What the hell happened?
The Boston Celtics, who were considered strong contenders for the championship of the NBA Eastern Conference, are helplessly collapsing. 3-0 loss to the Miami Heat. Eventually, in the third game, they were defeated by 26 points.
Miami defeated the Boston Celtics 128-102, 26 points in Game 3 of the 2022-2023 Eastern Conference Finals (4 out of 7) held at the Caseya Center in Miami, USA on the 22nd (Korean time).
The NBA playoffs this season are a series of blues. Miami in the East and Los Angeles Lakers in the West.
However, it seemed that it would be ‘cleaned up’ in the final. Boston and Denver showed a very strong appearance from the regular league to the playoffs, and the blast of Miami and LA Lakers seemed to end here.
Experts’ predictions were no different. CBS Sports in the US commissioned 8 experts to conduct an emergency survey right before the finals.
In the East, all eight predicted Boston’s victory, and in the West, seven predicted Denver’s victory.
In fact, looking at the predictions right before the finals, the team with a high probability of causing a disturbance was the Los Angeles Lakers. It is because there are still top-notch active ‘King’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and as the series goes on, such as Austin Reeves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Dennis Schroeder, the team has the aspect of ‘one team’.
However, even this expectation was wrong. Denver is showing a dominant appearance with a 3-game winning streak, and Miami is completely overturning expectations and crushing Boston with a 3-game winning streak.
Why the hell did this happen?
▶Go away from the improvised ‘super team’
The top issue in the NBA playoffs this season is the collapse of the improvised super team.
The Phoenix Suns, who changed the team’s core during the season, created the perfect ‘fraud duo’ of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. They created the best scorer duo in NBA history. However, while giving away Durant, Miguel Bridges, the key player in the defense, had to be given to the Brooklyn Nets, and the second unit’s resources were weakened. In the end, they lost to Denver in the quarterfinals.
The Los Angeles Clippers have struggled in the playoffs this season due to Paul George’s season-out injury. On the other hand, teams that have strengthened their organizational skills for 2-3 years while maintaining strong cores have demonstrated strong power on the big stage of the playoffs.
Denver is a prime example. Denver has Jamal Murray around MVP-level Nicola Jokic. One-Two Punch has worked together for many years. Same with Michael Porter Jr. In addition, by arranging players such as Aaron Gordon, Caldwell-Pope, and Bruce Brown who are good at team play and can maximize the power of one-two punches, the team power itself was maximized. It has consistently been in first place since the regular league, and is showing greater power in the playoffs.
There is often a strong perception that superstars play a big role in the playoffs. actually it has been
However, the importance of role players who can maintain team speed and chemistry, along with the influence of superstars, has increased due to the increase in the proportion of three-point shots, strong transition basketball, and the expansion of second units.
Denver is showing a new trend. Ironically, the ‘dilemma’ that the LA Lakers faced in the finals is also similar to the key factor that helped them win and win.
The Los Angeles Lakers created a ‘turmoil’ in the playoffs by deploying players who were good at team coordination and team play, such as Russell and Reeves, to the powerful one-two punch of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Caught Golden State. However, at this point, the LA Lakers’ core, organizational power, and team chemistry do not reach Denver. In other words, they show good performance in every game, but in the end, they are repeating defeats.
▶Jimmy ‘Jordan’ rather than ‘King’ LeBron
The current playoff MVP is this player. Miami Heat’s powerful ace Jimmy Butler (Miami).
He is the league’s most underrated offensive and defensive forward. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers) Jayson Tatum (Boston) lacks 2% of the flashiness, power, and impact.
It was not at the MVP level in the regular league. But in the playoffs he’s strong. It’s like watching Kawhi Leonard win the Toronto Raptors.
It’s not flashy, but his scoring ability, which works every moment at clutch time, is formidable. In addition, the defensive power that points to the pulse is also at its peak.
Locally, it is called ‘Jimmy Jordan’ in the sense that the clutch situation is similar to Michael Jordan. Or “Jimmy Freaking Butler.” Freaking is a swear word, but it is used as a powerful exclamation.
Miami is based on the one-two punch of Butler and Bam Adebayo. Tyler Hiro, who was the main scorer, is injured for the season. The rest of the players are mostly undrafted players.
However, it is a powerful force.
The power to win and win in the Eastern Finals can be found in the systems of Miami and Boston, respectively.
First of all, Miami has a unique team culture under the leadership of Eric Spoelstra. He is good at ‘muddy basketball’, which suffocates the opponent based on his strong defense.
There are Butler and Adebayo, but they do not ‘hard carry’. Rather, they give a lot of roles to the rest of the players centered on their ace gravity. Gabe Vincent, Max Struss, and Duncan Robinson take turns playing. Kyle Lowry, who showed signs of deterioration in the regular season, also has nothing to do with offense and defense. In other words, he perfected a system that could maximize power in a situation where he formed a one-two punch.
However, Boston also had similar team colors. It boasts a strong rotation system centered on Jayson Tatum and Jayleen Brown, who were called the regular league super one-two punches. The defense of the team centered on Marcus Smart, who was selected as the defender of the year, is also solid.
However, there is a difference in the ‘strength’ of organizational power. While Miami properly pokes opponents’ weaknesses, Boston doesn’t come out beyond regular league fighting power.
Boston’s Achilles’ heel is its big man line, which alternates between Al Horford and Robert Williams. Horford is the league’s best stretch big man. He is good at 3-point shooting. But it’s slow. Robert Williams has strong vertical defense. He is a blocker with the highest height in the league. However, the ability to read the flow and the lack of experience being fooled by the opponent’s fake are weaknesses.
When Horford comes out, Miami puts pressure on Boston with Adebayo’s offensive rebound and 2-2 offense, which are ahead in athletic ability. If a double team enters Butler and Adebayo, an outlet pass to the outskirts and a high probability shooter’s 3-pointer will explode.
When Williams comes out, he attacks the mid-range, focusing on Jimmy Butler. Williams’ defensive range is not narrow, but he induces fouls with fakes.메이저사이트
In other words, no matter which Boston big man comes out, Miami is ready to launch the most probable offense, and is implementing it in reality. On the other hand, in Boston, only Tatum is struggling against Miami’s strong defense, while the rest of the players are struggling with a low field goal rate. This is the key to Miami’s lead with a three-game winning streak. In the clutch situation, the final blow is delivered by the butler.
Right before the finals, there were many evaluations that Miami would not be able to handle Boston’s ‘talent’. However, it is completely different. Boston’s unripe ‘young talent’ is collapsing, unable to cope with Miami’s unripe ‘organizational power’.