The first game of the 2013 Finals starts on time at 7:30 pm Pacific time.
Tonight, the Staples Center courtside was full of stars. Many big names in sports, entertainment, and music came to the scene to choose the most expensive and most conspicuous seats.
Both male and female celebrities compete for beauty. Male celebrities dress handsomely, while female stars dress sexy and glamorous.
At that time, Internet marketing was not particularly prosperous in 2013, so the celebrities were still wearing relatively normal clothes, which really looked good.
However, as time went on, more and more weird clothes appeared, and it even affected the NBA. Some players also started to dress up in strange clothes before going on the court.
In the past few years, the Clippers have almost replaced the Lakers and become the new sports and social event in Los Angeles.
Beckham leads the sports world and Kanye dominates the music world. The entertainment industry currently lacks a number one fan, but there will always be one.
In the opening show before the game, according to Min Congda's request, the most dazzling ethnic style was played and a Chinese dance was performed.
Min Congda originally wanted to use this kind of earthy song to bore American fans and make them no longer want to come to watch the game.
Who would have thought that Americans are more rustic than Chinese, but they are addicted to listening to the most dazzling ethnic music, and everyone likes it!
Min Congda really had no choice but to sit quietly on the sidelines and watch the game.
The starting lineups of both sides, the Clippers are still the regular five, while the Heat are Howard, Bosh, Nash, Wade and Lewis.
The lineups on both sides are quite strong, and the Heat's lineup looks even more luxurious, with five All-Stars, of which Nash, Wade, and Howard are all All-Star starting-level superstars.
Their biggest flaw is Lewis. Lewis was once an All-Star player, but as he gets older, he no longer has the skills he once had.
Lewis's main value is to open up space with three-pointers on the offensive end and provide a certain height and defense on the defensive end.
At the same time, Nash is 38 years old, and he can only last about 20 minutes in a finals-level game.
Before the game, the live cameras showed Nash several times. The former son of the wind cut off his long hair and kept it short in the hot Miami.
His expression was very calm, and he could not imagine how excited Nash was after defeating the Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals and winning the Eastern Conference Championship.
He jumped three feet high and was about to dunk, just like when Stockton beat the Rockets to the Finals in 1997. Years of persistence finally paid off on the highest stage.
Now, he will face the challenge of Stephen Curry, a rising star super point guard. Curry was extremely excited before the game. Nothing can stimulate the desire to win more than meeting an opponent like Nash in the finals.
The game started under the shining lights of the scene. With a jump ball, Howard jumped high and touched the ball first.
The Heat started their first offense of the finals. Nash held the ball, quickly crossed the half court, and handed the ball to Wade who came to receive the ball.
Wade caught the ball on the left and dribbled the ball in a wide arc to the right, from left to center and then to the right, in a large circle, and then cut in from the right baseline.
Suddenly accelerated - although the speed was not very fast, he drove to the basket, looked back at the moon and scored two points.
The Heat scored first!
In the Heat's first offense at the start, Wade used his slow penetration to find a gap in the Clippers' defense and used his personal ability to score.
It is obvious from this ball that Wade has a strong tactical awareness and an excellent grasp of the timing of breakthroughs, but his physical fitness is really not as good as before.
If it had been 2006, if the ball had hit the basket like this, it would have been a one-handed dunk, or it would have been a dunk without having to circle the baseline.
But now his knees no longer support him in such actions. He uses his brain and consciousness more to find loopholes in the Clippers' defense.
The biggest problem on the defensive end of the Clippers' Randolph + Gasol inside combination is mobility.
Bosh and Howard can just match up with Randolph and Gasol, and the two sides will definitely be fighting in the paint.
The Clippers' start was also very characteristic of their tactics. Curry dribbled the ball across half court and handed the ball to George.
He slid down the baseline without the ball, and also slipped from the left to the right. After using the screen to get rid of Nash, he caught the ball from the 45-degree three-point line on the right side and hit a quick three-pointer!
Curry's shot was like a samurai's sword-drawing technique. He started from the waist and threw it quickly. The sharp blade was unsheathed. Before the opponent could react, his head fell to the ground.
Curry scored a three-pointer at the beginning, which was a good sign for the Clippers.
