LeBron James, your house got robbed.

Chapter 98 The Strongest Defensive Form in History

During halftime, in the TNT studio.

Kenny Smith then focused the discussion on the formations of both teams.

"Hey guys, what do you think? Will the Cavaliers go for a big man and four small men or a twin-tower lineup in the second half?"

O'Neal answered decisively: "Is there even a question? The Cavaliers only need to replace one of the twin towers with Battier to match up against the Heat's big man and small man lineup."

"Their defensive resources are overflowing; even with a big man and a small man, they can match up against the Heat's offense."

Smith glanced at Barkley beside him. The usually boisterous and talkative Flying Pig was surprisingly quiet.

My eyes remained fixed on the playback on the screen.

After a moment, he slowly spoke, "If I were the Cavaliers' head coach, I would do everything I could to put the twin towers on the court."

"While the Cavaliers' big man and four small men can limit James, their twin towers can completely disable him."

"This is a completely different concept for a series of matches."

O'Neal, unusually, remained silent and clasped his hands together in approval.

He understood what Barkley meant.

As long as they can keep the twin towers on the court, even if they might get shot down by JR in one game, they will have the upper hand throughout the entire series.

"Dude, you're absolutely right."

"But who's going to take care of this guy in this match?"

Following O'Neal's thick finger, in the replay, JR Smith pulled up and hit a three-pointer over Garnett.

"This guy isn't one of those slow, white shooters who can only shoot hoops."

At the start of the second half, Spoelstra saw Chandler and Garnett on the court and felt a pang of disappointment.

He had hoped that JR's performance in the first half would be enough to break down the Cavaliers' twin towers.

Only by changing the Cavaliers' defensive formation and freeing up James can they have a chance to activate the entire system.

The Cavaliers continue with their twin-tower strategy, so it remains to be seen how much JR Smith can contribute.

Spoelstra doesn't feel safe leaving the outcome of a game in the hands of a volatile player like JR Smith.

-

If Chen Shuo knew what Spo was thinking, he would surely marvel at how great minds think alike.

He also didn't intend to leave the outcome to JR; it wasn't impossible that this guy might suddenly have a breakout performance and score forty or fifty points.

Chen Shuo recalls that JR once scored 40 points in a single game.

With such abundant defensive resources, the Cavaliers naturally wouldn't rely solely on man-to-man defense as their strategy.

The Cavaliers, playing on the defensive side, quickly got into position in their own half of the court.

Leonard stood at the top of the key, with Thompson and Paul on the wings respectively.

Garnett is positioned on the weak side high, while Chandler is positioned on the strong side low.

Langabadi isn't good at zone defense systems, but Nurse is a coach who has been in European basketball for over a decade.

Joint defense is a basic operation.

Both Chandler and Garnett's big men frequently used zone defense during their time with the Mavericks, and Garnett's Timberwolves were among the first teams in the NBA to use zone defense.

Garnett's mentor, Flip Saunders, can be considered a pioneer of zone defense in the NBA.

Not only was it the first to be used when the league allowed zone defense, but it was also the subject of a 45-page zone defense textbook.

James dribbled to half-court, facing Leonard at the top of the arc, and began to observe the positioning on the court.

Thompson was matched up against Wade, Paul against JR Smith, and Chalmers in the corner looked completely left open.

James dribbled past Leonard, creating space for a long pass to Chalmers.

However, because Paul was paying close attention to the passing lanes, James had no choice but to use a lob pass.

This made the ball spend more time in the air.

When Chalmers received the ball, Paul had already moved up and stood beside Chalmers, leaving only a driving lane along the baseline.

After a brief hesitation, Garnett rushed out and joined forces with Paul to surround him.

They completely locked Chalmers into the corner three-point position.

The referee blew the whistle, and the Heat called a timeout.

Almost the instant Garnett stepped forward, Spoelstra requested a timeout from the scorer's table.

As a coach who has been immersed in tactical systems for many years, he naturally saw through the Cavaliers' 3-2 zone defense at a glance.

Three players rotated around the perimeter, pressuring the opposing ball handler.

When James has the ball, Leonard will lead the defense in the center, while Paul and Thompson will guard the wings.

When James passes the ball to the corner, the three perimeter players will quickly rotate downwards.

Paul moved down to the corner to defend Chalmers, while Leonard rotated down to defend JR Smith. On the other side, Thompson moved to the top of the arc to face James.

The 3-2 zone defense puts a lot of pressure on the perimeter players' footwork and rotation speed.

Based on the performance just now, the Cavaliers' rotation speed is clearly sufficient.

The essence of joint defense lies in each person controlling a different area, and different joint defense methods have different loopholes and weaknesses.

The weakness of a 2-3 zone defense lies in the two 45-degree angle three-pointers. With only two players rotating at the top, it is easy for the defense to be penetrated by three-pointers from the 45-degree angle.

The weakness of the 3-2 zone defense lies in the two corners. If the rotation is not timely, the players in the corners will receive the ball and have ample space to run to the basket or take a three-point shot.

Thinking of this, Spo gave a wry smile.

The weakness of the 3-2 zone defense has been minimized in this Cavaliers team.

The Cavaliers' two big men cover too much area; Chandler and Garnett can both cover the corners to some extent, since the corner three-point line is the shortest.

Just like the moment Chalmers received the ball, Garnett had already blocked the driving route and then immediately moved in to form a double team.

With Paul rotating downwards in this way, the pressure on him is reduced considerably; he only needs to disrupt Chalmers' three-point attempts from the side.

Despite calling a timeout, Spoelstra looked somewhat bewildered as he held the clipboard.

The Cavaliers' defense is not a problem of system or tactics.

Ultimately, it comes down to their superior defensive resources; their defensive resources even surpass those of the 04 Pistons.

Chandler and Garnett can cover too much defensive area.

There are countless defensive stalwarts on the perimeter.

Spoelstra had a hard time understanding how Chen Shuo managed to gather so many defensive resources during the offseason.

Moreover, the Cavaliers' defensive system is too effective at countering the ball-handling, core-centric system that the team has developed throughout the entire season.

Just like Chen Shuo, from the very first day of the offseason, he had already guessed that the Heat would build their offense around James this season.

I didn't even find out in early September that Wade was going to hand over power to James.

Before Wade gained weight, he might have been able to grit his teeth and push through the Cavaliers' solid defense despite his knee injury.

After all, he had just lost the Pistons coached by Sanders back in 06.

But these days, Wade spends most of his time cutting to the basket, helping James disrupt the opponent's defense.

He rarely handles the ball to initiate offense, and instead relies more on back-to-the-basket moves in the low post. He can no longer drive into the opponent's paint like he used to, leaving himself airborne to create scoring opportunities.

A wave of despair washed over him, and Spoelstra's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty, yet he still managed to seize the last moments and make some arrangements.

Spoelstra patted Wade on the back and drew offensive routes on the whiteboard.

"Dwayne, remember your mission: you must break through this encirclement."

"Do everything you can to get the ball back to James and force him to punish the mismatch."

Finally, Spoelstra drew an arrow on the whiteboard, pointing directly at Paul at the top of the key.