But the Warriors' playstyle naturally restrained the Heat, which was already a widely recognized fact.

To defend the American Airlines Arena, every Heat player needed to perform better than they did in the previous two games, including the now "utilized waste," O'Neal.

In the center of the court, the head referee Dan Crawford carried the ball to the middle circle.

In the jump ball segment, Brown, who had vented fiercely at a party earlier, won possession for the Warriors.

Then, in the white wave of the Heat's home court, Qin Yue opened the game facing loud boos, using a Flex tactic at the top of the arc to complete a graceful three-point jumper.

Swoosh——!

"Great touch."

"Are you referring to last night's couple of drinks or..."

"Shut up! Don't distract me!"

On the court, amidst Brown's trash talk, in a haze, Qin Yue noticed that tonight, the Heat's championship puzzle pieces seemed...

Seemed exhausted.

The pick-and-roll between Posey and Walker in the low post was bypassed by Brown in one stride.

This was something almost impossible in the first two games.

Because the Warriors' defensive focus dictates Brown usually has to observe the Heat's movements before deciding whether to bypass the screen.

Except for Wade and O'Neal...

The entire Heat seemed to induce Qin Yue's thought, "Could the Heat have burnt out too?"

Clearly, Riley's devilish pre-game training had a negative effect on the Heat, who were facing a critical survival game.

On the court, unable to utilize the court's width, Wade had to dismantle bombs right from the start.

The Flash, back at the American Airlines Arena and seemingly blessed, completed a breakthrough amidst the cheers of the white wave, finishing with an incredible layup.

"This-Is-My-House——!"

Additionally, after scoring, Wade padded his chest while running back in defense and shouted at the Warriors' players.

Qin Yue hadn't expected Wade to deliver this historically memorable line right at the start of the third game.

But it instead filled Qin Yue with the drive to lead the Warriors to a victory in the third game.

Because Wade, brimming with fighting spirit and full of vigor at this moment, deserved to be a "prized possession!"

This version of Wade, certainly a perfect trophy!

During the Warriors' offensive round, collaborating with Davis at the top of the arc and probing the Heat's zone defense, Qin Yue switched tactics to violently dismantle the Heat's 2-3 zone.

In a no-ball scenario, he initially pretended to head to the free-throw line, then swiftly moved to the right side of the court and used Artest's screen to complete a long two-point jumper.

Despite Qin Yue knowing from the future that stepping back from a long two-point makes it a three-pointer, many times, the long two-point areas on both sides are where opponents easily leave openings for the own team; therefore, even if it's a two-pointer, the shot must be taken when the opportunity arises.

Swoosh——!

Qin Yue made another jumper, scoring 5 points for the Warriors right at the beginning.

Able to break the zone defense with the ball and without the ball.

On the Heat's bench, Spoelstra looked troubled and said, "If we can't find a player who can match him in defense... we're just letting him do as he pleases."

Riley felt the same way.

In the regular season, this Heat defense had been tested by countless superstars.

But they had never had a moment... of feeling so helpless in the face of a certain superstar.

And frustratingly for Riley... Heat's championship puzzle pieces couldn't find the damn aim in tonight's first quarter game.

Except for Posey who seemed somewhat normal, Walker and Williams combined for 0-for-4 in the first half of the quarter.

This season, Walker had a 36% three-point shooting rate in the regular season, and entering the playoffs, up to the start of the Finals, his three-point percentage rose to 37%.

But as the most important three-point firepower point for the Heat...

Walker's Finals three-point shooting percentage was only 25%.

This was a peculiar data.

Because historically, in the 2006 Finals, apart from Posey, the other Heat's three-point shooters also frequently lost accuracy.

In fact, if Heat had managed more open three-point opportunities back then, they could avoid relying on Wade's rain of points each game to overcome the Mavericks.

The Warriors seemed to truly be a team with destiny.

Normally, Heat should have punished their defensive strategy heavily cemented in the paint through three-point shots, yet collectively lost touch resulted in the Warriors suppressing them entirely.

O'Neal was substituted halfway through the first quarter by Riley.

Not because he played impressively, only...

His model advantage did make it easier for Wade to play.

Upon substitution, having accumulated 1 point and 4 rebounds, O'Neal's face of sorrow and tragedy became the truest portrayal of the Heat in the first quarter.

Despite Wade's repeated brave penetrations into the Warriors' defense for the Heat.

The points rain he brought in the game forced Brown and Artest, who had each accrued two fouls, to leave the game early.

But so what?

In the first quarter, two players who had won NCAA championship titles teamed up to pierce through the Heat's defense.

Richardson went 7-for-4, including 3-for-5 three-pointers, scoring 11 points and grabbing 2 rebounds for the Warriors in the quarter.

Qin Yue went 8-for-5, including 2-for-4 three-pointers, made 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 17 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing 3 assists, and recording 1 block and 1 steal for the Warriors in the quarter.

On the court, in the last moment of the first quarter, that three-pointer Qin Yue made from a 45-degree angle on the right side locked the quarter's score at 35 to 27 for the Warriors.

During the interval, the homecourt's white wave of fans continued to cheer for their team.

Feeling impossible to retreat half a step in such a survival game, Wade chose not to rest in the first half of the next quarter.

However...

On the court, in the Heat's offensive round.

The Flash, struggling inside and outside the lane, intended to finish with a layup maneuver.

But in the next second, the basketball in his hand was slapped out of bounds by Qin Yue.

Earlier, Murphy intentionally let Wade enter the low position just to wait for this moment when Qin Yue's help defense reached in place!

In this moment, Wade leaning on his knees while gasping for breath became the perfect backdrop for Qin Yue and Murphy's celebratory high-five!

And in the American Airlines Arena, this block also became the turning point of the whole game.

Because starting from this block, the Warriors went on to deliver an astonishing offensive surge at the American Airlines Arena, in the next quarter!

By halftime, the scoreboard showed 77 to 47.

With just one quarter, Warriors turned this decisive survival game for the Heat into a total garbage time!

About five thousand kilometers away at Oracle Arena, during halftime, all Warriors fans were shouting, "3 to 0, 3 to 0!"

"I don't want to say this Finals is over, but even as a supporter of the Heat, I have to doff my hat to the Golden State Warriors...

Because in essence, they've rewritten the series score to 3 to 0." TNT TV station, with Barkley commenting on tonight's first half in such a manner.

Beside him, seeing Barkley even in Heat gear while explaining, Smith couldn't help but feel...

The Heat's outside shooters seemed cursed by him.

This was destined to be a heartbreaking night for Miami fans.

Final score.

128 to 88.

On this night critical for the Heat's destiny, the Warriors with a complete 40-point bloody slaughter... officially rewrote the series score to 3 to 0!

In the NBA's history, no team has ever managed a comeback after trailing 0 to 3.

Therefore, leading 3 to 0 in series, the Warriors basically locked in the 2006 NBA championship.

The third game concluded.

As per custom, the league had transported the trophies symbolizing the highest team honor in NBA, along with the FMVP trophy symbolizing the highest individual honor in NBA Finals to Miami.

"One more game! And we become this year's champions!"

Post third game, a delighted Qin Yue exclaimed this in the locker room.

...

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