Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 291 Three rounds of sweep!Advance to the finals!
On the 22nd, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals series began, with the Knicks facing the Heat at home.

The comments before the game were one-sided. Everyone was optimistic about the Knicks advancing. The Heat's support rate for reaching the finals was less than 15%, which was pitifully low.

It seems that the Heat's core lineup has not changed this season, but their strength is much weaker than last season.

Not only are the main players such as Ray Allen and Haslem one year older, the relationship between the Big Three has also become subtle.

Having missed the championship for many years, the combination of James, Wade and Chris Bosh has been questioned by the outside world.

According to rumors, James does not plan to stay with the Heat after his contract expires in the summer. He is very likely to return to Cleveland and change his team to continue his impact on the championship.

The Heat's potential has long been squeezed out. Last season, they were able to record a record second only to the Knicks and rank second in the Eastern Conference. However, this year they are not even as good as the Pacers, falling to third in the Eastern Conference.

The past few years should have been the Heat's peak period, but because of the existence of the Knicks, they have never been free from outside doubts.

In the semifinals and the Pacers reached a tiebreaker, the Heat players only rested for two days after playing full games, and their physical strength was far less than that of the Knicks, who rested for a week.

It's no wonder that experts are collectively not optimistic about the Heat. Regardless of the past record of the two teams or the current league structure, the Heat are not an opponent of the Knicks.

If the Big Three can lead the team without being swept, it will be considered a success. After all, the Knicks have not lost in the playoffs this year.

Unfortunately, after the first game started, the Heat couldn't even achieve a close match, falling behind by double digits at the start.

Lu Yong did not arrange for Anthony to attack in the first quarter. Instead, he used him as the starting point of the attack to attract double-teams and assist his teammates to open up the situation.

This adjustment directly disrupted Spoelstra's deployment and was completely suppressed by the Knicks.

Especially the young player Butler, who scored consecutive points from inside and outside in the first quarter, looking like a star.

James is responsible for defending Anthony. Butler has obvious advantages in singles against Ray Allen. He uses his body to hit the basket hard, but Ray Allen has no way to do it.

Four minutes later, Spoelstra arranged for James to guard Butler. As a result, Anthony broke out again against Ray Allen, scoring more points than Butler. It was obviously because of Ray Allen.

The defensive strategy arranged by Lu Yong is not complicated, and can even be said to be very simple.

In addition to the conventional passing and cutting system, players in positional battles stared at the 39-year-old Ray Allen, bullying the old, weak, sick and disabled.

The Heat need Ray Allen's three-pointer to open up space, and they have to accept the nightmare of Ray Allen being singled out by the Knicks.

巴特勒首节化身纽约核武器，单节7投5，三分球1中0，罚球2中2，砍下12分2篮板1助攻。

Anthony was not to be outdone in misplaced singles in the second half, scoring 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, with a shooting rate of over 50%.

36 to 21, the Knicks led by 15 points entering the second quarter.

Spoelstra was dumbfounded again. The two had played against each other many times in the playoffs. As a result, the gap between the Knicks and the Heat became wider and wider, which made him feel depressed.

In the second quarter, Curry Jr., J.R. Smith, Crabbe, Bargnani, and Green appeared on the field.

This small lineup with Green as the center was extremely threatening. In less than 4 minutes, it defeated the Heat's bench, forcing Spoelstra to call a timeout to bring back the main force in advance.

The performance of the Heat's bench this year is not impressive. The top scorer is Chalmers' 9.8 points, which is not a match for the Knicks at all.

The Heat management also thought about reinforcements, but the salaries of the Big Three in the last year were too high, completely locking up the salary space.

The Heat can't sign high-priced players, and it's useless to sign players with minimum salaries. This makes "magic fortune teller" Riley very uncomfortable, as disgusting as a fly flying into his mouth.

Facts have proved that the Heat's insistence on using the old lineup is no match for the Knicks.

After sending in substitute inside man Joel Anthony, the Heat's frame protection was better, but the offensive end was stretched again.

Joel Anthony's scoring relies entirely on picking up misses from the basket. When the Knicks defended the pick-and-roll, they simply let him take two steps. Taking any further forward was a sign of lack of confidence in themselves.

The Knicks led by 27 points in the first half, and the game lost suspense early on.

“闪电侠”韦德打了18分钟，7投1中，三分球2中0，罚球4中3，只得到可怜的4分2篮板3助攻。

Before Wade entered the league, he was known as "the man who gave the league a meniscus." During his peak period, he was not affected by his knees at all. 12 years ago, Wade was one of the best shooting guards in the league, and even Second only to Kobe.

