Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

The Pacers played smoothly in the first quarter. Although Granger only took one shot from beyond the three-point line, he made 12 of 19 shots overall, with a hit rate of 63%.

The Heat's shooting rate is neither high nor low, with a 44.4% shooting rate. Although it is lower than usual, it is not that bad.

The problem lies in the rebounds. The Pacers grabbed 14 rebounds in the first quarter, far higher than the Heat's 3. This is also an important factor in their ability to still lead despite a 6:1 turnover.

"We must strengthen our defense of inside rebounds!"

Spoelstra looked at the players, but didn't know how to adjust.

After the fifth game, the league reacted quickly. Haslem, who was obviously out of revenge, and Pittman, who gave Stephenson an elbow at the end of the game, causing his opponent to take an X-ray, were suspended for one game and three games respectively.

field punishment.

Hansbrough's first-level flagrant foul was also upgraded to a second-level flagrant foul, but there was no suspension penalty.

This makes the Heat's already meager internal resources even worse. The only players they can play at center are Joel Anthony, Turiaf and Juwan Howard.

Among them, Juwan Howard played less than ten minutes in both the regular season and the playoffs. He can be said to be a standard water cooler player.

"How can Anthony and Turiaf stand up to Hibbert and West?"

There was no time to wonder whether the league wanted to prolong the game between the Heat and the Pacers. Spoelstra looked at Battier and said,

"We can only play with one large and four small lineups throughout the game. In order not to be overwhelmed by the opponent's inside, we must pull the opponent's inside out of the basket!"

This means that in addition to defending the opponent's power forward on the defensive end, Battier also has to constantly move and pull the opponent on the offensive end.

"I see!"

Battier knew there was a lot of pressure today, but he still nodded and agreed to the coach's arrangement.

"It doesn't matter, leave the attack to us."

Haslem was suspended. Wade was full of fighting spirit today and planned to save face for Big Brother. He looked at the coach and asked for advice,

"Today's attack will be led by me!"

"good!"

Of course Spoelstra trusted Wade and made the decision immediately.

"Wade played the main game in the second quarter, James found a chance to rest, and the others fully cooperated with Wade!"

"clear!"

Everyone in the Heat nodded in unison and returned to the court after the break.

The Heat naturally fielded a lineup headed by James Wade, and the Pacers still had Collison, Dengta Jones, Qi Tian, ​​Hansbrough and Amandelson as their substitute lineup.

Wade scored a layup as soon as he came on the court, and then caused a mistake by Deng Tai Jones, and once again used his signature step to score a layup.

"25-28."

"Substitute!"

Vogel was somewhat fortunate that he did not place his hopes on Deng Tai Jones and decisively replaced George, retaining the strength of the substitute.

"Come on Qi, don't let down the coach's trust."

Brian Shaw looked at Qi Tian on the court and silently cheered for him in his heart.

Vogel made a decision yesterday and chose the lineup the Pacers could choose when Granger could not play too much. The forward-guard combination of George and Qi Tian, ​​although not as good as Granger and George on defense, was not as good offensively.

Many questions gained Vogel's favor.

As soon as George came on the court, he strengthened his defense against Wade and successfully prevented his opponent's shots.

But Hansbrough's inside shot was blocked by Miller, and the basketball was also captured by Wade.

Wade quickly ran to the frontcourt, broke through and attracted the defense, then turned and handed it to Miller on the outside.

Miller caught the ball and made a long three-pointer.

"Whoosh!"

"28-28."

The Heat erased the 7-point difference in less than a minute and tied the score!

"Boy, are you still too young?"

Wade smiled proudly at George and others, high-fived his teammates one by one, and retreated on defense.

His performance was not over. After the newly debuted West made two fouls and made two free throws, he scored 4 points and 1 assist in a row, successfully overtaking the score!

"34-30."

Seeing that the situation was looking good, Spoelstra immediately chose to replace James to let him recover his strength, leaving Wade alone.

"Give me!"

Qi Tian ran quickly and was about to pass the basketball. He ignored Wade's defense, jumped up and threw the basketball.

Wade rushed over to defend and knocked Qi Tian down.

"Dudu!"

The referee blew the whistle to indicate Wade's shooting foul.

Three free throws!

After high-fiving his teammates, Qi Tian walked to the free throw line, took a deep breath, adjusted his rhythm, and then threw the basketball.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Three free throws were made steadily.

"34-33."

The excitement of the Pacers closing in on the score did not last long, as Wade broke through the defense again and succeeded in a layup.

"36-33."

Wade, who scored 10 points in 4 minutes, was omnipotent and reminded Heat fans of the top shooting guard who shouted "This is my home" to the audience.

Vogel had no choice but to replace the main team in advance, with Granger, Hill, West and others appearing again.

Granger's performance today clearly exceeded the fans' expectations. He led the team in a wave of offense as soon as he came on the court. Although Wade Miller scored 5 points in a row, the Pacers still tied the score.

West and Hibbert were like gods of war, scoring continuously inside to help the Pacers take the lead.

But it was Wade again. He scored 6 points in the last few minutes of the game to help the team cling to the score.

"51-53."

The Pacers' shooting rate in the second quarter was still very high, scoring 25 points on 8 of 15 shots. The score difference was closed by their opponents, which was obviously not their problem.

The Heat scored 30-25 in the second quarter, narrowing the deficit. Wade was the team's main contributor in chasing points. He made 8 of 11 shots in a single quarter and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 20 points!

"Is this the true strength of the top two shooting guards in the league?"

The Pacers fans said in confusion.

They originally thought that Qitian Dengtai Jones' back line defense was so poor that Granger had to come on early, but the fans could only complain.

It turns out that it’s not that Qitian, Dengtai Jones and others are too bad, it’s that their opponents are too fierce, making them seem powerless.

"Dwayne~~Wade!"

The fans who came to the away game to support the Heat immediately cheered for Wade.

The fans' feelings were second to none. Vogel in the locker room already had a feeling of "God is going to kill me."

Granger was injured, and he was still thinking of replacing him with someone new to fill the vacancy. However, Qi Tian and Deng Tai Jones hadn't even shown much performance when Dian Wei rushed out from the opposite side and killed them randomly, breaking up the team.

Not to mention the formation, he had to replace Granger early who needed a rest.

Well, Granger, who originally needed a rest, only played 20 minutes in the first half. The team doctor's promise not to let him play for too long seemed to be unfulfilled.

What's even more terrible is that this is reality, not a game. Vogel has no idea at what second later, Granger's ankle will not be able to hold on, and he will give himself a physical struggle.