When pride still matters

Chapter 321 Feeling like a gorilla

The Heat adjusted quickly, which is the biggest difference between them tonight and before.

Because the Heat have almost no room for error and lack home court advantage, if they fall behind 1-3, it is almost a sure-fire game.

Therefore, whenever a problem occurs, Riley will decisively call for a timeout to adjust.

The Heat are full of veterans. Although they lack the vigor of young people, this also allows them to make timely adjustments when they encounter problems.

Riley wants to lighten Wade's burden, and it's everyone else's job to step up and take on some of their own responsibilities.

Payton came up and found Kevin Martin's mismatch, taking advantage of the opponent's lack of defensive ability to score in high post singles.

The Bucks are well aware of Martin's defensive problems and are not worried about it because they know Martin will come back.

Yu Fei gave the ball to Martin, with the intention of letting him regain the field by himself.

However, Martin did not repay this trust with a solid offense.

Payton has wasted too much time fighting for the championship in recent years. Everyone has forgotten how strong a defender he once was. Even though he is older now, with the blessing of loose standards at home, he still brings a lot of success to Martin. Trouble.

Especially in this round, the two sides' counterattacks were close together. The Bucks' first pass, quick pass, and crisp scoring were like a public execution for the Heat.

That's exactly what the Heat have been doing since Game 3.

Seeing that Martin was not in good condition, George Karl directly replaced him with Sprewell.

However, the Heat's defensive counterattack is not very efficient and extremely slow. For basketball fans, watching such defensive counterattack is a pain, just like Masahiro Tabuchi in the 2020s trying to play tough in every movie he makes. Otto-san is just as uncomfortable.

After replacing the players, the Bucks' defensive capabilities have been enhanced. Although the outside offensive firepower has been weakened, the continuous output of Yu Fei and Bell is enough to make up for the shortcomings.

They are not a team that relies on defensive counterattacks. Except for Wade, no one among them can effectively carry out defensive counterattacks.

This proves that the Heat are indeed the most talented team in the Eastern Conference.

The overhand ban frees tall and thin scorers like Martin, but if you are satisfied with the status quo and feel that you do not need to gain weight, the education of Miami people can be said to be just right.

The gap in defensive counterattack efficiency between the two teams is so big that even the fans at the scene can see the gap.

However, the Heat won't take this seriously.

Martin failed to create a shooting opportunity and was blocked by Mourning after dribbling to the basket.

Karl originally wanted Yu Fei to rest for a few minutes, and then they saw the Heat replace O'Neal at the beginning of the second quarter.

The Heat's defensive counterattack failed. Yu Fei grabbed the rebound and quickly passed it to Raja Bell, assisting the opponent's fast break score.

Maintaining defensive intensity is easy to say but extremely difficult to do, mainly in terms of mentality.

The Heat were beaten in two consecutive games in Milwaukee, but did not show any discouragement after returning home. Finally, in the third game, they cooperated with Wade to break the Bucks' undefeated streak in the playoffs.

It was in this game that Martin saw his biggest shortcoming, and he knew that if he could not increase his weight and strength to make himself more tolerant in the face of tough defense and fierce confrontation, he might never be able to Play your due role in this suffocating game.

The best thing the Heat did was continue to suppress Martin's shooting touch.

The Bucks are good at attacking opponents. Once the outside is touched, the cross-era offensive threat can crush all defenses.

Like hitting a wall, Martin seemed to have lost his mojo and was limited by the Heat's tough defense.

Now, the excellent defense against Martin reflects that as well.

After the first quarter, the Bucks led the Heat by 27 points 22-5.

The rotation plan of the superior knight beating the inferior knight is very easy to understand, and the Bucks often play this.

But this is the Eastern Conference finals, and the opponent is O'Neal. If Martin is in good condition tonight, maybe Karl will let him temporarily replace Yu Fei. But now, looking at the entire team, the only one in the Bucks who can offset O'Neal's influence is Yu Fei.

However, Karl still had to ask Tao Fei for his advice before making a decision.

"Let me keep fighting."

Yu Fei said directly.

In this way, Karl's rotation will be easier.

As long as there are enough shooters around Da Fei, O'Neal will not be able to jump up.

But the price is that in the entire first half, Yu Fei may only have a chance to rest in the last few minutes.

Riley asked O'Neal to sit out the game until the second quarter, intending to let his superior team bully the Bucks' inferior team.

Now Yu Fei is about to make a comeback, and his plan is ruined.

But Riley doesn't think this is a bad thing, at least they made the Bucks afraid to replace Yu Fei.

The rest is up to O'Neal himself.

Riley decided to let Wade rest. O'Neal was the only core player on the court, but did he want to demand a lot of the ball like in the first two games and produce impressive but unwinnable data, or did he want to sacrifice his ego to become the team's big ego.

Yu Fei called on O'Neal to score, extending the lead to 7 points.

Moreover, he had words on his lips.

Even from afar, Riley knew those weren't nice words.

However, it is gratifying that O'Neal did not talk back.

