Chapter 127 Knicks vs. Heat

The Warriors eventually defeated the Mavericks with a score of 86:111, using a very exciting game as the final battle of this series.

When the game ended, Warriors head coach Nelson stood there, staring at the Mavericks with sharp eyes.

The team where he has been for eight years now has some unfamiliar faces, but it is a pity that they have not become better after losing him.

They did create the best regular season record in team history, but from this moment on, this will no longer be an honor, but a shame.

A shame that will nail all these players to the historical shame list!

Of course, the first to be affected is the Mavericks core player, Dirk Nowitzki.

For a long time to come, he will be nicknamed "softie"!

……

After losing the game, Nowitzki was furious in the Warriors locker room. He smashed a hole in the wall of the locker room with a chair, but this did not help the reality.

They have been eliminated and now the whole world knows about it!
This incident has already made the headlines of all major basketball websites, and tomorrow, it will be the front page of sports newspapers and spread throughout the streets.

Sure enough, the next morning the whole world was discussing the story of the Mavericks' comeback after being eliminated by the black eight. These fans were discussing Nowitzki's dejected look when they lost the game as if they were watching a good show.

They have not forgotten how arrogant this Mavericks team was before the start of the playoffs.

"Dirk? Isn't he just a wimp? How could anyone think he could win the MVP? If he can win the MVP, then I think I can win the MVP too!"

"Don't mention Dirk anymore. This guy must be hiding in his room crying secretly. You all know that he is softer than my morning shit."

"Who will leave this team? Dirk or Avery? If I were the team's management, I would have sent these two away and kept Zheng.

After all, we all know Zheng's ability, and he will never be eliminated by the black eight.

It's a pity that the Mavericks management made a wrong decision, and now they can only watch the Knicks regret it for the rest of their lives! "

……

When the media mentioned the hole left by Nowitzki in the locker room, the relevant person in charge of the Warriors said that they would not repair the hole. Instead, they would protect it well. Its existence is like the championship flags flying above the stadium, which are all witnesses to the team's glorious history.

It is conceivable how tormented Nowitzki will be every time he comes to this stadium to play in the next game.

The hole in the wall would forever remind him of the humiliation he had suffered today.

……

The Mavericks fans, who had just reacted to their team's comeback from being eliminated by the black eight, began to express their anger!
In media interviews, they expressed their dissatisfaction with head coach Avery Johnson, saying that it was this guy's arrival that made them become like this.

Originally they won the championship, they had Zheng and Dirk, they could have established their own dynasty, but now everything has become a bubble!

They suffered humiliation. They were the third team in NBA history to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and the first team to be eliminated in the first round after the NBA changed the first round of the playoffs to a best-of-seven system!
They don't want this shame, they want the championship, and before that, they have to get the culprit of all this out of their team.

The huge pressure from public opinion forced Avery Johnson to hide in his house all day long, not daring to go out and see anyone.

He could only pray that this wave of public opinion offensive would pass quickly, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to leave the door, let alone do other things.

Now that the game is over, we can look back and think about why the Mavericks, who were so powerful in the regular season, were eliminated by the Golden State gang 4-2?
What are the key reasons?

The first and most important point is that the opposing head coach Nelson knows this Mavericks team too well.

He has coached this group of players for a long time and has a very clear understanding of their technical characteristics and playing styles.

Coach Nelson knew that Nowitzki would be affected when facing small players, so he sent Stephen Jackson, Matt Barnes and others to harass Nowitzki in turn.

The result was that in that series, Nowitzki averaged only 6 points, 19.7 rebounds and 11.3 assists in 2.3 games. At first glance, the data seemed okay, but his overall shooting percentage was only 38.3%, and his three-point shooting percentage was only 21.1%. It was undoubtedly the worst performance in his playoff career.

It has nothing to do with the regular season MVP.

On the other hand, their current head coach Avery Johnson has really poor adaptability. Even though the team is strong and the players are full of talent, the rhythm of the game actually follows the opponent completely. This is something that is very hard to imagine.

Maybe if Nash, the Son of Wind, were to be the head coach of the Mavericks, he would perform better than this guy!

Another reason is that the Warriors players performed particularly well in this series.

Especially Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, both of them performed exceptionally well, averaging more than 20 points per game.

The former directly defeated Terry and Marbury of the Mavericks.

Of course, in addition to them, Jason Richardson, Monta Ellis, Biedrins and Pietrus also performed well.

In fact, after mid-term reinforcements, the strength gap between the Warriors and the Mavericks is not as obvious as reflected in the rankings, and their performance in the final stage of the season is fully capable of ranking among the top in the league.

Another key point is the mentality. The Mavericks players are too proud, really too proud!
The excellent record in the regular season made them lose themselves in the gentle land, and the team lacked a leader like Zheng Yang who had leadership qualities and could constantly alert the players.

Their failure is actually justified!
Even if they get past the Warriors, don't forget that there are still several series to play.

The other opponents are no weaker than them in strength, their mentality is more mature and stable than them, and their head coaches have stronger adaptability than Avery Johnson. What can they use to win the championship?

This is all nonsense!
In short, no matter what, this Mavericks team has reached their end. Now Avery Johnson can sit at home with his legs crossed and watch how Zheng Yang kills his way through the playoffs!

……

After the Knicks sweep the Wizards, their opponent will be the winner of the Raptors and the Heat.

However, these two teams fought to seven games in the first round.

The Heat, who just won the championship last year, have performed poorly this year. This is due to both injuries and the fact that the core player of the team, Shaq, is old and has lost strength.

而去年刚刚拿到FMVP的韦德在这轮系列赛中的表现也不算优异，7场比赛仅有1场得分来到30+，同时还出现过单场比赛罚球10中4的情况。

In 7 games, he averaged 23.5 points per game and his shooting percentage was only 42.9%, which was very inefficient.

