Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

"Are they crazy?"

Seeing the Pacers sending West to play center, surrounded by a lineup of Granger, George, Qitian and George Hill, James' first reaction was that the Pacers were out of their minds.

The Heat's choice of a small lineup with Bosh as center was influenced by many factors.

The main reason is naturally that the Big Three have squeezed too much salary space and cannot sign a useful center with the minimum salary, so they have to do this.

Although there are signs of decline in big centers now, it does not mean that big centers are unimportant. The Pacers were originally a team with heavy centers like Hibbert, and they had no need to change their formation.

"but……"

James quickly realized something was wrong and understood the Pacers' plan.

The Heat are a side that passively changes formations and uses a lineup of one large and four small. In this case, it makes sense for the Pacers to actively use one large and four small, because the Heat do not punish their inside resources.

Not to mention that Bosh is injured, so it is impossible to use one large and four small targets.

"This move is really powerful."

Spoelstra also realized that the crisis was coming, because the Pacers once again hit the Heat's weak spot: the inside.

Turiaf, Joel Anthony and Haslem have difficulty matching West, and the three forwards can minimize the speed advantage of James and Way.

This is a second way of dealing with the Heat's weaknesses that is different from Hibbert's squatting inside, but equally effective.

"This coach is not given for free."

At this time, the Heat head coach was wary of the Pacers head coach to an extremely high level.

Vogel doesn't know what others think, but he believes his change of formation will pay off enough.

Because playing a small lineup allows Hibbert to get enough rest time without having to replace substitute center Amandelson to be targeted. The last three minutes of the third quarter are also short enough. He believes that the team will not be disappointed because of these three minutes.

collapse.

"Brothers, let's have a big fight!"

Granger still encourages his teammates and has enough confidence in them.

West made one of two free throws and successfully stabilized the situation.

"53-46."

The Heat have taken Wade off the court, so naturally they can only rely on James, who holds the ball high and looks for opportunities.

"LeBron, crush them!"

The Heat fans on the sidelines kept shouting and cheering for the team.

George followed his opponent closely, James called for a pick-and-roll, and Granger quickly switched defenses to block the opponent's breakthrough.

West was also watching closely under the basket, always ready to help his teammates defend.

James changed direction and threw away his opponent, forcing a breakthrough to the basket.

West stepped forward to cover the defense, and James jumped up, collided with his opponent in the air, and threw the basketball in his hand.

"Dang, shua!"

"Dudu!"

As the basketball bounced into the net, the referee next to him blew his whistle, indicating that West had committed a foul.

2+1!

James showed off his plump biceps to the camera and the fans on the sidelines and shouted:

"eOn!"

"No one can stop LeBron's impact!"

"Oh selling cakes!"

Heat fans responded immediately.

James steadily hit the extra free throw, which immediately attracted another round of cheers from the fans.

"53-49."

"Give me!"

Of course, Granger had to respond, immediately asking for the ball from a high post, and then turned around to hit Battier in isolation.

West stepped up to block Battier and set up a pick-and-roll for his teammates.

The power of the small lineup is revealed. Hill and Qi Tian both have outside shooting ability. Although George's shooting threat is weak, he at least dares to shoot, so James does not dare to let go of his opponent and go to the inside to cover the defense.

"The line is empty!"

Granger bypassed the cover and broke through decisively.

Battier quickly got around the defense, and Granger immediately stopped and shot a jumper.

"Whoosh!"

The basketball was easily hit and the Pacers took control of the situation again.

The Heat passed the ball many times. Mike Miller was about to pass to James in the high post, but Qi Tian saw through his opponent's plan and stepped out to steal the basketball.

"Defend!"

Facing the opponent's fast break, only Cole at the top of the key caught up with Qi Tian.

Qi Tian looked back and saw that there was only one person following him. He easily blocked his opponent's position and succeeded in a layup, finally scoring his first score of the game.

"61-52."

At the end of the third quarter, James' buzzer-beating layup put the Heat 9 points behind their opponents and entering the fourth quarter.

"The coach's change of formation has become too timely!"

The players on the bench could see clearly that the small lineup used decisively by head coach Vogel at the end of the third quarter was extremely effective. Not only did it keep West, Granger and George on the court who scored consecutively, but the three

The forwards took turns defending, partially limiting James' breakthrough and maintaining the point difference advantage.

"It's a pity that this lineup cannot be used all the time. If Hibbert rests off the court, we will lose our inside rebounding advantage."

Danbok said with some regret.

"Who said there wouldn't be an inside advantage?"

"It may not be impossible to retain the advantage."

Vogel and Brian Shaw looked at each other and smiled.

The point difference almost reached double digits. The Heat immediately showed up in the fourth quarter. Wade and James both appeared in the lineup. It was obvious that they would play the entire fourth quarter again. Chalmers, Shane Battier and Joel Anthony

Cooperate with them on stage.

The Pacers were well prepared and directly replaced Hibbert. Of course, the advantage was in their hands. West and Granger had enough time to rest off the court.

The Pacers did not send power forward Hansbrough, but used Hibbert as the center, paired with a four-small lineup of George, Qitian, Dengtae Jones and Collison.

"This does not require a power forward. It is obviously to limit James with speed!"

Pacers fans thought about it for a moment and understood the team's plan.

James, who swings to the power forward position, can rely on his speed advantage to crush his opponents and make breakthrough layups, whether facing West or Hansbrough.

But after replacing George and Qi Tian, ​​they can at least keep up with their opponents in terms of speed. Although they still can't guard James, they can still do it by consuming their opponents' physical strength and buying time for Granger and others.

In other words, the Pacers planned to use inferior horses like George and Qi Tian as bait and try their best to create an advantage for the superior horses.

"Humph, don't you underestimate me a little too much?"

James showed a contemptuous smile and planned to play the entire fourth quarter. For him, it made no difference who he was playing against.

Sure enough, after Wade Chalmers and Hibbert exchanged several blows, James grabbed an offensive rebound from Qitian and George and scored a tip-in.

"61-54."

Then a fast break caused George to foul and go to the free throw line.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Two free throws were made, and the point difference was narrowed to 5 points by James, who scored 4 points in a row.

"Apply for substitution!"