He did not try to isolate right away. Instead, he used Hart's screen to target Powell, then accelerated straight down the middle into the Heat's paint.
He initiated hard contact on the move, bumped Powell aside, then pushed off into a tiny step back to find his shooting rhythm before calmly rising for the jumper.
Swish~~
The ball swished through the net.
At a clear disadvantage in both height and weight, Norman Powell could offer no meaningful contest against George. He could only watch him get the shot off.
And just like that, PG effortlessly scored his first points of this season's playoffs.
The score stood at 5-0.
This time, the Knicks' early advantage was exactly what the fans had expected.
The gap in sheer ability between the two teams was still glaringly obvious.
The next possession belonged to the Heat again.
Herro received the inbound pass, turned, and quickly brought the ball across half court.
He went to the top of the key for a pick and roll screen from Adebayo, moved toward the left sideline, then handed the ball off to Powell.
Powell took the ball on the move, stepped toward the right, then passed to Wiggins as he came up off a screen.
Wiggins caught it and tried to accelerate into a drive.
But his first step was not quite elite enough to shake his defender outright.
After battling George all the way to the free throw line, he met Chen Xi's help defense, exactly as expected.
With no opening to shoot whatsoever, Wiggins could only turn, jump, and pass the ball back out to Powell on the perimeter.
Powell then tried to use his speed to beat Toppin off the dribble.
He ran into the same problem: his first step was not quick enough to leave