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Spoelstra grimaced as he grabbed the assistant coach's tactical board beside him.
He never imagined his team would be defeated 8-0, or perhaps even 9-0 in the opening game.
The Heat players had yet to notice the changes in the Warriors, and their expressions were very relaxed. Only LeBron had a blue face, sitting silently, watching the replay of Butler's 2+1 on the big screen.
Butler played the ball with too much intelligence. His emergency stop was very sudden, completely tricking LeBron, and what embarrassed him even more was Butler's steal.
He turned his head to look at the Warriors' bench, where there was joy, with Butler and Curry being treated as heroes, everyone smiling and high-fiving in celebration.
LeBron's expression gradually turned serious, and he knew he could no longer underestimate the second-year rookie. If he did, he would pay a greater price.
"... LeBron, LeBron! Wait until you control the ball, pay attention to slowing the pace, set a screen with Chris, try to attack the basket, play with a higher success rate, understand?"
"Oh, oh, no problem." LeBron heard Spoelstra calling his name, snapped back to attention, and nodded.
After more than half a season of shooting, the Heat team had gradually discovered their playing style. LeBron had finally established himself as the team's core. His ability to handle the ball was much better than Wade's. In fact, he often played as the Heat's point guard and typically initiated the offense.
Round and round, LeBron returned to his role as the ball-handling core and controlled the Heat's offense, while Wade played off the ball, step by step, though it was still not very obvious.
At the same time, across from the technical table, Liam was also organizing tactics, gathering all the Warriors players around and speaking loudly:
"Remember our defensive strategy, shrink, shrink, shrink! You can give them space to break through, but then trap them and solve it..."
In the hustle and bustle of the arena, the short timeout quickly ended, and the two teams returned to the court. Butler walked to the free-throw line, made a 2+1, and hit it while the fans cheered.
9:0.
The Heat attacked. LeBron followed the coach's instructions, dribbling at the top of the arc to control the pace. He waited until there were 15 seconds left on the shot clock before signaling to Bosh to come close and set a screen. Butler chose to press the screen, and Green stayed below the free-throw line, not following him. LeBron was able to cut into the lane with a little space.
But Butler fought to get through the coverage and then stuck to LeBron, while Green blocked the path to the paint, waiting with his hands open.
This was the usual defensive strategy teams in the league used against LeBron after the Cavaliers-Spurs Finals, when Popovich used Duncan to block the paint, Bowen interfered on the perimeter, and LeBron only shot 36%, with the Spurs sweeping the Cavaliers cleanly.
LeBron instantly saw the Warriors' defensive strategy and was very familiar with this type of defense.
But he didn't stop, and with an unstoppable drive, he attacked the basket!
Not everyone is qualified to defend him like that, and if Chandler had been in, it could have changed the way LeBron attacked. But Green's height of less than 2 meters wasn't much of a concern.
In front of LeBron, who came at him like a tank, Green didn't hesitate. He raised his right hand, met him, rotated his body slightly, and collided fiercely with LeBron.
Boom!
Like Mars hitting Earth, the two big men collided, and LeBron was surprised to find that Green's strength was stronger than he had imagined.
But the two kept moving toward the basket, and Green didn't dare to stand his ground to block; that would definitely be called a foul by the referee. LeBron's strength was too much, and he still had the advantage in the confrontation, so Green could only slightly reduce his speed, but still couldn't stop the beast.
LeBron took a big step, but still ran into the Warriors' restricted area, carrying Green with his body, ready to go for the basket.
But at this moment, a pair of large hands stopped in front of his head like a shield falling from the sky, and Chandler took advantage of Green's delay to help defend on the weak side.
LeBron made it all the way to the basket, but by then, it was the final stretch. His old strength was running out, and the new power hadn't arrived yet, with no time to avoid it. The layup was firmly blocked!
Liam smiled. Butler + Green + Chandler, and there was also a Kirilenko sitting off the court, this was the trap he had set for LeBron!
Thwack!
The basketball was slapped against the court by Chandler, and Curry ran out of the court, grabbing the ball before anyone else and sprinting to the frontcourt.
Since LeBron was blocked so suddenly, the Heat players didn't react, and Curry was unguarded. He sprinted toward the restricted area, planted his feet, and dunked with both hands.
