Chapter 1232: Playing the Ball Means Exposing the Ball

In the third quarter, the Heat's offense was mainly carried out on the outside.

Pat Riley has a clear view of the development of the league. He started to transform the team last season and let the Big Three increase their training in mid-range and long-range shooting.

This time, the Lakers adopted a completely opposite tactic to him, advocating inside attack, and the Lakers' failure made Pat Riley more determined to play outside.

This kind of outside attack, if it can guarantee rebounds, can avoid Li Ba's defense to the greatest extent. He believes that this is the most correct tactic.

For the protection of rebounds, in addition to the inside, the outside must also rush in and fight for every rebound.

The Suns' response is very simple, mainly to strengthen the protection of rebounds.

As for the outside, Ginobili and Wade exploded each other, but the former is old after all, and the younger Wade took some advantage.

At the third position, Dudley tried his best, but he couldn't defend James.

Li Ba asked him to slow down James, but James was not close to the paint area, so this trick was useless, so this point was also blown up.

As for the No. 1 position, Bibby also took several shots. Whether he made it or not depended on his touch. Nash's defense could be ignored.

Overall, the Heat took advantage of the outside line.

But in the interior, Li Ba and Yi Jianlian controlled the rebounds and made up for the disadvantage of the outside line in terms of the number of shots.

On the offensive end, Li Ba pinned down James and Gasol, and there were not many offensive opportunities.

Yi Jianlian also had some problems playing against Bosh, but with his strong defensive ability, he could maintain an offensive and defensive balance at this point.

In the end, Dudley, who was left open, got a lot of shooting opportunities.

But unfortunately, his ability was really limited. He made 3 of 8 shots in the whole quarter and only scored 6 points, wasting a lot of ball rights.

At the end of the third quarter, 72:72, the Heat tied the score.

Barkley said, "I'm right, the Suns' outside line collapsed. If the Hammer doesn't step up and take on everything, the Heat will definitely have a great chance to win the finals."

Kenny Smith said, "I believe the Suns will make changes. What if the Hammer goes to the No. 1 position?"

"Like this?"

Barkley frowned and thought, "There are pros and cons. The rebounding advantage will be lost, but it can limit James' performance and is conducive to fast breaks."

At this time, the atmosphere on the Suns' bench was a bit dull.

Li Ba looked around and smiled, "What are you worried about? It's not that easy for the Heat to beat us?"

"Hammer, what do you want to do?" Payton asked modestly.

Li Ba said helplessly, "Gary, I'm just a player. This is your job. I can only make some adjustments on the court at most."

Payton touched his head awkwardly and turned to discuss with assistant coach Taro.

Soon, the two came up with a plan and said, "Iron Hammer, you go to the No. 1 position and try to keep an eye on James, then play a few fast breaks with Manu, let's get some points first."

"OK." Li Ba nodded.

In the last quarter, Haslem and Polish Iron Hammer were on the inside.

They were familiar with the substitute lineup, and also let Alian take a rest first.

In addition, Dudley, who played for one quarter, was replaced by veteran Carter.

Payton's tactical idea is to control James, the Heat's ball owner, to limit the Heat's offense, and then play fast breaks from the outside.

Although the Heat's outside line is very fast, with Li Ba and Ginobili on the outside, the Suns' outside fast break is also good.

"Ray, how is your wrist?" Time is up, Li Ba asked before going on the court.

Ray Allen took off the ice pack, his left wrist was already a little red and swollen, it should be a serious injury, and he will definitely not be able to play in the finals later.

"It's okay, leave it to us."

Li Ba patted Ray Allen on the shoulder and led the team onto the court.

On the Heat side, the players were on the court. Pat Riley saw the Suns' lineup and quickly replaced Bibby with small forward James Jones.

In the backcourt, Jones served the ball and LeBron James was ready to receive the ball.

Li Ba defended in front of LeBron, forcing him to run around in the backcourt, but he just couldn't get rid of Li Ba.

In terms of the overall absolute speed of the two, LeBron James was actually a little faster and his explosive power was stronger, but Li Ba's turn and first step were too fast, which made up for the disadvantage in speed.

There was no way, Wade came to receive the ball and then carried the ball forward.

Pat Riley frowned a little. He knew that Wade's passing vision was far inferior to James. Now James was defended and couldn't receive the ball. Wade controlled the ball, which was a certain hindrance to the Heat's offense.

Wade's assists were not few, 4.6 this season, but most of them were in the breakthrough tactics. The number of assists he got by breaking into the pass did not indicate how wide his passing vision was.

Now that Li Ba was not under the basket, Wade did not hesitate. He changed direction continuously and left Ginobili behind. He immediately rushed to the paint with the ball.

But at this time, his weakness of insufficient passing vision was exposed. After he entered the paint, he did not observe in time that Li Ba had already jumped down from the top of the arc. When he wanted to attack Haslem, Li Ba was already on top of him.

Wade was too familiar with Haslem. The two were drafted in the same year and played together in the Heat for six seasons. He changed direction and shook Haslem, then changed direction again and jumped up to meet the latter.

But at this moment, before he hit Haslem, a big hand took his basketball from behind.

"Be careful!"

Only then did James have the opportunity to remind Wade, but it was too late.

He rushed to Li Ba to stop him from making a fast break.

But Li Ba knew James's moves very well. He turned around and let him pass, then crossed paths with him and rushed to the free throw line.

Ginobili played a role at this time. Wade rushed to the basket. The Heat's only small forward James Jones was left on the outside. The outside couldn't keep up with him. He received Li Ba's pass, advanced quickly, and finally made a layup.

The Heat attacked again.

This time the Heat was prepared and made a pick-and-roll in the backcourt. Wade blocked Li Ba, and James received the ball and started to advance quickly.

Ginobili switched to defend James, and Li Ba rushed over at this time.

James was facing a double team, so he had to pass the ball to Wade. Because Li Ba was in the middle, he could only lob the ball, which gave Li Ba an opportunity.

Li Ba turned very quickly, took the fastest first step, and rushed back to Wade.

Wade had just received the ball and dribbled one step when Li Ba arrived in front of him and grabbed him with a big hand.

The quick and accurate steal forced Wade to immediately turn sideways to protect the ball, and was forced to stop in place by Li Ba.

James quickly ran to Wade, ready to respond: "Here."

Wade turned his back to James, turned his head and took a look, and was just about to pass the ball.

Passing the ball means that the ball will be exposed. For Li Ba, he knows the position of the ball clearly, and this is an opportunity to steal the ball.