warrior godfather

As Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson dissected the defense of the Warriors' small five, the Heat went on the offensive again.

Instead of breaking through directly, James beckoned Bosh to come out as a screen, trying to move Green away from the basket.

Sure enough, Green didn't squat, he followed Bosh out without hesitation, and switched to James.

James used the gap in the cover to initiate a breakthrough, but was entangled by Green, and Leonard also rushed towards him.

James didn't delay, and immediately passed the ball to Bosh who was going down, but Butler started to shrink towards the basket when James started to break through. At this time, he just stopped in front of Bosh and blocked his down. route.

Bosh turned his head to look for his teammates, but found that Curry and Clay were very particular about their positions. Cooperating with Butler's interference, they blocked the passing route between him and the weak side Wade, Battier, and Ray Allen.

Green also let go of James and rushed towards Bosh. Leonard entangled James, but kept his eyes on Bosh for a moment, staring at him, as if ready to cut off his pass to James at any time.

Bosh only felt that he had fallen into a net carefully prepared by the Warriors players, surrounded by enemies, and there was no way out.

In desperation, Bosh leaned back against Butler twice, turned around and shot a jumper, but he was afraid of Green's defense, so he moved a little hastily. The basketball bounced out of the hoop, but Green turned around and took it.

Green turned around and slapped the ball forward hard, taking a big step, and the Warriors quickly switched from defense to offense!
Green advanced with the ball in the middle and left Bosh behind. Curry and Leonard advanced forward on the left and right wings, attracting the defense of Battier and James. Clay and Butler followed up and rushed to the penalty area. The defensive formation was completely disrupted.

Green looked around and saw that Butler had attracted the attention of Wade and Ray Allen. Clay was surrounded by no one to guard him. He immediately flicked the ball with both hands, and the basketball flew straight towards Clay like a cannonball. .

Clay stretched out his hand, received the powerful but just-right pass, stuck out his tongue, rushed into the Heat's restricted area, leaped high, and smashed the ball into the basket heavily with one hand!

Bang!

57: 66.

"Yes! Clay's one-handed dunk in the fast break! The Warriors narrowed the point difference to 9 points. After the second half, they defended against the Heat twice in a row. The Heat must be careful." Mike Breen said.

Jeff Van Gundy said:
"Bosh's vision is relatively narrow, he can't move the ball from the strong side to the opposite corner in a wide range, and he can't break the rotation of the Warriors. The Heat seem to be in trouble."

On the sidelines, Spoelstra stared at the Warriors players on the field, frowning.

How could he fail to see that the defensive effect of the Warriors' five small lineups is amazing, and the rotation speed is even faster than that of the Heat's small lineup. It is the confidence that the Warriors dare to shrink and make up for.

But even if Spoelstra knew, there was nothing he could do.

The Warriors' defense is single defense on the outside, shrinking on the inside, and relying on speed and confrontation to make up for the lack of height. If the Heat want to break the game, they must either rely on James and Wade to break through the formation and directly rush to the basket, or use a quick transfer of the ball to let the Warriors The defense was exhausted and finally created an open shot.

However, under the strong contraction of the Warriors, as soon as James broke into the penalty area, the two of them flanked each other, and they didn't have any hands and feet at all. Wade would not be much better.

It is not easy for the Heat to break the Warriors' rotation by moving the ball.

Wade's three-point shooting rate is only a dismal 25.6%, Bosh hardly shoots three-pointers, the Heat have two non-space points, the Warriors' defensive range is much smaller, the rotation speed is extremely fast, and Green has a keen sense of defense. Check for leaks and make up for vacancies, keep up with the Heat's transfer of the ball, and the defense can be called watertight.

You can't count on space and breakthroughs, so you can only rely on the personal abilities of the stars.

Spoelstra can see clearly that the Warriors are not mindless flanking, and defending against pick-and-rolls is also switching defenses. Only when the Heat want to break through, they will shrink the flanking, giving the Heat players space to play singles.

And the big three teams, the most indispensable thing is singles!
Spoelstra suppressed the helplessness of not being able to break the game tactically, and shouted to James who passed by him with the ball:
"LeBron, find Curry in the pick-and-roll, target him!"

James' eyes lit up and he nodded.

