Chapter 806: Chapter 274: Su Wan’s Luck—Always Blessed with Powerful Teammates
"I can’t do it!"
Su Wan couldn’t make the shot on the first attempt, but Wade being too close allowed him to find a breakthrough opportunity.
The off-ball player moved back, conveniently throwing Wade entirely behind him, simultaneously avoiding his "Ghost Hand Steal". Chris Bosh’s help defense was very active.
But Su Wan jumped early, facing the hand that hadn’t reached him yet, and directly made the shot.
"Swoosh!"
Amidst the cheers of the entire crowd, the net swishing sound of the ball dropping into the hoop was almost inaudible, but on the sidelines, Spoelstra felt a heavy blow, his entire demeanor became much more serious.
This shot from Su Wan was enough to show his state tonight...
The Heat Team began their counterattack.
LeBron forcefully broke through Paul George with the ball, almost crushing him to the basket.
Paul George defended gritting his teeth, but was ultimately pushed away.
"Slap!"
Fortunately, Tyson Chandler rushed over, jumped high, and swatted LeBron’s shot away. LeBron’s first reaction upon landing was to cover his face. Seeing no response from the referee and Wade snatching the ball that was batted away, he quickly ran back to the basket.
But Wade, who had charged in, didn’t pass the ball to him, opting to attack with the ball himself and completed a layup.
He looked even more determined tonight compared to the trash-talking LeBron before the game.
Tyronn Lue and Mike Malone exchanged glances, their chemistry evident, so they understood that the other’s thoughts aligned with their own:
Wade really wants to win tonight!
But it’s okay, Su Wan can suppress him.
The important thing is still to restrict LeBron.
As long as you make him uncomfortable, he’ll naturally do things that hurt the team.
We can only say...
They now have a thorough understanding of LeBron.
So even though Wade scored, their adjustment was to swap Su Wan to face LeBron and have Paul George defend Wade.
In his sophomore year, after starting experience this season, Paul George is much more mature now.
This season, he averages 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists per game, and don’t look at the data not increasing significantly.
However, he does exceptionally well in shooting and fast breaks, fully showcasing his excellent catch-and-shoot ability and off-ball movement cutting ability.
Actually, in his prime, Paul George’s most outstanding scoring abilities were these two methods.
In contrast, when he’s the ball handler, his performance isn’t very good.
"The leg injury" still greatly affects his lateral movement and explosive power, causing his first step to be less impressive. While his ball-handling is very skilled, most of the time it’s like "cooking on the spot", doing unnecessary work.
Anyway, from Su Wan’s perspective, if Paul George continues to develop with the New York Knicks, he won’t be any less than his peak. Because his most essential skills for survival have been developed, just waiting to bear more responsibility and further hone these skills.
And his biggest improvement this season is his defensive ability.
Now he has no issues defending an average All-Star wing, it’s just when facing someone like LeBron with exceptional talent in certain areas that he still struggles a bit, his physical sturdiness needs further enhancement.
Originally, he only became the "Anti-James Pioneer" in 2014...
However, against Wade, he clearly handles it much better.
After all, Wade is still fierce this season, but is indeed starting to decline.
Last season was recognized as Wade’s final "absolute peak year".
This season, Wade’s decline is seen in his increasingly evident knee injury aftereffects, the swelling inside leading his knees to constantly swell, making actions that were once easily done very challenging.
And Paul George’s defensive trait is famously daring.
Lately, the nickname "Essence of the Human Highlight Reel" on him proves this point.
What kind of defender always becomes part of the "highlight reel"?
It’s simply someone who clings to the last moment without letting go!
Paul George and Tim Duncan are actually the same type of person on defense.
In this first quarter, Wade could continuously score over Paul George’s head, but with Wade’s condition affected by various factors, beginning to decline, Paul George suddenly became tougher, dominating the defensive end.
The Heat Team, originally trailing by just 5 points, suddenly went cold, falling into a "7-1" run during this time. Spoelstra’s reaction was fast enough, immediately calling a timeout.
Shaquille O’Neal glanced at the time:
minutes 34 seconds into the third quarter.
Then, took another look at the statistics of each player on both teams.
On the New York Knicks side, Su Wan with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; Stephen Curry 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Dior 6 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists; Paul George 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.
On the Heat Team’s side, Wade with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists; LeBron 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 turnovers; Chris Bosh 6 points, 4 rebounds; David Lee 9 points, 7 rebounds; Battier 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.
The stats clearly show that the Heat Team’s core in the early stage is Wade, while the New York Knicks’ core is Su Wan.
For a substantial period, both were advancing side by side.
It’s just starting from the third quarter, Wade gradually found it hard to cope with Paul George’s youthful and strong physique.