Chapter 183

With 33 seconds left in the third quarter, the Heat were temporarily trailing the Pistons by 13 points, 97-84. Eric Spolsky appeared very relaxed—the toughest part had passed. “Everyone did a great job just now, but the real test has only just begun. There’s less than four minutes left in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter is about to start. We’re still 13 points behind. If we can turn things around, our morale will surely soar,” said Spolsky with hope. “With a little over three minutes left in the third quarter, James and Wade finally came onto the court at the same time. They had rested for almost nine minutes off the court, plus the halftime break, so their stamina should be pretty restored. But they’re still 13 points behind the Pistons. To catch up quickly, offense alone isn’t enough; we need to improve our defense as well.” Yu Jia’s commentary on James and Wade’s simultaneous entry was fairly balanced—indeed, the Heat’s chances of winning were slim at that point. However, Spolsky kept Mario Chalmers on the court because, among the other players, he had the best playmaking skills, and Mike Bibby needed him to help with the playmaking duties. In the remaining three minutes of the third quarter, Bibby focused more on offense. DeWayne Wade’s previous jump shot also resulted in a foul on McGrady, so he made both free throws. On the Pistons’ offense, Zhou Yi carried the ball across half-court before passing it to McGrady. McGrady drove past DeWayne Wade and scored with a quick stop-and-jump shot. Mario Chalmers quickly brought the ball across half-court; his first pass was naturally to Mike Bibby. But since he came onto the court, Zhou Yi had been closely following him. Among the Pistons’ current players, aside from the aging Samuel Dalembert, Zhou Yi was the best defender. He was also good at drawing offensive fouls. At this critical moment, John Kuester naturally entrusted him with the defensive responsibilities, with the other Pistons players ready to help out.

Although Mike Bibby no longer has his previous speed and isn’t responsible for organizing the team’s offense, his impact on the court is evident—there are always at least two Pistons players focusing on him, and Dwyane Wade also needs to help defend him, which still poses some issues for the Pistons’ zone defense strategy.

Mario Chalmers quickly passed the ball to Chris Bosh. The Pistons didn’t assign anyone specifically to defend Bosh, and they hadn’t expected that Bibby’s first pass after returning to the court would be to him, leaving them helpless as he scored with a mid-range shot.

Bosh’s shot was crucial. After Bibby returned, the Pistons’ main defensive focus had been on him, but with that shot, they had to pay attention to other Heat players as well, reducing the pressure on Bibby.

Charlie Villanueva’s mid-range shot missed, and the ball went back to the Heat. Mario Chalmers scored from beyond the three-point line, and the Heat scored 5 points in half a minute, narrowing the score gap to 9 points.

John Kuester immediately called a timeout. The sudden surge from two Heat players completely disrupted his tactical plans. With Bibby not yet fully involved, the Heat had already closed the gap by 5 points—this situation demanded caution.

“The game has reached a critical moment, so John Kuester wisely called a timeout. Any change now could determine the outcome. It’s normal for two role players on the Heat to score consecutively—when Bibby and Dwyane Wade are both on the court, the Pistons have to use double-team tactics on them, creating opportunities for the others,” explained Yu Jia.

Andre Iguodala’s overall shooting percentage wasn’t high today—5 out of 12 attempts so far—but his performance from beyond the three-point line was impressive. He had 3 out of 4 three-point attempts so far in the game.

After the timeout, Iguodala continued his strong form. After a simple screen with Zhou Yi, he scored from the baseline.

Mario Chalmers drove across half-court, didn’t linger with the ball, and quickly passed it to Mike Bibby. At that moment, only Zhou Yi was around Bibby. Although other Pistons players were lurking nearby, the situation was much better than before with the double team.

Taking a step back, he increased the distance between the two. Mike Bibby hit a high hook shot, the ball quickly passing over Zhou Yi’s head, and LeBron James turned and made a jump shot.