NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 202 The Strength Gap Is Too Obvious

James had no choice but to take the initiative to defend Giannis Antetokounmpo in this game.

James doesn't want to defend, but the last game has proved that the Heat can't match Giannis Antetokounmpo except him.

Fans also criticized James in various voices, saying that he was clearly capable of defending but did not defend in the first game. James knew that he could not escape and could only forcibly defend.

And after thinking about it, James also knew that this was an obvious account.

After the first two games, James has understood that the strength gap in this round of the series is relatively large, not just because of the Timberwolves' home court.

If he still insists on not guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo and allowing him to score too many points, then he will have to blame after the game.

Anyway, he guards Giannis Antetokounmpo and puts up good numbers.

This pot can't be assigned to him no matter what.

James is a relatively shrewd person, and he will still make this obvious choice.

The game started.

Relying on the momentum of the home court, the Heat did not lose the wind in the first half, especially Ray Allen and Battier hit the key three-pointers to help the Heat establish an advantage.

But you can't always expect these two veterans to break out.

The Timberwolves' defense against James is still solid.

Even in order to keep the defensive strength against James online, Luol Deng was still taking turns defending James, but Su Chen didn't let him defend James.

The job of defending James is mainly Iguodala's main defense, and Giannis Antetokounmpo will replace and assist defense.

The Heat had some chances, just like Battier and Ray Allen, who received a point from James and made a three-pointer.

However, the Timberwolves' defensive rotation is very fast, and even the three-pointers they made were still interfered to a certain extent.

These role players of the Heat are now facing a certain interference with three-pointers, and their aim is still a little unstable.

Although the Heat's defense has replaced Chalmers, who is undersized, and Lewis, whose defensive ability has reached the level of a colander.

But in fact, the Heat's defensive strength has not yet been raised.

Battier, who used to be a top-five defender in the league, has only defensive awareness left.

Even in the face of Luol Deng's offensive ability, the edge of the All-Stars is struggling.

When the defense was switched to Butler, Battier knew what to do, but he was still forced to foul because he couldn't keep up with the speed.

Even though there was a foul, Butler scored 2+1.

Butler's aerial confrontation ability, and the aging Battier, clearly have the upper hand.

In addition to Battier, Ray Allen and Wade are actually difficult to reach a passing level on the defensive end.

If this lineup is all at the peak, it is still very strong, but now except for James who is still at the peak, the others have more or less declined.

Bosh's decline is not too big, but his own ability to attack tough playoffs is also difficult to take on the heavy responsibility.

In the second half of the first quarter, the Heat have already begun to fall behind.

James himself made some strong goals, allocated some opportunities, some made some shots and some didn't.

This kind of offensive efficiency is actually barely noticeable.

But the Heat's defense made such an offensive inefficient.

The first quarter is over.

Heat 25:32 Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves scored 32 points in the first quarter. It can be seen what level the Heat's defense is now.

James walked off the bench a little tired.

Eric Spoelstra glanced at James. Although James didn't deal with him, he knew he couldn't blame James until now.

The Heat's lineup is actually barely making the playoffs.

As far as the Heat's lineup, if it weren't for James' super performance all the way, the Heat would actually not be able to make it to the East.

There is even a certain factor of the eastern dividend.

A bunch of teams in the East with a winning percentage of less than half can make the playoffs, which shows the weakness of the East.

Even the Pacers, because of Hibbert's outrageous decline.

If it was Hibbert last season, the Heat might not be able to break out of the East.

The Timberwolves can rush out of the Wild West. Although many people in the outside world still do not recognize the Timberwolves, Eric Spoelstra knows that the gap in strength must be admitted.

With the strength of the Heat, it is very difficult to play against the Spurs and the Warriors.

The Timberwolves have eliminated the Warriors and Spurs all the way. Eric Spoelstra is very clear about the strength of the Timberwolves.

Erik Spoelstra laid out some tactics during the break.

Although there is a big gap in strength, Eric Spoelstra is still thinking of some tricks to see if he can come back.

Game back.

The morale of the entire Heat team has declined somewhat.

The strength gap between the two teams in the first quarter, and during the timeout, Eric Spoelstra and James basically didn't have much communication.

On the contrary, the entire Timberwolves are getting braver as they fight, and relatively experienced players like Ibaka Lor Deng have also encouraged young players.

Sometimes boosting morale is not only done by the coach, the role of the locker room leader is also very important.

"It seems that the winner will be decided."

Su Chen also noticed the atmosphere of the Heat team and smiled slightly in his heart.

However, on the surface, Su Chen still did not underestimate the enemy, and still warned the players to stay focused and actively defend.

Both sides made some lineup rotations in the second quarter.

The Heat originally didn't have many players, so this starting lineup is equivalent to being forcibly promoted.

Then the lineup rotation will drop even more.

But the Heat had to make substitutions. The team already had a bunch of veterans, and it would be useless to not let these veterans rest.

The most powerful thing about the Timberwolves is the average level of the lineup.

Not only are the starting players average in strength and have no weaknesses, even the substitutes are relatively average in strength.

In terms of lineup depth, there should be no team this season that can compare with the Timberwolves.

(End of this chapter)