Amidst the cheering crowd, Big Gasol tapped the ball back to the Heat half-court, and the Eastern Conference Finals officially tipped off.
The Heat were not panicked by the Cavaliers' Death Five Small; they initiated their offense with Big Gasol in the paint right from the start.
With ample space to operate on offense, the Heat couldn't be easily helped defensively, and Big Gasol's hook shot after backing down TT put the Heat on the board first.
The Cavaliers' Deathly Five Small had already been used against the Heat during the regular season, with the biggest issue being TT's inability to contain Big Gasol.
However, Malone seemed to have anticipated this situation, but he did nothing.
On the other side, Irving handled the ball and, after a series of crossovers, got past Dragic.
Dragic's defense was above par in the league, not bad, but still not quite enough to handle Irving.
Deng picked the right time to double team Irving with Big Gasol in the interior.