11:0.
But it was this unpretentious dunk that triggered a response akin to a tsunami. The fans' mouths dropped open in surprise, and they even got up from their seats as if they had seen something incredibly unbelievable.
This was Curry's first dunk since joining the league!
The Warriors' bench players also stood up one by one, leaning backward in rows, as if they felt the "shockwave" from Curry's dunk. Their faces were exaggerated, and Curry himself hugged his head, his eyes wide, as if he were scared. The entire Oracle Arena was boiling because of Curry's dunk.
At this moment, ESPN's broadcaster also ran the caption "Curry completed the first dunk of his career," and Mike Breen smiled:
"Today, the fans and friends have seen it, Curry dunked for the first time in his career. Looks like his athleticism is still much stronger than Nash's, at least he can dunk!"
Jeff Van Gundy said:
"LeBron was stealing and blocking on the offensive side, and his form today seems to be a little problematic. If he can't adapt in time, it will be difficult for the Heat to play well."
Spoelstra's face on the bench was a little darker, but he couldn't call two timeouts in a minute. He took a deep breath, pressed his hands, gestured for the players to stabilize, and then signaled for LeBron to continue playing.
He was also a little dissatisfied with LeBron's performance, but he couldn't take the ball away from him. Superstars have dignity, and even if Spoelstra wanted to adjust the offense, he would have to wait until LeBron scored.
LeBron was also holding in his frustration, and he hadn't felt so wronged since the Heat started playing.
In the next round, he still played a pick-and-roll with Bosh, but instead of attacking the basket with a headbutt, he completed a jumper from mid-range, and the basketball bounced off the rim.
At 11-2, the Heat finally scored.
Turning around, Klay missed a three-pointer, and Spoelstra immediately signaled for the ball to be given to Wade to play.
Though LeBron had not yet vented his anger, he had played several rounds, and now it was Wade's turn. He could only pass the ball to Wade and run to the corner to open space.
Now that the Big Three had formed, it was impossible for LeBron to play everything he wanted, and he knew that.
After Wade received the ball, he waved his hand, and his teammates dispersed, removing their defenders, leaving the top of the arc for him and Klay.
In the last game against the Warriors, Bosh tested Green's defense, while Wade beat the young Klay. Then, Liam replaced Tony Allen to slightly slow down Wade's offense.
Right now, LeBron was trying to get back into the game, and Wade suppressed the desire to attack. Now the ball finally came to his hands. Flash licked his lips excitedly, eager to give the young rookie a good lesson.
Klay faced his defense, his face calm, with no panic at all. He seemed to have forgotten what happened last game when Wade had flown past him. He stared at Wade's movements, sinking his center of gravity, half of his body, raising his right hand high to cover Wade's shooting space, and made a very standard defensive move with his right hand.
But he stayed a bit tight, and although he sealed off Wade's shooting space, he left Wade a little room to open up.
Wade paused for a moment, realizing that his shot wouldn't be accurate. The opponent usually blocked his shot to defend him, but Klay did the opposite, which caught him off guard.
But Wade quickly reacted, throwing the ball to the left and preparing to use his speed to pass Klay in a single step. But Klay didn't give way like last time when they met. Instead, he first applied physical confrontation to Wade, delayed his movements, then stayed close, even though he was half a body behind, raising his hand to cover Wade's shooting space at all times, and the two moved together.
And it was Klay's slowness that allowed Chandler to get into position to help with the defense just in time, blocking Wade's path to the paint, and Klay covered Wade from his side so that Wade wouldn't have an easy shot. Chandler formed a double-team defense.
Wade suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap, and quickly looked for his teammates, only to find that Dampier had an open space under the basket and he slammed the floor to pass him the ball.
Aside from being a great scorer, Wade's organizational skills were also above average. Since entering the league, he had never averaged fewer than 4 assists per game, and he maintained more than 6 all year long.
But just as Dampier received the ball, Green shrank toward the basket in time, clinging to Dampier and reaching out to try to steal the ball, so he couldn't raise it to finish.
At the same time, Chandler also took the opportunity to turn around and protect the rim. Dampier was completely surrounded by the two, the shooting space and passing lane were almost entirely blocked, and he struggled several times to barely find a gap. He threw the ball to the basket and resigned himself to fate.
