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Explosion!
"Wow... Wow..."
Green gasped, squinted his eyes, shook his head, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then opened his eyes wide, ignoring the pain of the residual sweat dripping, his knees bent, his center of gravity lowered, and his hands raised, struggling to withstand the enormous impact in front of him.
In front of him, Bosh was sitting with his back to him, playing towards the basket, and Green had to use all his strength to fight against it and slow Bosh down a little.
Although the Dragon King isn't a great expert, against young Green, his strength easily prevailed, like an excavator, advancing step by step under the basket.
As Green gritted his teeth to fight, he hoped Chandler would move in and attack, but the opponent's vigilance made him feel cold in his heart. Every time Bosh sat down, he looked back out of the corner of his eye, always paying attention to Chandler's movements in the paint, ensuring that Chandler didn't dare get too close to help defend.
Although Bosh isn't known for his responsiveness, he has led the team for many years with the Raptors, and as an experienced All-Star power forward, he often faces double teams. While it's not said that his ball-sharing skills are excellent, they are definitely above average.
But Chandler couldn't stand by and watch Bosh run riot, and when Bosh backed Green into the paint, Chandler finally decided to step in and attack, believing that with his mobility, he could get back in time.
But when Bosh saw Chandler approaching to hit, he didn't pass the ball, leaned back hard, then pivoted to the left, leaned back, and gently hit the ball. His movement was smooth, giving the impression of chocolate melting and flowing slowly.
Swish!
The basketball sank into the net, and Green, who had been watching the basket, shook his head helplessly. He had done his best to defend, but he was outmatched by Bosh in terms of confrontation and experience. He only slightly disturbed Bosh's shot, which didn't affect the score, and this was already the tenth point Bosh had scored against him tonight.
At this moment, the game had reached 7 minutes and 18 seconds in the third quarter. With Bosh's shot, the Heat led the Warriors 70-55, holding a firm grip on the game.
On the sidelines, Liam placed his hands on his chest and calmly looked at the court, his lips pursed and eyes narrowed. You could see the dissatisfaction in his heart.
Liam sighed when Bosh started backing Green down, and after Bosh made that silky fadeaway jumper, he sighed softly, shook his head slightly, approached the referee, and called a timeout.
"Beep-"
When the whistle blew, the Warriors players running to the front court looked up in surprise. When they realized it was their head coach who had called a timeout, they all breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of comfort, and returned to the bench.
In front of them, the Heat players were laughing and celebrating among themselves. James flexed his arms towards the Warriors fans, showing off his bulging biceps to the crowd. At the midway point of the game, he had already posted luxurious stats of 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, and it seemed like it was going to be a record-breaking night for him.
But not far from James, Wade ran a little and sprinted toward him. The two high-fived in the air to celebrate, chatting and laughing together. Wade had also posted 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists tonight, just slightly below James.
After the Warriors players returned to the bench, they sat dejectedly, and Liam took the tactical board, standing in front of them, scanning each of them with his eyes before speaking loudly:
"I told you before the game that it's hard to play against the Heat, and we're facing the Big Three! What they're doing doesn't surprise me, and it shouldn't surprise you either. Cheer up!"
When everyone heard this, they raised their heads and gave faint smiles, but it was clear they hadn't shaken off their frustration. Liam knew he wasn't a god and couldn't change the players' mindset with just a word or two.
Liam noticed their somewhat superficial reactions and subtly shook his head, but he also understood the players' emotions. The coaching staff had made specific arrangements for both offensive and defensive ends, and they were confident in winning this game. But facing the Big Three, all their plans seemed futile.
Tonight, the Big Three were in great form, continuing the momentum from their "roundtable." James had completely torn apart Matthews, the immature Klay was powerless against Wade, Bosh had Green experiencing the strength of an All-Star power forward, and the Heat relied on these three absolute strengths to maintain their lead on the scoreboard. Even when Liam replaced Butler and Tony Allen, it was all in vain.
Liam saw the court, and after a poor start of 9-8, the Big Three of the Heat were still breathing down their necks. Their competitiveness wouldn't allow the Heat's record to remain poor. After opening up to one another, their championship desire overwhelmed everything, and the Big Three worked together sincerely, full of firepower. James had finally gotten his wish and become the de facto core of the team, like the Heat's arrow, driving both the offense and defense. No one could destroy their front.
