He Xi Meng caught the ball at half court, took a step past the logo circle, and sidestepped Wade, who was charging forward ferociously. In Wade's bewildered eyes, He Xi Meng abandoned the fast break to the basket and instead opted for a super-long three-pointer, two steps beyond the three-point line!
Wade skidded to a halt, spun around, and lunged to contest He Xi Meng's long-range shot.
But He Xi Meng's shot had an extremely high arc, and Wade's sudden lunge was completely unable to interfere.
He Xi Meng made his third consecutive three-pointer, erasing the Heat's efforts over the past stretch and extending their lead to 8 points.
The North Garden Arena erupted with a unified chant of "MVP."
Tens of thousands of Celtics fans were captivated by He Xi Meng's explosive performance, rising to give him their highest respect.
Riley was forced to call a timeout, interrupting He Xi Meng's unstoppable three-point shooting spree and intending to devise a reliable offensive and defensive strategy for the Heat.
After the timeout, the Heat's offensive strategy worked.
However, their subsequent defensive strategy still failed. Riley even deployed a triple-team strategy, solely to disrupt He Xi Meng and prevent him from shooting threes.
But He Xi Meng, who was in the zone, was unfazed. He sought out Yao Ming, the towering presence, as a pivot point for his playmaking. He spun and drove towards the three-point line, received the ball hand-to-hand from Yao Ming, and drove straight to the Heat's basket. Amidst the Heat's near five-man pincer, he scored again with a running floater, sending the ball through the hoop!
"If you won't let me shoot threes, I can still shoot twos!"
Having scored two more points amidst the opponent's siege, He Xi Meng exchanged a fierce high-five with Yao Ming as they retreated on defense.
He Xi Meng's eleven consecutive points completely crushed the Heat's momentum in this counterattack. Williams and Wade in the backcourt began to see red, their actions becoming more aggressive.
He Xi Meng, knowing when to back off, opted to pass to Yao Ming for an assist on the next possession, preventing the opponent from harboring any further malicious intentions.
The Heat, who had battled hard for three quarters, finally couldn't hold on in the latter half of the third quarter, succumbing to He Xi Meng's rampage.
In the fourth quarter, the physical condition of the Heat's two most crucial players, Wade and O'Neal, began to noticeably decline. Along with their stamina, their shooting percentages also dropped. The Heat could no longer mount the effective offensive and defensive counterattacks they had at the beginning of the third quarter.
In the end, the Celtics won 106-97, successfully defeating the Heat on their home court.
He Xi Meng scored a game-high 32 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Wade had the second-highest score with 28 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Between the top scorers, there wasn't a significant difference between the Heat and the Celtics.
However, when comparing the second scorers, Yao Ming recorded 27 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal, while O'Neal had only 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal, with no blocks.
The difference between them was already in the double digits... Furthermore, Yao Ming not only scored himself but also used his threat to create opportunities for his teammates with assists, which was a fatal blow to the overall quality of the Heat's defense.
The reason for the Heat's loss was crystal clear.
At the post-game press conference, Riley sidestepped the main issue, only discussing He Xi Meng's unstoppable three-point barrage in the third quarter, claiming that the Heat lost Game 1 because they didn't defend He Xi Meng well enough, refusing to reveal the true reason for their defeat.
However, Kerr mercilessly exposed Riley's facade, stating bluntly: "It was our advantage in the paint that allowed us to win this game..."
For Game 2, the series continued in Boston.
If, as Riley claimed, the Heat lost because of He Xi Meng's three-point shooting, then in this game, the Heat should have expanded their defense and guarded the perimeter fiercely.
However, when the game began, He Xi Meng saw the Heat employing a collapsed defense. Antoine Walker shifted his position, dropping from the wing to the edge of the paint, frequently assisting O'Neal and Haslem in double-teaming Yao Ming...
Riley, despite his words, was more honest with his actions. At the risk of being blown out by the Celtics from the outside, he was determined to triple-team Yao Ming, showing resolute intent.
The Celtics' interior play indeed wasn't as fluid as in the previous game due to the Heat's adjustment.
However, the loosening of the Heat's perimeter defense, especially their lax coverage on Carter, became a significant factor in their loss in this game.
Carter had a poor shooting touch and low efficiency in the first game. In this game, his touch experienced a retaliatory rebound, and he repeatedly hit shots from the outside. He scored 11 points in the first quarter and 19 points by halftime. If he continued at this pace, he had a strong chance of reaching 40 points today.
Wade's primary focus had initially leaned towards defending He Xi Meng.
This was because Jason Williams' defense on He Xi Meng in the previous game had been very ineffective. The Heat couldn't spare the resources to double-team him, so Riley had to resort to mismatch defense, assigning Wade to guard He Xi Meng more often, and Jason Williams to guard Carter.
This inadvertently gave Carter many shooting opportunities.
There was no choice but for Riley to shift Wade's defensive focus back to Carter.
But once Carter's touch truly heated up, it didn't matter who was guarding him.
Prior to this, Carter's outside shooting ability had been consistently underestimated.
In the last two seasons, to improve his scoring efficiency, Carter had deliberately reduced his dunk attempts and actively increased his three-point shooting attempts.
From winning the All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest and being crowned the regular-season MVP, it was evident that Carter had successfully transitioned, shedding his reputation as a dunker to become one of the league's top scorers. Three-point shooting had become one of Carter's most potent scoring weapons.
In the previous game, He Xi Meng's three crucial three-pointers in the closing moments helped the Celtics secure the victory.
In this game, Carter's eight three-pointers throughout the game laid the foundation for their victory.
By the end of the game, Wade had 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, but Carter scored a game-high 36 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
He Xi Meng returned to a supporting role, scoring 21 points and dishing out 13 assists. While it might seem like he was coasting, he played quite hard throughout the game. However, if one were to say he was giving his all, these statistics certainly did not reflect his full capabilities.
Yao Ming had a tough game today, expending a lot of energy, and his stats were not eye-catching: 18 points and 8 rebounds. However, Yao Ming's presence in the paint significantly drained the Heat's defensive resources, creating the conditions for Carter's explosion from the perimeter, showing a chain reaction effect.
The Celtics won another game, successfully defending their two home games, and headed to Miami with a 2-0 lead.