"It's so cool. One game proves the name of Yao and Mai together! Yao Ming defeated the second defensive center and proved that he deserves his spot in the first team. McGrady also broke through the first round curse and showed his true qualities as a star!"
"4:0! The Rockets neatly defeated the notoriously fierce Grizzlies. Before the game started, I believed the Rockets would win, but I didn't expect them to win so easily."
"Winning every game, beating their opponents by an average of 30 points per game! The firepower of this Rockets team is enough to go down in history, and their basketball is different from other teams!"
"The most amazing thing for me in this game was Yao Ming. Originally, I thought that although he has the ability of a star, he lacks the scoring explosiveness of a first-class star. But today, he slapped me in the face with an epic large triple-double. I feel so good!”
"No one will ever give me a first-round pick to criticize me. Although Yao Ming performed best today, McGrady's 27 points and 8 assists are pretty good, and his shooting percentage is very high. !”
...
In addition to praising the Rockets, fans also began to discuss their opponents in the next round.
"The Rockets should be playing the Thunder in the second round. To be honest, the biggest surprise to me this year, apart from the Rockets, is the Thunder! These two teams are full of energy and have a gorgeous style of play... They play the game and it's hard to let them down. People are looking forward to it!”
"I think there are many similarities in the playing styles of Tracy McGrady and Durant. Does anyone feel the same as me?"
"I feel the same way! Both are skilled forwards, and their physical talents are also top-notch. If I want to talk about the difference, I think Tracy McGrady is more elegant and picturesque. And Durant is like a terrifying scoring machine. , I can’t even think of anyone who can restrain him!”
"I think the Thunder are not 100% able to get past the Spurs. Although they are in a good situation now, the Spurs have the heart of a champion to win three games in a row. It is not an impossible task for them."
"I might have believed you in the past, but this year is different. Duncan is really old this year. Although I can't tell where he is old, I feel that his dominance has dropped too much compared to last year. Maybe The twilight of heroes happens in just a few months."
...
The fans held different opinions and discussed the issue enthusiastically all night long.
The next day, other games in the first round continued.
The first game was between the Heat and the Pacers.
In the first four games, the Heat led 3:1.
Returning to the Heat's home court in Game 5, the players' morale was high and they were obviously determined to win this game!
Shen Fei was also in the office and turned on the TV on time to watch the game.
He is worried about the Rockets successfully winning the championship this season.
Even if the team is strong now, Shen Fei doesn't dare to be careless.
The best case scenario is that he can discover the Heat's weaknesses during the game and help the Rockets defeat such a strong enemy more easily.
............
As the referee throws the ball high, the game officially begins!
From the beginning, the Heat showed their determination to win.
Granger was at a 45-degree angle on the left, holding the ball and hitting James alone, but was forced to the baseline by the latter.
Wade on the side was waiting for the opportunity and decisively attacked from a flank.
Needless to say, the defensive ability of James and Way is perfect.
In panic, Granger accidentally lost control of the ball.
After Wade grabbed the basketball, he immediately started to speed up and launched a counterattack.
At the same time, James followed behind him at high speed.
Soon Wade came to the Pacers half and rushed to the free throw line.
Facing Dengtay Jones who was blocking him, the Flash didn't hurt him, but suddenly threw the ball high.
The next moment, a red figure fell from the sky, caught the basketball, and slammed the ball into the basket!
The visitor is naturally the little emperor - LeBron James!
2:0, the Heat took the lead.
In the next round, James and Way launched a high-position press again.
This time, Pacers point guard Darren Collison reacted quickly and passed the ball between the two defensive giants with a ground-breaking pass.
The young Hibbert decisively chose to attack the frame after receiving the ball inside.
"Snapped!"
With a crisp sound, his dunk was slapped away by Howard.
The basketball flew directly to the second-floor stands, receiving a burst of cheers from the fans.
At the same time, Hansbrough, who was ambushing in the right corner, helplessly opened his hands to Hibbert.
If the latter had a clear vision just now, he could pass the ball to him who was unguarded.
But the passing vision is obviously a bit difficult for a blue-collar center.
Hibbert could only smile apologetically.
The Pacers serve the sideline ball.
