The Lakers scored again, dragging the offense into a set play still couldn't completely stop the Lakers, but Spoelstra was not nervous.
As a coach, you can't control every possession, you can't lock down every star, what you can really control is the overall flow of the game.
The plan Spoelstra most needed to achieve tonight was to prevent the Lakers from being efficient in fast breaks, forcing them to dirty themselves in the mud of set plays.
As long as you force the Lakers into set plays, the defense is considered half successful.
In the following possessions, both sides were grinding in set plays. Thanks to the restrictions of the new rules, Kobe, Nash, and Roger managed to score some star player shots without the defensive players being able to reach extravagantly, otherwise, the match scene would probably be very ugly.
After the first quarter, the Lakers still led by 4 points, but Kobe didn't feel the joy of leading.