If you're just anxious to win, there's actually no need to fear. The Heat is a team with very little spacing. Among the Big Three, the highest three-point shooting rate is James himself. Besides James Jones and Arroyo, no one else provides spacing. The Heat will inevitably put the Big Three on the court, and the Warriors can boldly shrink their interior. With Chandler's frame protection and numerical advantage, James' drive can be effectively limited.
This is also a defensive tactic arranged by Liam before the game, and he swapped Chandler not only to deal with those interior stars out West.
But what Liam hadn't anticipated was that James' shooting hand tonight was ridiculously good!
Before the third quarter even started, he had hit four triples, and half of his remaining eight points were mid-range shots, completely avoiding the heavy defense Liam had carefully prepared and crushing the Warriors' defense in an unexpected manner.
Not only James, but Wade was also in good form tonight. He repeatedly outmaneuvered Klay and Tony Allen, able to finish at the rim in several flashes, with Chandler doing his best to interfere, but not managing to block him once, even committing two fouls.
On the contrary, it was within Liam's plan for Bosh to dominate Green, who still hadn't built much defensive experience at this point, and it was normal for Bosh to press him to the floor. Bosh had excellent physical, technical, shooting, and experiential skills.
But Liam could only let Green face Bosh's destruction alone. Chandler needed to protect the restricted area, not guard Bosh, who barely shot any threes. But his range extended beyond the free-throw line. If Chandler was moved away from the basket by him, James and Wade would exploit the restricted area.
One could only say that blessings are incomparable and disasters are not one-directional. The Warriors had simply encountered a Big Three that was in top form, and they could only consider themselves unlucky.
But no matter how unfavorable the situation, you can't raise the flag and surrender. Liam encouraged everyone with a few words, and Green also shouted:
"Hey man, you're right! We've got plenty of time to catch up on the scoreboard! Come on, let's shout a slogan together..."
Green's lively mood played a small role, and the Warriors players were a little more energized. Liam seized the opportunity to expose the tactics:
"Klay, wait for your shot, focus on spacing. Stephen, you're going to hold the ball and set a pick. Distribute the ball when you can, try to hit the opponent's weak spot. The Heat's center is a weak point, try to play under the basket, focus on defense as much as possible, don't rush to score..."
Soon, the timeout passed, and both teams returned to the court.
In front of the Heat's bench, Spoelstra paid close attention to the Warriors' movements. When he saw Liam replacing Tony Allen with Klay, he showed a clear smile.
As expected, Liam was going all-in.
As a young coach, Spoelstra had taken charge of the Big Three this season and had also been criticized by the outside world. Even Heat fans thought he wasn't worthy of being the team's head coach and collectively demanded Pat Riley to step in. But Pat Riley was very optimistic about Spoelstra, and no matter how controversial the outside world was, his position was as solid as a rock.
God saw a shadow of himself in this Filipino coach and knew that if he wanted to maintain the Heat's iron-blood qualities, Spoelstra was the right person to bring discipline and execution to the Heat, which was essential for the Big Three to succeed.
Indeed, after fewer than 20 games, the Heat quickly got on track, and Spoelstra gradually demonstrated his coaching talent. He was a humble yet bold coach, daring to use people and very smart in the moment.
In addition, Spoelstra was a workaholic, often studying the opponent's game footage late into the night before arriving at the training ground the following afternoon, smiling as he greeted his players, "Glad to see you guys."
This allowed him to prepare thoroughly for his opponents, and this game was no exception. Although the Warriors were a Western Conference team, Spoelstra had worked hard to study the current second-place team in the West and had a good understanding of the Warriors.
He had to do this—coaching the Big Three was both an honor and a pressure. The luxurious roster was an invisible whip pushing him to perform well. The current ranking of the Heat was undoubtedly not enough, and every opponent had to be fought for.
When Liam called a timeout earlier, Spoelstra suspected that Liam was going all-in. Having studied the Warriors' game carefully, it wasn't hard to see that compared to defense, Liam preferred to deploy an offensive lineup to chase points.
