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Which team is stronger, the San Antonio Spurs or the Miami Heat? There's a saying that Wang Chong is a bit difficult to judge.
If it's the old version of the Big Three, then there's no doubt that the Heat, who were defeated by the Spurs in the 2013-2014 Finals 4-1, are quite different in strength from their opponent.
But with Howard added to the Heat's Big Three, the situation has shifted a bit. At least when facing the Bulls, Howard has played quite well, averaging nearly 20+15 per game, which is significantly stronger than Bosh, who only averaged 14+5 in the playoffs, and also compensates for the Heat's weaker interior defense.
However, if you insist on picking one, Wang Chong would still consider the Spurs to be the stronger team. Compared to the Heat, the Spurs have no obvious weaknesses and won't completely lose their offensive rhythm just because James is out, nor will they become a target of shark tactics due to poor free throws from their key players.
Even without a superstar like James or Howard putting up flashy stats, the overall strength of the Spurs lies in their tactical mastery.
Still, Wang Chong doesn't believe the Spurs are the Bulls' current match. The Bulls' lineup is too strong now. Not to mention that they have fully matured and only need to fully unleash their talents. Curry and Gasol Jr., on the stage, along with Jimmy Butler, who was once overlooked by the outside world, have all marked the start of explosive improvements in their personal strength after surviving the tough earlier rounds of the playoffs.
From Wang Chong's perspective, Butler's current level is even comparable to the opposing Leonard. Leonard at this stage hasn't fully grown, even after winning the FMVP in the 2013-2014 Finals. In the 2014-2015 season, Leonard averaged only 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game during the regular season.
Of course, Leonard's biggest honor in 2014-2015 was winning the DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year), but in the same year, Butler averaged 20 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in the regular season and was selected for the All-Defensive Second Team.
Wang Chong feels that, at least at this stage, Butler can definitely compete with Leonard.
Given all this, a defeat to the Spurs seems unlikely.
On June 5, 2014, the first game of the 2013-2014 NBA Finals took place at the Chicago Union Center, home of the Bulls.
From the starting lineups of both teams, it was clear that the strength difference was evident.
Bulls' Starters: Curry, Danny Green, Jimmy Butler, Wang Chong, Gasol Jr.
Spurs' Starters: Parker, Ginóbili, Leonard, Duncan, Gobert
Thanks to the butterfly effect brought by Wang Chong, the Spurs' lineup had undergone significant changes. Green moved to the Bulls, while Gobert was selected by the Spurs and quickly stood out for his ability to protect the rim, replacing Tiago Splitter as the Spurs' starting center.
Even with this slight lineup change, the intuitive comparison between the two teams was still strikingly different.
Not to mention, the Bulls had two first-team players in Wang Chong and Curry, in addition to Gasol Jr. in the third line, and Jimmy Butler on second defense. Butler and Thomas Jr., the best sixth man, made the Bulls lineup star-studded.
On the Spurs' side, only Tony Parker had been selected for the All-Star bench, while Leonard had made the second defensive team, and none of the other players had received any honors.
This wasn't even the worst part. During the All-Star weekend, only Parker was selected for the All-Star bench, and Duncan wasn't even selected, which was quite a downer. But this was a flaw within the Spurs themselves.
At the start of the game, Gasol Jr. jumped against Gobert, who successfully won the ball due to his height and reach advantage.
Standing at 2.16 meters with an extraordinary wingspan of 2.35 meters, Gobert's static talent is extremely rare, even in the NBA, which is filled with countless talents. It's precisely because of this incredible static ability that Gobert can survive as a traditional blue-collar center in the small-ball, fast-paced future era, having won the DPOY three times (he just won his fourth DPOY recently).
Even though it was just Gobert's rookie season, his starting point as a player was completely different, and the team was different too.
With the Spurs, Gobert was surrounded by interior players like Duncan from the start, and under the guidance of legendary coach Popovich, Gobert played much better than he did in his rookie season with the Jazz.
Gobert played 78 games this season with the Spurs, including 55 as a starter, averaging 24 minutes per game, contributing 4.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, almost perfectly replacing Splitter's role and performing better than him. After all, with Gobert's height and reach, even if he just stays under the basket and doesn't do anything, simply raising his hands can create immense defensive pressure on the opposing team.
Of course, Gasol Jr. didn't remain passive when facing Gobert.
Gobert may be taller than him, but the interior confrontation wasn't about height alone. At least at this stage, Gobert was like a thin bamboo stalk, and to Gasol Jr.'s eyes, it wasn't worth mentioning. As one of the rare heavy centers in the league, Gasol Jr. trusted that he would dominate this rookie from Europe using his size and strength.
