NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 193 The Role of Covington
Erik Spoelstra also looked more serious on the sidelines.

He knows the strength of the Heat now.

It's not about James' personal strength. With the Heat's lineup, it's hard to make it to the playoffs, let alone break out of the Eastern Conference.

This is indeed the case.

After James left the Heat, the Heat introduced Dragic and Luol Deng.

Hassan Whiteside was also unearthed.

But even with the addition of these people, the Heat's lineup did not enter the playoffs next season.

So Su Chen's strategy is very clear, which is to limit James' consumption and let others play as they please.

With the Timberwolves' defensive resources, even if they don't deliberately target other Heat players, it is difficult for them to match the Timberwolves offensively with their strength.

The game continued.

Eric Spoelstra made some fine-tuning and gave James some help tactically. The catch and pick-and-roll allowed James to save some dribbling movements for breakthroughs.

With the support of tactics, James played more firmly. Whether it was Giannis Antetokounmpo or Iguodala's single defense, they couldn't cover it.

After fighting for a few rounds, Su Chen didn't panic.

"Go and wait to play."

Su Chen said to Covington on the bench.

Covington was a little excited and a little nervous when he heard it.

Before the game, Su Chen assigned him a task, and asked him to be responsible for assisting defense rotations when he was on the court.

When he's on the court, the Timberwolves' entire defense focuses on him rotating with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

As an undrafted pick, Covington cherishes this opportunity very much.

He knew very well that if he fulfilled the task Su Chen assigned him, then he would have a contract in the league.

This is the finals, and the one to defend is James!

Although Iguodala is the main defender, even as a supporting role, he can play a certain auxiliary role.

So even if the Timberwolves don't give him a satisfactory contract, other teams will offer generous contracts.

Role players especially cherish this opportunity, especially for an undrafted pick like him.

After a ball went out of bounds, Covington came on.

There was nothing special about Covington's offense after he came on the court. He just found a suitable shooting point and squatted, opened up space and waited for the ball.

Covington on the defensive end has played a role.

In the first defensive round, Covington judged James' breakthrough route and took a covert position in advance.

Because the Timberwolves basically had little help defenses before, and there were also some fake help defenses, James has become accustomed to singles.

But this time after James confronted Iguodala, he found that someone on his breakthrough route had already stood up.

James rushed so powerfully that even he couldn't stop himself.

In particular, Iguodala's strength confrontation is also very sufficient, and James used greater strength than usual to make a breakthrough.

James didn't stop, and Covington was knocked under the basket from near the free throw line.

beep!
This didn't look like a flop, and the referee immediately blew his whistle.

After all, these referees have been whistled by the league for many seasons, and they have no doubts about how strong James' impact is.

Offensive foul.

Seeing the referee's gesture, there was a burst of cheers in the target center.

Covington, who was lying on the ground, also became the object of cheers at the target center at this time.

Covington doesn't look too strong, but the courage to block James' breakthrough route is worthy of cheers and applause.

Even if other players have judged James' breakthrough route, they don't dare to really block James.

James' impact is too strong even for some very strong players.

At this time, all the members of the Timberwolves rushed over to help Covington up.

Among these people in the Timberwolves are the cornerstone of the team like Giannis Antetokounmpo, and there are also former All-Star players like Iguodala, but at this time they are very excited to go regardless of their status in the team. Help Covington.

"I have to say that the Timberwolves' players are too defensively tough. James squeezed through. This can be judged and blocked James."

Johnson said in admiration.

"Obviously, James is caught in the Timberwolves' targeting, and the Heat need someone else to help James."

Barkley said.

"It was hard to stop when James found out just now, but it can be passed on in advance."

O'Neill said at this time.

"Giannis and Ibaka didn't seem to get to the basket, and after Covington went in, they did a sweep to intercept the pass."

Kenny Smith answered O'Neill's question.

Hearing what Kenny Smith said, they also recalled the formation of the Timberwolves just now, as if it really was the same thing.

After Covington went in, the two inside players of the Timberwolves actually moved towards the outside very tacitly.

Ibaka's speed is very fast and his wingspan is also very long. He can easily intercept some not too high passes.

Giannis Antetokounmpo himself has been doing the work of sweeping power forwards on the defensive end this season.

The two defended out, putting James under a lot of pressure to pass the ball.

In addition, Butler is also a good player in intercepting passes.

From the time James discovered that Covington was in a good position to the time he reacted to pass the ball, he saw that the Heat player's passing route was intercepted.

He didn't find a passing route at the first time, and when he tried to find a route again, he had already bumped into Covington.

(End of this chapter)