to 2, the Cavaliers and Heat will once again face the King Mountain Battle.
The reason for saying "again" is because both teams already went through this once last season.
And at this time last year, also in Miami, the Heat defeated the Cavaliers and took the match point.
In that game, Hansen scored 51 points in vain.
It can be anticipated that this game will be more intense than any previous match in the series.
The Eastern Conference Finals have entered the fever pitch, in comparison, the Western Conference Finals are clearer.
The Warriors took the second home court from the Lakers, and the score has come to 3 to 1.
If there are no surprises, the Warriors will be the first to enter the finals.
The Heat’s chances of winning the championship are also increasing.
"We will take care of it."
During open training on the rest day, Riley confidently spoke to reporters about the upcoming King Mountain Battle.
"Pat Riley’s confidence is puzzling; they have no one who can handle Hansen, I think they are likely to lose the King Mountain Battle."
Such a spotlight battle naturally draws media attention, and O’Neal raised doubts about Riley’s comments.
"I don’t care what he says because he’s been away from the league too long; he doesn’t understand basketball now."
On the day of the King Mountain Battle, Riley responded to this former Heat player in front of reporters.
Riley is the "Divine Calculator," the "Devil," but he certainly isn’t the true "Godfather," because Vito Corleone would never treat his former friends the way Riley does.
On the night of the game, the American Airlines Arena was fully packed, and outside the arena gathered a large number of fans as well.
This year, Heat fans’ desire for victory certainly isn’t lesser than Cavaliers fans.
In fact, on the night the Cavaliers checked into the hotel, police arrested an extremist fan trying to dress as a ghost to scare Cavaliers players in the hotel.
This inevitably recalls the days of Kumasi; the lives of Florida people are always so distinctive.
After the opening ceremony, both teams’ starting lineups were announced.
Heat Team: Dragic, Wade, Durant, Deng, Big Gasol
Cavaliers: Irving, JR, Hansen, Tucker, Jokic
Riley reverted to the previous starting lineup, but right after the start, Wade matched up against Irving on defense.
The Heat’s offense was overflowing, and Riley sacrificed part of the offense to limit Irving through defensive switches, which was not a problem.
And when Hansen drove the ball for a breakthrough, the first time he faced a triple-team, he passed the ball to the corner to Tucker, who made the three-point shot; next, he was strongly fouled by West and sent to the free-throw line.
Gradually, Riley’s King Mountain defensive strategy emerges: using Wade to limit Irving, locking Hansen with the Jordan Rules.
When Malone started looking for weaknesses in the Heat’s defense, Riley began doing the same.
Compared to the Heat’s multi-point team attack style, the Cavaliers’ One Star and Four Shooters are much easier to target.
Because it is essentially a tactic centered around a super solo player, as long as two solo players are locked down, even if the remaining players can seize some opportunities, it’s difficult to compete with the Heat.
When the game reached half-quarter, the Heat had already led the Cavaliers by an almost double-digit margin of 16 to 8.
When the Cavaliers pushed to the front court again, the defensive shouting on site was deafening.
This was the first time since the series began that the Heat had such an advantageous start.
They could already see the championship waving at them.
Hansen called Jokic to start an off-ball pick-and-roll.
Irving’s pass was very timely, Hansen took the ball and moved inside, then stepped back to shoot beyond the three-point line.
Hansen gained a First Gear three-point talent, but he mostly used it as a threat in offense.
Because long-range shooting is a scoring method that heavily relies on the shooter’s form, or in other words, it’s the most weather-dependent shot.
As strong as Curry this season, averaging over 11 three-point shots per game, his shooting percentage dropped by 5 percentage points come the playoffs.
In comparison, mid-range and breakthrough stability are much higher.
The essence of basketball is putting the ball in the basket, and naturally the more efficient the method, the better.
However, since Riley has been using the Jordan Rules, Hansen certainly needs to make some changes.
Hansen’s adjustment was very sudden, and the Heat over there clearly didn’t have time to react, Big Gasol didn’t dare to step forward, and his shot faced almost no disturbance.
Hansen lifted the knife, hitting his first three-pointer of the night.
Riley had no reaction, forcing Hansen to shoot from distance was already half-successful for the Heat’s defense.
Moreover, Durant quickly made a response with a mid-range shot.
Because Irving was limited by Wade, Malone switched Tucker to defend Durant on defense.
Durant used actual actions to prove one thing, he is now the league’s second man under Hansen.
Hansen can indeed limit his performance, and even if they both start scoring, he can’t outscore Hansen, but there is also no one else besides Hansen who can handle him.
Besides, this is the kind of situation he’s best at, not having to consider defense nor organization, only needing to focus on swinging the Reaper’s Scythe.
Hansen continued the pick and roll with Jokic at the front court, but this time Deng bypassed Jokic’s pick.
It seems Hansen needs to train this kid’s pick-and-roll particularly this summer. Googlᴇ search 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
Other European White Bears treat pick and roll as basic skills, but this guy is an exception.