Chen Xi's ability to stretch the floor, his efficient perimeter shooting, and his ability to dismantle mismatched defenders one-on-one were simply absurd. Against him, the zone defense the Heat had always relied on might as well not have existed.
That also directly caused a significant drop in the defensive efficiency of the Heat players, who had benefited to some extent from their system.
The gap between the two teams was so vast it inspired despair.
After G2 ended, hardly any Heat fans still felt like chanting slogans about a "Black Ten Miracle."
Judging by their current performance, winning even one game in this series and avoiding a sweep would count as an impressive achievement for the Heat...
After the Knicks' game ended, the next matchup featured two of their potential opponents.
The Milwaukee Bucks against the Philadelphia 76ers, G2.
Much like the first game, this contest was played at an extremely high level of intensity.
The head-to-head clash between two elite centers, the spectacular duel between two top guards, and Jimmy Butler's absurd offensive efficiency as he continued playing like a man possessed all made this game impossible to look away from.
The Philadelphia 76ers maintained an extremely high level of play, continuing to control the action in the opening stretch and throughout the first half.
The Bucks, meanwhile, had made a few adjustments compared with G1.
Having keenly identified the Philadelphia 76ers' weakness, Buden adjusted his rotation to pit his stronger units against Philadelphia's weaker ones. He used his lineup's advantage during the transition periods to target the stretches when Maxey or Embiid led the team alone, giving the Bucks the upper hand.
That adjustment proved quite effective.
With contributions from role players such as Portis and Clarkson, the Bucks managed to erase the deficit by the end of