His shot had no power and didn't even touch the rim, coming straight down and into Green's arms. The Warriors took the opportunity to counterattack, Curry launched a fast break three-pointer against the defense, and the basketball went out of the rim, but Chandler, who had stayed in the middle, grabbed the rebound in the frontcourt and dunked fiercely.
Bang!
13:2.
This powerful dunk once again lit up Oracle Center, and the cheers of "Warrior" resonated throughout the crowd, fully awakening the fans' emotions.
"Tick—"
Spoelstra blushed and called another timeout.
By this point, the first quarter had just been played for five minutes, and he had already used two timeouts.
The boxing king looked up at the sky and let out a long roar, smiling widely. Everyone laughed and high-fived. There was a great confidence in their eyes, feeling their own progress, and in the face of their old rival, they already had the strength to fight back.
Liam stood to the side, smiling as he waved at the players leaving the court, and behind him, the Warriors' fans raised their arms and cheered.
On the other side of the technical table, the Heat players were a little stunned. They had been caught off guard. The Big Three looked at each other, their expressions turned solemn. They set aside all their previous disdain for the Warriors. The young players on the opposite side were opponents who needed to be taken seriously, especially with a coach like Liam leading them to victory.
LeBron narrowed his eyes, his anger was palpable, but there was also a kind of calmness deep inside.
Instead, it was Spoelstra who took the tactical board handed over by the assistant coach, with a smile on his face and a warm voice of relief for his players.
As head coach, he saw more deeply; the Warriors had initially set up their offensive and defensive systems, the rookies had made rapid progress, and the Heat's preparation was lacking. This game would be a tough battle, and he needed to immediately help his players adjust their mentality.
Speaking of that, this was also Spoelstra's mistake. The Heat's upward record made him somewhat complacent, and he didn't pay much attention to a team like the Warriors from the West, who had little interaction with them and had lost to the Heat before, let alone prepare specific tactics.
"Cheer up, the Warriors are no longer the Warriors who lost to us by a large margin; they are a really strong team! We need to do our best..." Spoelstra took a deep breath, buried the small regret in his heart, and focused on his tactics.
This time, in order to interrupt the Warriors' momentum, Spoelstra called a long timeout, and when the timeout was over and both teams returned to the court, the heated atmosphere in Oracle Arena had cooled considerably.
Spoelstra looked more closely at the Warriors fans who had returned to the court and found that, although their expressions were still full of excitement, they were generally calm, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He was confident that as long as the Warriors' players didn't maintain that counterattack momentum, the Heat could reverse the situation with the strong offensive firepower of the Big Three.
"Tic—"
The referee's whistle blew, and the game continued. The Heat sent the ball to the sideline, and on the first possession after the timeout, Spoelstra handed it over to Wade to play, who was more familiar and trusted Wade's offensive ability more than James.
This time, Wade was a bit more cautious, first faking out Klay and then taking a shot from just inside the free-throw line before the Warriors' help defense could get in position.
4:13.
Wade's basket reduced the hustle and bustle in Oracle Arena by a few notches, and the fans gradually woke up from the frantic atmosphere. The Big Three are the Big Three, and it's impossible to avoid superstars from performing. The Warriors had only taken advantage of the slight enemy heart of the Heat to seize the opportunity, but when the opponent focuses, they still need to fight hard to win this game.
"Warrior—Warrior—" Led by the live DJ, the fans chanted slogans to give all the support possible to the Warriors players on the court, knowing that the matchup against the Big Three would last throughout the game.
Amidst the cheers of the fans, the Warriors launched an offensive, Curry blocked and found Dampier, and the Heat attacked with determination, a tactic that Spoelstra had long organized, and the Heat finally won the last play by surrounding Curry.
After Curry was pinched, he calmly distributed the ball to Butler, and in the last three months, he had encountered many traps, and had specifically practiced for them, greatly improving his ability to play the ball under pressure.
Butler had a brief open opportunity when James shrunk toward the basket to help defend, but after receiving the ball, James jumped toward him to interfere with his shot.
