In this game, James had no choice but to take the initiative to lead Giannis Antetokounmpo.

James didn't want to defend, but the last game proved that the Heat couldn't match Giannis Antetokounmpo except him.

Fans also made various criticisms of James, saying that he had the ability to defend but didn't defend in the first game, and James knew that he couldn't escape and could only force him to defend.

And after thinking about it, James also knew that this was an obvious account.

After the first two games, James has understood that the gap in strength in this series is relatively large, not only because of the Timberwolves' home court.

If he still insists on not defending Giannis Antetokounmpo and letting him score too many points, then he will have to take the blame after the game.

Regardless, he defended Giannis Antetokounmpo and then got a good stat.

This pot can't be divided into him.

James is a relatively shrewd man, and he will still make that obvious choice.

The race is on.

With the momentum of the home court, the Heat still did not fall behind in the first half of the quarter, especially Ray Allen and Battier hit key three-pointers to help the Heat establish an advantage.

But you can't always expect these two veterans to break out.

The Timberwolves' defense of James is still impregnable.

Even in order to keep the defensive intensity against James on the line, Luo Er Deng was still taking turns to defend James, but Su Chen didn't let him defend James.

Defending James is mainly Iguodala's main defense, with Giannis Antetokounmpo replacing the defense and helping to defend.

The Heat had some chances, like Battier and Ray Allen just now, who received James' split and shot a three-pointer.

However, the Timberwolves' defensive rotation is very fast, and even the three-pointers they make are still disturbed to a certain extent.

These role players of the Heat are still a little unstable in their crosshairs when they have to face three-point shots under certain interference.

The Heat's defense has replaced the undersized Chanmos, and Lewis, whose defensive ability has reached the level of a colander.

But in fact, the Heat's defensive intensity has not been raised.

Battier, who was once a top five-tier defender in the league, is left with only defensive awareness.

Even in the face of Lore Deng's offensive ability, the All-Star edge is struggling,

When he switched to Butler, it was clear that Battier knew what to do, but he was still forced to foul because he couldn't keep up with the speed.

Even if he was fouled, he was scored 2+1 by Butler.

Butler's aerial confrontation ability, and the aging Battier, clearly have the upper hand.

In addition to Battier, Ray Allen and Wade are actually struggling to pass on the defensive end.

If this lineup is all at its peak, it is still very strong, but now except for James or the peak, everyone else has more or less declined.

Bosh hasn't slipped too much, but his own playoff ability is not up to the task.

In the second half of the first quarter, the Heat had already begun to fall behind.

James scored a few of his own goals, split some chances, some of them went in and some didn't.

This kind of offensive efficiency is actually barely visible.

However, the Heat's defense made such an offensive inefficient one.

The first quarter of the game ended.

Heat 25:32 Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves scored 32 points in the first quarter, which shows what level the current Heat defense is.

James walked off the bench a little tired.

Eric Spoelstra glanced at James, and although James didn't deal with him, he knew that he couldn't blame James until now.

The Heat's lineup is actually barely playing the playoffs.

If it weren't for James' super play all the way, the Heat wouldn't have been able to break out of the East.

There is even a certain factor of the eastern dividend.

A bunch of teams in the East with a win rate of less than half can enter the playoffs, which shows that the East is weak.

Even for the Pacers, it's because of Hibbert's outrageous decline.

If it was Hibbert last season, the Heat might not be able to break out of the East.

The Timberwolves can rush out of the Wild West, and although there are still many people in the outside world who disapprove of the Timberwolves, Eric Spoelstra knows that the difference in strength must be acknowledged.

With the strength of the Heat, it is very difficult to play against the Spurs and the Warriors.

The Timberwolves eliminated the Warriors and Spurs all the way out, and what the Timberwolves' strength really is, Eric Spoelstra knows very well.

Eric Spoelstra laid out some tactics at the break.

Although there is a big gap in strength, Eric Spoelstra is still thinking of some tricks to see if he can turn the tables around.

The game is back.

The fighting spirit of the entire Heat team has dropped somewhat.

The difference in strength between the two teams in the first quarter, as well as the timeout, there was basically not much communication between Eric Spoelstra and James.

On the contrary, the entire Timberwolves are getting braver and braver, and relatively experienced players like Iba Karol Deng have also encouraged the young players.

Sometimes it's not just the coach who is boosting morale, it's also the role of the locker room leader.

"It looks like the winner is going to be decided."

Su Chen also discovered the atmosphere of the whole Heat team, and smiled slightly in his heart.

However, on the surface, Su Chen still did not underestimate the enemy, and still warned the players to stay focused and defend actively.

In the second quarter, both sides made some lineup rotations.

There weren't many people playing for the Heat, and this starter was equivalent to being forcibly promoted.

If you rotate the lineup, the strength will drop even more.

But the Heat have to make substitutions, the team is already a bunch of veterans, and if these veterans are not allowed to rest, they have no need to play.

And the strongest thing about the Timberwolves is the average level of the lineup.

Not only is the average strength of the starters not weak, but even the strength of the benches is relatively average.

Playing the depth of the lineup, there should be no team this season that can be compared with the Timberwolves.

(End of chapter)