But the matchup between Gasol Jr. and Gobert wasn't the focus of this game.
The game began, and both teams quickly settled into position, with the Spurs attacking first. Tony Parker led the charge, pushing the ball past Curry and going straight to the basket. Before he could enter the restricted area, Wang Chong's massive frame had already stepped in front of him.
"Just as expected!" As the Bulls' biggest adversary in the championship race, the Spurs had studied the Bulls' games thoroughly and watched videos almost every day, so Parker was very aware of Wang Chong's incredible mobility and defensive ability.
Seeing Wang Chong step in for the defense, Parker quickly threw the ball in a different direction.
The ball flew toward Duncan, who was in the right spot, and immediately took a shot after receiving the pass. This position, 45 degrees from the basket, was Duncan's most familiar and optimal shooting spot. The ball lightly hit the backboard before bouncing into the basket.
Duncan's position was completely in the blind spot of Parker's vision, but there was this perfect connection. First, the two had developed great chemistry over ten years, and second, they had studied Wang Chong's game carefully, which helped them organize such a play.
The Spurs took the lead with two points, but the Bulls didn't panic in the slightest.
Gasol Jr. passed the ball from the baseline, Curry dribbled past midcourt, and the Bulls players fell into their respective positions. Wang Chong stood outside the three-point line on the right, facing Duncan.
It wasn't a good idea to let Duncan defend Wang Chong. Perhaps in Duncan's prime, he might have had a chance to slightly limit Wang Chong's scoring, but now at 37 years old, his athleticism had significantly declined. He could rely on his height, wingspan, and weight to protect the basket under the rim, but if he had to guard Wang Chong from the outside, he couldn't keep up with the pace.
But the Spurs had no other choice. Besides Duncan, Leonard could also guard Wang Chong, but Leonard and Wang Chong had a significant height difference. The Spurs had tried letting Leonard defend Wang Chong earlier in the regular season, but the result was far from impressive.
Even at his peak, Leonard would find it difficult to limit a version of Wang Chong that was a more potent version of Durant.
Looking at the future, in the years when Leonard was stronger, his defense would be hard to break even by an offensive powerhouse like Durant. Leonard would be the only perimeter player in the league capable of defending Durant.
But this assertion was obviously a typical impression, because in reality, Durant was still a challenge for Leonard, even in the 2015-2016 season when Leonard was fully developed, having won two consecutive DPOYs and being known as the strongest perimeter defender. That season, Leonard averaged 21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, with 48.6% shooting.
However, in the playoffs, when the Spurs faced the Thunder, Durant outperformed Leonard, averaging 28.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4 assists, shooting 50% from the field, while Leonard averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists, shooting 48.6%.
Though Leonard had strong defense, Durant still managed to outplay him in terms of offensive efficiency.
Now, facing Durant's plus version, Wang Chong, how could Leonard possibly defend him? The Spurs had no courage to let Leonard defend Wang Chong one-on-one unless they didn't want to win.
As previously mentioned, it wasn't wise to let Duncan, with his slow movement, defend Wang Chong, but it was a move born out of desperation. After all, who else could they let guard him?
Gobert's static talent may be superior to Wang Chong's, but his speed is not much better than Duncan's, so the result was no different from Duncan's defense. Plus, Gobert was still a rookie, so he couldn't defend Wang Chong.
After receiving the pass from Curry, Wang Chong faced Duncan's defense. Without any fancy moves, he simply pushed
the ball forward and exploded, immediately accelerating past Duncan's left side.
Duncan reacted quickly, but his lateral speed was too slow, so all he could do was watch as Wang Chong raced past him. Gobert tried to step up to help with the defense, but before he could get close to Wang Chong, Wang Chong already stopped abruptly and hit his signature mid-range jumper.
"Shh——!"
The sound of the ball swishing through the net was crisp, showing that Wang Chong's shooting touch was on point.
Coach Popovich frowned from the sidelines.
Indeed, the most critical issue in the game for the Spurs was Wang Chong, and no matter how good the team's tactics or chemistry were, it was incredibly difficult to stop him.
The game continued, with the Spurs focusing on Tony Parker and Ginóbili's offensive strategies, but in the end, the Bulls' firepower was just too much.
At halftime, Wang Chong had scored 27 points, and the Bulls led 64-52, heading into the second half with a 12-point advantage.
End of this capterr
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