Tyronn Lue, who was sitting off the court, was greatly relieved when he saw Curry make a three-pointer.
He knows that if the Clippers can open a three-pointer, the Heat have little chance of winning against the Clippers.
If Tyronn Lue can understand this, there's no reason why Heat coach Spoelstra doesn't understand it.
He knows that letting Nash start against Curry will be at a huge disadvantage on the defensive end.
But there is no way, whether it is because of Nash's status or the offensive sorting out of the starting lineup, the Heat need Nash to be able to top the game for at least 20 minutes.
We can only hope that Nash can make up for the loopholes on the defensive end on the offensive end.
The Heat's second offensive round used the same tactics as the first round.
Nash passed the ball outside the left three-point line, and then went to the baseline to take away the defense.
Wade once again started to circle in a big circle, walking from left to right, with Bosh inside attracting the defense.
But this time the Clippers learned their lesson. George did not focus on Bosh, but faced Wade one-on-one on the baseline.
Wade couldn't sneak past the baseline and hit the basket like he did just now, so he passed the ball to Bosh in the low post.
When Bosh faced Randolph, Sigma turned to face the basket and missed a 45-degree mid-range jump shot.
Howard got an offensive rebound, but Gasol played the ball well and fell forward after being pushed by Howard.
The referee called a foul on Howard for rebounding.
Spoelstra saw it on the sidelines and argued loudly with the referee, saying why was this ball a foul?
Less than two minutes into the game, Howard received a foul, which was quite detrimental to the Heat.
Min Congda sat on the court and shook his head slightly. He was neither dissatisfied with the referee's call nor dissatisfied with Spoelstra's weakness.
"As a Filipino, you can't even argue with the referee. You're too damn soft! Scold! If you can't do it, I'll scold you later."
Min Congda was very angry now. He just asked the system if he could collect fees for interviews.
As expected, he was rejected by the system. If he wanted to make money, he still had to rely on the rules given by the system, which made Min Congda very angry.
I can’t even accept money for interviews myself? This system is too overbearing, but I have no choice but to bow my head.
Now that Howard is called for a foul at the beginning, it is very detrimental to the Heat. If the Clippers are in their right mind, they will attack Howard's point.
Sure enough, in the second round, Curry received the ball at a 45-degree angle, broke through the middle with his left hand, Howard made up the defense, and Curry passed the ball to Randolph who was cutting in from the wing.
Randolph caught the ball and made a layup, but Howard turned around and blocked Randolph with his left hand in the air! This attack was successfully blocked!
"nice shot!"
Min Congda couldn't help but praise, and then quickly stopped talking.
Howard was really bold in this shot. He knew that he would be extremely passive after committing two fouls at the beginning, but he still took the risk to block the shot.
Moreover, he first helped to defend Curry on this ball. After landing, he turned around and defended Randolph. His reaction speed was top-notch, and he was worthy of being the league's best defensive player four times.
It can be seen that Howard is also in excellent condition, and he has made enough preparations for this finals.
After all, after defeating James and entering the Finals in 2009, people believed that Howard's center era was coming.
Unexpectedly, what I thought was the beginning turned out to be the peak.
In 2010, Howard focused on developing his shooting and offense.
But it turns out that he is not this material. The more he develops, the more harm he will actually do to the team.
In the following years, Howard and the Magic fell into silence. It was not until he came to the Heat this year that Howard ushered in a new life.
Under the guidance of center guru Pat Riley, Howard is in his best form since 2009.
After all, Howard's master was Ewing, and Ewing's former mentor was Riley.
Master is here. If you don’t listen to him, who else can you listen to?
When Riley came to the Knicks, he turned Ewing into a defensive monster.
Howard is also a center whose defensive contribution is far greater than his offensive contribution.
He himself is not aware of this and must let reality teach him how to be a talented person.
Of course, the Heat will still let Howard play occasionally.
On the next ball, Howard quickly passed half court and quickly sank into the low post, blocking Gasol for the ball.
Nash's value was reflected at this time, with a precise through ball directly to the basket.
Howard caught the ball, turned around and made an easy layup, scoring two points and giving the Heat a 4:3 lead.
At the beginning, the Heat performed quite well, with a very clear tactical idea, playing in a methodical manner, with some speed and some slowness, and their defense was solid.
