On June 5, the first game of the 2013-2014 NBA Finals was held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.
In this game, the number of shots taken by both sides was 87 for the Lakers and 94 for the Heat. The shooting rate was 42.5% for the Lakers and 44.7% for the Heat. The number of assists was 21 for the Lakers and 26 for the Heat. The number of steals was 42.5% for the Lakers and 44.7% for the Heat. 3 times against the Heat's 8 times, and the Lakers' turnovers were 16 times against the Heat's 7 times.
Judging from this data, the Heat have an overall advantage and will inevitably usher in a big victory. However, in fact, the Heat lost the game 109 to 122. The main reason for losing the game was rebounding. The Heat only grabbed 36 rebounds in the whole game, while the Lakers grabbed 60 rebounds.
The Heat's 36 rebounds are actually a relatively normal statistic. They averaged only 36.4 rebounds per game this season. The Lakers' 60 rebounds are indeed a bit beyond their level. Among them, "Whiteside" Whiteside grabbed 15 rebounds by himself, which made Bosh, who appeared at the center position, a little confused. I have to say that Miami is really Whiteside's blessed place. It is the best place in history. Whiteside also made his mark in Miami, and today he came to Miami for the first time with the Lakers and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Gasol also made a rare comeback and contributed a double-double. For Gasol, it was very easy for him to bully Rashard Lewis, who had no ability to fight, on the offensive end. A big pitcher like Lewis has no confrontation ability at all, which is exactly what Gasol wants.
Kaman, who played only 15 minutes, became the efficiency leader in the entire game. He finally encountered a weak Heat team inside and scored 13 points and 12 rebounds. This once again showed that he is "bullying the weak and afraid of the strong" this season. "The true nature of.
There is a saying in basketball that "you can conquer the world with rebounds", and this is especially true in the high-intensity playoffs. Although the Heat have an overall advantage in all other statistics, they lost a full 24 rebounds, which made the Heat The team suffered a big defeat at home.
The Heat's weakness inside is something the entire league knows. The Heat's two starting post players are Bosh and Rashard Lewis. Neither of them are confrontational post players. Bosh has been criticized for being too soft, and Rashard Lewis is. An outside shooter is not an inside player at all. So many times, the Heat will send Birdman Anderson to strengthen their inside capabilities and protect the team's rebounds.
For this Heat team, losing rebounds has become a normal phenomenon. Throughout the season, the Heat grabbed 4 fewer rebounds per game than their opponents, while this figure was still 2 last season. This shows that This season, the Heat's rebound protection has been even worse.
At the same time, the Heat's defensive strategy of double-teaming on the outside was gradually cracked by various teams.
The Heat are very good at using the defensive strategy of double-teaming the ball holder on the outside to disrupt the opponent's rhythm and force the opponent to make mistakes, which to a certain extent makes up for the Heat's lack of inside coverage. This trick was very effective in the first year or two, but as the small ball style became more and more popular, the speed of each team's rotation of the ball became faster, coupled with the increase in three-pointers, the Heat's Defensive strategies are increasingly ineffective.
In terms of regular season record, the Heat are 54 wins and 28 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference. Last year, the Heat's record was 66 wins and 16 losses, which means that this year's Heat lost 12 more games than last year.
Generally speaking, the Heat this season is indeed not as good as last season. It can also be said that other teams have become stronger, but the Heat are stagnating.
…
The first home defeat made James very angry. This was not only the first game of the series, but also at the Heat's home court. Although the situation of the strong West and the weak East was the most serious this season, the Heat still won two consecutive championships. The defending champion will not be bullied in the first game and will be unable to fight back.
What makes James most dissatisfied is Wade's state, especially after entering the playoffs, Wade's state has declined quite seriously.
According to this season's statistics, Wade's points, steals, blocks, assists, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, number of free throws and free throw percentage are all below his career average. Wade's regression can be said to be "all-round." On the defensive end of this game, Wade seemed to be walking on the court, never finding his form.
In the first game of the Finals, the Heat exposed a lot of problems. During the regular season, no one seemed to care about these problems. In the playoffs, these problems did not seem to be very serious when facing the Eastern Conference teams, but When facing the top teams in the Western Conference, the Heat's problem is really fatal.
In this finals in history, the Heat met the Spurs and lost without any suspense. They were swept by the Spurs 4-1. The only game they won was by two points, and they lost by more than ten or twenty points. of. If the Heat met the Thunder or Clippers instead of the Spurs, it would be difficult for the Heat to win the final victory. Due to age issues, unreasonable lineup configuration, and rigid tactical system, even a player as strong as James cannot save the Heat. James obviously felt this and decisively returned to Cleveland next season.
In the entire league, James should be the player who is best at leading the team to victory. Perhaps he is not the best in terms of statistics, but his comprehensiveness is unmatched. James' comprehensiveness is not just a quasi-triple-double in terms of statistics, but that he knows how to lead the team to victory.
The so-called "double core" and "Big Three" in the league have a lot of goals. There are many teams whose lineups look very good, but in the end they just can't win.
The real NBA game is not about playing games, it is not about putting together people with high ratings to sweep everything. When big-name stars come together, what is most needed is a leader who can lead the team to victory.
James is a natural leader. He is always able to lead the team to victory in his own way. This is unmatched by any current player in the NBA.
So in the second game of the Finals, James completely changed his strategy. He reduced passing and increased scoring to make up for Wade's lack of form; he began to work harder to grab rebounds, especially in terms of protecting defensive rebounds. On the defensive end, he almost changed positions with Rashard Lewis, taking the position of power forward himself.