After he came to the frontcourt, he waved to Battier. Battier was taken aback for a moment, then reacted and ran to the top of the arc.

Curry followed Battier and ran straight to James.

Just when James was ready to single Curry, Curry was just a delay, and then immediately ran to the side, Leonard struggled to squeeze through the screen, and reappeared in front of James.

"Curry had an early delay and cracked the Heat's pick-and-roll!" Mike Breen said.

On the sidelines, Zhang Yu smiled and clapped his hands.

He has seen too many scenes of Curry being named and misplaced, how could he not guard against this tactic?
Back then, during the Battle of Cavalry and Fire, Cole did a good job of protecting Curry. He tried to prevent Curry from being directly exposed to the opponent's attack by delaying in advance and helping to defend against flanking attacks.

Although roll call tactics are not yet popular in the NBA at this time, Zhang Yu has already started to practice tactics in the team. Curry is already very skilled in protecting himself on the defensive end.

Now, these methods will come in handy.

James failed to find Curry in the first pick and roll, but he did not give up and continued to pick and roll with Battier.

This time, Curry continued to use the method of chasing back after delaying in advance, trying to avoid the matchup with James, but James directly initiated a breakthrough when Battier's screen was not in place.

At this time, Leonard's attention has been attracted by Battier, his reaction is half a beat slow, and he is directly passed by James, and Green in the penalty area immediately comes to defend.

But James had already rushed up, and Green couldn't stop him at all. He carried Green to the basket, and made a layup with the small lever on his right hand, 68:57.

"James' breakthrough layup! The Warriors made a mistake while defending the pick-and-roll and was caught by James. The point difference returned to double digits." Mike Breen said.

Jeff Van Gundy didn't care about James' goal, but looked at Curry who dribbled the ball across the half:

"The Warriors' defense just now was just a small mistake. Leonard should not make it again... Now it is going to be a positional battle. I am very interested in the performance of the five small lineups in the positional battle. Their defense is very good. Z The coach's protection of Curry is also in place, if the five minors perform equally well on the offensive end, then the Warriors really have hope of a comeback."

On the court, in the anticipation of Jeff Van Gundy, the Warriors launched an offense.

Curry dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, Clay and Leonard separated into two bottom corners, Butler was at 45 degrees on the left, Green was at 45 degrees on the right, plus Curry at the top of the arc, all five of them stood in three corners. Breakout.

And they can all shoot three-pointers, and the Heat players have to step on the three-point line to defend, and the inside becomes extremely empty.

Curry took a look at the Heat's positioning, passed the ball to Green, and then ran to the weak side, and Wade, who was defending him, hurried to keep up.

Butler screened for Curry and kept Wade behind him. James, who was facing Butler, immediately stepped forward to block Curry's shooting space. Wade also squeezed through the screen and chased after Curry.

Taking advantage of the two pounced on Curry, Butler cut directly to the basket. James turned to keep up, but fell behind by half a body.

Green passed the ball in time, Butler took the ball, took advantage of the trend, and made a layup, 59:68.

Back and conversion, the Heat attacked, James and Battier played a pick-and-roll, Curry delayed ahead of time, avoiding James' roll call.

In fact, any pursuit after a delay will definitely leave space for the ball holder, but this gap is very short. If Curry holds the ball, he can directly shoot a three-pointer, and James does not have Curry's shooting speed. When Curry delayed James, Nader squeezed through the screen and came back to James.

James looked up at the time. Due to the pick-and-roll finding Curry wasting some time, there were only 8 seconds left on the offensive clock. He didn't delay any longer, and directly singled Leonard, making a mid-range jumper with an emergency stop. Under the iron.

The rebound was grabbed by Clay who was recycled to the basket. The Heat's retreat was very timely this time and did not give the Warriors a chance to counterattack.

The Warriors attacked, and the five were still standing on the three-point line. Curry and Green played a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, Wade and Bosh pinched Curry, and Curry gave Green the ball.

Green dribbled the ball straight to the basket, Battier let go of Leonard in the corner, and recovered the basket, but Leonard followed him and rushed to the penalty area.

After Battier's defense was in place, Green threw the ball into the sky. Leonard jumped high and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands. His movements were simple and steady, 61:68.

"Strike!" Zhang Yu shouted from the sidelines and clapped vigorously.

