The Finals are never easy, and as a decisive battle for the highest honor in the NBA, the confrontation between the two sides must be extremely high.

The Heat have been looking forward to this championship for a long time, and they have a strong belief in winning the championship from top to bottom, and they are quite well prepared before the game.

Coach Spo is a typical workaholic who dedicates himself to the game of basketball.

Before the game, he laid out several plans for this round of the Finals to deal with the Clippers' strong, varied roster and rich tactics.

The advantage of the Clippers is that they are changeable, they can play too many people, and the tactical system is complex and there are many routines.

Although the Heat also has a group of excellent players, there is no shortage of stars and superstars, but each has major weaknesses, plus age and state problems, and the functionality is obvious.

In this case, the Heat must respond to changes with the same and strengthen the team's core ideas, and several sets of Spo's plans are also based on the core ideas.

First of all, the first is that no matter what, if you want to fight for the Clippers on the inside, you must strive for the advantage of the inside.

The Heat's outside line is seriously aging, and if the inside line is wreaked havoc by the black and white heroes at will, then the Heat will be the material that the Clippers will take care of.

The Clippers in the Western Conference are the best example, Griffin and Jordan Jr. did not have the advantage, and the Grizzlies had no power to fight back, and were beaten 0:4.

In the first quarter, Howard's rebounding foul at the beginning of the game made Spo break out in a cold sweat, but fortunately, Howard stabilized and helped the team gain an advantage with an impeccable performance.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Spo had to deal with the Clippers' second advantage, which was the Clippers' long rotation, and the young players were full of physical energy, which would definitely have an impact on the Heat's defense.

Spo's response strategy is still unchanged, and he knows that the Heat have few options in terms of tactics and lineups.

At this moment, the belief and state of the players is the only magic weapon to make up for the gap and withstand the pressure.

It's not something that Spo yells at the players on the sidelines and takes a few sips of chicken soup.

Instead, it relies on daily hard practice and large-scale physical training to ensure that players can support and maintain high-intensity games for a long time.

In the second quarter, the Heat had replaced Nash, replaced Kerr, and put Haslem at the forward position to increase defensive toughness.

On the Clippers' side, Tyronn Lue used the second lineup in the second quarter, Harden and Dragic, Davis on the inside, and Butler on the front line, to impact the Heat's defense with strong firepower and tireless running.

No team in the West can withstand the Clippers' second or even third team in the playoffs.

The normal pace of the race is like a long-distance race, starting with a grab position, then alternating leads at a constant pace, and then sprinting at the end.

If the difference in strength between the two sides is relatively large, they are often physically exhausted when they are running at a constant speed in the alternate lead, and they are pulled farther and farther, and finally they don't need to sprint, and the game is over.

The Clippers have a very different pace, and their constant pace is sometimes similar to the opponent's fast run.

At the beginning, the opponent can also try to fight with the Clippers, and if you run fast, I will follow suit.

But when you run and run at a constant speed, why do you still run fast?

Even the Clippers ran faster, always maintaining the pace on the offensive end, not only running fast, but also moving the ball fast, and defendingly fierce.

It's similar to the show-time of the Lakers in the 80s, where the opponent is often not killed by the show, but runs with the Lakers and is run to death.

At that time, Riley attached great importance to the physical training of the players, and behind the Lakers' gorgeous offense, there was actually a huge physical reserve, as well as abundant bench rotation.

The Clippers now have both of these and are doing better, and they launched a counterattack in the second quarter.

James Harden got the ball in the high post, but Ray Allen played him extremely tight close defense.

Don't look at Ray Allen as a veteran and not known for his defense, but in key games, he is rarely a colander on the defensive end.

During the Celtics period, against the Lakers in the Finals, Ray Allen would sometimes go to defend Kobe, and his defense was not bad.

Harden could only pass the ball to Dragic, who then passed to Milicic who was receiving the ball.

The two Serbs did a pick-and-roll in the high post, and as a result, the Heat's outside line directly released Milicic to come over to save Dragic.

Dragic distributed the ball to Milicic in the middle, and Haslem scored and knocked the ball out of Milicic's hands, a successful pressing defense!

The Heat are good at this kind of high-pressure defense of the ball, and Spo believes that if the opponent can maintain a high-intensity offense for 48 minutes, then in response, the Heat must maintain a high-intensity defense for 48 minutes.