This shows that his mood has not fluctuated.

However, when Riley saw O'Neal running upfield and asking for the ball in the low post, his heart was already half cold.

If O'Neal doesn't understand this - that he is no longer the NBA's most impactful player - then Miami will be overwhelmed by the NBA's most impactful player. O'Neal took the ball, and the Bucks' defense quickly shrank.

Just when Riley thought it was over, O'Neal passed the ball to Antoine Walker on the outside.

Walker raised his hand and hit a three-pointer.

Subsequently, O'Neal performed well in protecting the basket. After interfering with the Bucks' offense, he grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to Payton for a fast break.

Back and forth, the Heat recovered 5 points, leaving the gap between the two sides only 2 points.

Yu Fei and Danny Granger played a pick-and-roll.

After blocking the ball, Granger took the ball outside and shot a three-pointer.

"Shh!"

Then, Yu Fei continued to ridicule O'Neal for his inability to defend the pick-and-roll.

However, the other party stopped talking back.

Yu Fei couldn't even see any anger on O'Neill's face.

It's like he's come to a realization, fully aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and fully acknowledged the obvious: He's no longer the best player.

O'Neal became a team player who dedicated himself to serving the team. Yu Fei's attacks on him began to decrease. Both sides relied on their own abilities to change the situation as much as possible.

An insider like O'Neal who can do everything except guarding pick-and-rolls and shooting can bring about qualitative changes on both offense and defense if he concentrates on serving the team.

One of the most obvious changes for the Heat is that veterans such as Walker, Posey, Bai Qiao, and Payton have begun to benefit from O'Neal's changes.

Five minutes into the second quarter, the Bucks only led by 3 points.

At this time, Wade came back.

This version of O'Neal on the court is his favorite O'Neal.

As long as O'Neal continues to play like this, he can attack with all his strength as he did in Game 3.

Wade slowly took over the Heat's offensive burden and wisely took advantage of the home court advantage by drawing consecutive fouls from the Bucks in a short period of time, allowing Raja Bell to commit three fouls before halftime.

The Bucks replaced Bell, replaced Ariza, and continued to intercept Wade.

The rhythm of the game suddenly became extremely slow, with Yu Fei and Wade controlling the main ball on both sides.

Yu Fei could clearly feel that Wade's condition was improving. It was obvious that the opponent was almost defeated by him in the first quarter, but he miraculously adjusted back.

Are this year's Heat really the team of destiny?

When Wade caused Kwame Brown's third foul and drew 2+1, Yu Fei had this idea inexplicably.

Immediately, he despised himself in his heart. If this year's Heat is the team of destiny, then what are the 03 Spurs and 04 Pistons? Abandoned by fate?

Destiny is an interpretation of the current and foreseeable future life status of a person who is unable to change the status quo, so he can only throw in the towel and admit defeat. He does not recognize it.

Yu Fei responded to Wade's 2+1 with a three-pointer, and the Bucks' lead remained unchanged at 4 points.

No matter how much O'Neal teamed up or Wade's recovery, the Heat just couldn't reverse their disadvantage in the second quarter.

Because Yu Fei finally played the entire first half and scored 29 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

58 is better than 54

The Bucks still lead by 4 points.

"A lot of people say if the Bucks can't stop Wade, Miami is going to win this game. But you look at Frye's half-court numbers."

"Can Miami afford it if Frye continues to play like this?"

Bill Walton praised Yu Fei like a believer in the ESPN live broadcast room.

His enthusiasm for Fei makes people suspect that this former NBA 50 superstar has some kind of interest relationship with Da Fei.

During the halftime interview, the coaches from both sides had their own opinions on the game.

Carr said bluntly: "You know, there is some kind of special ban in Miami. No matter what we do, the referee will always let Wade take the free throw."

The reporter asked: "What about?"

"I farted off the court." Karl was ready to be fined and also to blame his opponent, "but the referee awarded Wade two free throws."

Riley on the opposite side directly ignored his opponent's sarcasm and publicly expressed his confidence in tonight's game.

"Shaq tonight is like Kareem in 1985." As the head coach of the legendary Lakers team, Riley feels qualified to say this. "And Dwayne is Magic in 1987. We are We are very confident in the game, we will definitely win and the series will get back to the starting line.”

Fans don't usually think about things that complicated.

All they know is that this series is indeed about something people already know.

If the Bucks lose, hopes of revival may be dashed, Yu Fei's title of No. 1 in the league may change hands, and Wade will become the best player among the younger generation.

If the Heat lose, it will be just another failed challenger. The only difference is that this challenger team has a former overlord like O'Neal. Their failure may completely put an end to the feud between Yu Fei and O'Neal.

So what did Yu Fei think?

He had no idea.

He had just finished halftime and was a little tired and hungry. He suddenly wanted to eat pork chops and rice, but it was impossible. The only thing the team could provide was bananas and Gatorade.

Yu Fei had to eat the banana while pretending it was a pork chop.

It made him feel like an orangutan.

(End of this chapter)