Spoelstra had already prepared countermeasures. Thanks to inspiration from Popovich, he had seen through the Warriors' greatest weakness and found a way to deal with them. Perhaps Liam knew this too but couldn't solve it at the moment.
Spoelstra smiled slightly, returned to his seat, and sat confidently.
His humility off the court matched his confidence in the game, and the Heat had the initiative. He was confident that they would take the victory at the Oracle Center.
"Beep-"
The game restarted, and the Warriors gained possession. Curry dribbled into the frontcourt, and Chandler moved to the top of the arc to cover him.
The Heat's starting center was Joel Anthony, a typical tough black man, only 2.06 meters tall, rough in technique, without any offensive threat outside of the three-second zone, average defense, and could only use his body to play about 20 minutes per game. The only reason he could serve as the Heat's starting center was that he was cheap. If he was left alone to face Curry, it would be a storm.
Liam knew this, and Spoelstra certainly knew that after the Warriors blocked and dismantled, Wade, who was facing Curry, didn't worry at all about Chandler and ran straight at him after passing through the screen. After the Spurs, the Heat joined the ranks of covering Curry!
Under the fierce attack from Wade, Curry immediately passed the ball to Chandler, who was falling. Chandler was fast without the ball but struggled to dribble, and when he reached the free-throw line, Bosh and James had collapsed into the restricted area, blocking his path forward and not giving him the opportunity to attack the rim.
Chandler had no chance and didn't waste time with the ball. Although the Warriors' offensive system was still not fully built, the concept of ball movement had deeply rooted itself in the hearts of the players. He lifted his eyes and scanned for Butler, who was open in the lower left corner, immediately passing him the ball.
Butler caught the ball and took a quick three-pointer before James could jump.
Swish!
The basketball flew past James' fingertips as he rushed to defend, his desperation clear as he was determined to win the championship and prove his worth. Unlike later on, when he had grown more accustomed to switching sides defensively, here James was still tirelessly working on both offense and defense.
After Butler made his three-pointer, the score narrowed to 58-70. Liam glanced at Coach Spoelstra, who remained calm in his seat, showing no reaction to Butler's shot.
Turning around, Wade breezed past Klay with the ball, taking a step inside the free-throw line for a quick shot.
72:58.
The Warriors' offense struggled as they continued to block Curry and Chandler, while the Heat kept doubling Curry, forcing him to pass the ball out. The Heat's defense then collapsed the interior, Chandler once again passed the ball to Butler, who immediately took the shot.
Bang dang!
Unlike last time, the ball bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Bosh.
The Heat quickly launched a fast break. James sprinted forward with the ball, passed it diagonally to Wade, then accelerated. Wade threw the ball up high, and James leaped to slam it into the basket. James connected!
74:58.
The Heat were fantastic at fast breaks. Both James and Wade were masters of it. Although the Warriors' transition defense was quick, they couldn't stop the powerful duo from attacking the basket.
The Warriors came back with their usual offensive scheme. Curry set a screen but, when trapped, didn't pass to Chandler. Instead, he passed the ball to Green, who was open on the perimeter – Bosh didn't follow Green out to the three-point line.
After Green received the ball, no Heat player moved to defend him, so Green hesitated and took a three-pointer in a clumsy form.
Bang dang!
The ball flew in a flat arc, hit the front of the rim, and fell into Bosh's hands. He quickly looked up, sweeping the court with his eyes, before passing the ball down the field like an American football quarterback. James, receiving the ball, drove toward the basket, jumped, and slammed it down with one hand.
At 76:58, the lead was extended to 18 points.
"Tic-"
Realizing the game was slipping away, Liam immediately called a timeout. The Warriors players exchanged frustrated glances before heading to the bench. Meanwhile, the Heat's Big Three laughed as they walked off the court. James flexed his muscles, and the Oracle Center erupted in boos, though James didn't mind. He only smiled and laughed, basking in the boos from the visiting crowd.
Spoelstra stood up from his seat, applauded his team, and after high-fiving them, he smiled at the Warriors' bench.
