Chapter 293 The first thing to do after advancing is to scold LeBron.

The Heat eliminated the Pacers.

After the game, O’Neal Jr. said he would retire this summer.

“It’s time. When this season is over, I realized that it’s time to end my career. I am honored to end my career as a Pacers player. For me, this is the best result!”

Su Wan also learned about this matter the next day.

He was not very surprised to hear the news.

O’Neal Jr. is 35 years old this year.

For an inside player who has suffered a stress fracture, the physical condition of a 35-year-old is actually almost the same as that of a 37-year-old.

This can also be seen from the condition of O’Neal Jr. this year.

Especially in the playoffs, he averaged only 8.4 points and 5 rebounds per game…

It is no longer a question of falling from the peak, but a direct degeneration to the level of a “water dispenser”.

After losing weight, his mobility became the basis of all his abilities.

Therefore, as his mobility gradually deteriorated with age, he could no longer play a fixed rotation role on the Pacers’ bench.

If he doesn’t retreat now, next season he will become the spiritual “water cooler manager” on the bench like Haslem did later.

That’s definitely not something O’Neal Jr. is willing to do.

At least he won three consecutive championships as a core player. Even though he was no longer a “second-in-command” level player, he was still the team’s main core and won a total of 5 championship trophies.

In addition to 2 “Best First Team”, 4 “Best Second Team”, 8 All-Star selections, 3 All-Star starters, 4 “Best Defensive Team” selections, and a “Defensive Player of the Season Award”.

Both O’Neal Jr.’s honors and personal achievements have reached the “Hall of Fame” level.

He has announced his retirement now, and he only needs to wait for a five-year “buffer period”. When that time comes, he will be among the candidates for the Hall of Fame at the first opportunity…

Suwan also mentioned this: “I won’t feel sad about Jermaine’s retirement, because I know there is a bigger stage waiting for him. I’m already waiting for him to stand in the lecture hall of the Hall of Fame in five years and talk about our story!”

This period was reprinted by many media outlets, and O’Neal Jr. commented on the article on his Twitter: “Yes, bro, that’s the time I miss the most!”

O’Neal Jr. has already thought about what he is going to say.

He would start from the “three-person room” where only he, Artest and Suwan were present.

That was the beginning of something great for the Pacers!
As soon as the Heat confirmed their advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami media immediately pulled out LeBron James and criticized him: “The facts have once again proved that bringing in LeBron was the biggest mistake we made. If he hadn’t come to Miami, the Heat wouldn’t have been eliminated in the semifinals for two consecutive years!”

“And now, the Heat have made it back to the Eastern Conference Finals in the first year after LeBron left!”

As usual, the Cleveland media followed suit, saying: “If we hadn’t ignored other things for LeBron around 03, then the past 10 years should have been Cleveland’s golden age!”

ESPN took advantage of the topic and made a list of the core players that Cleveland traded for LeBron between 02 and 04.

Su Wan’s name is extremely eye-catching.

Barkley said: “God also wants Cleveland to end their championship curse, and for this purpose he has sent them a steady stream of talent. Opportunities are falling on Cleveland like raindrops, but the Cavaliers management chose to hold an umbrella!”

The next day, the Miami media still did not stop their ridicule of LeBron.

From their perspective, Miami had accomplished its mission by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

After all, before the start of the new season, most media outlets were pessimistic about the Heat, believing that they would definitely decline this season. These voices also interfered with the judgment of the Miami media. But in the end, the Heat not only did not decline, but instead played the best playoff performance in the past two years and successfully made it to the final Eastern Conference Finals.

It’s like you originally thought your child would only get 60 points in the exam, but he actually got 85 points!
In this situation, the first thing the delighted Miami media did was to settle accounts with LeBron.

After LeBron’s fierce attack, the Miami media finally turned their attention back to the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks with satisfaction.

From this reaction, we can actually see how much the Miami media hates LeBron James.

How big is the hatred between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat!

But as soon as the Miami media entered the Eastern Conference Finals, they chose to mock LeBron first!
Then start analyzing this series.

But it can be seen from their appearance that they did not let LeBron go.

This can also be seen from the reasons why they think the Heat can beat the New York Knicks this time.

Among the n reasons listed, the first one is:
This time the Heat don’t have a coward like LeBron James!

This is also the biggest reason why they hate LeBron.

Losing is not scary, but losing like LeBron did at the end, crying because of leg cramps, is something this city cannot accept!
We may lose the game, but we still have morale and momentum, so we must not lose!
This is also what the Miami media has been emphasizing.

It’s okay to lose, but you can never lose so miserably.

This is actually the deepest “brand” of the “older generation of stars”.

But as times change, “spirit” has gradually become a joke.

People only care about winning, no matter how they win, as long as they win, that’s all…

But with the disintegration of the “Heat’s peak Big Three” this time, “the peak giants banding together” has not become a shortcut. Instead, when the “Big Three” disintegrated, the unanimous ridicule from the outside world made many “super giants” stay away and start thinking about the consequences if they fail to win the championship.

in particular……

The alliance has the “big devil” Su Wan.

This choice is more cautious.

And because Suwan is the “single-core leader” of the team, the Ninja Turtles of the New York Knicks are waiting to grow up, and the myth of “three consecutive championships” is about to be achieved.

It also makes other teams in the league become patient and focus more on building a “basic base”.

The league’s ethos also retains a fair bit of old-school style.

This is also where the Miami media’s criticism comes from…

However, as the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals began, the Miami media’s attention was completely focused on the game.

The Heat have a chance to beat the New York Knicks…

This is not only said by the Miami media, but also by many media outside.