But fortunately, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The Heat, who have championship background, finally defeated the Raptors led by Bosh in the seventh game and came to the Knicks.

This round of the series is also the first time that two players from the championship club face off head-on.

Of course, to be honest, everyone is more optimistic about the Knicks in this series, because the Knicks have performed better than the Heat in both the regular season and the playoffs. According to the latest prediction data from ESPN, the Knicks have a 4% chance of a 0:50.3 sweep and a 4% chance of a 1:92.9 win...

The G1 of this series will officially start on May 5th.

The starting lineup for the Heat is Wade, O'Neal, Haslem, Jason Williams, and Eddie Jones.

During the jump ball phase, Eddy Curry successfully got the basketball. After Quentin Richardson dribbled across half court, he rushed into the inside with the help of Big Ben's pick-and-roll and then passed the ball to Eddy Curry under the basket.

Facing the aging O'Neal, Eddy Curry did not show any fear and dunked the ball after a confrontation.

In the first offensive round of the game, Eddy Curry showed the youth and vitality of this team with a dunk.

Excited Knicks fans shouted wildly, cheering for their home team.

If it were five years ago, O'Neal would never allow anyone to dunk in front of him. Even if some guy was lucky enough to dunk, he would definitely use his personal ability to get back at them in the next round.

But O'Neal is really old now. He is 35 years old now. At the same time, he has suffered from injuries this season. In this season's regular season, he missed 42 games due to injuries.

At this moment, he felt that running on the court was a difficulty, not to mention holding a basketball and dunking in front of a group of young people, wreaking havoc on the basket.

The Heat's offensive round was initiated by Wade, who has also been plagued by injuries this season. He just entered the fourth season of his career, but this season he missed 31 games due to injuries.

Injuries have affected his offensive state, and playing all seven games in the last series has also left his stamina bar empty.

So facing Crawford's defense, this guy failed in his first breakthrough. After his second breakthrough, he was assisted by Zheng Yang.

In desperation, he had to pass the ball to O'Neal.

The one defending O'Neal at the moment was not Eddy Curry, but Big Ben, who was a head shorter than O'Neal. Even though Big Ben had an afro at the moment, trying to create an illusion that he was not short, he was still a whole head shorter than O'Neal.

This is not a problem with the Knicks' defense. This is a gift that Larry Brown prepared for O'Neal.

The Big Shaq and Big Ben are old rivals. The two met in the finals in the 03-04 season, in the 04-05 and 05-06 Eastern Conference Finals, and this year they met again in the second round of the Eastern Conference.

The two of them know each other inside and out!

Although Big Ben is not tall, he is really good at defending O'Neal. In the 04 Finals, one of the important reasons why the Pistons won the championship was that they gave up the "Hack-a-Shaq" tactics that other teams often used against the Lakers.

Instead, let Big Ben defend O'Neal alone!
Of course, O'Neal was at his peak at that time, and he performed quite well facing Big Ben's defense.

But now?

How much of O'Neal's power in his peak period is left now?

Although Ben's strength is also declining, his decline is much slower than that of the Shark!

Just like in this round, O'Neal had the ball facing Big Ben, he wanted to dig in hard, but Big Ben gritted his teeth, holding his strength in his heart, his heels planted on the ground, motionless.

O'Neal's hard chisel had no effect at all.

In desperation, he could only choose to throw the ball.

In the fierce confrontation, O'Neal's touch was not good, the basketball hit the front of the basket, and the rebound was protected by Eddy Curry.

After getting the ball, this guy immediately threw it to Quentin Richardson, who rushed to the frontcourt. Zheng Yang, who had just retreated to his own half, had rushed to the opponent's half and dunked the ball after receiving it.

0: 4!

After the opening, the Knicks used their offense and defense to fully demonstrate their powerful offense and solid defense!
In the next round, Wade scored from mid-range to narrow the score, but in turn, Quentin Richardson taught the Heat a good lesson with his signature three-pointer.

From the beginning of the game, the Knicks had the rhythm of the game firmly under their control.

And when the starting lineup gradually left the court and the substitute lineup came on, the competitiveness of this Heat team became even worse.

The replaced players, Mourning and Payton, are older than Zheng Yang's house. Last season, these two guys still had some gas in the tank, and with their desire for the championship, they were able to help the team.

But now?

Their strength further declined, and after winning the championship, they lost the enthusiasm in their hearts and just planned to hang around for a while before retiring.

They can no longer help the team.

Gary Payton, who was originally famous for his defense, is now controlled by Big Boss F., who can come in and go out as he pleases, and can do nothing to him.

His two feet were shaking as he stood there, how could he defend?

The starting lineup couldn't win, and the substitutes couldn't win either. This game lost suspense from the beginning!
In the end, the Knicks easily won the game with a score of 95:108. The Heat showed no aggressiveness throughout the game. They played listlessly and did not show any desire to defend the title.

And when the game ended, O'Neal, who was substituted early, looked dazed and his eyes were lifeless.

He should be the one who wants to win the most among this group of players. He knows that he is on the decline and his condition next year will only be worse than this year.

He wants to get his fifth championship ring and he wants to continue to prove himself.

But he really couldn't do it anymore...

As for others, like Peyton Mourning, who is about to retire, doesn't care whether he can get a second championship ring.

What you can’t get is the best!

They have already received one, so they don't have much desire for a second one.

This kind of free-for-all championship ring has no added effect on their historical status at all.

So what's the point of getting the second one?

Young people like Wade breathed a sigh of relief after winning the FMVP and signing the maximum salary contract. Currently, he is not too obsessed with winning a second championship trophy.

Anyway, he is still young and has plenty of opportunities to win the championship!

(End of this chapter)