The Cowboys' journey officially began, and the first opponent was the Heat team who had already played against them, as I said before, their three-point shot was not bad, and it needs to be paid attention to, and Johnson was indifferent to Jimmy's three-point shot - although Jimmy doesn't shoot many three-pointers, it doesn't mean that he can be empty outside the three-point line.
The Spurs are entangled with the opponent for three quarters, each quarter is a gap of 1~2 points, after the third quarter, the Spurs are only 1 point behind, at this stage, the Heat and the Spurs have not opened the difference to more than 10 points, and it looks like the strength is comparable.
As everyone knows, the Heat is playing the game in an orderly manner, while the Spurs are not the same style, but it just so happens that the Heat did not open a three-point shot in the first three quarters, and the Spurs can bite the score, but the unflustered Heat has been waiting for the Spurs to make a mistake.
Finally, they waited, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs' offense was in trouble, repeatedly unable to score under the Heat's defense, and there was even a 24-second violation, and the Heat seized the opportunity to play a 7-0, and at this time, Wemban's break time came.
When Wemban went down to rest, the Spurs' problems on both offensive and defensive ends continued to be magnified, and in the face of Adebayo and Herro's blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation, and Jimmy's fancy singles, the Spurs had no effective countermeasures.
On the offensive end, the Heat's joint defense made the Spurs suffer, the outside projection was not good, the breakthrough point was broken again, and when it came to relying on Collins to open the situation, you know how bad the offense is.
Where would the Heat let go of such an opportunity, they played with all their strength, broke through and scored three points, and after a head-to-head offensive, the difference came to 17 points.
At this time, there were only more than 3 minutes left, and Popovich saw that there was no hope of chasing points, so he simply stopped going to class, replaced with a group of substitutes, and announced that it was garbage time.
In the middle of the quarter, the Heat played a wave of 29-11 with excellent offense and defense, among them, figuring out the Spurs' routine is a reason, Jimmy's habit of being serious in the fourth quarter is a reason, and the Spurs' own short circuit is also a reason.
"They're more experienced...... In the fourth quarter, it showed us that," Popovich said. "They beat us in the fourth game. ”
The Heat's talent isn't great, but they're experienced and disciplined, and they don't have much trouble dealing with a young and inexperienced team like the Spurs.
Jimmy, Herro and Bam Adebayo alone have caused a lot of problems for the Spurs, and their bench is the icing on the cake, beating the Spurs and losing the ability to resist in a short period of time.
Wembanyama struggled a bit under the Heat's tough defense. Although he had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds, he couldn't capitalize on a couple of misalignments to make a kill.
Defensively, the Heat players have learned their lessons and are much more cautious in front of Wemban, and his impact is not as strong as usual. He only had one block in the game, and some Heat players were even able to throw the ball above his outstretched arm.
Vassell had a cold three-point shot, shooting 1-of-6 from the field, but fortunately he was able to play aggressively from mid-range and under the basket, making 18 shots and handing in a team-high 19 points like Jones.
Johnson, who came off the bench, was lost, and he barely took advantage of the veteran rookie Harkes, hitting just three of his 10 shots and missing all four three-pointers.
Vassell continues to evolve, while Johnson is becoming less efficient than him, and finishing under the basket is not as varied as Vassell.
Perhaps, it is time for Johnson to take stock of his performance as a substitute during this time.