Chapter 1368 Targeting Five Pairs

James, Wade and Deron fought hard, but the inside line was not strong, and they only fell behind by 13 points. This was because they had a good shooting percentage outside, otherwise they would have fallen behind more.

Li Ba mainly played defense in the first quarter, and did not attack much. He made 3 shots from 3 shots, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

The Suns' offense was also mainly on the outside. Under the defense of James, Wade and Deron, the shooting percentage was not high, not as efficient as the Heat's outside line. It was mainly due to Li Ba's defense and Drummond's rebounds that they got more shots and led by 13 points.

Li Ba continued to play in the second quarter.

The Suns' bench lineup played better offensively, with Nene and Garnett taking turns to play inside, and Ginobili, Parsons, Nick Young and Jason Terry on the outside, all of whom can score.

Moreover, these substitutes have the ability to shoot from the outside, have the ability to pull away, and have a lot of room for breakthroughs.

So Li Ba still focused on defense in the second quarter, and did screens and organization work on the offensive end.

The Heat had no room for conservatism, and all the main players continued to play.

At the end of the first half, the score was 51:61, and the Suns were still leading by 10 points.

Li Ba scored 13 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in the first half.

"Boss, you haven't played a five-double in the playoffs yet, let's do it." After returning to the locker room and getting Li Ba's data, Harden shouted.

"Yes, yes..." The other teammates immediately agreed.

"Hammer, let's do it." Payton also said.

Li Ba took a look at the data sheet and smiled and said, "Let's see the opportunity, let's make sure we win first."

Ginobili smiled and said, "Let Andre go to the basket, Hammer plays the fourth position, assists in the outside defense, and there is no problem with inference and blocking."

Kidd said, "We need to play an accurate outside player, take advantage of the lead in the score, and let the assists double up."

Payton nodded and approved Kidd's suggestion.

He compared Harden with George Hill, Ginobili, Nick Young, and Terry, who were all similar, but Harden and Hill were a little immature in the face of Wade and Deron's defense, and their efficiency was always problematic.

"Manu, can you still play?" He looked at Ginobili.

Ginobili smiled and said, "It's only one quarter, I can still play two more quarters."

Li Ba laughed and said, "Let Manu play, Manu can be trusted at critical moments."

Next, Payton arranged several cooperation tactics for Li Ba and Ginobili.

Fifteen minutes later, the second half of the game began.

The Heat attacked, and Wade got the ball.

He had a good touch, making 6 of 11 shots today, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws, and had already scored 16 points.

The number of free throws was not too many, which was also the normal number of free throws he took every time he played against the Suns.

He was breaking through from the outside. As long as Li Ba was inside, the Suns' outside line would defend against shooting but not against breaking through. However, he could not break into the paint area, so his ability to draw fouls against the Suns was very weak, far below his average level.

"Swish!"

After breaking through Ginobili in one step, Wade shot just two steps into the paint area and made a mid-range shot.

Looking back, Li Ba suddenly ran from the low position to the high position, shook off the double team of James and Millsap, and received the pass from Harden.

At this time, Ginobili ran from the wing to the top of the arc, made a pick-and-roll with Harden, and got a little space.

Li Ba passed the ball, and Ginobili received the ball and made a jump shot.

Unfortunately, he missed.

And the rebound was just grabbed by Marvin Williams, and the Heat attacked.

Wade and Deron wanted to make a fast break, and quickly advanced to the frontcourt. Before Li Ba and Drummond entered the paint area, Wade shot a three-pointer.

Unfortunately, the three-pointer failed to make the shot, and the rebound was grabbed by Harden, and the Suns launched a counterattack.

Li Ba turned from the top of the arc, rushed into the front court, and received a pass from Harden at the top of the arc.

At this time, the Heat's defense was no longer in formation. Millsap's turn was not as fast as his, and he did not keep up. Only James kept up with his rhythm.

He rushed into the paint area with the ball, and suddenly slowed down and changed direction, pulling to the right wing.

James reacted quickly, although he was a beat slower, but he quickly followed.

At this time, Ginobili and Wade rushed to the three-point line. The former saw Li Ba's change of direction and instinctively stopped, while the latter rushed into the three-point line.

Li Ba threw the ball casually, and the ball flew to Ginobili. The latter took the ball and shot a wing three-pointer.

"Swish!"

The water splashed, and the three-pointer was hit.

"Beautiful, Ginobili can still play." Yu Jia shouted.

The Heat attacked.

Deron came to the top of the arc with the ball, and Harden suddenly rushed to grab the ball. He quickly pulled the ball back and dodged the latter's pressing.

At this time, James on the left wing immediately retreated to the three-point line to support Deron.

Li Ba under the basket had an idea and immediately made a move to help defend James.

But this was fake. He just gave Deron a hint that you can pass the ball to Millsap under the basket.

Regardless of whether Deron passed the ball or not, he would immediately return to the basket after taking two steps out at most.

Deron did notice Li Ba's help defense and saw the empty space under the basket. He pushed the ball in with both hands.

When he held the ball with both hands, Li Ba took the second step, braked, and then turned around immediately. At this time, he pushed the ball to the basket.

"Damn it!"

His heart immediately skipped a beat.

Li Ba turned around and took a big step, then took a small step, which was equivalent to a cushion step, and then flew up.

Millsap looked at the basketball flying in, and heard the sharp friction of the shoes behind him. Then he jumped up, caught the ball with both hands, and pressed forward.

But the next moment, a big hand suddenly appeared in front of him, and then a force pulled the basketball away.

"Bang!"

He smashed his hands on the basket.

"Yeah!"

Amid the cheers of the whole audience, countless palms shook.

Barkley laughed and said, "This kind of scenery has only been seen in the American West Arena, but now it appears in the American Airlines Center.

In the Heat's home court, the fans are rejecting the Heat's attack on the basket. I wonder what the Heat thinks?"

Kenny Smith laughed and said, "The Heat must be thinking, how to drive these fans out?"

"The Heat will be punished to death by Mr. Stern." Barkley complained.

At this time, the Suns advanced to the frontcourt, and Li Ba was in the low position on the left wing and was double-teamed in advance.

Li Ba suddenly turned around and slid to the bottom, attracting Millsap and James to turn and run to the basket, but the next moment, he turned again.

"Swoosh!"

Harden passed the ball in.

The ball was passed a little too fast, and Li Ba didn't catch it firmly, so it slipped out of his hands. Fortunately, he caught it again.

But then Millsap and James double-teamed him again.

Just at this moment, Li Ba suddenly backhanded the ball between James' legs, passed the ball on the ground, and passed it into the basket.

The two looked back and saw that Ginobili had cut to the basket and received the ball for a layup.

"This is a beautiful pass!" Yu Jia shouted happily.

"9 assists, a triple-double is guaranteed today." Zhang Heli smiled.