Little Gasol won the jump ball against Bosh, and the Grizzlies took the initiative to attack.
The Grizzlies started the ga with a high-low positioning, sending Randolph to play Bosh in the low post.
After bulking up, Bosh had enhanced his low-post defensive capabilities, but Randolph still dominated him, spinning and hooking the ball successfully against the board.
Since the Western Conference Finals ended, the Grizzlies had rested for about four to five days.
However, it was clear that the Grizzly’s intensity in the ga was still present.
Thanks to the Warriors giving the Grizzlies that defeat, it proved to be more useful than any pre-ga motivational talk.
Hansen didn’t participate in the first offensive play, focusing intently on guarding Wade as soon as they transitioned into defense.
The seven-ga battle between the Pacers and the Heat not only drained the Heat but also provided Hansen with reference for the ga.
After returning from his injury, Wade’s form had slumped sowhat due to initial mobility issues, but another reason was that the Pacers, with Tony Allen, had significantly limited his breaks.
Wade’s drives couldn’t draw help defense, disrupting the Heat’s system, hence the stalemate in the previous six gas.
The turning point, Ga 7, showed Coach Spoelstra’s tactical adjustnts after watching the video.
Spoelstra strategically drew fouls on Hibbert early in the ga; once Hibbert was out, he also swapped Perkins for Haslem and then had Wade play low against Allen.
Allen struggled to guard Wade in the low post, a fact confird during the initial matchups between the Grizzlies and the Heat.
Because the Heat also featured sharpshooters like Durant and Ray Allen, the Pacers found it difficult to double-team Wade in the low post, allowing Wade to overwhelm them.
Spoelstra’s late adjustnts were likely due to Wade’s prior physical limitations.
But even now, with Wade fit, it wasn’t realistic for him to play low against Hansen.
Thus, as long as Hansen could restrain Wade, whatever the Pacers could do, the Grizzlies could too.
Wade’s first attempt to break through didn’t get past Hansen, so he imdiately called Bosh out for a pick-and-roll.
Hansen chose to go around.
In a crucial detail, Bosh tried to use his body to pin Hansen, but he didn’t succeed.
Just as Wade thought to pull up, Hansen had already navigated around the screen to close in again.
Bosh’s first screen attempt had failed.
He then imdiately initiated a second wave.
This ti, after observing Wade’s direction, Hansen chose to slip sideways.
When Wade turned to face the basket again, Hansen blocked his path.
Hansen stuck to Wade like glue.
A stir arose from the crowd.
Wade also realized Hansen’s focused defensive efforts tonight.
The pre-ga exchange between them was both a greeting and feeling each other out, none of Hansen’s words were true, it seed.
With the offensive ti running down, instead of forcing it, Wade passed to Chalrs to switch the play from the strong side to the weak side for Durant, who was running a no-ball play.
Durant used Perkins’s screen to run a pindown, but because Conley was pressuring the pass continuously, the pass from Chalrs wasn’t of great quality.
By the ti Durant caught the ball, Guy had maneuvered around Perkins and was already up in his face.
Moreover, right after Perkins initiated a second pick-and-roll attempt, the Grizzlies imdiately doubled Durant by letting Perkins go.
With little ti left on the shot clock, Durant had no choice but to turn while being guarded and forced a shot.
The shot was incredibly tough, especially since Little Gasol also leapt to interfere, causing Durant’s final attempt to slam against the rim.
Perkins smartly crashed towards the rim in advance.
Randolph also retreated under the rim, saw Perkins, and directly backed into a boxing-out position.
When Bosh ca over to grab the rebound, Hansen blocked his path forward, allowing Randolph to secure the defensive rebound.
In their first defensive sequence, the Grizzlies showed an intensity that slightly shocked the Heat.
Having just co from a seven-ga slog against the Pacers, they faced an even more intense challenge.
When Randolph again took Bosh to the low post as the Heat started to collapse,
the Grizzlies began operating their offensive system.
Although the Heat’s defensive rotations were still quick, they weren’t like their smaller line-up before, and Conley seized the opportunity to feint a shot to get past Durant, then passed to Guy.
Guy had a good look and didn’t hesitate to shoot, but sadly, his attempt hit the rim.
Perkins secured the rebound.
Wade continued controlling the ball in the frontcourt, this ti opting not to call for Bosh’s screen,
Reviews
All reviews (0)