As the Heat's de facto "pseudo-starter" center, he numbly walked to the center circle, confusedly jumping for the ball to start the game, formulaically pulling to a high position for Wade's pick-and-roll.

Although his pick-and-roll quality and timing on the roll were even better than the first game.

But with seven minutes left in the first quarter, when Riley replaced him with Moning, his stats showed only 3 rebounds.

The Warriors' deadlock strategy on the restricted area made this aging king, who had officially lost his crown, appear extremely powerless.

And more fatally...

Dick Bavetta, the official refereeing this game, did not care at all about Qin Yue's high-intensity confrontation with O'Neal on defense.

Since there was no crown, O'Neal was no longer a star player that the referees needed to protect.

"They threw me like a rag into a neglected corner," O'Neal sadly thought in his heart at this moment.

On the court, due to the lack of a stable second scoring point, Wade and the other Heat champions had to do better and more.

However, after entering the finals, Riley felt as if his team was cursed.

Walker, Williams, Posey... these players who had previously made contributions to the Heat still couldn't find their aim in the second game.

Looking towards the bench repeatedly this night, Riley had to take the risk of replacing them with Jason Kapono in the second quarter.

A spot-up shooter with accurate three-point shooting...

But when the opponent was on offense, you could even completely ignore his existence.

"Damn! Such a good opportunity, how could he miss?"

Oracle Arena, on the Heat's offensive possession, seeing the absolute open shot within three meters created for Kapono after Wade penetrated the Warriors' restricted area...

Clang——!

Riley couldn't believe that Kapono, who used to make every shot in practice, would miss such an excellent chance.

And the more the Heat missed shots in the game, the tighter the Warriors' defensive line shrank.

This even forced Wade to resort to more jump shots for finishing.

After all...

No matter how good the Flash was at breaking through, he couldn't always perform miraculous shots in each game.

Hence, the game fell into the rhythm that Artest was more skilled at.

Wade could break through, and indeed, Ah Tai couldn't stop him.

But if Wade resorted to shots...

Then Ah Tai would naturally increase the intensity on him.

Actually, compared to the first game, Qin Yue's touch was fairly ordinary in this one.

This was probably his worst game since entering the playoffs, with just 5 out of 12 shots made in the entire first half.

But at the end of the half, the scoreboard showed 47 to 59, with the Warriors taking a 12-point lead into the second half.

Since the Heat couldn't punish the Warriors' defense with three-pointers, Wade, whose survival environment was getting harsher, also underperformed in the first half, making just 4 of 11 shots.

However, the way the star players of both teams broke through still indirectly influenced the direction of this game.

Wade, who drove teammates with breakthroughs, contrasted sharply with Qin Yue, who adjusted teammates with pick-and-rolls, handoffs, and high-position facilitation, had different levels of energy consumption as the game entered the second half.

A slower game pace actually allowed Qin Yue to gradually find his scoring touch and smoothly take over the second half.

While Wade was ensnared in the net laid out for him by the Warriors' restricted area, he could only delay the Heat's collapse on the court by delivering point-dropping shots.

In the latter half of the third quarter, during the Warriors' offensive possession, Qin Yue was seen tapping Haslem's hand on the perimeter, then driving into the basket to make a backhand pass to Brown, assisting him for a single-hand dunk.

Moreover, this assist also marked the first triple-double of Qin Yue's professional finals career.

At this time, Qin Yue's stat line had surged to 26 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 blocks.

Shortly afterward, in the last offensive possession of the third quarter, Qin Yue first did a hand-off with Artest, then moved to the top of the arc to facilitate, creating a three-point opportunity for Richardson who was lurking in the corner.

After receiving the ball, Richardson made the three-pointer, securing the score for the Warriors at 71 to 91 at the end of the first three quarters.

The 20-point lead had almost removed the suspense from this finals game.

Especially for the Heat, who didn't dare to speed up against the Warriors.

In the final quarter, O'Neal, who had been sulking for the entire game, finally opened his scoring account with free throws and a signature little hook shot under the basket.

To this, the on-site commentator Rick Barry sarcastically said, "Shaq finally made his first field goal of this year's finals.

This at least allows him to edit out a few seconds of highlights afterward."

To keep the Heat's hope of a comeback alive in the finals 232 system, Riley pulled all the main players off the court with around 7 minutes left in the final quarter.

Noticing that O'Neal was also benched, Barry quipped, "This aging king allowed himself a shred of dignity. Unlike that young king, who still thoroughly enjoyed stat-padding during garbage time in the Christmas showdown."

Evidently, Barry's quips proved that his love-hate entanglement with the Warriors, though hard to see through or untangle, meant he still watched Warriors games regularly.

Otherwise...

How could he know about that young king's stat-padding during garbage time in the previous Christmas night?

At the buzzer, 94 to 116.

The Warriors claimed victory in two straight finals games, leading 2-0 against the Heat.

As the next three games would take place at the Heat's home court, this was definitely the toughest night for Warriors fans since entering the playoffs.

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