But now, they had to add on "Playoff Wade."
After the first round was over, Su Wan felt if he activated Full Power "The zone," it could be somewhat effective.
But that was only for a few minutes, wasn’t it?
It was totally useless.
At this point, he could only go for "mutual destruction."
"Hey, buddy, where’s your The zone? I only see ’Flash’ flying past you!" Wade hadn’t spoken yet, Shaquille started with the taunt.
Su Wan almost laughed out loud.
He really loved this "classic American drama scene":
Brothers being brothers, yet stabbing each other in the back.
Rick Carlisle seemed to have noticed that Su Wan was struggling one-on-one with Wade, so he kept signaling from the sidelines for Su Wan to run more pick-and-rolls with Little O’Neal to conserve energy for critical moments.
As for why Su Wan was struggling against Wade now, he still believed in Su Wan’s ability to make clutch shots.
Don’t ask!
If you ask... it’s just The zone!
Little O’Neal actively came up to set the screen, and it was evident that he no longer minded running pick-and-rolls with Su Wan. Yet, Su Wan could still feel that Little O’Neal wasn’t giving up on his low-post plays...
Of course, this wasn’t a big issue for Su Wan.
As long as Little O’Neal cooperated with him on the pick-and-rolls, everything else was trivial.
Facing the Heat Team, the pick-and-roll was definitely a killer move.
Because Shaquille O’Neal was reluctant to move, lacking efforts on defense, other teams often only needed to watch out for Haslem’s help defense when attacking the Heat’s basket.
Su Wan pulled the mismatched Haslem to the three-point line once more; this time, Wade did not dare to leave Little O’Neal and help out, allowing Su Wan to outplay him at the three-point line—a power forward like Haslem was flexible, but asking him to guard Su, a breakthrough artist, at the three-point line was too much for him.
He smoothly bypassed the first line of defense.
But, to Su Wan’s surprise, the usually defensively indolent Shaquille O’Neal this time timely came over from the other side.
Already in mid-air, Su Wan could only attempt a "lagging shot," but unfortunately, there was no avoiding it; his shot was directly blocked by Shaquille O’Neal, the ball going out of bounds but still the Pacers’ possession.
The crowd erupted with cheers while Shaquille O’Neal proudly declared, "’The zone’ is no match for the great Shark!"
"Looks like you’re really in the mood for help defense today, Shaq!" Su Wan said to Jeff Foster standing aside, "Jeff, open a bottle of Lafite. Tonight, we dine on shark sashimi!"
Upon inbounding the ball, Su Wan received it immediately, and Wade was quick to stick to him.
It must be said, the defensive effort was genuinely impressive.
Many perimeter stars Su Wan encountered were fierce on offense but clueless on defense.
Like Wade and Kobe, they are definitely in the minority.
Little O’Neal also timed his help defense well. Haslem didn’t rush up this time; he was waiting for Wade to circle behind him, using this gap to switch defenders.
Su Wan seized the opportunity, raising his hand to shoot a mid-range shot—it went in!
Carlisle clenched his fists; with Su Wan getting his mid-range shots going this early, the Pacers were only going to have an easier time in the subsequent game.
Once it was the Heat’s turn to attack again, Wade’s status was undoubted—the ball was first passed to him as General Manager Shaquille O’Neal had said, this was Dwayne’s team.
He might have wanted to showcase his magnanimity.
But in the Heat’s tactical setup, it was crystal clear:
Their offensive rounds always started with the ball in Wade’s hands.
This time, Su Wan opted for an anticipatory interception, successfully thwarting Wade’s easy breakthrough. Standing on the three-point line, Wade quickly clutched the ball and threw it under the basket.
Shaquille leaned on Foster to receive the ball, then smoothly turned around to perform a "Shark Enters the Sea" style slam dunk.
Throughout the defensive play, Foster was like nothing more than a "pillar"—his only role was:
To facilitate Shaquille O’Neal’s turn even smoother.
"Shaquille is unstoppable!"
Sometimes, you have to admit, Shaquille O’Neal is just a "big boy," totally a child at heart.
Watching O’Neal score one, Little O’Neal swiftly responded the next round, again hitting a mid-range jumper.
His touch from the elbow was exceptionally good tonight!
From the outset, both sides displayed their characteristics.
For the Heat, it was the "duo" of Wade and Shaquille; for the Pacers, just as much, it was the "double act" of Su Wan and Little O’Neal.
In terms of the momentum of attacks following the first quarter, Wade and Shaquille O’Neal’s drives were slightly fiercer.
To put it more bluntly, ordinary Su Wan couldn’t match Playoff Wade.
In terms of form, with Su Wan hitting mid-ranges, it reflected a degree of attraction, making the Heat reluctant to let him easily shoot from the elbow.
But alas...
Wade had the "whistle" bonus!
Speaking of which, this was considered the first "Whistle King" of the 2000s era, in his second professional season, his average free throws per regular game reached an exaggerated 9.9!
Even LeBron James didn’t have such fierce free-throw averages.
This was thanks due to the changes in rules and his assault-style on the basket.
However, due to his aggressive style of play, not many called him the "Flop King."
As LeBron fans would later often say:
The more you drive to the basket, the higher the probability of getting free-throw opportunities!