Green might be able to hit threes, but his shot wasn't very accurate. He was a rare player who could stretch the floor from the four-spot, but his outside shooting wasn't a big threat. Spoelstra had learned from Popovich that by taking away Curry's space and forcing the other players to shoot, they could neutralize the Warriors' offense.
Liam had made adjustments during this timeout, replacing Green with Yi Jianlian, opting for a lineup with three shooters and one big man, and was now letting loose.
The timeout ended quickly, and both teams returned to the court. Spoelstra raised an eyebrow, surprised by Liam's moves. Green, who had been a physical presence, was replaced by Yi Jianlian. Bosh, now unchallenged by Green, had free rein in the paint, and no one could stop him.
Spoelstra called out to Bosh: "Chris, wait for the ball and only play when you get the opportunity!"
His voice was loud, and everyone on the Warriors' side heard it, but Spoelstra was unbothered. This was a strategic move; with Yi Jianlian on the court, Liam expected Bosh to face less resistance.
Liam also listened to his arrangement, but ignored it. When he replaced Yi Jianlian, he was mentally prepared to be attacked by Bosh. To attack, he preferred to sacrifice defense, and the Warriors couldn't stop the Big Three. The ball in Bosh's hands, though, may not be as efficient as Wade's or James's.
Soon, the Warriors inbounded the ball from the baseline. Curry arrived at the front court with the ball, and Chandler approached to cover him as usual, but the Heat still double-teamed Curry. Curry quickly passed the ball to Chandler, who took two steps inward, meeting Bosh and James as they collapsed into the paint. He then passed the ball to Yi Jianlian, who was wide open beyond the three-point line at a 45-degree angle.
Yi Jianlian made a slight adjustment after receiving the ball and launched a three-pointer. Bosh tried his best to recover, but his mobility was much slower than James's, and he couldn't interfere with Yi Jianlian's shot. All he could do was watch as the basketball sailed over his head and swished through the net.
61:76.
Seeing this, Liam squinted from the sidelines, a sneer forming at the corner of his mouth.
He had replaced Yi Jianlian to open space for Curry, but Spoelstra still had to double Curry, so it was costing him.
At the end of the possession, Bosh received a pass from James near the free-throw line, broke through Yi Jianlian, and made a layup.
78:61.
The Warriors' offense still consisted of Curry setting a screen for Chandler, while the Heat wrapped Curry up. Then, Curry passed the ball to Chandler, who squeezed through the defense and passed it to Yi Jianlian. However, this time, Yi Jianlian didn't take an open three. Instead, he was counterattacked by the Heat after Green left the court. The Warriors' defensive intensity decreased significantly after Green's exit.
Liam's smile faded as he stood up and began pacing along the sidelines.
Afterward, the Warriors still started with Curry, but the Heat locked in. This time, Klay took an open three-pointer, but it clanged off the rim.
Fortunately, the Warriors managed to recover in time and didn't allow the Heat to capitalize, but after Bosh's shot bounced off the rim, James, who had run in from the outside, grabbed the rebound and aggressively secured the ball.
At 80:61, the difference reached 19 points.
At this moment, Liam couldn't laugh at all. He frowned and gestured toward the court, signaling that Butler would hold the ball and attack.
The Warriors players saw Liam's gesture. After Curry dribbled past midcourt, he passed the ball to Butler. Chandler moved in to cover him, and after a few moves, Butler tried to drive, but realized that James, who had slipped through the coverage, lunged at him. Butler hurriedly passed the ball, but it was intercepted by James's massive hands.
After making the steal, James raced toward the frontcourt, flew through the air, and dunked it with authority. He roared at the Warriors fans behind the basket after landing, walking with an air of superiority, as the Oracle Center fell silent.
82:61.
The Heat's bench was erupting with excitement, and the team's signed players, on base salaries, did everything they could, waving towels for their "Emperor."
The Warriors quickly inbounded the ball from the baseline, and while the entire Heat team was celebrating, they launched a counterattack. Yi Jianlian cut to the basket and successfully dunked.
63:82.
Looking back, James missed his mid-range shot. Butler continued with the pick-and-roll, but when facing the Heat defense, his shot wasn't fast enough. Although Klay had a slight opening for a shot, it gave James enough time to rotate and fill the position. Klay's three-pointer was contested by James and was immediately counterattacked by the Heat.