However, since the beginning of last season, fans can see that Wade is somewhat overwhelmed. Not only is his offensive end not as fast as before, but his defense has also declined a lot due to knee injuries. But last season, he was at least still. It has 7% of the peak strength.

By this year, De's knee was completely broken, and he only played 54 games in the regular season.

In the playoffs, Wade's condition plummeted. Except for two outbursts against the Pacers in the semifinals, he averaged only 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the remaining games. He was no longer suitable to be the second-in-command of a championship team. .

The Knicks' perimeter offense is highly efficient, largely due to Ray Allen and Wade's inability to guard them.

If both of them were in their prime, the Knicks might not necessarily be able to beat the Heat.

Unfortunately, Wade's knee is basically hopeless, and his overall performance will only get worse in the future.

In the second half, the Knicks' offense was still strong and they pushed the Heat to the ground.

Anthony can ensure efficiency whether he plays without the ball or with the ball. He can attract Heat players to double-team and distribute the ball to his teammates.

Jefferson's low-post attack is also an advantage. He is unstoppable one-on-one under the basket. Even the strong Joel Anthony has no choice but to use fouls to stop it.

In this quarter, Anthony continued to show off his power, trying to make jump shots as close to the basket as possible to ensure a success rate.

James can only foul if he can't handle it. Unfortunately, this is the Knicks' home court and the referee will not tolerate him.

James was called for five fouls in three quarters, which made James very dissatisfied and complained to the referee.

After three quarters, Anthony scored 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists; Butler and Jefferson also scored 20+. The whole team blossomed and sent the game into garbage time early.

98 to 65, the Knicks lead by 33 points.

Spoelstra was depressed. He felt that if he continued to fight with Lu Yong for a few more years, it would not be certain whether he would be able to work until retirement.

In the third quarter, he sat on the sidelines very quietly. Even if the team fell behind, he did not call a timeout and just left to fend for himself.

The Heat have lost to the Knicks before and have been beaten for many years, but Spoelstra has never been as desperate as this time.

The Knicks are so powerful this season. No wonder they can break the Bulls' historical record of 72 wins. He can't think of a way to stop it.

During garbage time, Lu Yong replaced all the main players and played Curry Jr., Crabbe, Covington, Aminu and McGee.

The Knicks have obviously put on the most fringe lineup, but in the final quarter they still suppressed the Heat's substitute performance.

It's not that Lu Yong wants to kill everyone, it's really that the gap between the Heat's substitutes and the Knicks' substitutes is too big, and even though he tried hard, he couldn't make any difference.

In the end, the Knicks won 131-85, beating the Heat by 46 points.

Fortunately, the Nets and Raptors also lost miserably in the first two rounds of the playoffs, otherwise the Heat would be embarrassed.After the game, Spoelstra said depressedly: "The Knicks are invincible this season. They have a lot of players who can play, and they do very well on both offense and defense. I really can't think of any team in history that can beat them." They, even the 72-win Bulls, can't take any advantage."

Spoelstra boasted loudly to the camera. He was not using flattery to justify himself. It was because the Knicks were too strong this year.

If he was still not convinced when he led the team to the Knicks in the past few years, this year he is completely convinced.

The Heat's lineup seems very competitive, but it seems too young in front of the Knicks, with flaws everywhere.

Lu Yong said in an interview: "I am not surprised at all that the Knicks won all the way. I said before the start of the season that the team will defend the title and no team can stop us."

The reporter asked: "After defeating the Heat in the first game, the outside world is unanimously optimistic about the Knicks' championship prospects. Do you think the Heat still have a chance to come back and win?"

"No, after summer reinforcements and regular season training, the Knicks are stronger than last year. We have the deepest lineup in the league and the strongest forward scoring machine in the league. I really can't think of any reason for the Heat to win. . Frankly speaking, even if I were asked to coach the Heat, I would not be able to lead the team to defeat this Knicks. It would be too difficult."

The next day, the news that the Knicks beat the Heat at home made headlines, and fans were all surprised.

Although fans believed that the Knicks would advance to the finals before the Eastern Conference Finals started, the Heat were no match.

Unexpectedly, the Knicks beat the Heat so easily.

Dealing with the Big Three was just like killing the Nets and Raptors in the first two rounds. It was effortless.

You know, the Heat's Big Three are all top-notch stars in the league, and at worst they were the bosses of a playoff team before they joined forces.

Even so, the Heat lost the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals very happily, leaving no suspense at all.

Lu Yong's harsh words about competing for the championship were also regarded as truth by fans. Before the Eastern and Western Conference Finals were over, the Knicks seemed to have already booked the championship trophy.

