The Nuggets use sinking to let the Heat fall into a defensive trap, can Miami see the trick?

We said that while the offense and defense against Jokic were key to this game, it wasn't just that side that affected the outcome — today we're going to talk about the other side of the game — how the Nuggets defended the Heat.

Those of you watching the game can naturally feel that G1, the Heat's problems are not only on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end - their offensive efficiency in the last game is only 100.0 per 100.0 rounds, which is significantly lower than their offensive efficiency in the Eastern Conference Finals (116.4 per 100 rounds).

On the one hand, of course, it is due to their own three-point inaccuracy.

In G1, they had 10 open three-point attempts, up from 9.3 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but only shot 20 percent — remember, their big open three-point shooting percentage was 58 percent in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The same is true for half-open three-point shootings — the Eastern Conference Heat shot 42 percent from the field from half-open three-point range, but only 28 percent from the G1.

On the other hand, it has a lot to do with the Nuggets' defense.

In G1, the Heat shot just 45.2 percent from the field from the field for 19-of-42 shooting, which is significantly below their playoff average of 63 percent.

In the preview, we said: Jokic's frame protection is underestimated by everyone - this game, not only Jokic proved it, but many people in the Nuggets proved that their frame ability is underestimated.

Watch the game.

Let's look at the opening game first, what is the main attack point of the Heat today:

We can see that the Heat's opening first round obtained two misalignments through double cover at the top of the arc and back cover at the free throw line - one is Adebayo vs. Murray under the basket, and the other is Butler vs. Pope at the free throw line - both sets of misalignment that the Heat can attack.

In the end, the Heat chose Adebayo's group between these two misalignments - we don't evaluate the right or wrong choice, only the intention of the choice:

As we all know, the Heat generally say that there are three offensive launch modes: one is Butler initiated, one is Adebayo initiated, and the other is initiated by role players through tactical movement - and they will choose different initiation as the main attack at different stages of the game.

Obviously, this game, especially in the first quarter they used Adebayo as the main attacking point. (It's also a common routine for the Heat, who are generally used to letting Butler go in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter.)

Let's keep looking.

This is the Heat's third offensive round, and let's see how the Nuggets defended them — Vincent passed Adebayo above the free throw line, and then made a run ready to take over the cover shot — there's nothing to say about Pope's choice to squeeze through cover, and it's worth noting Jokic's defensive approach.

He kept a great distance between himself and Adebayo, continuing to step back after Adebayo received the ball, as if encouraging Adebayo to shoot and offense personally.

And Adebayo also made his personal judgment, of course he will not be fooled, "you let me vote." However, in the face of the "contempt" of the opponent's defense, he still chose to attack personally - using space to accelerate to a deeper position and then hook and hit.

It was a beautiful goal.

But I want you to think about the question — why did the Nuggets "despise" Adebayo on the defensive end and give him such a wide space for 1-on-1? (The rest of the Nuggets didn't even come up to help defend this round.) ）

Keep looking.

What I'm going to talk about this round is about alignment — in the preview, we predicted the Nuggets' vs. Heat, and we mentioned that Porter's alignment is the biggest uncertainty: he could be against Strus, and he could be Martin.

Although it seems that Martin has a speed advantage over Porter, and Porter will be "neat" to Strus and shooter to shooter, but considering that Jokic's frame can help Porter, and Porter also has a problem of squeezing cover when chasing shooters - we say at the end of the preview: "If you can keep Mr. Joe on the inside, perhaps, letting Porter Jr. against Martin may not be a bad choice." ”

As it turned out, we were conservative, and the facts tell us that Porter vs. Martin was not only "not necessarily a bad choice" in the eyes of Coach Malone — it was even the best choice.

And we also underestimated Michael Porter Jr.'s progress on the defensive end.

Looking at this round, Martin tried to give birth to Porter like the Eastern Conference Finals to the Celtics, but Jokic decisively let Adebayo sink - he blocked the step that Martin could have gone straight to the basket, so that Martin could not attack directly from the middle, but was forced to switch to the right - in less than a second of "delay", Porter flew up from behind and gave Martin a big hat.

This cap suddenly reminded me of the Western Conference Finals - it seems that Porter has also sent such a defensive block many times.

Maybe we need to face this problem? Although Porter is still terrible at defensive footwork, he has gradually learned how to use his height and arm span to provide value in the defense and protective frame.

After all, you know, he has the nickname "White Durant".

A few rounds later, Porter covered Butler's shot directly from behind in defense - his height and his arm span were vividly reflected. In the past, Porter Jr. was unable to use these "talents" so well that people often ignored Porter Jr.'s role on the defensive end, and even counted him as a 'side effect' - and now, Porter Jr. is gradually making a name for himself with performance.

It made me realize a fact that I overlooked: The Nuggets' size advantage exists not only on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end.

And note that this round, it was also Jokic who first controlled his defensive position well, and Porter Jr. had a chance to deliver this block from behind.