84:63.
Liam shook his head in helplessness, calling the third timeout of the quarter. He handed the ball back to Curry and replaced Butler with Matthews.
After the timeout, Curry continued to face the Heat's defense, and his passes were timely. He initially looked for Chandler and then cut across to find the opposite corner, but his teammates didn't take advantage of the open shot opportunities. Their shooting percentage was average, and the Heat frequently countered, expanding the point gap even further.
At the end of the third quarter, the Heat led the Warriors by 24 points, 97:73, with the score nearing 100.
During the break, Spoelstra greeted the players leaving the court with a round of applause, smiling at his assistant coach beside him:
"We've won."
In front of the Warriors' bench, Liam and the players who left the court high-fived one by one, their faces returning to calm.
He knew the Warriors had lost, or rather, that the Warriors couldn't win.
Looking at the Heat's defense, Spoelstra had found one of the biggest weaknesses of the Warriors based on Popovich's tactics: the quality of their shooting group wasn't enough, and their shooting wasn't consistent enough.
The Warriors seemed to have many shooters who could set up an extreme lineup of Curry plus three shooters, or even Curry plus four shooters, but aside from Curry, the rest of the shooters were either rookies or converted players with space-based shooting abilities. They appeared to have long-range shooting capacity, but their consistency was lacking. Aside from Klay, none of the shooters had a 40% shooting rate, and even then, it was when they were in an open position.
As long as the Heat focused on Klay, it would be difficult for the others to make an impact, and it was perfectly acceptable to let them shoot open threes with less than 40% efficiency.
Even though Liam made adjustments, including replacing Green with Yi Jianlian and increasing the number of shooters, and replacing Butler with Matthews to open space with a shooter, nothing changed.
They could launch open threes, but they couldn't consistently hit them, which made it easier for the Heat to wrap up Curry without paying too high a cost.
Liam also tried to use Butler as a starting point to hold the ball, but didn't expect the Heat to double him. His ability to break the defense was very weak, and the Warriors' offense couldn't get going.
He couldn't be blamed for that. Butler was still very young and hadn't yet mastered ball-handling skills, so it was a bit difficult for him to be the starting point of the offense.
But Liam couldn't help it. Aside from Curry, only he and Jeremy Lin had the ball-handling ability. Jeremy Lin could pass the ball, but his ball-handling threat wasn't enough, and he couldn't effectively play at this level.
This was the current state of the Warriors, lacking quality shooters, without offensive space for Curry, and with no one else to share the ball-handling load. If they wanted space, they had to sacrifice defense, and vice versa, leading to a half-hearted balance of space and defense.
Therefore, the Warriors couldn't win against the Heat tonight, and even if the Heat's Big Three were only average, it would still be difficult for the Warriors to win.
As long as Spoelstra continued to wrap Curry and let the Big Three and Curry's teammates struggle to attack, even if the Warriors took open threes, the Heat had a great chance to win.
It could only be said that Popovich had opened Pandora's box, and the Spurs' sandwich defense on Curry had shown other teams the way to defeat the Warriors.
Of course, more than 20 games had passed, and the Warriors' player details had been exposed by other teams, making it difficult for them to play well when opponents made specific adjustments.
In fact, these problems could be solved very easily as long as the Warriors had enough time to develop. If Klay could become the feared super shooter, Green could become the "defense of all time" who could do everything defensively and shoot threes as well, and Butler could become a top-tier forward integrating both attack and defense, these issues would disappear.
But that was no longer relevant to this game.
After the start of the final quarter, Liam didn't give up immediately and tried to close the gap in 8 minutes, but Spoelstra followed and rotated back to the Heat's main players, and the difference stayed at about 20 points for another 3 minutes.
The rest of the game was purely garbage time, and 5 minutes later, the game ended with the Heat defeating the Warriors by 22 points, 123-101, winning their fifth straight game and continuing their hot streak. Meanwhile, the Warriors marked the start of a two-game losing streak, now only 1.5 wins ahead of the Lakers, with second place in the West in jeopardy.
End of this chapter
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