Coach Spoelstra brought the starter back to play the final three minutes. McHale was forced to replace Parsons to guard James. The Rockets' defensive disadvantages were further amplified.
When the Rockets attack, Jeremy Lin takes over the organizational responsibility and lets Harden take a break.
After more than one quarter, he has gradually adapted to the Heat's pressing defense and plays more calmly.
Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball at the top of the key to face Chalmers' defense. He dribbled under his hips, lifted his center of gravity slightly, and made a small drag step to the left, misleading Chalmers to break through to the left.
"Come on, let me see how fast you are."
Chalmers stood ready, muttered words, and took a step to his right.
Jeremy Lin seized this time difference, lowered his crotch again, and quickly stepped forward with his right foot.
Chalmers quickly adjusted, quickly regained his focus, and stood in front of Jeremy Lin again.
Jeremy Lin has already been mentally prepared and does not expect to pass the opponent with a change of direction.
He made a very smooth dribbling connection choice, swung his hips back to his left hand, then successfully passed Chalmers with a cross step, and scored the ball against Bosh's long-arm throw.
45:50.
The score difference is only 5 points.
The Heat's offense still beats James.
After two seasons of running-in, coupled with the fact that Wade is over 30 and his personal abilities have declined, the Heat's first choice in regular time has been clearly given to James.
Although Wade has entered a period of decline, he is still very strong. He hides his strength and bides his time during the regular time, but at critical moments, Wade often stands up to take responsibility and take over the game.
Facing Parsons' defense, James called on his teammates to pull away.
His domineering expression seemed to tell his teammates: Brother, please step aside, the tank is about to take off.
Parsons lowered his center of gravity, assumed a defensive stance, and swallowed nervously.
James dribbled the ball to adjust his rhythm, and suddenly took a long stride and rushed directly to the left. His generous body and his assistant hand pushed Parsons away, and he combined the ball to the right for a layup and scored the ball.
45:52.
Parsons shook his head helplessly. He originally went for the foul, but the ideal was full and the reality was very skinny.
When James bumped into him, he felt like he was about to fall apart. His whole body was in a very bad condition. He flew backwards, unable to hold back at all, and couldn't find a chance to foul.
On the Rockets' side, Jeremy Lin faced Chalmers and once again broke through to the outside of the three-second zone, turned around and made a jumper to score the ball.
47:52.
Looking back, James continued to attack Parsons, and Parsons flew out again, watching helplessly as James succeeded in a tomahawk chop.
47:54.
Lin once again used rhythm and a super-quick first step to get past Chalmers.
In fact, many players in the league were misled by Jeremy Lin's yellow skin.
His first step and speed are faster than those of most black players, even faster than Wall, Rose, Irving and others.
This time, the Heat did not allow Jeremy Lin to take Chalmers alone. Bosh predicted Jeremy Lin's breakthrough route in advance and quickly recovered.
Jeremy Lin saw the move and jumped up. Bosh rushed to interfere with Jeremy Lin's shot.
But he didn't expect that Jeremy Lin's shot was not a shot. After jumping up, he found Asik who was unmarked near the rim.
Asik caught the ball and dunked easily.
49:54.
Relying on Jeremy Lin's periodic outbursts, the Rockets fought back and forth with the Heat, tenaciously holding on to the score without letting the point difference widen.
James continued to bully Parsons, and Patterson also came up to attack. Faced with two defenders, James did not choose to dominate and stepped forward. He cleverly distributed the ball to find Battier who was left open in the bottom corner.
Wide Open! (undefended)
Battier raised his hand and hit a three-pointer in the sweet spot he is most familiar with, where he has brought a lot of help to the Yao-Mai combination.
49:57.
With 36 seconds left before the end of the first half, Jeremy Lin quickly advanced to the frontcourt, hoping to grab a two-for-one opportunity.
Coming to the frontcourt, he braked suddenly and pulled back. Chalmers, who was retreating, was staggered and almost fell to the ground.
Jeremy Lin seized the opportunity and made a three-point jumper.
"Snapped!"
The basketball did not fly to the basket, but changed its trajectory at the moment of release and flew out of the court, knocking over the popcorn in the hands of the children watching the ball on the sidelines.
It turned out that Wade, who was being chased back, slapped his hat from behind.
Jeremy Lin smiled helplessly. The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole is behind. Facing a team of this level, any carelessness will be punished.
The Rockets sent a sideline ball, and Harden stood up after more than two minutes of silence to execute the last attack of the first half.
The Heat's defensive formation has been set up. There is no need for him to rush to grab two shooting opportunities. He might as well ensure efficiency, play steadily and score one.
Harden reduced the attack time to 8 seconds.
Faced with Wade's defense, after dribbling a smooth combo, he took a step and made a three-pointer.
"Bang!"
The trajectory of the ball was very positive, but unfortunately the force was too small and it hit the front of the basket.
James grabbed the rebound, counterattacked in a row, pushed past three Rockets in a row, and dunked the ball into the basket before the midfield buzzer sounded.
"Beep."
The first half ended at 49:59.
James took a dominant step and ran back to the locker room with satisfaction.
“Actually, the Rockets did a good job in the first half.
As soon as the team came up, they seemed very uncomfortable facing the Heat's championship-level defensive intensity, and they were beaten hard.
But it only took one quarter to adjust. For most of the second quarter, the Heat were under pressure, except for the last two minutes before halftime, which were not handled well. "
"This is also where young teams need to grow. The closing stage of each quarter is very important. If you are not careful, the score difference of 5 or 6 points can reach double digits."
Zhang Weiping commented.
"What about the Heat? How did Director Zhang think they performed in the first half?"
Yang Jian asked questions at the right time.
"On the Heat's side, James played extremely well in the first half, scoring 22 points on 8 of 12 shots and 6 of 8 free throws. He didn't take any three-pointers. He scored all goals under the basket and free throws.
The Rockets don't have a defender who can match James. Morris Jr. has tried very hard to defend, but the effect is not great, and Parsons' coming up is even more useless. "
"McHale's strategy for this game is to defend James one-on-one without being flanked.
Because the Heat have further strengthened their outside shooting capabilities with the addition of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis this season. As long as the Rockets are flanking, there will be opportunities from the outside. "
"So McHale just had to let James go one-on-one, and he would never let you connect the team or drive his teammates. If you had the ability, you would kill me.
James looked at it and said, "Good guy, do as you wish. See how I beat you to death. I can win the game by myself." "
Zhang Weiping's analysis is very humorous.
"Do you think the Rockets' defensive strategy will be adjusted in the second half? How do you think it should be adjusted?"
Yang Jian continued to ask questions.
"I think it will, and the defensive strategy will be adjusted. James played very easily in the first half.
The physical exertion is not great. If he continues to play like this, his efficiency in the fourth quarter will not drop much.
And don't forget, the Heat still have Wade here, and the Rockets also don't have a good defender to deal with Wade. "
"If I were McHale, I would choose a targeted double attack and double attack when James releases the ball.
Ray Allen, Battier, Mike Miller, and Lewis cannot be released, but Bosh, Wade, and Chalmers can be released and let them shoot. "
“Although these three people can shoot, their efficiency is not high, especially Bosh.
Although Bosh has expanded unexpectedly this season to create breakthrough space for James and Wade, his mid-to-long-range shooting efficiency is not high, less than 30%.
With such a shooting rate, it is much better to let him shoot than to let James hit him one by one. "
Zhang Weiping is worthy of being a senior basketball commentator, and he analyzes the situation on the court very clearly.