Dengtai Jones searched for his teammates for a long time, but he couldn't find an opportunity to pass the ball.
The Heat's five players are all extremely mobile.
Whether the Pacers players are running back or playing pick-and-roll, they can maintain close defense.
Even if something goes wrong in a certain link, the players will quickly switch defenses.
Shen Fei, who was far away in Houston, saw this scene and immediately realized that the Heat had also learned a lot from the infinite defense concept he instilled in the Rockets!
"It is indeed the highest level basketball game in the world, and each team has a strong learning ability..."
Shen Fei murmured to himself.
In the previous life, the Heat during the Big Three era were very good at pressing high.
They took advantage of the super physical fitness of James and Way to carry out sudden flank attacks at the top of the arc, often completing steals.
Once the steal is completed, both James and Wade will have full confidence in sending the ball into the basket.
In order to avoid the Heat's edge, the Heat's opponents often ask their defenders to hand over the ball immediately after halftime and pass the ball inside.
Or by moving without the ball, the space on the court is fully opened up, so as not to give James and Way a chance to form a double attack.
Both methods work well.
But today, it's different from the past.
The addition of Howard has given the Heat a qualitative leap in their interior defense!
If your opponent wants to play inside, you have to think carefully.
Tactically, the Heat learned from the Rockets' "infinite defense" strategy.
James, Wade, and Ray Allen can switch defenses at any time.
If the opponent wants to use off-ball movement to create opportunities, the difficulty will increase a lot!
Of course, the Heat's understanding of unlimited defense changes is still much worse than that of the Rockets.
In Shen Fei's words - not bold enough!
If he is allowed to arrange the Heat's defense, Shen Fei will let Howard and Chalmers also participate in unlimited defense changes.
In this way, the absolute talent of the Heat's starting lineup can be perfectly displayed.
Even if Howard or Chalmers is targeted in a certain matchup, James and Way can use their mobility to make up defense in time.
However, this is just Shen Fei's talk on paper.
How effective it is, can only be used in competitions.
Of course, it was impossible for Shen Fei to tell the Heat his thoughts.
When the Heat can take this step will depend on whether their coaching staff has enough ideas and courage.
But overall, the Heat have made great progress compared to the middle of the season.
Their defense has become stronger and stronger, and they are even better than the Rockets in terms of giving their opponents a sense of pressure.
"If we really meet in the finals, the game will definitely be interesting."
When Shen Fei saw a powerful opponent, he became excited.
During this period of time when he was thinking wildly, the Heat had already established an initial lead.
In the game just now, the three giants showed their star style one after another.
Facing Hibbert's defense, Howard was overwhelmed in the paint.
He first hit with a back shot in the low post, then turned around and hit a hook shot.
In the next round, he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the second attack.
Two minutes later, Howard received a wonderful pass from James during the fast break, and with an "O'Neal-style" two-handed attack on the basket, he dunked Hibbert to the ground!
His monster-like performance directly drove the Heat fans at the scene into madness.
You know, when the two teams met for the first time at the beginning of the season, Hibbert transformed into a black Yao Ming and dominated the Heat's interior.
At that time, both Joel Anthony and Big Z Ilgauskas were crushed by this young man based on his physical fitness.
Times have changed, and now Hibbert's arrogant capital is gone in front of Howard, and his proud physical fitness only looks clumsy.
NBA is so amazing sometimes!
A player often has a completely different style when encountering different opponents.
In addition to Howard, James and Way also performed very well.
Wade's breakthrough was as fast as lightning, and no one on the Pacers team could stop him.
The only threat to him is Deng Tai Jones.
This person's style of play can be described as a low-end version of Tony Allen.
Jones' lateral speed and defensive awareness are weaker than Mr. Tony's, but...he is dirtier!
When Wade made several breakthroughs, Jones' lateral movement always went in a direction that would hurt both sides.
At one point, their knees collided head-on.
Wade's painful expression when he fell to the ground scared the fans present.
Fortunately, the impact was just a serious injury and did not cause the Flash to suffer any additional damage.
Since then, Jones has been met with deafening boos from the fans every time he catches the ball.
The referee also seemed intent on reducing the time this dangerous man stayed on the field.
After quickly receiving two fouls, Jones was replaced by the coach.