James had been terrible on the defensive side in his prime, top-tier both in individual defense and assists, and quickly pounced on Butler, doing an excellent job controlling his center of gravity, slightly to the right.
But it was this deflection that gave Butler a chance. He raised his hand to shoot, and James instinctively raised his hand to interfere, his center of gravity shifted again. Butler quickly recovered the ball and dunked it under the basket.
In this case, James's reaction was swift, and he was half a position behind Butler. The two tangled inside, and Butler firmly placed James behind him. Joel Anthony was a step slower to help defend, and Butler made an easy layup.
15:4.
After the goal, Butler looked at James with disdain, his eyes filled with provocation.
Growing up on the streets, Butler never knew what to fear.
James smiled and said nothing, but slowly squinted, his expression turning cold.
Mike Breen praised:
"Great play! Butler scored 5 points over James and broke him for one, he's competing with James, this game is intense."
Later, the Heat took the initiative to slow the pace, and the Big Three took turns scoring to help stabilize the situation.
With three minutes left in the first quarter, Spoelstra replaced James Jones and Eddie House, giving James space to let Wade and Bosh rest, allowing James to use his immense containment to lead the Heat's overall offense.
But the Heat wasn't easy to defend against the Warriors' offense. Curry was very calm when trapped, always able to pass the ball to his teammates in an open position, and also improved the three-point stability of others, which could punish the Heat's defense. Butler took advantage of James's help defense, shooting inside and out, scoring continuously.
After Curry was trapped a couple of times, Liam waved his hand, letting him and Green play by blocking and dismantling, and the Heat still pinched Curry, but Green showed his improved passing and control skills, impacting the interior when it was open, or drawing the assistant defense, giving Chandler a wide-open reception, or compressing the Heat's defense even further, distributing the ball to the perimeter and allowing Klay and Butler to shoot open threes.
Although he still made mistakes handling the ball, he was much better than the last time he played against the Heat, and he could even coldly shoot an open three, making the Heat wary of letting him go too far, and Curry's pinch was significantly reduced.
When the Heat made substitutions, Liam also made substitutions.
He approached Danny Green, looked him in the eyes, and said:
"Danny, can I trust you?"
Danny Green, who was holding his chin and feeling a bit bored, froze for a moment, then realized something, felt his heart rate accelerate suddenly, and quickly nodded:
"Of course, coach!"
"Are you ready?"
"Of course, coach, I'm always ready!" Danny Green said with a trembling voice.
Liam smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and loudly said:
"Go ahead, replace Klay's position, play according to the training tactics, don't be nervous, take bold shots!"
Danny Green stood up from his seat and loudly said:
"Yes, coach!"
After a while, Liam took advantage of the dead-ball situation to replace Klay and Butler with Danny Green and Kirilenko.
After both teams rotated, the Warriors' front line became Kirilenko + Green + Chandler, which had no match for the defensive intensity of the starting lineup.
After entering the game, Liam arranged for Green to face James, and their confrontation was stronger than Kirilenko, who was responsible for following defense, and finally Chandler protected the basket.
Facing the defense of three people, James played very hard, but the strict defense from the Warriors also gave opportunities to others. However, except for James Jones, the ability of the others to capitalize on opportunities was weak, and the Heat's offense was still contained overall.
Danny Green was still a little nervous after entering the court, having three open three-point opportunities, but he only made one.
Kirilenko continued his good performance in training, almost perfectly integrating into the Warriors' defensive system, and was very present on the defensive side, contributing with a block and a steal in just three minutes.
But his shortcomings in shooting still impacted the Warriors' offense, along with Danny Green's poor shooting performance, and the lineup composed of three and a half points without space made it more difficult for Curry to attack with the ball.
The problem of the offensive and defensive imbalance of the Warriors' players had plagued Liam for a long time, but to limit the Heat's offense, he chose a lineup that prioritized defense, and Danny Green was already his rotation for offensive engagement; otherwise, Tony Allen should have been in this position.
Fortunately, with excellent defense, the Warriors still maintained the advantage, and in the end, the Warriors finished the first quarter with a score of 29-22.
When Danny Green left the court, he lowered his head with frustration and said somewhat shamefully:
"I'm sorry, coach, I didn't make those two threes..."