In the second game, the Knicks still used the pick-and-roll, pass-and-cut, and star isolation tactics. "Little Bully" Stoudemire pulled out of the pick-and-roll, and while taking the defense away from him, he cut to the basket. Deron broke through with the ball and looked for opportunities to connect. The team attacks.

Ray Allen and Wade are still the Knicks' key targets.

Especially Ray Allen, whoever he was guarding, the Knicks players who faced him chose to get stronger, attracting double teams and then passing the ball outside.

Spoelstra can't do anything while sitting off the court. If it's just Ray Allen's defense that stretches his hips, he can make substitutions and make adjustments.

However, after Wade's injury worsened, he also became a target of the Knicks. No one in the entire Heat back line can achieve both offense and defense.

In this case, his substitutions have no effect. It is better to keep the star on the court and attack the Knicks. Maybe he can win a game when he feels good.

In the first two rounds of the series, Ray Allen was still very impressive, but Ray Allen, who was praised by the fans, was completely exhausted.

Butler got his ass kicked hard against him. Several Knicks perimeter players are physically better than him.

Either he was fast or he was strong, he would go one-on-one and dig into the penalty area, specializing in bullying old comrades.

Spoelstra replaced Chalmers, who could defend, and the Knicks' offense immediately changed their style of play.

The perimeter changed from holding the ball in singles to catching and shooting. Al Jefferson sat under the basket and asked for the ball in singles, giving full play to his own advantages.

Chalmers can indeed defend, but his offense is average and far less threatening than Ray Allen.

After the Heat made substitutions, their offensive efficiency dropped sharply. While Al Jefferson broke the penalty area, their scoring also dropped, falling behind by 22 points in the third quarter.

In the final quarter, Anthony played for a while and easily scored points based on his personal ability.

Veteran Sean Battier can't guard him. He might have been of some use in his prime, but now, the gap between the two is too big.

At the end, 118 to 89, the Knicks won again at home, leading 2-0.

In Game [-], the Heat returned to their home court, struggled for three quarters, and still lost in the end.

克里斯-波什这场爆发，三节砍下28分6篮板2助攻1盖帽，命中率超过70%。

With Bosh's superb performance, the Heat did not collapse prematurely and trailed the Knicks by only 5 points entering the final quarter.

However, Anthony is very capable of handling key balls.

In the last 5 minutes, he scored 8 points and assisted Stoudemire twice for an air cut and dunk, extinguishing the Heat's counterattack momentum in one fell swoop.

全场打完，“小霸王”斯塔德迈尔12投8中，罚球6中5，高效砍下21分8篮板1盖帽，今年季后赛首次轰出20+。

安东尼的手感同样火热，23投12中，三分球8中4，罚球5中5，得到33分5篮板3助攻1抢断。

After losing three games in a row in the series, everyone in the Heat was going crazy.

If James and others still had the illusion of winning before, now the Big Three just want to end the series as soon as possible.

The ridicule and ridicule from the outside world is really torturous.

In the fourth game, Spoelstra took down Ray Allen and asked Chalmers to start to strengthen defense.

The Heat were forced to the edge of the cliff and began to risk their lives. They almost had to compete for the ball, which significantly strengthened the physical confrontation.

Even Bosh, who never liked to hit the basket hard, got tougher and challenged Stoudemire with the ball and then went into the penalty area with the ball in his hand, allowing the fans to see the remaining bit of blood in the Dragon King.

这场他再次爆发，18投11中，三分球2中0，罚球11中9，得到31分8篮板3助攻1抢断2盖帽。

詹姆斯21投9中，三分球4中1，罚球9中7，得到26分8篮板5助攻，韦德13投6中，三分球2中1，罚球7中6，得到19分5篮板6助攻2抢断。

But even though the Big Three teamed up to score 76 points, the Heat still lost their home court, losing the game 104 to 115.

安东尼22投10中，三分6中2，罚球6中6，得到28分6篮板3助攻、德隆-威廉姆斯12投7中，三分球3中1，罚球2中2，得到17分3篮板9助攻、杰弗森15投8中，罚球8中6，得到22分13篮板2助攻1盖帽。

Sixth man JR Smith also scored 15 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.

The entire Knicks team blossomed, but the Heat couldn't defend themselves and were overwhelmed.

In order to strengthen the defense, Spoelstra did not use Ray Allen, Lewis and James Jones much in this game.

Ray Allen only played 13 minutes, making 4 of 0 shots and scoring no points, and his defense was frantically targeted by JR Smith.

The two pitchers Lewis and Jones did not play for one minute, and their playing time was evenly given to the young people.

Unfortunately, Spoelstra's bold attempt came too late and failed to save the team.

The Knicks swept the Heat 4-0 and advanced in three consecutive rounds!

(End of this chapter)