After he came off the court, Wade immediately broke through and scored 21, and then used the confusion step in the fast break to get a layup.
At the same time, James also frequently used tank layups to attack the Pacers' inside line.
In this way, with the concerted efforts of the Big Three, the Heat achieved a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the game entered the transition period.
Heat coach Spoelstra left Howard and Ray Allen on the court together and replaced them with three shooters including Mike Bibby.
Obviously, Spoelstra used Howard as the core and played the "one star, four shots" tactic that the Magic used to use.
This tactic has been used to reach the finals in the past!
Although the Heat can't find a point forward like Turkoglu (James is another one), they have created a low-end version of "one star and four shooting" lineup for Howard.
This lineup is definitely more than enough to deal with the Pacers' second lineup.
In the first round of the second quarter, Howard made a block on the defensive end and directly confiscated Kerrison's layup.
Later, he was beaten by Hansbrough in the low post on the offensive end.
After hitting the latter with two back shots and pushing him to the basket, Holder picked up green onions on dry land and stood up to dunk on the spot.
"bang!"
The basket was so dunked that it was teetering.
The Pacers' defensive strategy also changed accordingly.
In the next round, Howard still launched an attack in the low post.
This time the Pacers decisively double-teamed.
Howard flicked his wrist and passed the ball with one hand with his right hand.
Ray Allen, who was ambushing on the outside, put away and hit a three-pointer.
37:17.
The point difference between the two teams has reached 20 points!
During the transition between offense and defense, Granger, the core of the Pacers, stepped forward. Facing Ray Allen's defense, he hit a pull-up three-pointer from the outside.
37:20.
This three-pointer can be said to stop the bleeding for the Pacers!
But Granger alone could not stop the radiating heat.
After another 4 minutes, the point difference was further widened to 25 points.
The Pacers had no choice but to call a timeout.
After the timeout ended, both sides made personnel adjustments again.
Spoelstra removed Howard and Ray Allen and replaced them with James and Wade.
The Heat, who had been focusing on three-point tactics just now, immediately changed their combat strategy and began to attack the inside with high frequency.
Flash Wade leads the way.
He calls pick-and-rolls from beyond the arc.
After Joel Anthony picked it up, Wade made a change and released the ball forward, passing directly between the two Pacers players!
Then, he accelerated towards the penalty area.
Facing Hibbert's defense, Wade was not afraid and jumped high.
In the air, he relied on his strong waist and abdominal strength to complete a 360-degree rotation, "transforming" Hibbert from in front of him to behind him.
But after completing the difficult turn, Wade's body had already flown halfway to the baseline.
But this still doesn’t trouble The Flash!
With a flick of his right wrist, he actually threw the ball before his body completely destroyed the baseline.
The ball hit the backboard and bounced toward the basket. After spinning several times on the edge of the basket, it finally rolled into the net.
"Roar!"
"This is my horse (thisismyhouse)!"
After scoring the goal, Wade stood up from the ground with a jerk, and then roared towards the stands with passion.
In the next round, the performer changed from the Flash to the Little Emperor.
James calls for a screen at a 45-degree angle on the left side.
Granger, who was responsible for defending him, was facing a powerful enemy and kept paying attention to the direction in which the pick-and-roller was running.
Just when he was distracted, James took a cold arrow and shot a three-pointer.
The basketball left his fingertips and spun at high speed, drawing a beautiful arc in the air...
"Shua~"
Hollow into the net!
After three points in this game, the score difference between the two teams reached 30 points, and the game completely lost its suspense.
In this way, the Heat became the second team to advance to the second round of the playoffs after the Rockets!
...
"drop!"
Shen Fei turned off the TV.
After watching the entire game, he made one point clear.
If the Heat and Rockets really meet in the finals, Curry's performance will directly determine the direction of the game!
The double-teaming of James and Wade can put Rose in the black for three minutes at his peak...
Can Curry, who is still a little thin now, withstand such a test (of course, because of his teammates, he will be under much less defensive pressure than Rose)?
"Don't let me down, Stephen..."
Shen Fei walked to the window sill, looked at the bright moonlight and murmured.
Just then, his cell phone suddenly rang.
The caller turned out to be his long-lost girlfriend, Ajiali.