What is Heat’s Jae Crowder’s defensive strategy vs. Anthony Davis? And Butler on fatigue
There aren’t many players in the NBA, if any, who can effectively defend Los Angeles Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis.
At 6-10 and 253 pounds, Davis’ combination of size, power and athleticism makes him a mismatch for nearly every player who is tasked with guarding him.
In the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat has used forward Jae Crowder (6-6, 235 pounds) as Davis’ primary defender.
“You can’t stop a player like that. He’s a hell of a player,” Crowder said in advance of Tuesday night’s Game 4. “You just want to make stuff as difficult as possible for him on that end of the court.”
The first two games of the Finals did not go well for Crowder and the Heat, as Davis opened the series with a 34-point performance in Game 1 and a 32-point performance in Game 2. But only 12 of those 66 points came when Crowder was Davis’ primary defender, according to the NBA’s tracking stats.
Instead, Davis got most of his points with the help of offensive rebounds. He grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and scored 22 second-chance points in the first two games of the series.
In the Heat’s Game 3 win, it switched its primary defensive coverage from zone to man and trapped Davis more often.
Those adjustments helped to limit Davis to two offensive rebounds and just four second-chance points Sunday. With foul trouble also helping to slow Davis, he finished Game 3 with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and five turnovers.
“Obviously, he’s a great scorer and you just want to make it as difficult as possible,” Crowder said. “I felt like we played less zone, I think, Game 3 than we did in the previous games, so that controlled his offensive rebounding a little bit. I think if we want to take that away from him, we obviously know he can score the ball at a high level but we gave him a lot of second-chance points that we did not want to give up. So we just wanted to cut that out a little bit and put a body on him as much as possible, and make every catch and every shot attempt, every iso [isolation] as difficult as possible.”
Standing four inches shorter than Davis, Crowder knows he’s at a disadvantage as a defender. But it’s a challenge he’s willing to accept.
“It doesn’t matter if I like it or not. I take it on,” Crowder said. “Obviously it’s a tough task for anybody in our league to take on that challenge. But I’m willing to do it. I’m one of the guys who is willing to do it, and I try to do it at a high level, try to make it as difficult as possible. I know I’m not going to stop him, not going to stop him from making shots, but I can make him work and I can make it as tough as possible, and try and wear him down as the course of the game goes on.”
NEVER TIRED
Heat All-Star wing Jimmy Butler has played 90 of the 96 possible minutes over Games 2 and 3 of the Finals, but Butler isn’t worried about fatigue.
“I actually think I recover quite fast because all I can hear is [coach Erik Spoelstra] over and over again telling me how I’m not tired,” Butler said Monday with a grin. “That’s literally what he tells me in the middle of the game. I’m just like, ‘All right, coach, I guess you know how I’m feeling, yeah, I’m not tired.’ So going into it, it’s like, you can’t be tired, you can’t be banged up. These guys need you. They’re counting on you. If they see you, that’s how they’re going to be.
“So to the best of my ability, I’m working on my body. I go in there this morning, I see Tyler [Herro] in there, I see Duncan [Robinson] in there, I see Meyers [Leonard] in there, I see everybody in there. So I know that they’re feeling the same way I am, but they’re getting ready to go again.”
▪ Heat forward Udonis Haslem finished fourth in player voting for the NBA’s Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award behind winner Jrue Holiday, second-place Tobias Harris and third-place Kyle Korver. Haslem received 20 first-place votes, 25 second-place votes, 49 third-place votes, 29 fourth-place votes and 25 fifth-place votes.
The award, presented annually since the 2012-13 season, “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”
NBA players determined the winner from among the 12 nominees who were selected by a panel of league executives.
▪ When asked about his snarl late in Game 3 that went viral, Heat rookie Tyler Herro said Monday: “The snarl? I kind of just did it. I’ve never really made that face before, like ever in my really entire life. Kind of just happened in the midst of things, in the moment.
“Just how it is when you’re a competitor.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 11:59 AM.
