CHAPTER 576: CHAPTER 283 "TURNING THE IMPOSSIBLE INTO POSSIBLE

After eliminating the Hawks, the Cavaliers were soon to face the Heat Team, who had also swept the Brooklyn Nets 4-0 in the second round.

Due to Deron’s injury, the competitiveness of the Brooklyn Nets had declined over the years, but a dying camel is still bigger than a horse, and their playoff performance was evidently stronger than that of teams like the Hawks.

Yet even so, they couldn’t win a single game against the Heat Team.

Even more, the Heat Team had an average net winning margin of 15+ in the first two rounds of the series.

Without a doubt, their competitiveness shown thus far in the playoffs was clearly a notch above the other teams.

Not only their team chemistry but their desire for the championship this year was also unprecedentedly strong.

Dragic and Vucevic were both in contract years during the summer, and it was inevitable that one of them would leave; this year was their strongest, and it wouldn’t get stronger.

The desire to win, which erupted when they entered the playoffs, was identical to that of the Mavericks in their prime.

Before the conference finals began, the league announced the season’s last award, the best team lineup.①

Hansen was unsurprisingly selected for the First Gear.

Counting the MVP and DPOY he had received earlier, Hansen’s honors this season were maxed out.

While announcing the best team lineup, the league also began to vigorously promote the upcoming two conference finals.

The East had the Cavaliers against the Heat, and the West had the Warriors against the Lakers.

The Warriors eliminated the Spurs 4-2, and the Lakers ousted the Grizzlies with the same score.

The Grizzlies still maintained their tough characteristics, but without Han to play key matches, they ultimately fell.

However, this turned the conference finals in both the East and the West into a head-to-head showdown between UA and Nike, maximizing the topic.

Various major media started predicting before the game.

In the West, the Lakers were considered more likely to advance.

Their biggest advantage lay in their experience.

It was the Warriors’ first time advancing to the conference finals, while Kobe and James’ wealth of experiences fully matched the saying, "I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice."

Additionally, the Hawks’ elimination proved that regular season performances don’t translate directly into playoff success.

Barkley and O’Neal on the program also stuck to their earlier view: jump shooting can’t win championships.

Their prediction was the Lakers 4-2 Warriors, then the Lakers would return to the finals.

However, Kenny Smith believed the Warriors had a greater chance.

He was relatively objective, listing numerous statistics, the most crucial being: the Warriors were the second team in NBA history to rank in the top two in both offensive and defensive efficiency during the season.

The Warriors ranked second in offensive efficiency this season, behind only the Heat, but their defensive efficiency was the first in the league.

The last team to achieve this was the ’95-’96 Bulls, who won 72 games and ultimately the championship.

And he particularly emphasized that this was the first time in many years that the Warriors were healthy in the playoffs.

This gave them access to both Green and Bo Guote, two of the best defensive players, and Iguodala and Thompson’s defensive abilities were also top-tier in the league.

While there was debate over who would win between the Lakers and Warriors, the Heat Team was unanimously favored in the East.

On TNT’s program, even Barkley did not think the Cavaliers could win this round of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Heat Team was deemed the championship team of this season.

Moreover, from the previous performances of both the Cavaliers and the Heat, there was a clear gap in strength.

Not to mention, Irving was still not fully recovered, and whether he would play in G1 was uncertain.

Barkley’s prediction was the Cavaliers 1-4 Heat, O’Neal included a bit of subjective involvement, predicting 2-4.

Kenny Smith, analyzing from an objective perspective, agreed with Barkley.

The Cavaliers’ offensive and defensive efficiency ranks were between 5 to 10 in the league, especially their defense, which ranked ninth by the end of the regular season.

Though not bad, it faced the Heat, the league’s top offensive efficient team.

ESPN’s prediction was even more thorough, believing the Cavaliers would not only lose the Eastern Conference Finals but wouldn’t manage a single win.

The Heat had the home court advantage; the Cavaliers were preparing to depart for Miami the day before the game.

However, just as they were about to leave, Irving appeared at the airport.

This was not in the team’s plan, which had initially arranged for Irving to continue resting in Cleveland until he was fully recovered for Game 3.

"If you won’t let me play, then trade me,"

Irving’s attitude was exceedingly firm.

Hansen was actually somewhat surprised, as Irving was essentially a more self-centered individual.

Rather than risking himself for the team, it was more likely for him to be forced to play by fans accusing him of "not being tough enough to play through injuries."

But since Irving was so determined, he didn’t oppose it.

After all, the opponent was the Heat Team, and they weren’t in the same league as the Hawks.

Even with Irving playing, it would still be difficult for the Cavaliers to win.

Of course, he also warned Irving, as returning early carried the risk of aggravating his injury, or even sustaining a severe one.

"If we lose the game because of me, I won’t be able to stay in Cleveland."

Performing averagely in the first round, missed the second, and if he were to lose the conference finals because of him, the pressure from public opinion Irving would face is indeed unprecedented.