This finals is destined to be unexpected, and it has been surprising since the Trail Blazers entered the finals.
The process was even more surprising, especially in the third game. Seeing that the Miami Heat took the initiative in the early stage, it seemed that they were going to defend their home court, and might even defend two home courts in a row. So much so that just after the first half of the game, a TV commentator even made a grand prediction:
This game will be a turning point in this series, and the two teams may be in a stalemate until the tiebreaker.
As a result, a central air-conditioning incident broke out at the American Airlines Arena during halftime. Even if James worked to the limit of his physical strength and even suffered leg cramps, he could not save the overall situation.
James, who was still half a year away from turning 30, could not defeat Wang Zelin, who was 8 years younger than him.
In this high-temperature battle, Wang Zelin led his Portland Trail Blazers to the last laugh with his 28+15 performance.
In the crucial second half, Wang Zelin scored 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal, and scored 15 points on 6 of 10 shots.
In the second half of this game, he faced four people under the basket with a shocking put-back dunk, which exploded after the game and triggered a lot of discussion.
"The heat can't stop that man!"
"The old king has passed away, and a new king should be established!"
"The best center in the league? No, I think we should change the title, for example, the best center in the league!"
"The battle between kings and kings, the era of LeBron seems to be moving away from us..."
"..."
In this game, the entire Internet was flooded with hot words about Wang Zelin and the Trail Blazers.
As the championship team in the past two NBA seasons, the Heat were beaten 3:0 by the Trail Blazers led by Wang Zelin. As long as they win one more game, they can beat the Heat.
The buzz caused by this game was huge.
To use an analogy.
If the Miami Heat are really swept by the Portland Trail Blazers in this series, then they will become the ninth team in NBA history to be swept by their opponents in the Finals.
Among them, the leader of the Heat, LeBron James, will most likely have an embarrassing record, which is:
In NBA history, he is the only superstar who led his team to the Finals as a star player on different teams, only to be swept out twice!
There is a saying that if this embarrassing record is really born, James will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, and it will become an irrefutable black spot in his glorious career.
As we all know, O'Neal is one of the only three consecutive championship dynasties and three consecutive FMVP winners in NBA history. Every time in the competition for the top center position in history, when compared with Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Olajuwon, they always fall behind. To a large extent, this is because:
O'Neal is the superstar who has been swept the most times in the playoffs in NBA history.
For ordinary stars and even superstars, their careers are not brilliant enough, or even great. Therefore, when their competitive ability declines from their peak period until their retirement, their entire career performance is The historical rankings that the NBA can occupy in the long history of the NBA basically have a final conclusion.
But it's different for a historical giant like O'Neal. Even after retiring, people's discussions about his historical status have never had an accurate positioning.
Because his benchmark in historical status and historical ranking is a historical super giant of the same level that has appeared in NBA history. As a historical super giant, he has been swept out of the playoffs many times in his career and was even swept out of the Finals by the Mosaic team led by Olajuwon, who is also one of the top four centers. It has to be said that this became the biggest black spot in his career.
What's more, LeBron James was chosen by the outside world to be a superstar of the same level as Michael Jordan as soon as he debuted.
In order not to leave this criticized black spot, James will definitely give everything he has in the next game and win more than the third game.
Of course, some people may say, how can we just talk about O'Neal and James? Before that, the Los Angeles Lakers led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had also been swept out of the 1983 and 1989 Finals by the 75ers and Pistons respectively. .
The first thing to say here is that in 1983, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had completely transferred the core position of the team to the younger Magic Johnson, and that year the Lakers met the superstar Moses Malone in the interior. Without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's dominance, the defending champion Lakers were unexpectedly swept in the finals.
After all, the two teams had met before this last season in 1982, and in the end the Lakers were bound to defeat the 75ers by a big score.
Needless to say, in 1989, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was already 42 years old at that time. In the Finals, all the Lakers generals suffered serious injuries. In addition, the Pistons lost to the Lakers in the Finals last year and were eager for revenge. In the end, Just swept the sweep.
In the final analysis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who came to the Lakers period, no longer served as the boss of the Lakers after 1980. The biggest responsibility for the two losses did not lie with him, but with Magic Johnson. After all, the latter was the Lakers' show in the 1980s. The real boss of the time period.
As for why we don’t go into detail about Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to twice being swept by their opponents as the defending champions, the reason is even simpler.
Because in the NBA's historical rankings, Michael Jordan stands high as the god of basketball, with a perfect resume like a hero in a comic, making his status as the number one player in history brook no challenge.
Behind him, no matter how Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Earvin Johnson are ranked, it will be difficult for them to fall out of the top five in history.
More importantly, Magic Johnson's dominance at the point guard position is too strong, and even like Michael Jordan, he has reached the point of monopolizing his position.
So considering all these factors, fans will always subconsciously ignore the embarrassing record of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being swept by their opponents as two defending champions.
But LeBron James, who has always had huge ambitions, is different.
James, who has reached the peak of his career, has always set his competition goal on the number one player in history, Joe, and he has been taking action for this.
Therefore, he will never allow his career to be swept by his opponents in the finals twice.
At the same time, he now has his own layer of worry in his heart.
Even if he wins one game in this round of the finals and avoids being swept by Wang Zelin, compared to the Blazers youth team with a young lineup and unlimited potential, the Heat team he leads has too aging team structure, and there is no chance of defending the championship. appearance.