Danny Green was very regretful in his heart, only God knew how long he had waited for this opportunity to enter the rotation, practicing defense and three-point shooting every day, even daring to practice other things, fearing he wouldn't meet the coaching staff's requirements.
But when he finally got the opportunity he longed for and entered the rotation, nervousness immediately ran through his body, making his movements more rigid, and even causing him to miss two difficult threes.
This was against the Heat, and it was live broadcast in the United States!
The frustration of uncontrollably wasting an opportunity rose in Danny Green's heart, and he nervously looked at Liam, ready to be severely reprimanded.
But Liam only patted him on the shoulder and chuckled:
"It's okay, I said, take a bold shot, you did the right thing. I'll send you back to the field later, don't be afraid, shoot when you have the chance, don't forget, you're a shooter!"
"I'm a shooter..." murmured Danny Green, then his expression slowly hardened and he nodded heavily, "I know what to do, coach!"
Liam comforted him with a few more kind words and only returned to his seat after Danny Green relaxed and was completely calm.
But just as he turned around, a flash of concern appeared in Liam's eyes. It seemed light, but he was worried about the team's space issue. But the lack of shooters could only be resolved after the players practiced shooting, and he could only bury this concern deep in his heart and show a calm demeanor.
Liam is the true backbone of the Warriors, and he always has to show confidence so that the players can have confidence.
The second quarter began and both teams rotated again, with Jeremy Lin, Yi Jianlian, Danny Green, Butler and Big Z for the Warriors, and Bosh, Wade, James Jones, Eddie House and Joel Anthony for the Heat.
Sterrella, who was on the bench, smiled when he saw the rotation lineups of the two teams.
The existence of the Big Three always allows the Heat to have at least one star on the court to lead the team. Wade and James can achieve a perfect connection, and the Heat can always maintain a strong point to develop their offense, something no other team can do, and now it's the Heat's true strongest moment.
Indeed, the Heat soon closed the gap, led by Wade and Bosh.
Although Liam replaced Butler as the ball handler to match the Heat's firepower, even if he and Jeremy Lin did their best, there was still a gap between him and Wade and Bosh in terms of offensive development.
And Wade's defense made it difficult for Jeremy Lin to move on the court, and the Warriors' pick-and-roll offense, which he was good at during the rotation period, was frustrated. However, Danny Green stepped up, made two open threes, and Butler continued to attack the Heat's weak interior, frequently drawing fouls and standing at the free-throw line, preventing the situation from collapsing too quickly.
But when the second quarter reached the 6-minute mark, the Warriors' rotation reached its limit, and the Heat still relied on the dimensionality-reducing blow of their stars to push the score to 40-38.
Subsequently, taking advantage of a dead-ball situation, both teams returned to their starters, but Liam replaced Butler to rest and let Kirilenko play.
As a result, the game returned to the defensive battle of the first quarter, with Chandler + Green + Kirilenko forming an iron wall protecting the Warriors' interior. The Heat's perimeter sweep led by Wade and James only contained the Warriors' combination of Curry and Klay.
The Heat's scoring relied on the hard chiseling and strong shots of the Big Three one by one, while the Warriors still targeted Bosh and Dampier's weaknesses, who moved slowly and played a lot of off-ball cooperation, which was quite effective.
After more than half a season, the Warriors had not only initially built their defensive system but also began to shape up on the offensive side.
Of course, Liam is different from Kerr. He only uses passing as a powerful complement to the Warriors' pick-and-roll offense, rather than passing and cutting for the sake of passing and cutting.
However, in the absence of shooters, off-ball offensive methods such as around-the-screen and hand-off allow Green, Chandler, and Kirilenko, who have a low shooting threat, to participate in the offense, effectively alleviating the space-blocking problem and also targeting the Heat's weaknesses.
At the end of the second quarter, both teams battled evenly, and the score was 54-56, with the Warriors leading the Heat by just 2 points.
However, the most dangerous transition in the second quarter had passed, which made Liam breathe a sigh of relief. In the second half, the Warriors could properly shorten the rotation.
When the red light went off at halftime, Liam and Spoelstra looked at each other across the technical table, both with clear minds, seeing a cold and sharp light in each other's eyes.
Everyone knows that the second half is where the game really starts.
End of this chapter
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