The cries for defense began to resound at the venue.
Amidst the fans’ chants for defense, Irving’s breakthrough was disrupted by Wade’s help defense.
The Heat launched a counterattack against the Cavaliers, and Dragic took the pass and made a flying layup.
The Heat had reduced the margin to one point.
Cheers erupted around the arena.
The Cavaliers had started the night with high morale, but defeating them this season wasn’t going to be easy!
Hansen asked for the ball in front of Riley.
Under his directive, Jokic moved to the three-point line to set a screen.
Jokic’s screening was still not very high quality, but his speed in rolling off the screen was fast, forcing Deng to follow.
Hansen called for Big Gasol, used a fake action of a step and look at the basket to deceive Big Gasol, and then made a change of direction to burst into the three-point line.
After quickly breaking to the free-throw line and forcing Deng to play defense, he flicked the ball to Jokic, who took it without dribbling and scored with a stride.
Dragic continued to target Durant.
The pressure was greater on Durant this time, and his turnaround shot drifted off the basket.
Underneath, Big Gasol calculated the rebound and attempted a put-back. He touched the ball, but under Jokic’s blocking, he couldn’t convert it into a score.
Jokic, in turn, grabbed the defensive rebound and, with a turn, overcame Big Gasol’s interference to throw a long pass to the backcourt.
Irving caught the ball and sprinted down, passing to the weak side where JR was following up; JR abruptly stopping for a chase-down three-pointer.
Unfortunately, he didn’t make it this time.
However, Hansen followed up to grab the long rebound. A fake shot deceived the rushing Dragic, and he then passed the ball to Irving under the basket, who easily scored with a layup.
The Heat was strong, and as Hansen and Malone had noticed before, they were highly disciplined.
However, for the Cavaliers tonight, it wasn’t about discipline but about truly battling.
On defense, there was always someone who would rush out at the crucial moment to block that last attack, forcing the Heat to shift from tactical teamwork to individual plays.
On defense and counterattacks, each player transformed into a Cleveland fast-break expert, bravely competing.
This was no longer about whether Hansen had the courage; it was about everyone fighting with bayonets!
About nine minutes into the game, the score was 28 to 18, with the Cavaliers leading by double digits.
At that moment, the Heat made a substitution, and Riley unexpectedly changed his strategy from the previous game, swapping out Dragic, Durant, Big Gasol, and Deng for Chalmers, Seferosa, Joe Johnson, and David West.
His move was very crafty.
Last game, when the match was balanced, he leveraged the team’s high execution to force the Cavaliers to follow his pace, ultimately overpowering them with discipline.
Now, with the Cavaliers starting with a charge and at a disadvantage, he surprisingly played to the depth of his roster. Googlᴇ search 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥
His tactical intent was clear, as if he was using a sponge to block the bullets shot by the Cavaliers.
The old saying goes, momentum can taper off, and by slowly diminishing the Cavaliers’ force, by the time the Heat pushed back later in the game, the Cavaliers wouldn’t be able to resist.
Moreover, the physical toll on the Cavaliers from starting so aggressively was inevitable, and as the game progressed, they would be increasingly drained.
If basketball games had only one quarter, the Cavaliers would be the winners, but unfortunately, there are four quarters.
Malone, seeing Riley’s substitutions, did not follow with large-scale rotations of his own.
The Cavaliers had improved their bench strength this season, but it was still evidently weaker compared to the Heat.
Matching the Heat’s rotation normally wouldn’t likely yield better results than Game 1.
Moreover, he remembered what Hansen had said the day before.
Facing the devil required courage.
He turned and called up TT and Dunleavy, who came on to replace JR and Jokic.
The situation on the court became very interesting because the Heat had only Wade left from their starting five, but the Cavaliers still had their core, Irving and Hansen on the court.
The Cavaliers had a chance to extend their lead, but if that failed, their energy drop would likely lead them to collapse in the second half.
Riley stood up again, surprised by Malone’s decision.
From their regular season encounters, Malone’s impression on him was of a tactical coach with a conservative style.
But Malone’s choice now reflected sheer boldness.
If this move didn’t defeat the Heat, it was basically game over.
He called Wade over and made a tactical gesture.
After advancing to the frontcourt, Wade passed the ball to West for a low post game on the inside.
The Heat’s choice, clearly aiming to drag the game into a position battle to consume time.
After all, only the last three minutes of the first quarter were left; maintaining the score without it widening was a success.
Other than Wade, the Heat had stable three-point shooters on the floor, giving West a good space for the one-on-one.
However, TT closely contested him, continuously imposing physical challenges.
West’s shot ultimately deviated from the basket due to TT’s disturbance, and the rebound was secured by Tucker.
The Cavaliers launched another defensive counterattack, with Hansen passing the ball to Irving, who in a fastbreak confronted Chalmers with a close-range forward change to breeze past and score.