312: Confused by the Heat
The Heat this season are much more mature than last season, and the combination between James, Wade and Bosh is becoming more and more tacit.
The 17-game winning streak at home is proof of this. Although the Heat defeated Boston yesterday, it was in North Shore Garden and the territory of the Celtics.
In Miami, the Heat have not lost 17 consecutive games at home! In the stands, countless fans also held up cards with the number "18".
There is no doubt that everyone hopes that the Heat's home winning streak can be continued. Although he was scored first in the game and although Link was very excited as soon as he got started, everyone is still full of confidence in the Heat Big Three.
Cheers are endless, and Heat fans are quite excited to eat the Grizzlies.
In defending the honorary battle of home court, James naturally would not retreat. He was more focused on the defensive end. Link is a player who is very good at finding opportunities. Just now, because James had no one on the outside, he was caught by Link with an offensive rebound.
This time, Link kept interspersing with running positions, attracting the Heat's defensive attention. However, Conley suddenly made a single shot and caught Chalmos off guard.
As a point guard of a team that aims to win the championship, Chalmos has been criticized like Fischer, the Lakers before.
After all, the task of organizing the offense has always been that James himself takes big shots, and Chalmos's task is almost gone except for dribbling through the half court and hitting some open shots.
Defense? Due to limitations on athletic ability and physique, Chalmos' defense has always been embarrassing and excellent. Although steals are very good, steals are not the only criterion for judging whether a player's defense is excellent.
Conley seemed to be trying to pass the ball to Link who had been running actively, but suddenly a change of direction accelerated and cleaned up Chalmos.
After reaching the middle distance, Conley made a mid-range shot and made a steadily shot. James looked at Conley who made the shot and looked at Link who ran very positively, but he didn't even touch the ball. He felt that the entire Heat's defense was tricked.
From the beginning, the Grizzlies didn't want to find Link in the attack!
Link spread his hands at James. The Grizzlies are different from the Heat. On the Heat, they can even think of which three people can score with their toes. On the Grizzlies, there are many people who can stand up and get points!
Holding Link to the death will not work.
"4-0, the Heat started badly. I don't know how big the big defeat was against the Heat yesterday. But if the Grizzlies broke the Heat's record of 17 consecutive home wins today, the blow that the Heat fans will bear will be unpredictable."
The cheers in the American Airlines Center were significantly less frequent. In most people's impression, the Grizzlies were a team that was not very popular.
Although they reached the Western Conference Finals last season and although they have been ranked in the top four in the Western Conference this year, most fans still believe that the Grizzlies are the kind of team that is a bit powerful but not enough to challenge the champion team.
However, the qualities shown by the Grizzlies after the opening made Heat fans take a breath.
They are very strong, really strong. If the Heat don't regroup quickly, they might really fail.
Before we knew it, the cheers in the US Airways Center became much less.
It's time for the Heat's offensive again. James now knows that it's difficult to score efficiently with brute force alone. Link is no longer the "bamboo pole" that flew last season when it hits.
This time, James and Wade played a pick-and-roll tactic. James provided a cover for Wade, then cut into the basket and waited for Wade to pass the ball.
At the beginning, James and Wade thought that using this move could force the switch to change defenses. But once there was a change in defense, there was a gap.
However, how could Tony Allen let Wade succeed so easily? He squeezed through James' cover and returned to Wade! And Link stayed around James at any time, and the fleeting space did not exist at all!
"With a beautiful defense, Jenway played against the defensive chain composed of Link and Tony Allen, and it was not easy at all."
Wade finally chose to pass the ball to James, but when Link defended closely, James did not receive the basketball. Link stretched out his arm and cut off the basketball in the middle, Wade made a mistake!
"It's Link again, he destroyed Wade's pass to James. This guy is very focused on the defensive end, and Wade can't be lucky."
As soon as Mike Bryn finished speaking, Link passed it to Tony Allen for a long time.
Tony Allen rode his way to the frontcourt, and Wade was trying hard to chase back, but it was difficult to catch up.
Wade is not in good health now. He is still one of the strongest second positions in the league, but his ability is indeed not as good as back then. For example, the iconic chase is difficult for Wade to perform now.
James followed on behalf of Wade, preparing to chase Tony Allen. But Tony Allen passed the ball to Link after entering the penalty area, and James saved in vain!
