Spoelstra frantically fed the Warriors before the game, either praising Curry or praising Deng Fang.
Compared to Spoelstra, Deng Fang is obviously more popular with reporters.
"What do you think of the Heat's strength?"
"The Heat are very strong, but this year's Heat are far behind us!" Deng Fang replied.
"Why? There are three giants!"
"Because this year's Heat has internal problems, no one can figure out who is the boss among the three of them!"
"Is this a problem? Whoever has hot hands can't attack?"
"Yes! But some people are not happy!" Deng Fang replied: "Some people want to be the boss and want to control the ball!"
"You mean James?"
"That's what you said, I didn't!"
"The Heat are brothers in basketball. The three of them don't care who is the boss!" The question was obviously from a Miami reporter.
"Brother basketball is just a saying. Do you believe it? How old are you this year?" Deng Fang replied: "For the sake of the championship, for honor and status, people can abandon their hometown, so what are brothers?"
"But Wade, James and Bosh have a really good relationship!"
"It's a fact that we have a good relationship, but it's different when it comes to interests!" Deng Fang replied: "The reason why we have a good relationship now is because brothers can serve as thighs. Brothers are still useful! If you don't believe it, just look at it. When brothers get older, they won't be as good as they are now.
If he is great, he will go back to play basketball in his hometown!"
"The strength of your opponents in the previous three rounds was not very good. Now you suddenly encounter a strong opponent. Will this make you uncomfortable?"
"Not adapting? The Heat are nothing! Our finals are over, and that is the series with the Mavericks!" Deng Fang replied: "Who said our previous opponents were not strong? Let the Heat play the Mavericks.
Try it in a series, the Heat will lose!"
"The Heat can't even beat the Mavericks?"
"Of course!" Deng Fang replied: "The Mavericks will win in 6 games!"
Well, this is just what Deng Fang said. Since it is impossible, no one dares to say it is impossible.
"The Bulls are led by a single core, and you are also led by a single core. The Bulls were eliminated at 1:4. They lost because of the number of stars. Do you have the same problem?"
"No!" Deng Fang replied: "The number of stars is important, but their quality is even more important! Rose is good, but he is far behind Curry!"
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is in shooting!" Deng Fang replied: "Ross is not good at shooting, so the Heat dare to let him shoot and give him a lot of shooting opportunities. Do the Heat dare to use the same method to deal with us? I hope they do!"
"What if the Heat actually do this?"
"Then you will see a crazy Curry! A super god Curry!" Deng Fang replied: "That is impossible to happen, because Spoelstra is not crazy yet!"
"What if the Heat double-team Curry?"
"I have prepared a dozen shooters for them!" Deng Fang replied: "Do you think our ranking first in three-point shooting percentage this season is just a boast? If the Heat dare to double-team Curry, our outside perimeter will let them down.
Pay the price!”
"How do you plan to defend the Heat's Big Three?"
"Put Wade, Bosh, and double-team James!"
"Why? James has a grudge against you?"
"Because I'm flanking Wade, Bosh is meaningless, and they won't have any objections if they score less!" Deng Fang replied: "Wade and Bosh care more about winning, but James doesn't!"
"James doesn't care about winning? Are you kidding me?"
"James cares about winning, but what he cares about is that he leads the team to win!" Deng Fang replied: "If James didn't lead the team to win, such winning would be meaningless in James' eyes! This is the Heat's biggest problem
Problem, of course we have to take advantage of it!”
"What other weaknesses do the Big Three have?"
"Shoot!" Deng Fang replied: "Wade and James control the ball, but they are not good at shooting, especially three-pointers. This is their Achilles' heel! So we will shrink our defense."
"What about you? What is your weakness?"
"We are both offensive and defensive, and have no weaknesses!" Deng Fang replied: "So there is no suspense in this series. It is not as difficult as the series with the Mavericks."
"Then what do you think the big score will be?"
"4:0!" Deng Fang replied decisively: "It is impossible for a team with James to beat us!"
"So how will Curry perform when facing the Heat's defense?"
"Either score more than 40 points, or assist more than 20!"
"Where's James?"
"Can't score more than 10 points? Can't have more than 2 assists!"
"Wade, where's Bosh?"
