NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 101: Overturning the River and the Sea (15)

The Thunder attacked, Westbrook passed the ball directly to Lin Chuan in the high position after crossing half court. Facing the serious-looking Haslem, Lin Chuan stepped up his defense and directly committed a foul.

After making both free throws, in the next round, Lin Chuan broke through from the wing again, faced Bosh's defense and made a powerful layup, scoring 2+1.

Lin Chuan scored repeatedly in the interior.

On the other hand, the Heat fell into an offensive black hole and failed to score in the first three minutes of the game. Finally, after Chalmers broke through and made a reverse layup, the Heat's scoring drought was broken.

But at this time their score had reached 2:13.

With nine minutes left in the first quarter, they were already trailing by 9 points.

But after the first time, the follow-up became easier.

After Chalmers scored, the Heat were finally able to play some smooth offense. The Big Three all started scoring goals, and at the end of the first quarter, they successfully chased the score to 18:27.

"The Heat have finally recovered. At least they are only 9 points behind after the first quarter. But their biggest problem right now is how to deal with Lin Chuan of the Thunder."

Kenny Smith commented:

"In the first quarter, although Lin Chuan only took four shots, he caused Haslem to foul once, caused Bosh to foul once, and scored the other two. If he is not restricted, I am afraid that the Thunder will be able to turn the score into garbage time in the second quarter."

"Yes, the weak inside line is the biggest weakness of the Heat. If they can't improve this, they will not only be in crisis this game, but it will be difficult to play throughout the season."

O'Neill said.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Chalmers left the court and Wade took over as the main point guard, while Ray Allen moved to the scoring position.

Ray Allen, who had just arrived at the Heat, played well and made two three-pointers in the bottom corner, helping the Heat to keep the score close.

With Ray Allen, the No. 1 three-point shooter in history, standing on the court, the Heat finally had some space, making it easier for James and Wade to break through.

However, facing the defensive line composed of two defensive gates in the interior, Lin Chuan and Ibaka, the shooting percentage of these two breakthrough players under the basket can only exceed 50%, which is not very efficient.

After defending James' breakthrough layup, Lin Chuan ran to the frontcourt, and with the help of Ibaka's screen, he came to the weak side again and challenged Haslem with the ball.

Lin Chuan let Haslem pass and forced a layup. Although Haslem defended very well this time and prevented Lin Chuan from scoring, the referee's whistle made him realize that the defense this time was only because of a hand collision.

In the Thunder's next offensive round, Lin Chuan used the same trick again and forced a foul under the basket.

Haslem committed two fouls in just two rounds, which forced Spoelstra to replace him early during the free throw period and replace him with this season's new signing, the billionaire Rashard Lewis.

But this would force the Heat's inside line to become smaller.

Seeing the inside player coming on, Lin Chuan's eyes lit up.

Rashard Lewis is a typical player who is strong on offense but weak on defense. His playing style is not consistent. If he is substituted in, he will be severely punished by him.

"Alas, the Heat's inside defense is really poor!"

Kenny Smith sighed deeply.

"Poor Chris Bosh is now forced to play center. Even Haslem was fouled out by Lin Chuan. I can't imagine how Bosh will be bullied."

Seeing the fiery inside player, O'Neal shook his head.

After Wade made a mid-range shot, the Thunder began to attack.

Lin Chuan ran directly to the low post and held Bosh and started asking for the ball.

Before Lin Chuan even exerted too much strength, he already felt that Bosh behind him was about to be pushed away.

After receiving Durant's high pass, Lin Chuan slapped the basketball with both hands, making a loud noise. He turned his head to look at Bosh who was trying hard to defend, and said in a teasing tone, "Bosh, uncle is starting to back him up!"

After he finished speaking, Lin Chuan dribbled the ball with his right hand. Every time he dribbled, he exerted force backwards and was able to move a large step forward. After only two dribbles, he reached the bottom of the basket.

Lewis also stepped forward to help defend, but Lin Chuan jumped from the spot and forced a layup, which also caused him to foul.

Seeing Lewis was fouled as soon as he came on the court, Spoelstra glared at him.
"what are you doing!"

Lewis explained,

"Defense! I can't just watch him run into the paint and score easily!"

"Know your position! You can't stop him even if you help him!"

Spoelstra was speechless. Lewis is strong on offense but weak on defense. Hasn't he figured out the situation after all these years?

"LeBron, you go to the power forward position and let Lewis play small forward."

James nodded, agreeing with Spoelstra.

Although he is a small forward, after the Heat gained weight in the past two years, it is not impossible for him to occasionally play the power forward position, and his defense is much stronger than Lewis.

Playing power forward is a bit tiring, but who can blame the team for not having many decent inside players...

However, James's move to the power forward position has not made much improvement to the Heat's current weakness in the interior.

After receiving the ball in the high post, Lin Chuan saw that it was James who came up for defense and decided to give up the breakthrough.

He turned around and started to teach him a lesson by beating him from behind.

After two pushes, Lin Chuan found that James was still stronger than Bosh. When the ball was one step inside the free throw line, Lin Chuan simply turned around and shot from one leg.

The basket drew a high arc, higher than James' block, and went into the net!

Spoelstra paced anxiously on the sidelines, he was about to collapse.

The defender was changed four times in a row, and each one was punished by Lin Chuan with the same back-to-the-basket move!

Each of them has been trying hard to defend, but in the face of Lin Chuan's attack, it is of no use at all!

It’s just impossible to defend against it!
Throughout the second quarter, the game became Lin Chuan's personal show. He scored crazily in the interior and occasionally pulled James Lewis to the outside to catch his three-pointers.

In this quarter, he not only knocked Haslem off the court, but also caused Bosh to foul out. The Heat had no other substitutes, so they replaced him with Joel Anthony, who had been on the bench for a long time.

At the end of the second quarter, the score was widened again by Lin Chuan alone.

Currently 40:60.

The Thunder led by 20 points at halftime.

As for Lin Chuan, he played for 19 minutes in the first half, took 15 shots, made 13 of them, 3 of 2 three-pointers, and 12 of 10 free throws, scoring 38 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks.

"He scored 24 points in the second quarter, which is more than the Heat's entire second quarter score. He scored 38 points in the first half, which is only two points less than the Heat's entire halftime score!"

"His hit rate is as high as 87%! The Heat really have no way to limit his performance. I think the Heat should double-team him. At least no matter how well the other players play or how accurate their open shots are, they won't have a hit rate close to 90%."

O'Neal was so shocked that he was speechless.

Even he, the most dominant player in the NBA's interior, can rarely destroy the opponent's interior to this level.

(End of this chapter)