Jokic is outrageous, but the Heat are even more outrageous
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In the final moments of the G2 Finals, Murray dribbled beyond the three-point line, at which point the Nuggets trailed by three points and had a chance to tie.
The Heat gave a precise defensive position, Butler against Jokic, when Jokic was a cover, Butler directly switched to Murray, seeing that the game time was about to end, Murray chose to step back and shoot three points, the ball bounced out of the basket, the game was over, and the Heat narrowly won.
This attack and defense is the essence of G2, and the two teams will fight wits and courage all the way to the moment of counting the seconds. Jokic gave a "this guy is too outrageous" performance, and the Heat, who were unilaterally hung in G1, came up with extreme adjustments and turned the tide with outrageous Plus' offensive and defensive output.
1-1, the Heat take a win away from Denver, the series will head to Miami, and the suspense is back!
Jokic on the "island"
Breaking the ball, a dragon dribbled back, faced with the Heat players to block, turned into a bulldozer to crush over, and then transformed into a helicopter to levitate the ball into the air, at that moment the Nuggets home boiled, and the praise of "MVP" resounded in the arena.
Jokic in G2 and G1 are completely different game modes, Mr. Jokic played a leisurely walk in his Finals debut, basically did not look at the basket in the first three quarters, showed various card skills in the high position, and drove his teammates up, until the fourth quarter when the Heat chased the score, only to play a few powerful shots, knocking the Heat to the ground as soon as he shot.
The Heat was educated by Mr. Yo in G1, you must not pinch him too early, Mr. Jo is certainly a flashpoint of personal ability, but it is better to let him open this point than to let the nuggets explode, compared with the 40+ version of Mr. Yo's single soldier, his 27+10+14 version of G1 is more "killing".
The Heat in G2 easily do not wrap Jokic, single against each other, volley the ball route, and try not to let Jokic unleash the firepower of his teammates. Jokic had to increase his attack when his teammates were slow to open the game, and he made nine shots in the first quarter, in contrast to G1's one-shot first-quarter.
Jokic is really powerful, you can see Olajuwon in his game, you can also see O'Neal, and even some Curry's shadow, the footwork and feel of the back under the basket, the power suppression of the middle push, the juggling dribbling, and the fantasy skill set that can be entered in all postures, defending such a player alone, the Heat will be too hard.
However, the Heat insisted on letting Jokic hammer out alone than let the Nuggets fire in unison, Mr. Jokic really couldn't prevent it, but he was not physically unlimited after all, and it was impossible to attack with the ball. The Heat can't limit Jokic alone, but they can make Jokic play as hard as possible and drain his physical slot.
In addition to the single defense, the Heat have added some "condiments", they will give some harassing assistance when Jokic dribbles forward, try to cut the ball, if the cut immediately counterattack, cut the cut immediately back position, do not give the teacher the opportunity to pass the empty position.
Spoo also has a "fierce material" addition, he used the block to target Jokic, the blocking name call has also been used by the Suns and Lakers before, but Spoo's routine is somewhat different, he reduced the frequency of Butler's blocking, and increased the number of shooters such as Lowry and Adebayo blocking.
Butler because the three-point is not too stable, when he dribbles to block, Jokic can sink to defend, G1 is how to operate the whole Butler until he later made a mid-range shot. Spo let the shooter block and dismantle, Jokic is in a dilemma, not coming out will give the empty opportunity, come out physically draining, the basket may be lost.
Spor played a war of attrition against Jokic, Jospo played 42 minutes, shot 28 times more than twice as much as G1 (12 shots), 41 points and 11 rebounds were quite explosive, but only 4 assists, 5 turnovers, and the assist-to-loss ratio was in line with Spor's expectations.
Jokic played the third quarter, with 18 points in a single quarter, but the assist was zero, and the individual offense was unsolvable, but it was placed on the "island" by the Heat's defense, and the connection with his teammates was cut off, and his physical reserves were gradually empty.
At the end of the first three quarters, Jokic sat on the bench and drank a bottle of water in one go, a huge contrast to the ease and calmness of G1, he was too tired, and when facing the Heat trio 20+ situation, he was finally alone.
Tactical magician in Miami
Answering fans' questions online ahead of the Finals G2, veteran Florida Sunsentry reporter Ira Winderman said of possible changes the Heat might make, saying, "I don't know the specifics right now, but I know they're going to make changes because they have Spoelstra." ”
The reporter's confidence comes from the ability of Spoh, the coach who was threatened to leave class by a big name, and has grown into the top coach of the NBA. You have a good plan, I have a wall ladder, Spoh's specialty, and this Miami tactical wizard knows better than anyone that the Heat, who are not talented and want to go further, must strike a balance between persistence and change.
Although the Heat lost in G1, the assist-to-loss ratio of 26 turnovers and 8 assists was not bad, and their sudden points and high-post tactics came out, and the shortcomings were poor hands, and 5-of-16 from open three-point shooting was too hurtful.
The Nuggets' coach Malone told players after G1 that it is absolutely abnormal for the Heat to be so iron-clad in the open three-pointer, the Nuggets let the opponent get so many shooting opportunities is a big problem in itself, the Heat did not shoot is the Nuggets' luck, if they think that Strus will still be 0 of 9 from three-point range in G2, or Dunroe will still be 1 of 5, then it is very wrong.