"Both of these two should average more than 20 points per game? You can't guard all the other team's stars, right?"
"If someone on the Heat gets injured in the Finals, will you treat them?"
"Yes? But they have to pay!"
"The Heat are your opponent!"
"I don't want them to have excuses after losing!" Deng Fang replied: "James is the best in the world at making excuses? I want to block all the excuses he can find!"
…
After several days of non-stop building momentum? The popularity of the finals has reached its peak.
At eight o'clock in the evening on May 31st, the first game of the Finals between the Heat and the Warriors officially started at Oracle Arena.
Can this game be said to be highly anticipated? The Oracle Arena was filled with fans more than an hour in advance!
After the warm-up, Curry came to the tunnel again to perform a super long three-pointer!
Curry's ultra-long three-pointer in the tunnel has become a classic performance at Oracle Arena!
Dribble twice, collect the ball? Take a shot? All in one go, the basketball hits the net!
Obviously? Curry felt good today.
But some Warriors fans are starting to worry? Because Curry's super long three-pointer before the game may not be accurate during the game...
But Deng Fang didn't care.
These are all conjectures made by the media who have nothing to do!
As long as it is a home game, Curry has to shoot a super long three-pointer from the tunnel in almost every game. Although Curry sometimes feels bad? But after one season, Curry's three-point shooting rate is as high as 48%!
In other words, there is no causal relationship between whether or not the ultra-long three-pointer can be scored in the channel and Curry’s feel in this game!
Soon, the referee blew the whistle? The game officially started!
The Heat's starting five are Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh, and Joel Anthony.
This is the Heat's most commonly used starting lineup in this year's playoffs.
Chalmers can dribble across half court, is a good three-pointer, and has average defense.
At least compared to Mike Bibby and Eddie House, Chalmers' defense is still good.
Although Chalmers is lacking in organization, the Heat don't need him to do those tasks.
Chalmers just needs to bring the ball across half court and hand it to James.
To put it bluntly, Chalmers is a dribbling defender!
Yes, dribbling guard!
As long as there is a team with James, the point guard will degenerate into a dribbling guard!
Chalmers is still somewhat self-aware.
Joel Anthony is a defensive center. He is 29 years old, 2.06 meters tall, moves fast, has strong shot blocking ability, and is very good at defense. However, on the offensive end, he can only score by eating cakes.
Spoelstra places great emphasis on defense, so Joel Anthony is the Heat's first choice at the center position.
Although he lost both games against the Warriors in the regular season, Spoelstra still did not change the starting lineup.
The playoffs have higher requirements on defense, and the previous series defeats to the Celtics and Bulls have proven this problem.
Moreover, Joel Anthony didn't play many games, playing less than 20 minutes in each game.
The Warriors are very accurate in three-point shooting from the outside, and the pick-and-roll of Curry and Lopez is extremely difficult to guard, so taking Joel Anthony is a good choice.
The Warriors' starting lineup remains the same as in the Western Conference Finals, with Curry, Prince, Tucker, Kirilenko and Lopez.
These five people are both offensive and defensive. Whether it is offense or defense, in any era, they will be worthy of defeating any opponent in the finals!
The Warriors got the ball first.
Curry dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and Chalmers followed closely, not daring to relax for a moment.
Who knows if Curry will throw it after halftime!
It's impossible for others, but Curry has it!
Curry did not fight alone. As usual, when his teammates were in position, he signaled Lopez to come up and pick and roll.
Lopez came up to block Chalmers, and Joel Anthony immediately stepped forward to block Curry.
Chalmers was not slow either. He quickly got around Lopez and flanked Curry with Joel Anthony.
Joel Anthony is not tall and very fast, so he is very suitable for pinch defense.
It's obvious that Spoelstra wants to double-team Curry!
Although he didn't say anything, Spoelstra had the same idea as Deng Fang: not giving Curry a chance to score!
You said James cares about the ball and his scoring, doesn't Curry care?
If the Warriors really win the championship and Curry doesn't win the Finals MVP, will he not care?
impossible!
All the superstars care!
It’s just a different degree!
Especially a young player like Curry!
In this case, I will test Curry to see if his mentality will change!
To capture the thief, capture the king first. As long as Curry is captured, everything will be easy!