After receiving the ball, Link continued to break through, and James simply defended to the basket and prepared to compete with Link in the second round. The entire Heat's defense also contracted with Link.
However, when Link was about to bump into James, he secretly shook his wrist and divided the ball outside the three-point line!
There, Zach Randolph, who had just run up, was left unattended!
Randolph has always been a fat man who likes to shoot three-pointers. During the New York period, this guy averaged 2.2 three-pointers per game, but his shooting percentage was only 29.2%. It was really a cancer.
However, now, Randolph does not have the problem of shooting outside the three-point line. But if it is an open three-pointer opportunity, Randolph is willing to try it.
He took action calmly without even adjusting. Link's ball was very comfortable to pass, and the height was just right, so Randolph could shoot it as soon as he picked it up.
"Damn it, where is our defense!" James yelled as soon as Randolph took action.
As expected, the next second, Randolph entered the net with a three-pointer! The Grizzlies led the Heat 7-0!
Randolph's data has indeed declined severely due to physical condition this season. But if you think Randolph is no longer threatening, you are very wrong!
"7-0, Link's pass is amazing! He played very freely today, his mind was very clear, and he did not have a short circuit because he was against James. It seems that he has made sufficient preparations for this game."
James shook his head, and the Heat couldn't defend it! It's said that the Grizzlies had weak attacks and strong defenses, but the Grizzlies had already made 3 of 3 shots from now on.
There are only 5 people in basketball who can play. For comparison, football requires 11 people, football requires 11 people, and baseball requires 9 people. Therefore, in basketball, an individual has a huge impact on the team. And Link, his existence undoubtedly caused earth-shaking changes in the Grizzlies' offense.
In the following few rounds, the Heat still struggled very hard. After a few minutes, the score became 14-6, and the Grizzlies continued to lead. James and Wade were defended by Link and Tony Allen without any chance. The Heat's 6 points all came from Bosh.
The cheers have gone from fierce to weak, and have disappeared until now. The confidence of Miami fans is being strangled little by little.
Seeing this, the Heat Filipino coach Spolstrella called a timeout. The game was passive early, which was not a good thing for the team.
"The Grizzlies' oppressive defense has caused great trouble for the Heat! The Heat look very tired, maybe they haven't recovered from yesterday's game. But on the field, the Grizzlies won't show mercy because of this."
Kevin Harlan was right, because at this time, Hollins was giving the players a tactic, "Continue to oppress and don't give them any chance to breathe!"
The grassroots grizzlies oppress the Big Three Heat? This sounds quite crazy, right? However, the NBA is so crazy.
After returning from the timeout, James used a counter-run to throw away Link, and then Wade made a pass just right, assisting James to get a dunk, and James made a tie.
Everyone, including Spoelstra, believes that this will be the beginning of the Heat's counterattack.
However, this wonderful time was very short. Because later, under the Grizzlies' oppressive defense, the Heat fell into the circle of mistakes again.
Bosh held the ball with his back on his back and was taken away by Randolph.
James forced his way through Link, but the basketball skater went out of bounds in the confrontation.
Wade then hangs the inside and passes James with an all-time pass, but Link, who suffered a loss, jumps up and intercepts the pass in the air. He has broken James and Wai's connection and has become a thorn in the eyes of Heat fans.
After a while, after the first quarter, the Grizzlies led the Heat with 25-12, 13 points!
The whole audience was silent, and no one believed that the Grizzlies had such energy!
Wade swallowed the eggs in the first quarter and made three mistakes. James made only 1 of 3 shots and also made one mistake. On the other hand, Link scored 6 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds. He was calm in the face of James and filled out his own data sheet steadily.
Now, all Heat fans know that the Grizzlies are not here to send warmth!
"Damn it, I'm here!" Wade shouted and cursed after he got out of the field. He was really dissatisfied with his performance in the first quarter. Forget it, he still made consecutive mistakes.
"Get a good rest, you're too tired." James patted Wade on the shoulder and said nothing more.
He trusts Wade, and he also believes that the game is far from over.
The 13-point gap is not big or small. Wade believes that he has adapted to this kind of oppressive defense and can get more points in the second quarter.
But at this moment, a text message that Kobe sent him yesterday flashed through Wade's mind.
"That kid's scoring ability is beyond your imagination, Dwyne."
Chapter completed!