In this game, James scored a huge double-double with 38 points and 17 rebounds. However, he only had one assist, which means that James basically did not pass the ball throughout the game.
In recent seasons, James' average assists per game has been around 7, ranking in the top ten in the league almost every year, much better than most point guards. Contributing only 1 assist in a game is indeed rare for James.
But the Heat won.
After all, it is impossible for the Lakers to be as strong as more than 60 rebounds in every game, and facing a James who was desperately trying to score, Ci Shiping paid the price of six fouls and still failed to restrain him. If a superstar like James wants to score, no one can stop him.
Under the leadership of James, the Heat achieved a 1-1 home record. This result is barely acceptable for the Heat. The key depends on the next two away games. If the Heat can also win one, there will be more They hope to win the championship, but if they lose both games, the Heat will basically miss out on the championship.
…
On June 10, the third game between the two sides was held in Los Angeles.
Back at home, the Lakers increased the ball's rotation speed and increased the frequency of three-pointers. The result was that the Heat's proud outside double-team tactic of holding the ball holder completely collapsed!
The Lakers play a run-and-gun game, and running and quick rotation of the ball are a must. When the Heat double-team the ball holder, the Lakers will either have passed the ball out or shot a three-pointer. No matter how fast the players double-team, they can't catch up with the speed of the ball.
However, the Heat's coach Spoelstra is still stubborn and does not know how to adapt. He has been adhering to this tactic throughout the game, which resulted in the complete collapse of the Heat's defense.
Speaking of which, Coach Spoelstra's vocational coaching level is really average. If he wasn't one of the Big Three, he wouldn't be able to win a championship. Of course, he actually doesn’t have much say in the team. Coach Spoelstra has a general manager like Pat Riley above him, who will always step in whenever anything goes wrong. He also has leadership-level players like James under him. A single word could get the head coach fired. Therefore, Coach Spoelstra does not have much room to play. He spends more time like a puppet or the glue of the team. Many people even think that Spoelstra is only at the assistant coach level.
It can be said that in this game, both sides lost in terms of tactical concepts. This defensive approach of double-teaming the perimeter ballhandler will eventually be replaced by help defenders and wing defenders. Two or three years later, a large group of players who are proficient in wing defense have received big contracts. Many fans even shouted that they were not worth the money after reading their data. However, this illustrates the development of basketball from the side. trend. In the era of the rise of three-pointers, strong wing defenders are what the team needs most.
The Heat made changes in the fourth game. They no longer used outside double-teams to trap the ball carrier, but returned to one-on-one man-to-man defense.
…
Zhang Guan faced Wade and rushed past Wade with a fake move, attracting Bosh's help. With a slight wave, Zhang Guan passed the ball to Gasol, who was open under the basket. Gasol easily put the ball into the basket.
"It's Wade's mistake again. This is the first time he's missed someone!" the Miami commentator's tone was full of annoyance.
Wade still hasn't regained his form. He doesn't look excited at all. Not only is his pace slowing down on the defensive end, but he also seems hesitant on the offensive end. In a one-on-one situation, Zhang Guan was absolutely blown away.
There was not much joy in Zhang Guan's heart, but a feeling of defeat.
In the finals of this year in history, Wade did not perform well, averaging only 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 times per game, but he made 3.6 turnovers, which was completely unworthy of the performance of the giants, and this became One of the reasons why James left the Heat. James needs younger and more energetic teammates to compete for a championship ring.
Wade did not perform well, Bosh was still in the same half-dead state as before, and no one on the Heat's bench could step forward. James had almost no rest from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, but he was still alone.
At this time, James seems to have returned to the Cavaliers a few years ago. It was like this at that time. Whether on the offensive or defensive end, the whole team relied on him alone. He was the only one who was working hard, while his teammates could only provide help. His minimal help.
Today's game was the same. BIG3 suddenly became BIG1. Wade and Bosh played like two ordinary starters, which turned James' 36 points into empty scores.
The Big Three take up a relatively large number of shots, which makes the other Heat players take much less shots. The core of the Heat's tactics is to let the Big Three attack, so even if role players catch the ball, they rarely take action. For example, Chalmers, who felt pretty good today, only got 5 shots in total, but hit 4 goals.
Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis also have poor shooting skills, both averaging lower than their usual field goal percentages. Birdman Anderson is very energetic, but he is also very capable of fouling. He committed six fouls in just over 20 minutes today.
Michael Beasley has become the highest scorer outside the "Big Three", and his shooting percentage is not bad, but this guy basically only takes the ball and plays in isolation. Whether he scores or not depends entirely on his personal ability. If the Heat want to rely on In terms of individual ability, James is much more reliable than Michael Beasley, so this guy is also a useless presence on the court.
Haslem had 0 points, Tony Douglas had 0 points, Shane Battier had 0 points, Norris Cole had 0 points, and James Jones also had 0 points.
"Little Emperor" James truly became a loner in this game.
…
"Lost!" James' face was full of unwillingness, but the reality made him helpless.
111 to 92, the Lakers held a 19-point lead and won, turning the total score into 3-1.
In the history of the Finals, no team has ever been able to come back from 3-1 down to win the championship. So this is tantamount to a death sentence for the Heat! Even if the Heat have two more home games in the future, it will still be extremely difficult to defeat the Lakers in three consecutive games.
The Lakers are just a stone's throw away from the championship!
(End of chapter)