NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 649 Superstar Offense Determines the Ceiling

The Clippers overcame a 0-9 deficit to catch up, thanks to Olynyk's free-throw line playmaking and Jia Fei's individual ability. Zone defenses are most vulnerable to free-throw line playmaking and three-pointers, and the Clippers haven't yet demonstrated their three-point shooting prowess, which is a major concern for the Heat.

The Heat's teamwork and zone defense discipline are indeed good, which is one of the reasons why the Clippers' three-point shooting was temporarily off. But will the Clippers' three-point shooting continue to be off?

This team has five players shooting over 40% from three-point range in the regular season, making them a formidable outside shooting force. Their starting lineup consistently maintains a five-outside formation, a nightmare for traditional centers. The Heat aren't a team with a dominant center; their center, Adebayo, is a top-tier small-ball center, yet they still fear teams with five outside shooters.

No team is afraid of a team with a five-outside lineup. Even the Rockets, who are known for their small lineup and endless switching defense, are afraid of such teams. It's not that they have to rely on three-pointers to kill you, but the main thing is that teams with this lineup spread out the space completely.

In this situation, whether it's a cut inside to attack the rim or Jia Fei attacking the rim directly, the pressure on the rim protection is enormous. Once you choose to collapse the defense, the outside will be full of opportunities.

To win against a team like this, there are basically only two ways. One is to overwhelm them with offense. I can't defend you, but I can attack you better. I use magic to defeat magic. The other way is to gamble. Double-team key players and leave role players open, hoping that the opponent won't make the shot.

Both paths are incredibly difficult. First, the Clippers were the league's most efficient offensive team per 100 possessions last season. It's extremely difficult to win an offensive battle against such a team. Moreover, they are also the league's most efficient defensive team per 100 possessions. They possess both the sharpest spear and the strongest shield. Under these circumstances, trying to overwhelm them with offense is virtually impossible. The second path is even more of a gamble. Let alone whether you can completely limit a superstar like Jia Fei with double teams, even if you let this team, which is among the top 3 in the league in perimeter shooting, keep shooting open, you might get lucky and win one game. But the NBA playoffs aren't March Madness. You have to win 4 games to advance. Do you expect them to miss 4 games?

So far this season, in the Western Conference, the team that has truly broken down the Clippers' defense is not the Trail Blazers, nor the Rockets, but the Nuggets.

Jokic of the Nuggets is the player who truly exploits the Clippers' defensive weaknesses. Moreover, his passing threat, along with the presence of players like Murray, makes the Clippers hesitant to double-team. Even so, the Clippers can still sweep their opponents with their superior offense.

Anyone who has studied probability theory would not say such a thing. This is why there are very few upsets in the NBA playoffs, such as the eighth or seventh seed being upset. Such situations often occur because of unexpected events such as injuries or internal conflicts among the teams in the upper bracket. If everyone starts on equal footing and plays a series, the team with the better record will most likely advance to the next round.

After the timeout, the game resumed.

Heat offense, Adebayo overpowers Olynyk in the low post, but misses his turnaround hook shot!

While Adebayo is agile, technically versatile, and a well-rounded defender, he's ultimately just a 206cm tall center. In the past, he would have been a power forward, but in today's small-ball era, he plays center. As a center, his individual ball-handling and offensive abilities are just average. Anthony Davis isn't a ball-handling master, but he's still better than Adebayo. For star players, as long as their defense isn't particularly weak, their offensive value outweighs their defensive value. In the playoffs, a team's ceiling is determined by the offensive capabilities of its star players.

The saying "defense wins championships" is true, but defense is the foundation, not the ceiling. Often, defense alone isn't enough to win a championship. Many people say the 2004 Pistons won the championship because of their defense, but that shows they haven't watched the games. The Pistons' defense was indeed strong, but what truly defeated them was that Derek Fisher couldn't contain Chauncey Billups. It wasn't Ben Wallace dominating Shaquille O'Neal, or Hamilton dominating Kobe Bryant, but Billups dominating Derek Fisher.

True superstars are unstoppable; all you can do is limit them and reduce their efficiency. But if you can't score yourself, you'll ultimately lose the series. After all, the fundamental logic of winning in basketball is who scores more points.

Gallinari secured the defensive rebound and passed it to Jia Fei to advance the ball.

The Heat continued to use their zone defense, and they did not fall behind, while the opponent's three-pointers remained unavailable.

Jia Fei still passed the ball to Olynyk, and then played an off-ball screen with Paul George.

This play was very difficult for the opposing team to defend. The two stars were setting screens for each other, making it easy for them to leave open players. Moreover, the Heat couldn't field two defenders who could simultaneously limit both of them.

This is the dilemma many teams in the league are currently facing: you can't have two strong wing defenders on your team at the same time. While Paul George isn't as unstoppable as JaVale James, and you could say he's a bully who only plays against strong opponents, when he's on fire and the defender is a bit off, he can explode for points. This is no joke; quite a few teams have fallen victim to his scoring prowess during the regular season.

Jia Fei suddenly sank to the bottom!

Olynyk passed the ball to Gallinari, who immediately passed it to Jia Fei!

Jia Fei received the ball in the corner and unleashed a powerful three-pointer!

Although Deng Luo pounced, it was too late. Even if he hadn't lost his position, if Jia Fei had pulled up for a shot, he would have been left with nothing but a face shot.

No one on the Heat roster can really limit Jia Fei's pull-up jump shot in a one-on-one situation. The main factor affecting his jump shot is his shooting touch!

The ball flew straight toward the basket, and before it even went in, Jia Fei had already made the "3" gesture!

"Swish—" It went in cleanly into the basket. The sound was so crisp that even basketball players love it!

11:14, the Clippers take the lead!

This was the Clippers' first lead of the game. After falling behind 0-9 at the start, they went on a 14-2 run, completely turning the tide of the game.

Coach Buden on the sidelines clapped happily. He was so grateful that Jia Fei was on his side; he was so fortunate to coach this man. The feeling of holding a Gundam was simply wonderful; those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand.

Coach Spoelstra on the other side looked more serious. The opponent's three-pointer was bad news for them, and if they continued to make them, it would be a huge blow. But he didn't have a better solution. Playing zone defense means taking this risk. There is no perfect defensive strategy in the world, and defense is ultimately a passive approach.

During the Heat's offense, JB singled out Gallinari, who hit a mid-range jumper to help his team stay close in the score!

13:14, a difference of 1 points!