To put it bluntly, in James' mind, the Miami Heat can no longer provide him with Finals-level competitiveness. In order to achieve a great cause comparable to the god of basketball, and in order not to waste his precious peak period, he feels that it is time to Consider a new way out.
…
…
On the night of June 11, 2014, it was the night before the G4 game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Miami Heat in the Finals.
As a loser in the eyes of the entire league, every move within the Heat team is watched by someone at all times. It has been the fourth year since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh merged to form the Big Three in Miami.
Judging from the team's stage results, the Heat have reached the finals four times in four years, which is very rare in NBA history.
But judging from the final results, the Heat won two championships in three years, and the plot development of two championships in four years is likely to be somewhat unsatisfactory.
You must know why the Heat's Big Three caused so much controversy in the outside world when they were first formed. The big reason is that this is the only time in NBA history that three All-Star players at their peak joined the same team as a team. A team.
When three peak All-Stars under the age of thirty play together, it's hard not to cause a sensation!
More importantly, this will allow many stars in small ball rooms to see a faster way to reach the finals and win the O'Brien Cup. In that controversy, many voices came from small-market team management and fans.
Of course, it is also related to the bold words James made when he joined the Heat press conference.
There were 7 championships promised, but only 2?
However, compared to the ridicule from the other 29 teams, Miami's local fans are still very tolerant towards the home team.
Perhaps in their view, even if the Big Three fail to defend their title this year, there is no way to achieve dynasty hegemony of three consecutive championships. At worst, they can make a comeback next season.
As long as the Big Three are there, the Heat can ensure that while the core framework remains unchanged, they can simply make repairs and hit the finals again.
However, on this night, quotations for James appeared on the desk of the Heat general manager one after another.
At the same time, careful scouts discovered that in the past few days after losing Game 3 of the Finals, James' agent Ricky Paul had successively contacted the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. I have had contact with the management of several teams.
Old BJ, are you ready to run away?
Just kidding, everyone knows how could Ricky Paul do such a thing in private without James' acquiescence.
The most difficult time for Miami fans to imagine happened.
In fact, during the regular season this season, it was reported more than once that James wanted to leave Miami to find his next home after noticing the aging problem of the Heat's lineup.
But at that time, the Heat were still one of the strongest teams in the league during the regular season, and they were the defending champions. So, even if later in the playoffs, during the series between the Heat and the Pacers, this rumor reappeared, but the Heat fans did not take it to heart.
Until, the Heat were about to be eliminated in this round of finals, and James' agent and other teams' various ambiguous actions came out...
They had to start facing the cruel reality.
Fans didn't expect that when they woke up the next day, Wang Zelin didn't expect that when he saw the news, logically speaking, even if James wanted to leave, he shouldn't have chosen this time. After all, the car had not been finished yet.
But this should be real evidence. After all, the one who took the initiative to break the news was Yahoo's chief sports reporter, Woj, known as the "NBA Hundreds"!
Moreover, New York reporters followed closely with reports and speculation.
The ballpark in New York City is so bad that it is hopeless, but you can always trust the professionalism of the paparazzi there.
But, who will old BJ choose as his next partner this time?
Los Angeles Lakers?
Not likely!
After all, the rule of not seeing the king is the same everywhere. Kobe and James are theoretically compatible, but when it comes to reality...
New York Knicks?
Not likely either. Madison Square fans are notoriously harsh and cold-blooded, and they treat Ewing the same way when he once led the team to the Finals. Even if James is gone, he may not be able to convince those harsh fans.
After thinking about it, Wang Zelin still felt that James was most likely to go back to play basketball in his hometown.
Owen's title of "Fairy" was all made by himself later.
In the early stages of his career, Odie, if he was just serving as the second-in-command, would not only be very capable, but also highly motivated.
Apart from anything else, in terms of outside shooting and catching the ball, Odie was still trustworthy before he published the "flat earth theory".
So, will James really return to the Cavaliers in the end?
…
…
Soon, half a day passed.
On June 12, the G4 war begins.
Before the game started, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the new league president Bald Hua arrived in Miami with the trophy and entered the American Airlines Arena.
Almost all media agreed that after the G4 game the next night, this year could come to an end without any preparations for exposure.
On this day, Miami is busier than ever.
According to relevant media statistics, the number of Chinese fans arriving in Miami today is far more than every day in the past five years.
At night, the American Airlines Arena is brightly lit and star-studded.
…
Before the game, the starting lineup was announced.
Heat: Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh, Anderson.
Trail Blazers: Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Wang Zelin.
The Heat's route has changed from the previous two games. Bosh has changed back to playing the fourth position, and Birdman Anderson is at the fifth position.
Visiting team locker room.
As soon as he entered, the sharp-eyed Wang Zelin spotted the champagne hidden behind the door. He turned his head and saw Lillard looking at him. The two couldn't help but smile at each other.
The Portland Trail Blazers are about to be crowned champions, and the entire locker room is full of excitement.
With only the last step left, Batum, as the main center, became nervous:
"Wang, tell me, is this all true? We actually defeated LeBron? We are going to be the champions..."
Wang Zelin slapped his thigh fiercely, and Batum immediately let out a scream of "ah" and said with an aggrieved look:
"Why did you hit me?"
"Does it hurt?"
"pain!"
"That's right!"
"..."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Seeing this, the generals laughed.
At this time, Coach Terry came over and said excitedly:
"Come on, boys, for our last battle of the year!"
