In the 2013 Finals G6, Ray Allen hit a “fatal” three pointer, making the work of the staff who were already preparing for the championship ceremony futile. This three point, as well as the failure of the G7, has left a deep impression on all the “Spurs” and is unforgettable.
Fortunately, a year later, the Spurs made a comeback and easily won the Heat without any bloodshed, making up for last year’s regret and composing a wonderful epic of revenge. The Spurs and the Heat, each team wins one championship, divide the autumn equally, and settle their grudges. Ten years have passed, with the vicissitudes of the sea and the ups and downs of the world, things have already changed on both sides. The only people who have personally experienced the games of the year on the Heat’s side are Bishop Spo and the team’s soul and mascot Haslem, while the Spurs have only experienced veteran Popovich preparing to take on a third generation of new players and work hard.
And Derek White, on the other hand, has reignited the grudge today! Derek White, the “White Emperor”, was selected in the 29th place by the Spurs in 2017 and quickly became a key player for the Spurs after a brief adaptation. His style of play was tough and ghostly, reminiscent of Argentinians, and he was also expected by many fans to be the successor of the Magic Knife at that time.
Although he was later traded to the Celtics due to team reconstruction, he was a legitimate Spurs product after spending five years in San Antonio. There should be a consensus among those who understand the NBA: from teaching assistants to players, the Spurs must produce high-quality products! Today, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, where the Spurs lost 10 years ago. Derek White, who emerged from the Spurs, put on the Celtics’ number 9 jersey.
In the last three seconds, the team was one point behind. When Smart forcefully took a shot and slid out of the basket, he ghostly shot from the bottom corner, jumped high, and gently placed the ball back into the basket, completing a final victory against the Heat, bringing the series back to Boston. At that moment, everything was quiet at home, and all the Heat fans who stood up and waved their arms to celebrate stopped moving, watching the Eastern Conference championship they had won be taken down by the Green Army. This feeling should have been felt by the Spurs fans back then.
Derek White has once again completed his revenge for the former home team San Antonio Spurs! In fact, six days ago, when the Heat held three match points, everyone believed that the Green Army would become a laughing stock. Last year’s runner up, this year’s second in the eastern region, was unexpectedly defeated by the remaining eighth in the eastern region and couldn’t find the north. Everyone knows what 3:0 means, and ESPN also gave the Green Army a 72% chance of promotion, making everything even more comical.
However, the Green Army did not give up, and Mazura changed his defensive strategy in a timely manner. Instead of blindly defending Butler as before, he allowed Hoford and Rowe to switch defense extensively, limiting Butler’s mid to long range shooting. White or Brown tightly controlled his footplate during single defense to prevent him from speeding up, and even went up to the double towers of Hoford Garrowe to suppress the Heat’s scoring in the penalty area. So Butler has been playing extremely uncomfortable and sluggish in these three games, and the Heat have also lost three consecutive games. However, Spo did not succumb to capture. Butler was not in good form in this game, and the opposite team, Tatum, was unable to play singles. The Heat have been trailing by about 10 points. Spo was not in a hurry, but remained calm. In the last five minutes of the game, with a big wave of his hand, he switched to the 221 joint defense, and at the last moment, he changed his formation and fought hard, without giving you any chance to breathe or adjust.
Sure enough, the Green Army suddenly struggled to attack when they didn’t adapt, and Tatum couldn’t throw the ball well when facing the double team. To charge in, they had to face Adebayor’s defense and continuously hit the iron. On the Heat side, Butler, who had been ironclad all day, suddenly stiffened back and continued his military training at Hoford. First, the bottom corner scored three runs head-on, followed by a breakthrough to create a kill, followed by a breakthrough to create 2+1, and then the bottom corner made a new foul. More interestingly, after being challenged by the Green Army, the referee changed the foul to a shooting foul, with 2 penalties becoming 3. Butler’s last season demon king returned and scored 15 points on an in out pitch.
In the last three seconds, the Heat finally took a lead by one point. As is well known, sideline tactics are a world-class challenge. Today, Mazura’s layout was also unsatisfactory: Tatum, who was running out to catch the ball, was sandwiched between Butler and Struss, while Brown was tightly held by Adebayor, and Hoford in the corner was watched by Martin. Helplessly, White could only pass the ball to Smart. In just three seconds, Smart couldn’t think much and turned around to forcefully take a three-point shot. This position is very close to the position where Fisher killed the Spurs in 0.4 seconds.
The Heat did not send anyone to interfere with White’s serve, which left a hidden danger. After passing the ball, White gained a space and quickly slid down the baseline to the basket to prepare for a rebound. Adebayor was busy pushing Hoford and not caring about him, while Struss left Tatum to catch up too late. Smart’s shot brushed on the ball frame and fell to the left. White received the ball with a gentle release, completing a seconds long goal in one go.
In the three games that the Celtics brought back, White scored 16 points, 24 points (the highest in the game), and 11 points (the ultimate goal), which can be said to be the third hero besides the double explorers. The defender who emerged from the Spurs has now become an indispensable and important rotation player in the Green Army, and his hard work and defensive ability will become an important reliance for the Green Army on the road to the championship. So now, the pressure is on the Heat’s side, is it to create history to advance to the finals, or is it to be made history to make three catch four?
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