Sacre waved a towel on the sideline while Joerger extended his hands in applause.
Battier had better defensive skills than Carter, but his movements were slower now and he struggled with pick-and-rolls.
By contrast, despite being older, Carter handled it much better.
This was his strategy, pushing the opponent to the basket, giving Hansen enough time for help defense.
Hansen’s first block was a help defense against Perkins.
At this moment, Spoelstra rubbed his forehead, seemingly out of options.
He was avoiding Hansen, but Joerger simply wouldn’t let him hide.
The Heat Team continued their play from the sideline, but a quick mid-range shot by Wade and Bosh after a screen failed to hit.
When the Heat Team’s offensive space was squeezed to just half of the court, maintaining a high success rate was inevitably challenging.
Around 10 minutes into the first quarter, the score was 12 to 23.
The Big Three of the Heat, being restricted to under 20 points in a single quarter, were genuinely caught off guard.
Hansen was substituted off for a rest at this time.
After coming off, he grabbed the towel Sacre handed to him and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He now thought that Jordan’s greatest strength wasn’t his skill, but his stamina.
Playing both offense and defense was tremendously draining on stamina.
Luckily, the Grizzlies were primarily a half-court team; they couldn’t sustain this pace throughout the game.
In the two minutes Hansen was resting, the situation on the court changed drastically.
Under Bosh’s leadership, the Heat Team struck with a quick 6-0 run, narrowing the gap to five points.
This season, not only were the Grizzlies’ players not at their best, but their bench strength had also clearly declined, especially since Guy wasn’t playing tonight, leaving no depth advantage.
This change forced Hansen to return prematurely at the start of the second quarter.
His return immediately impacted the game, helping the Grizzlies lead by 12 points, 50 to 38, at halftime.
Of course, the cost was his higher-than-expected stamina consumption during the first half.
However, the outcome of this half was beyond everyone’s expectations.
Even Stan thought that the Grizzlies would suffer a defensive breakdown due to new regulations.
Unexpectedly, not only did the Grizzlies not weaken defensively, they played an impressively suffocating half.
At halftime, social media was buzzing.
"38 points at halftime against the League’s strongest offensive trio, the Heat, can you believe it?"
"Did I hear KD improved his playmaking this summer? Sorry, playmaking without help defense is almost non-existent."
"The defensive pressure I can feel through the screen brings me back to the ’90s Bulls, that man."
"When your team leader is fiercely leading the defense and helping on the floor, it’s hard for others not to give their all on defense."
After halftime, Spoelstra made adjustments, substituting Ray Allen for Chalmers.
A familiar adjustment, but more targeted this time.
Since the Grizzlies had shown their lack of depth in the first half, which meant they could not continue last season’s frenetic pace.
In such times, the Heat Team could fully employ a more offensively potent lineup.
Indeed, Spoelstra’s choice proved correct; Ray Allen’s entry not only enhanced the Heat Team’s offensive firepower but also finally allowed Durant’s playmaking skills space to flourish.
During this quarter, the Heat Team’s offense visibly warmed up, not only did they prevent the Grizzlies from widening the gap, but they also closed the score gap by the end of the bench linkage section.
By the end of the third quarter, they were only behind 68 to 74 to the Grizzlies.
Hansen’s defensive performance was astonishing, but a game lasts 48 minutes, and Hansen’s stamina couldn’t possibly sustain a full game like at the start, and it’s a fact that the Grizzlies were declining.
At the opening of the fourth quarter, Joerger did not continue to play Hansen.
But after three minutes, he was forced to call a timeout.
Because the Heat Team seized the opportunity to tie the score in one fell swoop.
The situation made the fans at the venue restless.
They marveled at another evolution of Hansen’s skills, but they were puzzled by the condition of the other Grizzlies players.
How had they changed so drastically over one summer?
"This is the issue you have to face in the third year," O’Neal commented from the commentator’s booth.
Beside him, Barkley, unusually silent because he had no experience in this area, listened.
"It’s like marrying the woman you wanted most," O’Neal continued with a vivid metaphor, "The first year, you’re insatiable; the second, you try various new things; but by the third year, your interest in her is no different from any other woman." Fınd the newest release on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝕟𝕖𝕥
And he addressed another issue.
"Han improves every year, which makes it hard for opponents to target him, but the other Grizzlies players have been thoroughly analyzed."
The decline in the performance of the Grizzlies players was limited, but under the targeted tactics of their opponents, it was much harder for them to perform as before.
It’s like rowing upstream, if you don’t advance, you fall back.
After the timeout, Joerger prematurely substituted the main players back in.
On the other side, Spoelstra also reverted to the starting lineup, both teams entering the critical moment ahead of schedule.
Initially, thanks to Hansen’s performance, the Grizzlies held their ground against the Heat Team.
But as the game progressed, Hansen’s stamina began to decline, and the Heat Team played smoother and smoother, gradually overpowering the Grizzlies.