This is the cooperation he wanted to see. With the blessing of the ultimate space, the Warriors finally came out!
Mike Breen said:

"Leonard succeeded in dunking! The Warriors' five minors were in a "5-out" position on the offensive end. The Heat had to defend and the inside became empty. The Warriors seized the opportunity and scored consecutively in the penalty area."

Jeff Van Gundy sighed:
"The effect of the Warriors' five small lineups is really good. Five people can shoot three-pointers, run without the ball, and pass the ball. The compatibility is far stronger than the small lineup of the Heat. Except that not everyone can attack with the ball, There are no other weaknesses on the offensive end... The Warriors have too much space, and Spoelstra has to make a choice. Should he stick to flanking Curry and let others play four-on-three, or give up flanking and defend Curry alone? It's two bottles of poison, he must choose one to drink."

Spoelstra couldn't hear Jeff Van Gundy's advice, but he knew he had to make a choice.

At this moment, he seems to have returned to the finals in June. It is precisely because he chose to flank Curry that the Heat were able to win two consecutive games at home; it is precisely because he gave up flanking Curry that the Heat lost at Oracle Center. Dropped G6.

This time, Spoelstra did not hesitate for too long, he chose to continue to flank Curry.

He chose to trust the Heat's defensive rotation and the defense of the Big Three.

He firmly believes that the Heat, a veteran with rich defensive experience, will not be defeated by the young Warriors!

But soon, his confidence was ruthlessly shattered by reality.

……

On the court, the Heat attacked, Wade singled out Clay, and after breaking through, he encountered Green's help defense, which blocked him in the most uncomfortable position.

Wade gave the ball to Bosh, but was intercepted by Leonard who came out from a diagonal stab. The Warriors took advantage of the situation to set off a counterattack, and Clay missed a three-pointer.

Looking back, James and Ray Allen cooperated hand-in-hand, and the Warriors switched defenses directly. Ray Allen made a three-pointer against Leonard, 71:61.

Ray Allen's goal let Spoelstra breathe a sigh of relief, and also let the Heat fans at the scene temporarily put down their suspense.

The Warriors attacked, and Curry singled Wade, pretending to break through to the left. After Wade's center of gravity shifted, he dribbled behind his back and rushed to the three-point line on the right.

Seeing this, James immediately shrank to the basket. Curry stretched out his hand, as if to pass the ball to Butler. James quickly turned around and pounced, but Curry took the ball back and made a low-handed basket, 63:71.

Looking back, James wanted to cooperate with Ray Allen, but was destroyed by Clay, who was already on guard.

The tactics didn't work out, and the Heat's offensive time was running out. James could only single Leonard, and Leonard let him go. James made a decisive long shot. The basketball went out of the frame and was grabbed by Green.

The Warriors quickly counterattacked. Green took two steps and passed the ball to Curry. Curry rushed to the frontcourt. After two steps past the center line, he suddenly stopped and raised his hand to throw a three-pointer!

In front of him, Wade had already retreated to the three-point line, there was no time to interfere, he just stretched out his hand symbolically, and watched the basketball pass a long distance above his head and fell into the net, 66: 71.

"Bang! Curry hit the logo three-pointer in the fast break! Wade never expected that he would make a fast-break three-pointer from such a long distance, and he made it!" Mike Breen exclaimed.

Jeff Van Gundy said:
"The Heat's defense must be more determined. They can't limit Curry and lock up the rest of the Warriors."

The American Airlines Center, which was still very noisy just now, also fell silent after Curry's shocking three-pointer.

The Heat fans looked straight at Curry, who was shaking his head and grinning, with horror on his face.

This damn guy, he started shooting such unreasonable three-pointers again!

They clearly remember how the Heat lost the finals, and Curry's unreasonable and difficult shots are the nightmare that will never go away in the hearts of all Heat fans.

"Di-"

On the sidelines, Spoelstra surrendered a timeout with an uncertain face.

He couldn't blame James' instinctive return and Wade's retreat. There was no problem with their defense. If he wanted to blame, he could only blame Curry for being too abnormal.

The timeout he called was not to make any adjustments, but to simply interrupt the momentum of the Warriors, just like the timeout Zhang Yu called at the end of the second quarter.