Sure enough, as Malone expected, the Heat's three-pointers picked up across the board in G2, shooting 17 of 35, and Strus went 4-of-10 from three-point range to complete the redemption. Spall adhered to the usual offensive method, as Butler said, even if the first ten shots do not score, the eleventh opportunity will still pass, this is the style of the Heat, Strus and other G1 into the ice shooter, it is driven by this style, G2 pullback front sight three points like rain.
Insist on what should be persistent, change what should be changed. Spoh's biggest change at G2 was to start Love and put Martin on the bench. Love had not played three consecutive games before, and he started when he was activated, and Spoh was full of courage. Love has two advantages to starting out, one is to increase the high point to avoid the situation of Gordon using his size to penetrate the first quarter of G1 again, and the other is that as a tall shooter can contain the Nuggets' defensive forces in the front court in tactical execution, weakening the Nuggets' co-defense.
Love has a relatively weak single defense ability, will be targeted by the tactics of the short board, which is the main reason why Spall previously stopped him, but since he decided to use it again, Spall has a countermeasure, he arranged Love to defend Gordon, Butler against Murray, Gordon is not the main choice for the Nuggets to block and dismantle, occasionally used, Butler can also bypass Gordon's cover to continue chasing Murray who holds the ball, Love gives a delay to prevent Murray from making the first shot.
Because Gordon's outside shooting is not very good, Love can let him participate in the defense, which is the biggest highlight of Love's first quarter in G2, and his success rate is high, helping the Heat successfully grab the start, which disrupts the Nuggets' plan, making them concentrate the ball in Jokic's hands and try to turn the situation around with individual attack, which is exactly the trap set by Spoh, allowing Mr. Joe to have a lot of one-on-one.
Spoo's second change is joint defense, starting from the East final, the Heat used three sets of joint defense, against the Green Army G7 is 1-2-2 joint defense, against the Nuggets G1 is 2-3 joint defense, G2 adjusted to 2-1-2 joint defense. The 2-1-2 defense has two characteristics, one is that the No. 5 player is raised in the center, and the individual defensive deterrent can be strengthened, making it easier to clip the ball holder, while extending the defense beyond the three-point line.
Spall put on a 2-1-2 defense, near the free throw line can interfere with Jokic's catch, not clip the teacher but can clamp Murray, expand the defense to hold the Nuggets' three-point point, all defense is of course impossible, don't let them become a breaking point.
In the face of the Heat's revised version of the joint defense, Porter Jr. continued the iron slag projection, following G1 three-point 11 of 2, G2 gave 3-point 6 of 1, Murray except for a short highlight in the second and fourth quarters, other times are silent, Pope is also out of score, Gordon, Brown and Green scored some points, unable to bear the Heat's side of the fire.
At the end of the day, Jokic is the Nuggets' offensive operator, his passing skill package is not opened, the Nuggets' team attack is divided, Murray can give some offensive development, he is not Jokic.
Compared to the Nuggets, the Heat are more mobile offense under Spor's control, they play a lot of Butler's sudden lead to the bottom line position, and the combination of strong side to weak side, Vincent and Dunroe use resolute shots to make the tactics work.
It is necessary to focus on Dunrow, Spall only let him play five minutes in the first half, less than two minutes in the third quarter, and then suddenly went crazy in the fourth quarter. It is no accident that the Heat have always had such a surprise player appear during this year's playoff breakout, and the fit of the tactical system, the trust of coaches and teammates is the basic plate of grassroots mythology.
What about the Nuggets?
Taking a win from the road, the Heat's strategic goal is achieved, according to the basic logic of the winning side unchanged and the losing side changing, now it is the Nuggets' turn to adjust.
The stats prove that Jokic has a total of 40+ games in his playoff career, losing all 4 games, and his most dominant play is "team", not "Lone Star", and the Nuggets now need to solve how to pull Porter Jr. out of the projection ice cellar and how to restore Murray's aggressiveness.
The Nuggets played a little loosely in G2, and the calm of G1 gave them some illusion, as if they could defeat the Heat with three punches and two kicks. The Nuggets did not actively look for tactical collaboration in G2, but attacked the Heat's defense in a large number of tough ways, and the lethal Jokic and Murray blocks in G1 were shelved, and the Nuggets pursued a simple and crude solution, which was solved by the Heat.
For the Nuggets, the Finals article still has to start with the tactical operation around Jokic, rather than Jokic turning into a singles maniac. The Nuggets originally had such teamwork, but they made the game simple in G2.
The Heat are the kind of team that doesn't allow opponents to slacken in the slightest, and you pay the price if you loosen a little. After losing G1, the Heat came up with a strong rebound, Butler firmly broke the score, teammates showed a high tactical execution rate and a defensive rate in place, and the team returned to the Black Eight miracle of dominating the East in a row, smart and tenacious.
However, the biggest advantage of this series is still on the Nuggets' side, and the Nuggets proved in the second quarter of G2 that when they focus on defense, they can play sharp defensive counterattacks, but sometimes limited by Jokic's defensive coverage and the consistency of the team's defensive focus, the quality of defense fluctuates.
The advantage is mine, and the Nuggets still have this confidence, but they also need to understand that the Heat are not afraid of disadvantages.