Just as the Miami Heat defeated the Brooklyn Nets with a big score of 4-1, the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards also ended their semifinal battle with a total score of 4-2.
Before the game, many media predicted that the Indiana Pacers would advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Sure enough, they used their record to prove that their second place was not a wasted reputation.
The Miami Heat were prepared for this.
The players are well aware of the strength of the opponent they will face next, so the team's morale has not been affected in any way.
On the contrary, the Heat, who have defeated their opponents one after another, have always had high morale and believe that they will definitely be able to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
Just as the Eastern Conference finals are approaching, the Western Conference situation has also been released smoothly.
The San Antonio Spurs were very strong and eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers with a big score of 4-1, while the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 4-2.
The Spurs and Thunder successfully entered the Western Conference Finals.
After a few days of modification, the Eastern Conference Finals started first.
American Airlines Arena.
The first game starts at the Heat's home court.
It was a packed house on the day of the game, with fans wearing special colored uniforms to cheer for the home team. The scene was full of jubilation and the atmosphere was particularly warm.
Before the game started, the Heat also specially played footage of the Heat's promotion to the Western Conference Finals last year to encourage the players and fans at the scene.
Zhao Feiyang is also very excited. Although he only joined the Heat this season, there are too few good things like being able to play in the Western Conference Finals as soon as he enters the league.
Sun Yue also experienced it when he joined the Lakers, but the difference is that Sun Yue didn't play much of the time and was always a substitute for the team.
But Zhao Feiyang is different. Although he is also a substitute, he is part of the team's championship puzzle. No one can deny this.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the game officially started.
In the first quarter, Zhao Feiyang continued to sit firmly on the bench.
It is still the Big Three who dominate the team's offense on the field.
After a jump ball between the two sides, the Heat attacked. After Mario Chalmers held the ball through halftime, he transferred the ball to Chris Bosh under the basket. Chris Bosh tried to single out Paul George in the paint.
The two exchanged blows under the basket. Paul George kept pushing his body against Chris Bosh. After the latter turned around and pulled away, seeing the risk of being blocked, he gave the ball to Dwyane Wade on the wing.
After getting the ball, Dwyane Wade used his unique trick to get into the penalty area two or three times, shake off the defensive player and throw the basketball.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
Judging from the start, the offense of the Big Three is still very smooth. But no one expected that the Indiana Pacers would be much more difficult to deal with than they imagined.
After the ball passed half court, George Hill transferred the ball to Paul George.
Paul George directly singled out Chris Bosh on the wing under the basket. Compared to the 30-year-old veteran Chris Bosh, the 23-year-old Paul George is at the peak of his physical fitness and function. Therefore, Paul .George kept playing behind the ball and suddenly threw a mid-range shot in front of Chris Bosh.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
Chris Bosh's defense is very hard, but Paul George is in better shape and feels better.
The two sides continued to fight.
After the first quarter, the bench lineups of both teams came on. Zhao Feiyang fully thought that he would be able to join forces with Ray Allen to deal with the opponent, but unexpectedly, head coach Erik Spoelstra skipped him again this time.
"Tony, you go to position two!"
"If Lei needs your cover, remember to go up and help him..."
Eric Spoelstra kept urging.
His arrangement also surprised other players.
Even LeBron James, who was taking a rest, noticed some clues. After other players came on the court, LeBron James quietly sat down next to head coach Erik Spoelstra.
"Coach Eric, I'm very confused, why not let Zhao play?"
"The combination of him and Lei is great...it will definitely hit the opponent. This is our advantage..."
Eric Spoelstra is also very embarrassed.
He was silent for a while, then responded to LeBron James in a low voice, "Someone asked me to do this...LeBron, I am also very helpless, but all this is for the team... ....."
LeBron James was thoughtful when he heard this.
He seemed to guess who ordered it.
But before he could speak again, coach Eric Spoelstra had already stood up. Coach Eric seemed a little afraid to discuss this issue with LeBron James, so he chose to escape.
Zhao Feiyang, who was sitting on the bench, was also helpless.
His face gradually became ugly.
On the court, the performance of the Heat's second lineup without Zhao Feiyang was not satisfactory, especially after Ray Allen was restricted by the opponent's defender many times, the three-point shooting advantage that the Heat was proud of was completely gone.
Not only that, the Indiana Pacers felt surprisingly good today, especially guard C.J. Watson. He threw three three-pointers within 4 minutes after coming on the field, which immediately overwhelmed the Heat. Waiting for the first half At the end of the game, the Heat also lost the lead because of such an oversight.
After the start of the second half, coach Erik Spoelstra may have been unable to withstand the pressure and finally gave Zhao Feiyang some playing time.
Zhao Feiyang played for more than 5 minutes and felt pretty good. He threw 2 three-pointers and scored 1 layup.
But before he could continue to play, he was replaced by head coach Eric again.
"Why?"
"Did I not play well enough?"
"I only played for 5 minutes, and even the substitute players played far more than me..."
When Zhao Feiyang returned to the bench, he expressed dissatisfaction to head coach Eric.
Head coach Eric comforted him while replacing other players.
However, the situation on the field became increasingly uncontrollable, especially after the lack of stable output. When the game reached the last quarter with less than 3 minutes left, the situation on the field had completely tilted towards the Indiana Pacers.
The score was 90 to 105.
The 15-point difference left the tired Big Three scrambling.
Their performance was not bad, but the bench lineup could not give them enough support, resulting in less rest time for the Big Three and more physical exertion on the court.
The Indiana Pacers seized on this loophole of the Heat and successfully defeated the Heat with the Big Three with a wave of offense.
When the score reached this point, head coach Erik Spoelstra finally became anxious.
He tried to send Zhao Feiyang to the stage again, but was ruthlessly rejected by Zhao Feiyang.
"Going to the special code game...if I had been sent up earlier, the situation would definitely not be so bad..."
"I'm not a firefighter, let alone Michael Jordan. I can't save this situation..."