In comparison, the Clippers failed to exert their advantages. Except for Curry's three-pointer, the two subsequent attacks had no results.
It must be admitted that in terms of lineup alone, the Heat's inside line of Bosh + Howard is indeed the best team against the Clippers.
Many people only see the Clippers' fierce outside firepower, Curry's three-pointer, Harden's versatility, the three small forwards with unlimited energy, and the team's passing and cutting tactics are as sharp as a scalpel.
But no matter how Steve Kerr reduced the proportion of Randolph and Gasol in the offense and focused on building the Clippers into an offensive team dominated by the perimeter, Kerr did not give up on Randolph and Gasol. Gasol's basic tactical status.
After Mike Malone arrived, he emphasized the importance of the duo of Randolph and Gasol, both defensively and offensively.
These two people have always been the Clippers' anchoring presence in the interior, playing a vital role in many high-intensity playoff games.
Even in last year's finals, many people believed that Curry should not win the MVP, but Randolph was the real MVP, and he played the most important role in the comeback.
Now, Bosh and Howard can match up with Randolph and Gasol, regardless of offense or defense.
Therefore, an important offensive and defensive fundamentals of the Clippers have been curbed, and some invisible advantages will disappear.
For example, the extremely solid backcourt rebounds, Randolph's frontcourt rebounds from time to time, Randolph's stable low-post scoring when the offense cannot be opened, etc.
Seven minutes into the first quarter, the Clippers trailed the Heat by one point at 12:13.
Howard contributed 5 points, 2 blocks and 5 rebounds in 7 minutes despite receiving a foul.
It can be said that Howard used his excellent performance in the beginning to help the Heat suppress the Clippers.
At this time, the Clippers have begun to enter rotation time, and it is time to test Tyronn Lue's substitution skills.
With the level of Lu's guidance, he can treat headaches and foot pains, which is already very good. At least he knows it is a headache.
Therefore, Tyronn Lue replaced Randolph with Anthony Davis, allowing Randolph to take a rest and relax.
Randolph did not score in the first quarter. Howard is indeed a difficult guy. It is definitely not easy to defeat Howard one-on-one.
When playing against DeAndre Jordan in the Western Conference Finals, Randolph was quite relaxed. Although DeAndre Jordan is tall and physically fit, his one-on-one defensive habits are not good.
It's easy to get distracted and get hit easily, and the defensive coverage area is not enough, and the bullet speed is average.
Howard is different. He is a high-quality defensive master and has a strong deterrent effect in blocking shots.
When you shoot and Howard rushes over, it's hard to maintain a perfect shot.
But Tyronn Lue playing Anthony Davis is not a brilliant move, and is even a bit risky.
Because Davis is a rookie after all, and his strength is not offense, but defense.
However, Tyronn Lue brought Davis on the court mainly so that he and Gasol could have some high and low inside coordination.
The idea was good, but it was not successful in practice because the Heat's pre-game preparations were very thorough.
The pace of the game was suppressed very slowly by the Heat, and it fell into a lot of one-on-one situations, and the coherent offense was cut into pieces.
The Heat are very good at playing this kind of game rhythm. Everyone is slow, the defense is strong, and the scoring is piecemeal. Don't think about any passing, cutting, or quick offense.
Don't even think about shooting from a wide open position. It's impossible for you to make a fast break, and you will be pulled down if you pull.
Coupled with Anthony Davis's lack of experience, he was rushed by Wade and committed a defensive foul as soon as he came on the court.
Wade stood on the free throw line and made two free throws. The Heat led the Clippers by 3 points at 15:12.
Min Congda did not expect this situation, and he silently praised the Heat and Spoelstra.
He also set a rule for himself in his mind: "This time, no matter what, you can't give any advice to the Clippers. If you give advice again, you will be a dog! You will be a dog!"
Min Congda still remembers several times before that he gave tactical advice to the Clippers who were in difficulty. One time it was leaked by Fan Chen, which caused the Clippers to get out of trouble.
What is this called? This is called digging your own grave. How can such a thing be done?
At the end of the first quarter, the Heat led the Clippers by 3 points at 25:22.
They got off to a good start and occupied a favorable situation at the beginning of the away game.
(End of chapter)