The Clippers' second lineup is really a bit uncomfortable, and for the Clippers' young people, the Western Conference finals have been too smooth all the way, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Especially defensively, none of their opponents in the first three rounds of the West has a defensive intensity that can reach the level of the Heat, especially the Heat's consistency is very good.

This shows that their players are fit and focused, and the defensive lineup will not be easy to loosen up.

When it came to the Heat offense, the Clippers used tough defense to make the Heat make mistakes.

Odom's breakaway under the basket knocked over Milicic and was whistled for an offensive foul by the referee.

But immediately Harden was prevented by Ray Allen's close defense to miss a three-point shot.

There was a clear foul on the ball, but the referee didn't blow it, causing Tyronn Lue to yell on the sidelines.

Inside Milicic got the rebound in the frontcourt, stumbled and passed to Dragic, Dragic hit the basket, threw and missed.

Inside Bosh took the rebound in the backcourt, but the ball was not yet secured, and Jimmy Butler scored a steal from the side.

After Butler intercepted the ball successfully, he slipped the bottom line and returned the ball to Harden, who faced Ray Allen again, and after continuous crotch dribbling, he rushed into the basket in the middle and made a layup that caused the opponent to foul.

The two teams were caught up in a very high-intensity offensive and defensive battle, and this was the second quarter, and it felt like the fourth quarter.

After Mike Malone came to lead the Clippers this season, he brought a lot of defensive genes to the team, and the team ran wild on the road of three-point-pass-off-offense compared to the previous Kerr period, braked slightly, and deviated from the traditional confrontation-defense line.

In fact, this deviation is very significant, and if the Clippers stick to Kerr's path, they may still be able to reach the Finals, but they are likely to be killed by the Heat's extremely tough, gritty style of play.

Now, the Clippers seem to be in the quagmire of hand-to-hand combat rhythm that they hate, but Tyronn Lue and Mike Malone are not worried, and the Clippers are not as afraid of hand-to-hand combat as people think.

Harden hit both free throws to score the first point of the second quarter, and the game was more than two minutes into the game, nearly three minutes away.

In the regular season, the Clippers were on fire, often scoring 40 points in a single quarter.

Now, neither team has scored more than 30 points, and the intensity of the game can be imagined.

Subsequently, the offensive efficiency of both sides was not high, and Spo's tactical intent was realized, withstanding the Clippers' ferocious second-team offensive shockwave.

However, the Clippers did not lag behind on the court, they caught up with the score little by little, and with Butler holding the ball and scoring a layup, the Clippers tied with the Heat 31-31.

At this time, the second quarter was almost halfway through, the game entered an official timeout, and the fans had time to pee and take a break, and the game was really intense.

But Min Congda looked at the Clippers' offense, but he felt very uncomfortable in his heart, and thought: "TM, is it a pain to watch you play?" ”

Min Congda's perspective is certainly different from that of the fans and the Clippers coaching staff, and he has his own unique ideas.

In his opinion, it is not impossible for the Clippers and Heat to fight defense, but at best it can only be said to be a middle and lower strategy.

Because of the depth of the Clippers' roster and tactical richness, it is completely possible to find tactics to restrain the Heat's style of play.

If Min Congda is now in the position of head coach of the Clippers, he will definitely send a radical lineup of one big, four small, or even five small.

In one of the games Min Congda played as head coach last season, the Clippers used a five-man lineup, three small forwards, plus Harden and Curry.

The extreme opening of the space, the five ball carriers are all all-round, and the pure strong offensive lineup.

Heat, don't you want to compete with me for the inside line, don't you want to build the inside base?

It's okay, I'm not going to fight with you, I'm just giving it all to you, and the three-second zone is all for you.

I want territory outside of the three-second zone.

In this way, it is natural to change to another team, but the Clippers' small lineup can.

Moreover, Howard and Bosh on the Heat's interior are lacking in destruction on the offensive end, and it is difficult to consistently score to kill opponents.

If it's really a little unbearable, then be conservative, one big and four small, and it's okay to go to Gasol Jr.

In this way, the Clippers' offensive space is completely stretched, allowing the Heat players to further improve their defensive physical exertion.

Even if the Heat are all iron men and iron lungs, in the face of the extreme space lineup, the body will not be able to bear it.

What's more, the age of the Heat's outside players is already old.

It's a pity that this very risky lineup play, whether it is Tyronn Lue or Mike Malone, does not dare to try.

