36 hours after Denver’s relatively easy victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, both teams had the perspective to analyze the start of the last quarter, which saw Miami go 14-0 to the Nuggets to restart the game. At the heart of that streak was the Heat’s one-of-a-kind zone defense.
2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1, 1-2-2, the patterns of zone defenses played in the NBA and elsewhere in the world are known. In Miami, Erik Spoelstra pushed the limits of this strategy by giving his players more freedom and trusting Bam Adebayo as the last defense.
The Heat play a 2-3 zone that, at times, can look like a 4-1 and manage to keep the ball off the key, forcing their opponents to take tough long-range shots.
During the first half of Game 1, Miami left its zone when Nikola Jokic blew on the bench at the start of the second quarter and Denver was able to find solutions. In the last quarter, however, their offensive process was slowed down by this defense.
The Nuggets had some good shots
Saturday, however, the Nuggets all repeated the same thing during training: “We knew how to create open shots, we just missed them. » Mike Malone has listed them.
“The first two shots against the area, Nikola (Jokic) was in the middle of the racket, good shots. Jamal (Murray) tried one in the same conditions, good shot. We didn’t put them in. Michael Porter Jr. had a shot in the corner, good shot. It didn’t come back. »
Despite this vote of confidence for their attack, Bruce Brown still spilled the beans. “We worked on that this morning, so hopefully we can be better tomorrow when they go through the zone. »
Then we asked Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope if the Miami area is as unique and different as it looks when you face it on the court. The younger of the two then confirmed what we saw in Game 1.
“During this moment of the match, we were content to take shots from far too far and contested shots. I don’t think we’ve ever played against an area like this, and it’s hard to adjust in the middle of a game when you don’t really know what’s going on.” he confessed.
Attack it faster
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, more experienced, first kicked in touch by downplaying the defensive lineup of Miami, and in particular the use of Haywood Highsmith against Nikola Jokic, before however giving a clue.
“We need to start our game moves earlier than 14 seconds left on the 24 clock. We need to keep playing simple, playing our basketball, and moving the ball to create open shots . »
Then keep an eye on how the Nuggets attack the zone in Game 2. “We are going to attack it differently, so I don’t know if it will have the same effect”confirmed rookie Cristian Braun, before leaving the final word to Jamal Murray.
“If we do what we have to do, we will get open shots. If we manage to punish them, they will be forced to abandon the area and return to individual status. »
Answer tomorrow, unless Erik Spoesltra still manipulates the form of his defense…
Interview in Denver.