It can be seen from the series between the New York Knicks and the Bulls that the New York Knicks’ inside strength this season is very weak. Tyson Chandler has declined from his peak form and was already exhausted against Boozer and Noah, not to mention Chris Bosh and Kevin Love!
Bosh and Love are definitely better on both offense and defense this season than Noah and Boozer…

That is to say…

Most media have already determined that the Heat’s outside line cannot beat the New York Knicks’ outside line. Of course, this is also normal. Stephen Curry, who has become a “superstar” under the rule change, plus Paul George, who has further grown, plus Suwan, who has a “stable godhood” and is called “basketball itself”…

It is no exaggeration to call this lineup “the strongest outside line of this season.”

even……

They can compete with those championship teams in history, no, those “three consecutive championship” outside teams!

From a rational analysis, any team left in this season that meets the New York Knicks must be prepared to assume that their outside shots will be blown up if they want to win!
The Heat are no exception.

This was also reflected from the beginning of the game.

Although the Heat were on the road, their initial momentum was not affected at all by the boos from the away field. Instead, they treated the boos from the away field as gasoline, making them burn even harder!

The New York Knicks arranged a tactic for the first attack at the beginning in order to ensure the success of the first attack, but the Heat’s defense changed very timely. With 6 seconds left, the New York Knicks did not find any time to shoot.

Su Wan forcefully caught the ball, ready to “defuse the bomb.”

Wade defended closely, not giving Su Wan the chance to shoot immediately. But at the first contact, he felt that the core strength of the bitch on the other side was more stable. It was also from this confrontation that he knew there was something wrong with his defensive strategy.

Sure enough, Su Wan left him behind in one step, and then easily scored a goal from mid-range.

Watching Suwan complete the mid-range shot with ease, Barkley said: “Everyone has paid attention to Suwan’s transformation outside the three-point line this season, but in fact, Suwan’s most stable killer is still his mid-range shooting, it’s amazing…”

Barkley himself is also a master of mid-range jump shots. In his opinion, if a star cannot dominate the mid-range, he cannot truly become a dominant player!

Don’t underestimate the 2 points from mid-range.

But when a player can score frequently in this position, how to defend him becomes a problem.

Take the simplest breakthrough as an example.

For a player like Suwan, when he leans on the defender and reaches the mid-range, the defender still dares not give him space, which gives him the opportunity to directly “accelerate again” and get rid of the defender!

Michael Jordan’s breakthrough ability is even better than Suwan’s, which is why Jordan was so invincible during the first “three consecutive championships” period!

Of course, in this era, Suwan’s lethality under the basket is no less than that of Michael Jordan.

Especially after the “vertical jump” rule change, it is even more…

Su Wan scored the goal with 2 seconds left.

This bomb left Spoelstra scratching his head.

If this ball is defended, it will be of great benefit to the Heat’s next attack, and failure will also affect the overall psychology of the Heat team.

The Heat also had a special tactical arrangement for their first attack.

However, the New York Knicks’ defense was also very good, so the Heat’s tactics were not implemented until the final shot.

Chris Bosh forced the ball outside the three-point line, glanced at the basket, and then leaned on Dio to drive to the basket.

Dio has very good core strength, but he still squeezed out the space to shoot at the basket.

Tyson Chandler made timely backup defense and successfully interfered with Chris Bosh’s shot.

With a loud bang, Bosh’s layup went wide.

But Kevin Love blocked Tyson Chandler’s position, first bounced like a “can”, hit the ball towards the backboard, then jumped again and protected the rebound in his hands.

Even though the jump is not very high, this can still be considered an excellent “continuous jump ability”…

Then Love relied on Chandler and successfully scored a rebound.

If there are Timberwolves fans watching this game at this moment, they will definitely feel very familiar.

Because when he was in the Timberwolves, Kevin Love relied on these two tricks to average 25 plus 13 per game!
Of course, it is this style of play that has kept the Timberwolves in a “bottom-of-the-pack” position.

This is not a “team cornerstone” style of play.

But on the Heat, as part of the team’s tactics, his style of play will not hurt the team.

After all, Chris Bosh needs a “big center” like him to fight under the basket, grab “offensive rebounds” and complete “second offense.”

Although Chris Bosh’s “one rebound” was due to LeBron James, his own ability to fight for rebounds under the basket is indeed not outstanding. He is still better at rushing for rebounds.

In any case, the response was successful, and this ball also proved that the Heat did have enough advantages under the basket.

Spoelstra’s expression was obviously relaxed, and there were only two words on his face:

Can fight!

Experts will know if there is one as soon as they take action.

Just from this first round, he knew that this year’s Heat had greater hope than the past two years.

This was verified in the rest of the game.

The New York Knicks scored frequently from the outside, while the Heat also relied on the inside “double team” to continuously score points under the basket.

At the end of the first quarter, the score between the two sides was tied at 33-33.

The main point is that “no one can defend against anyone”!
However, in terms of consumption, the Heat definitely consumed more.

After confirming the advantage in the interior, Spoelstra called a timeout and adjusted the defensive arrangement.

Start to strictly block the New York Knicks’ outside shooting.

The result is that a lot of opportunities to break through the basket were missed, but for the Heat, this was not a fatal problem.

They can constantly respond at the basket.

2 points against 2 points is always better than 2 points against 3 points.

Spoelstra was able to figure out such a simple math problem.

then……

The score remained tense from the first quarter to the third quarter.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, the New York Knicks finally led by 2 points.

The combination of Chris Bosh and Kevin Love was more destructive to the New York Knicks’ basket than most media expected before the game.

(End of this chapter)