The Miami Heat torched the Brooklyn Nets 103 to 73 in an impressive defensive clinic. The Heat held the Nets under 19 points in every quarter except of the first (22), while going crazy on the offensive end as well. LeBron Jame flirted with another triple double tonight, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Dwyane Wade helped with 22 points (12 in the 2nd quarter alone) and 5 rebounds.
The Nets kept it close in the first half by going inside to their big men, Brook Lopez (8 points and 7 rebounds) and Kris Humphries (11 points and 11 rebounds) to take advantage of Heat's missing height. But Spolestra came out in the second with a different defensive approach and as you can see, the final score pretty much told you how it worked out.
Deron Williams led all Nets with 14 points, his struggles against the Miami defense, made him lose the ball 7 times to add to Brooklyn's total of 19 turnovers, which led to 31 Heat points.With no help from the bench, the Nets crumbled in the American Airlines Arena.
Offensive End:
If you couldn't tell already, Miami really likes to run and there is no better team to do so. Their ball movement tonight was beautiful, extra passes and just good decisions. In the half court, the Heat trio will draw doubles every time they get the ball and there will always be a lonely shooter waiting behind the arc. The Heat don't really run set plays, except for this consistent off ball screen to free Ray Allen.
I have got to give props to Mario Chalmers, I used to really hate this kid, because he was cocky on a team with 3 future Hall of Famers, but his play has been improving every year and if he can set guys up like he did in this game, I can't imagine how good he will make this team.
Brooklyn went to their big men early, and it was effective until the second half. Deron Williams will create opportunities via dribble penetration. Not much pick and roll play today, probably due to Miami's great rotations, but he found some points in this play. He will pass the ball to Joe Johnson in the wing and then go by two screens to either get the ball back up top if there was nobody open or get into the corner for a open shot.
Joe Johnson has yet to get going in his new black jersey, going 4 of 14 and forcing lots of ugly shots.
Defensive End:
I know I go on about the Heat's defense a lot, but how can you not, they are so disciplined and knows their places so well that it is weird to see a mistake. They do like to pack the paint, especially against Brooklyn's bigger players and could still get out to shooters in time to affect the shot. In pick and rolls, they know how to take away lanes and if you try to get by, the ball will be gone and into the your basket in less than 2 seconds.
Just by going over their Brooklyn's roster, there is already a problem on defense, they just can't keep guys in front of them. Their rotations were decent in the first half, and then it disappeared in the second, when Miami killed them repeatedly in transition.
Rookie Watch:
No notable performances, just 3 points from Mirza Teletovic, who went 1 of 8 on the floor.
No comments:
Post a Comment