Didn't even think about it.

Steve Kerr thought about it, but before he could do it on the Clippers, he ran to the Cavaliers.

In the Cavaliers, he wanted to try, but James didn't cooperate.

If James cooperates and polishes this set well, they will not necessarily lose to the Heat in the East.

Min Congda now feels like two stinky chess baskets, holding good chess in his hand, but playing stinky chess on the field, and it is difficult to solve the problem.

As a basketball general manager who has ideas but can't say anything, his heart is really tormented, and he really wants to hand a small note to Coach Lu, but he still can't help it.

Actually, Tyronn Lue + Mike Malone, as well as Spo and his coaching staff, are definitely not stinky chess baskets.

It's just that they can't be like Min Congda, who has a very high tactical talent and can control the players under them as they want.

They can only be part of the game, they can't be the masters of the successful game, and the players' performance is decisive.

After the official timeout in the second quarter, Tyronn Lue reintroduced Curry, and Curry and Harden partnered the backcourt, which was a good change.

The Clippers need to do a better job of reinvigorating their offense, allowing Harden to control the ball, Curry's movement to pull, and the Heat's defense to be fatigued like bending metal.

Also on the inside, Tyronn Lue replaced the inexperienced Anthony Davis for Matt Bonner, which was also a good move.

Davis is still too young, a rookie, and a little dazed in a Finals-level confrontation, and this game should be a matter of gaining experience for him.

As soon as Bonner came on the court, he got a chance, Curry's involvement caused a gap on the right side, Bonner received the ball, and the Heat players desperately came to save - the Heat must save every ball.

As a result, Bonner made a feint, chose to break through with the ball, and after hitting the basket, he threw a shot, causing a foul on Haslem and going to the free throw line.

Seeing this, Spo immediately replaced Howard and replaced Haslem, who had been playing for a long time.

Haslem was really tired after the break, and Bonner hit both free throws to put the Clippers in the lead.

Subsequently, Wade shot from a 45-degree mid-range and threw a three-way shot......

Spo is starting to worry again, is there something wrong with Wade's fitness?

Riley, who was watching the game from the sidelines, also thought that it would be nice if he could have formed such a squad two years earlier.

Wade's knees, the condition has been getting worse and worse in the past two years, so when it comes to the critical moment, who will hold the Heat's offense?

The Clippers' quick counterattack, Curry quickly crossed the half court with the ball, and gave the ball to the bottom corner Butler, Butler received the ball and made a direct three-point shot and hit!

It was the first fast-break three-pointer of the game, and the Staples Center was jubilant.

The Clippers are five points ahead.

This is also the third problem that Spo has to solve in the face of the Clippers: relying on individual ability to bite the key points.

Wade is of course the first choice, but Wade is no longer the Flash of the year, and the team needs a second choice.

It's a conundrum, to Nash? Three years younger is fine.

To Howard? Then it would be better to just give the ball to the Clippers.

To Odom? Odom is now playing 15 minutes per game.

To Bosh? Theoretically, Bosh should be the second choice.

Statistically, Bosh is also the team's second-leading scorer.

The average normal coach would give this task to Bosh.

The No. 2 person in the team, the second highest salary, and Wade are perfect inside and out.

But Spo didn't, and Spo knew that the intensity of the playoffs, letting Bosh handle too many offensive key shots, was definitely bad for the team.

Because his ability is not enough to support it, he is more suitable to be a cold archer, and a low-level attacker in the repulsion stage, but he can't be a demoman.

The coach must be clear about this, just like the Portland Trail Blazers back then, Drexler is a well-deserved star of the team.

But when it matters most, the ball tends to be in Terry Porter's hands because he handles the ball better and has a better shot.

Therefore, Spo put this task on the veteran Ray Allen, and the self-disciplined Ray Allen is trustworthy.

When trailing by 5 points, Ray Allen burst with the ball and was given to Bosh by the bag, who missed a mid-range shot.

But Ray Allen actually grabbed the rebound in the frontcourt, and then lightly threw the board to score two points.

Spoo breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the team had stabilized a little.

The key player is like that, it doesn't matter what you do, whether it's good or not, a beautiful single, or an ugly free throw, in short, you can put the ball in the basket and score.

In this regard, even if Bosh is younger than Ray Allen, in better shape than him, and has more points on higher wages, he is still not as good as Ray Allen.

(End of chapter)