Chapter 285: Charge!
Amid the roaring cheers of the crowd, Pau Gasol tipped the ball back to the Heat's half, and the Eastern Conference Finals officially began.
The Heat showed no signs of panic in the face of the Cavaliers' Death Lineup. They immediately went to Pau Gasol in the post for their first offensive possession.
With great spacing on the floor, the Cavaliers' help defense couldn't fully collapse. Gasol backed down Tristan Thompson, spinning into a hook shot to give the Heat the opening bucket.
The Cavaliers had already used this Death Lineup against the Heat during the regular season, and their biggest issue had been TT's inability to defend Gasol in the post.
But Coach Michael Malone didn't react. He stood there calmly, as if he'd expected this all along.
On the other end, Kyrie Irving took control. In isolation, he danced with the ball, shifting directions multiple times to blow past Goran Dragić.
Dragić wasn't a bad defender—he was above average by league standards. But against Kyrie, it just wasn't enough.
Seeing Kyrie beat his man, Luol Deng and Gasol moved in for a trap defense.
PJ Tucker was wide open in the corner, but Kyrie didn't even glance that way. Instead, he drove straight into Gasol, absorbing the contact and drawing the foul.
No acrobatics. No signature reverse layup. Just direct, aggressive basketball.
It was a small detail, but it revealed something important: Kyrie's mindset had changed.