Curry was well prepared. When he saw Chalmers and Chalmers stepping forward to attack, he immediately passed the ball to Lopez.
Lopez received the ball and walked to the penalty area. Bosh was already waiting near the free throw line.
Obviously, the Heat's strategy is to test the Warriors' outside shooters.
Curry can't let it go, and he can't miss the basket, so the Warriors can only let the Warriors shoot from the outside.
Who to let go?
Kirilenko and Tucker!
Especially Kirilenko!
Kirilenko's three-pointer is the worst among the Warriors' starting lineup, and letting Kirilenko shoot is the first choice for the Warriors' opponents.
Although Tucker's three-pointer is good, this is his first time in the playoffs this year. Now in the finals, the pressure is so great. Whether he can make the ball under the huge pressure is a question.
So Tucker can also be put aside appropriately.
Spoelstra had a good idea, but Deng Fang was already prepared.
Lopez went down to the penalty area, Bosh was in front of him, Curry at the top of the arc was defended by two people, and the Warriors' three outside defenders were Wade and James.
Deng Fang didn’t want to put his hopes of winning entirely on Kirilenko’s touch!
Prince cannot be released. Wade is near the three-point line, not far from Prince.
Seeing Lopez pass down the line, Tucker on the other side immediately blocked James, and Kirilenko immediately ran to the penalty area.
Bosh didn't expect that Kirilenko would sneak up from behind, and his attention was completely focused on Lopez.
Lopez threw the ball into the air, and Kirilenko caught the ball and dunked it!
2:0, the Warriors scored first!
The Warriors' offense worked well together and was very smooth.
But it was Kirilenko who scored, and Lopez who provided the assist, and it had nothing to do with Curry.
But anyone with a discerning eye can see that for Kirilenko to have such a good dunk opportunity, most of the credit must go to Curry!
But there is no change in Curry’s personal data!
This is what Spoelstra wants.
Seeing his teammates score, Curry was very excited and didn't care about anything else. He stepped forward and hit Kirilenko in the chest!
Curry really doesn’t care about personal data!
As long as the team wins, it's fine. As for your own statistics and honors, it's better if you have them, and it doesn't matter if you don't have them!
When it was the Heat's turn to attack, dribbling defender Chalmers brought the ball to the frontcourt and then handed the ball to James.
The Warriors defend one on one.
The Heat's lineup doesn't have many possibilities on the offensive end, except for pick-and-rolls and singles!
Off-the-ball tactics?
Then there must be someone like that on the field!
Even if Mac Miller comes up, it's impossible for him to run out and catch and shoot like Korver and Ray Allen!
You can shoot, but your hit rate is not guaranteed!
As for Chalmers, Wade, James and Bosh, this is even less possible.
After his teammates got into position, James signaled Joel Anthony to come up and pick and roll.
Bosh can also pick and roll with James, but in that case Joel Anthony can only stay near the penalty area. With Lopez and Joel Anthony standing in the penalty area, the Heat have fewer options after the pick and roll.
Joel Anthony blocked Tucker, and James immediately dribbled to the side.
Lopez ignored James at all and huddled near the penalty area waiting for Joel Anthony.
Prince on the side immediately came over and stood in front of James.
Prince's defensive target, Wade, was immediately empty.
But Tucker was very fast and immediately switched defense in front of Wade!
This is the benefit of three forward defensive heroes!
Prince, Kirilenko and Tucker can switch defenses unlimitedly, whether they are defensive backs or defensive centers, they can all play!
Of course, there are loopholes in the Warriors' approach. When Tucker switches defense, Wade can directly shoot a three-pointer.
The Heat have only one choice!
Lopez was waiting under the basket, and Tucker also pounced from near the free throw line. What can Wade do near the three-point line?
Do you want to push in?
Do you really think Tucker, Lopez and others are just doing it?!
Wade hesitated after catching the ball and did not take action.
There is no way, Wade still knows what his three-point shot is like!
Don't be vague at critical moments, but don't vote if you can at ordinary times!
There were only 8 seconds left in the attack time. Wade dribbled and feinted twice. Tucker maintained his center of gravity very well. Wade had no choice but to choose a mid-range shot.
Fortunately, the Heat were lucky. The basketball hit the front of the basket, bounced twice, and finally rolled in.