next finals.
The Spurs are doing the same thing, of course, and they only compare, not predict.
The real difficulties that the Heat will encounter in the East in this year's playoffs are the Pacers, and this series can indeed bring a lot of references to the Spurs.
For example, the Heat's disadvantage on the inside, in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat suffered a big loss in the height of the restricted area, and the Pacers' center Roy Hibbert contributed an average of 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game in 7 games, with a shooting rate of 55.7%, which can be said to have caused a huge damage to the Heat's interior.
On the Spurs' interior side, Duncan and Split also have outstanding height and reach, but strictly speaking, the Spurs and the Pacers affect the game differently on the inside, and on the defensive end, Duncan and Split are no worse than the Pacers, but they are not the same on the offensive end.
The Pacers' interior helps the team on the offensive end more in terms of scoring and offensive rebounding, and their offensive rebounds ranked among the top three in the league during the regular season.
But the Spurs are different, the Spurs emphasize the importance of defense, and the offensive rebounding rate ranks last in the league, and it is not even as good as the Heat, who sacrifice height to play space basketball.
However, on the offensive end, the Spurs' interior has its own way of influencing the game, interior offense, mid-to-long-range shooting, high-post strategy, and organizing offense, especially Duncan, who has been very efficient this year, although he is often pushed outside the box by the black and white bears against the Grizzlies, but he can still score, and he can also score under the basket when the team needs it.
Duncan, this will be a very important thing for the Spurs to rely on in the Finals, and of course, it has been this way for the past decade or so.
"Our bigger advantage is on the outside!"
Popovich made a point of emphasizing when analyzing the upcoming Finals with the Spurs players.
Although it sounds hard to believe that the Heat have two of the league's top outside players, James and Wade, and also have bench players such as Ray Allen, Miller, and Battier who can provide plenty of firepower on the outside.
However, the Spurs players know that what Popovich is talking about makes sense, this season, if you calculate the effective shooting percentage of the sports after the three-point weighting, the Spurs rank second in the league, and accurate outside shooting is one of the magic weapons of the Spurs to win.
The Heat's ability to defend outside shooting is not outstanding, especially in rotation defense, which is not so good, and the Spurs have 19.2% of their offensive rounds in the regular season ending in assists, which is the highest assist rate in the league.
These things Popovich took out for the Spurs' player analysis, and at the same time, they were also taken out by industry insiders to analyze the report, and in the ESPN report, it was directly pointed out:
"The Spurs are the last opponent the Heat want to face and the most threatening opponent for the Heat, and the Spurs may not necessarily be able to directly inflict terrifying damage on the Heat's interior like the Pacers, but their ability to use space is also the strongest opponent to date, and their ability to move the ball and shoot is reminiscent of the Mavericks in 2011.
But it's clear that this Spurs team is better than the 11-year-old Mavericks, and they have not only the best system, but also the best stars.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan will be the biggest headaches for the Heat, and their combination and offensive power in the playoffs have not been able to limit even the Grizzlies who are excellent defensively, and the Heat are completely inferior in point guard and interior
At the shooting guard position, Danny Green's three-point shooting has been very consistent in this year's playoffs, which has made the Heat's possession of Ray Allen no longer the biggest advantage. Manu Ginobili's stats this season don't look too impressive, but he can still give the most damage to his opponents when it matters most.
Dwyane Wade's recovery in the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals is the best news for the Heat, who still have the advantage at the No. 2 spot as long as the Heat's No. 3 plays at his level.
Of course, the Heat's biggest advantage is the No. 3 position, LeBron James is still the best player on the planet right now, he is the magic weapon of the Heat's victory, even if the Spurs have the best system, they can't limit LeBron.
The only x-factor is the Spurs' two young small forwards, who have shown their defensive prowess in the past games, with two small forwards with great physical qualities taking turns against LeBron, and their performances could determine the outcome of the game.
In the Spurs' playoffs this year, he broke out more than once to help the team on both offensive and defensive ends, and they all know his shortcomings, however, no one knows when he will suddenly break out, and no one knows whether he will cause problems for LeBron James. ”
It's not just ESPN that lists Li Yang as an X-factor, many media have pointed out this, and his play may not be so consistent, but once he breaks out, it can be a huge help to the Spurs.
And crucially, that X-factor will play against two of the Heat's best players for most of the game.
At this time, Li Yang, the X-factor in the discussion of the outside world, has already gone to Miami with the team to prepare for the upcoming finals.
(To be continued.) )