After the timeout, Cole was ultimately forced to compromise and brought on Iguodala to start the Deathly Five Small lineup.
Malone clenched his fists excitedly when he saw the Warriors’ move after the timeout.
Cole’s judgment was actually correct; Malone was forcing the Warriors into a small lineup war of attrition.
Just like the Grizzlies against the Heat back then, the Cavaliers’ bench, with Wade on it, is their only advantage in the Finals besides Hansen.
It must be said that although Jokic doesn’t quite match the superstar label yet, his performance tonight was key to Malone’s strategy being implemented.
However, Green’s impact after coming on was immediate.
Sophomore Jokic doesn’t have an easy time against Green.
This difficulty arises from multiple aspects.
Jokic’s physique hasn’t reached optimal condition, and against a flexible, strong, and long-armed big man like Green, he can’t use his weight to overpower him despite having a height advantage. His low post shots are easily disrupted.
Of course, more challenging than his low post play is that he struggles to even get into the low post.
Green won’t let Jokic receive the ball comfortably in the low post as he did at the beginning. With his excellent wingspan, his front defense is deadly, and when Jokic tries to counter, Green utilizes Jokic’s movement to push him bit by bit away from the paint.
One can only say that although Green talks trash, his peak defensive prowess against interior scorers is indeed strong enough.
Seeing this, Malone quickly adjusted his tactics, not letting Jokic continue to play low post but having Hansen and Jokic start playing pick-and-roll. The source of this content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⟡𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵
The Warriors’ defensive strategy against Hansen tonight is to strictly adhere to the trap, which allows Jokic to receive the ball after a pick-and-roll and handle it, expanding his influence.
After all, compared to the low post attack, Jokic’s greatest strength is that historical-level passing talent.
Cole countered with a Curry-LeBron pick-and-roll.
When the game reached the 10-minute mark, the score was 32 to 28, with the Cavaliers leading.
Both teams had gradually entered their rotation lineups.
The lineup on the court now, Cavaliers: Deron, Wade, Korver, Covington, TT;
Warriors: Livingston, Makao, Thompson, James, West.
Compared with regular season matchups, both teams made some adjustments in their rotation lineups.
For the Cavaliers, Malone tied Covington with James due to the Cavaliers having enough depth to withstand this attrition;
The Warriors, meanwhile, bound Thompson and James together, having Livingston, a point guard without a three-point shot, in the rotation required more spacing on the court.
The Cavaliers attacked first, Deron and TT pick-and-roll, then swung the ball to the weak-side cutting Wade.
Makao, with height and strength, lacked defensive experience as a rookie and was taken out by Wade’s cut.
West rushed out, and Wade performed a European Step to bypass him, then made a reverse layup against the help defense of James.
The ball banked off the board and went into the basket, Wade was in great form.
Coming back, James also broke through to the interior past Covington.
Covington remained the James terminator, but his defensive effectiveness waned due to physical exhaustion.
After driving into the paint, James faced TT’s help defense, used his elbow to clear TT aside, performed a feint, and successfully drew a defensive foul from TT.
TT signaled to the ref that James used an elbow, but the referee ignored him.
Clearly, since this postseason, the officiating has been encouraging confrontation.
Jokic benefited from it, so naturally, others can too.
James made one out of two free throws, and TT’s foul wasn’t much of a loss.
TT secured the defensive rebound.
The Cavaliers quickly played a fast break, Wade received a pass from Deron during the fast break and performed a high-difficulty spin floater against James.
The difficulty of this shot was high, as shooting with momentum makes it the hardest to control the shot trajectory.
But the basketball floated in the air like it was equipped with a guidance system and went straight into the basket.
Wade scored 4 consecutive points after coming off the bench!
In fact, Wade has been performing increasingly better after moving to the bench, particularly entering the playoffs, where he averages 17.5 points on nearly 50% shooting, making him a solid sixth man threat.
Or one could say, the strength of the Cavaliers’ bench lies heavily in Wade. Although he’s already considered a veteran, his strength far surpassed that of Garnett when he first joined the Cavaliers.
James attempted his old trick, but this time, before James could lay it up, TT directly grabbed his arm and wrenched him down from mid-air.
TT isn’t known for having a good temper. Although understanding Malone’s tactical intentions, TT, having moved from starter to bench, was in a bad mood. James’s elbow earlier hit the nail on the head.
The tension on the court began to surface.
After landing, James instantly became furious, but seeing TT’s build, he turned angrily to the referee and roared in frustration.
The referee finally called a technical foul on TT.
Malone’s expression soured. He had another consideration in letting TT play from the bench, to increase the team’s interior depth.
Nene was old, and although his confrontation was still there, his help defense against James wasn’t as effective as TT’s.
TT made a scene, committing two fouls and a technical within a minute.
He had to substitute Nene for TT.
TT was still upset when coming off, and Lue quickly called him aside to pacify him.
The Cavaliers are in a good position now, and for TT to throw a tantrum at this time would only be causing trouble.