However, in fact, the scene had already frequently focused on Hansen during the warm-up segment.
Randolph couldn’t play tonight, and he was the one that made the Heat Team feel the most headache.
After the opening ceremony, both teams’ starting lineups were successively announced.
Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, James Johnson, Little Gasol
Heat Team: Chalmers, Wade, James, McRoberts, Bosh
James, in front of the technical table, typically threw up chalk powder and even posed for the camera, in quite a good mood.
Before taking the court, Hansen whispered to Little Gasol for a while. Updates are released by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽
Little Gasol won the jump ball for the Grizzlies, and the game officially began.
Conley organized the offense at the front court, and as soon as Hansen and Little Gasol got the ball off the no-ball screen, the Heat Team clamped down on him.
Without Randolph, the Heat Team clamped down on Hansen unabashedly, and they were quite confident in their defensive rotation capabilities, starting with a small lineup.
Hansen changed direction to get past Bosh and then, before falling into the double team, delivered a no-look bounce pass towards the weak side.
Instead of staying put after setting the screen, Little Gasol cut to the weak side.
After catching the ball, he stepped directly under the basket and dunked with both hands, not giving Heat Team a chance to rotate defensively.
The Heat Team advanced to the front court, and James directly posted up Guy in the low post, demanding the ball.
This strategy had belonged to Wade last season, but clearly, Wade had stepped aside.
Because it was a small lineup, both Bosh and McRoberts could stretch the floor, giving James a lot of space for his low post offense.
He put all his weight on Guy, then quickly turned around for a jump shot toward the free-throw line.
Guy tried to put up a fight, but James’s weight pinned him down, so by the time he got up, James had already scored.
After losing in the Finals last season, James faced the biggest criticisms of his career and rarely improved his skills over the summer.
Like Kobe back in the day, he went to Houston to learn Olajuwon’s Illusion Step.
Though not as effective as Kobe post-learning, thankfully his basics were poor enough and with his physical prowess, his post-up game now looked quite convincing.
It was only now that Guy understood why Hansen had cautioned him before the game, because defending against James was indeed not easy.
The Grizzlies continued to run the same play, but this time the Heat Team adjusted their defensive strategy. Bosh didn’t rush at Hansen but let James help out instead.
Hansen changed direction and got past James...
But Bosh was still forced to help out, and Hansen waited for the right moment to lob the ball under the basket.
Little Gasol caught the ball and went for a close-range layup, but Wade had already rotated down to the basket.
The defense rotation of the Heat Team’s small lineup was indeed lightning quick.
Wade leapt up, ready to block the Grizzlies’ big center.
However, the next second, Little Gasol turned the layup into a dunk, quickly slamming the ball into the basket, and even drew a foul from Wade.
Little Gasol pumped his fist in excitement and roared, then turned around and gave Hansen a forceful high five.
In reality, it was Little Gasol who benefited the most from last postseason.
After withstanding Nowitzki’s onslaught, he became like a refined blade, a sharpened metal ready for action.
At that moment, Little Gasol had grown into Memphis’s own "White Bear."
Little Gasol made the additional free throw, scoring 5 straight points to start the game.
to 2, against everyone’s expectations at the scene, the Grizzlies had the upper hand at the start of the game, even without Randolph.
Coach Spoelstra touched his chin thoughtfully at the sidelines.
He dared to use a small lineup against the Grizzlies because without Randolph, the Grizzlies’ inside line lacked scoring capability.
But now it seemed he might have underestimated Little Gasol.
Despite that, he made no lineup adjustments.
Although Little Gasol’s performance was surprising, he didn’t think the Grizzlies had the same inside destructive power as Randolph.
More importantly, after playing last season, he knew that the Heat Team’s set play was not strong, no matter how they arranged their formation.
So, with or without Randolph, he wanted to drag the game into a defensive counterattack battle.
The Heat Team still played James’s low post tactics in the front court, but this time, under Joerger’s guidance, Guy defended James with fronting.
Chalmers didn’t have a good angle to pass the ball and shifted it to the weak side to Wade; Wade took the ball and drove, then during the move, passed it under the basket.
Then, the fronted James simply turned around to seal off Guy, caught the ball, and quickly made another basket down low.
So far this season, James’s field goal percentage was 55%, not just a career-high but also the highest among the league’s small forwards.
The past two offensive plays nicely explained this: James now played more like a power forward.
Or rather, he used a power forward’s body and style of play to overpower his opponents at the small forward position.
But once you put a power forward on him, his ability to drive becomes a significant advantage.
So whether it was in the low post or the perimeter, paired with the Heat Team’s small lineup, his efficiency on the court was very high.
Little Gasol received Hansen’s pass in the low post and went to attack the basket but was fiercely challenged by Bosh; the Heat Team launched a fast break and reached the front court in the blink of an eye.
James followed up the fast break with a soaring layup. Conley tried to pull him down but couldn’t, and James made it a 2+1 while hanging on him.
The Heat Team took the lead.
After the basket, James flexed his biceps at the camera, and with his increased weight, he looked like a tower of iron.