Keep looking.

Jokic decisively delayed in the face of Struss cutting out the catch-up - so Adebayo took the opportunity to go down and Strus hit the ball, and Adebayo was once again given a great shot - you know, he had just scored a similar goal in the previous round.

As I said — the Nuggets clearly put more emphasis on the Heat shooters and Butler than Adebayo in this game — they'd rather keep Adebayo getting some good shots than the Heat shooters.

It's a defensive "trap" — deliberately tricking you into attacking in some way I don't think you can beat me, and in the process you even "feel good" because you've been scoring, but the difference is inadvertently widened.

Adebayo ended up making 25 shots in the game — the highest shot in a single game of his entire career.

I think this is exactly the psychological warfare of "Zhuge Maron".

Let's just finish talking about Adebayo. Take a look at Adebayo's shots:

Jokic sank all the way to the free throw line and still didn't interfere, just reached out to cut the ball "meaning", and watched Adebayo shoot like this.

Still sinking all the way to the edge of the box, he didn't raise his hand, only symbolically interfered when Adebayo shot.

Still 3-4 steps away from Adebayo when defensively dismantling - let Adebayo catch the ball easily and give him the opportunity to enter his "dessert zone" to shoot.

Delayed when Strus and Adebayo blocked, he continued to give Adebayo this downward throw.

This ball Jokic even directly let Adebayo go to wrap Butler, allowing Adebayo to get an open shot within 10 feet.

I remember Adebayo saying in an interview before the finals: "I can get Jokic to score 40, 50 points. As long as we can win. ”

But the reality is a very dark humorous reversal - Jokic only made 5 shots in the entire first three quarters, and Adebayo set a career record for the highest shots, but gave the Nuggets lead by more than 20 points at one point...

In addition, can you understand why "Adebayo made 25 shots without making free throws"?

When the other person just symbolically reaches out and looks at you to shoot, of course you can't get a foul.

Then we go back to Porter Jr.:

Although Porter Jr.'s blocks were only two times in this game, he really provided the Nuggets with a quality co-frame many times.

This actually reflects the Heat's offensive problem - one thing these rounds have in common is that the Heat tried to attack Porter Jr., but did not use the front tactics to move Jokic out of the box before that.

In this case, after entering the box, the attacking ball carriers must first consider Jokic in front of them, that is, behind Potter - they will hesitate or be changed to attack the frame, so as to create an opportunity for Porter Jr. who is chasing the hat behind him.

That's one point the Heat need to change at G2 — if they want to attack Porter Jr., they must first find a way to move Jokic out of the box.

And the difficulty of this naturally appears in the configuration of the lineup - the Heat do not have a real space-type No. 5. Adebayo can make a shot, but that's what the Nuggets can accept and even be happy to see.

What if Jokic stays in the restricted area and doesn't come out? Only Spoelstra can give us the answer. (Or, maybe even he doesn't have an answer)

The above is the root cause of the Heat's offensive dilemma in the first three quarters - Jokic stays inside and does not come out, the outside secondary attackers' attack frame is highly disturbed by the Nuggets, and Adebayo's personal offense can't hurt the Nuggets at all, and the empty space that is hard to find on the outside does not enter.

In the first three quarters, the Heat's offense was arguably as weak as its defense.

In the fourth quarter, the Heat's offense and defense improved at the same time.

And the specific way to get better is like this:

Lowry held the ball for three consecutive rounds to launch a high block, one assist, Vincent in the bottom corner to shoot a half-open three-pointer, and two rounds to shoot a three-point shot at the top of the arc.

In fact, to win, the Heat must have the ability to consistently shoot these threes — especially those points where the Nuggets selectively short.

And after they made those three threes, the Nuggets' defense was also successfully changed by them.

As we can see, it's clear that after an 11-0 timeout, the Nuggets changed their defensive approach — Jokic no longer sinks inside, but comes out to delay blocking shots — and in doing so, the purpose of bringing Jokic out of the inside is achieved.

But G1, after the Nuggets changed their defensive approach, the Heat did not continue to show enough execution.

In the first round, Vincent's half-open three-point shot missed;

In the second round, Dunro did not find Lowry, who felt hot, but shot himself;

In the third round, Lowry did not find the angle to hit the ground and risked a mistake for Adebayo.

In this way, the Nuggets changed their defense and received a good effect, and the Heat's momentum to chase points was interrupted - and then Jokic's continuous dismantling of the joint defense on the offensive end made the game lose suspense.

However, to some extent, the fourth quarter has shown a kind of Heat's "win mode" - the defensive end tests the Nuggets' three-point with joint defense, while forcing Jokic to constantly handle the ball to consume his physical strength; The offensive end used a precise three-point to force Jokic to delay the inside while covering, and then move the ball to a little bit.

This "win mode" sounds difficult, but which of the Heat's rounds of the series aren't hard?

If you still believe they can do wonders, keep believing.