Chapter 164 The knights face their biggest challenge, and Wang Yan is brave enough to take responsibility!

Flash Wade caused Butler to foul at the beginning of the game, which shows that he was very aggressive and excited today!

Wade has been holding his breath this season, he wants to prove himself again.

Of course, the Flash, who already has a championship ring and FMVP trophy, has already proven himself.

But this year he hopes to win another championship trophy after James leaves.

In that case, no one will say that Wade is holding James back.

After James left, many James fans began to frantically belittle Wade and Bosh.

They said that Wade was old and useless, and Bosh was too soft, and that Bosh only had one rebound.

They had no idea how much Bosh sacrificed to give James a breakthrough route.

There is data to prove that during the Heat's Big Three period, Bosh attacked less and less in the restricted area.

After James left, Bosh returned to his comfort zone and wreaked havoc near the restricted area.

The inside line formed by him and Gasol has a large attack range and can both shoot and pass.

So Bosh's statistics have returned to their peak state, with double-doubles in every game.

. . . .

The Cavaliers attack.

Wang Yan followed his habit and started letting his teammates perform.

Butler and Wade had a competition today.

Wade hit Butler just now, and Butler gritted his teeth and hit him back.

As a result, he got to the baseline but was blocked by Wade.

Wade's body is also very strong, like a little tank.

Butler had no choice but to pass the ball to Irving.

Irving had a good touch today. The stronger the enemy, the more excited he gets.

In the first two rounds of the playoffs, Irving's performance was actually average.

But in the Eastern Conference Finals, Irving was clearly more active.

After receiving the ball, the Cavaliers had only more than 3 seconds left to attack.

Facing Chalmers' close defense, Irving used a fake move to shake Chalmers half a body length away.

Then Irving took a fadeaway jump shot at the last second, whoosh!

hit!

Chalmers' defense is not weak. He was deprived of the ball during James' time.

Now that he has full ball possession, coupled with his defensive ability, he has become a qualified point guard in the Eastern Conference.

However, Gasol then assisted Bosh, who dunked the ball under the basket and scored two more points.

After more than 8 minutes of the first quarter, the score was 25:21, with the Heat leading.

Wang Yan only scored 4 points but made 3 assists.

Irving performed impressively, making 9 of 6 shots and scoring 14 points.

Wade was the Heat's highest scoring player, making 8 of 6 shots and scoring 14 points.

The home fans were worried.

Although they knew that Wang Yan would exert his strength in the second quarter, the overall strength shown by the Heat did not seem to be weaker than that of the Cavaliers.

In particular, the calm temperament displayed by Wade and Gasol is incomparable to their opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Many fans were shouting, hoping that Wang Yan could make an early effort and catch up with the score at least in the remaining time of the first quarter.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yan was leisurely and not in a hurry at all. He went downstairs to rest on time.

As a result, at the end of the first quarter, the Heat widened the lead to 9 points, 32:23.
Both sides played against each other with substitutes.

After Ray Allen came to the Heat, he became the core of the bench. Together with Battier and Mike Miller, they are a group of strong players.

Relatively speaking, Middleton, who played in the playoffs for the first time, was still far inferior.

More than four minutes into the second quarter, the Cavaliers were already trailing by 4 points.

Ray Allen, Battier, Mike Miller's three-pointers, coupled with Kerr's breakthrough and James Jones' three-pointers, made it difficult for the Cavaliers' substitutes to resist.

After James left, the Heat freed up space and signed a group of very capable players.

The bench depth is too thick.

The home fans could no longer sit still and once again shouted Wang Yan's name in unison, hoping that he could turn the tide like he did in previous games.

Wang Yan's expression was stern, and he was indeed not as calm as before.

The Heat performed more like a strong unit, and Spoelstra deserves credit for this.

Scott was a little panicked and quickly called a timeout, preparing to replace all the main players.

Middleton played well in the first two rounds of the playoffs and won a lot of praise from Cavaliers fans.

But in the Eastern Conference Finals, their weaknesses of lack of experience and skills were exposed.

Under the Heat's strong defense, Middleton had a hard time shooting.

The Cavaliers' major challenge is coming.

Since the beginning of the regular season, the Cavaliers have been going smoothly and have not encountered any major challenges.

Even facing the Lakers teamed up with James and Kobe, the Cavaliers are full of confidence.

But today's Heat was scary.

Because the Heat seem to have no weaknesses in any position, they are strong both inside and outside, and have shooting range.

After several seasons of working together, Wade and Bosh have become more and more in sync.

The newly joined Pau Gasol fit in seamlessly, and after a season of cooperation, he has almost integrated perfectly.

The main forces of both sides faced off again.

The Cavaliers attack.

Wang Yan received the ball at the top of the arc and faced Bosh's defense, wanting to take a step-back three-pointer.

After all, they were already 17 points behind, and they had to narrow the gap to single digits in the first half.

Unexpectedly, Bosh moved very quickly, and at the same time, Gasol also came over to double-team him.

The two men's defensive positions and footwork were both very fast.

It was obvious that Wang Yan was targeted many times during training.

Wang Yan rushed left and right, but found that there was no chance to escape.

You can force a shot, but your hit rate will definitely not be good.

So Wang Yan passed the ball to TT between the two of them.

TT rushed to the restricted area and made a layup, bang!

Popped out.

Haslem protected the rebound and launched a counterattack.

Wade took the lead, received a long pass from Haslem, and scored a dunk!

The Cavaliers home fans were dumbfounded.

"Is Wang Yan also restricted?"

The score difference reached 19 points and was about to reach 20+.

The atmosphere at the scene became tense.

Wang Yan gestured to his teammates, telling them not to panic.

As a result, the Cavaliers' attack failed again and Wang Yan was double-teamed.

After Wang Yan passed the ball, Irving was closely watched by Wade and his shot was out of time.

The Heat's offense was very efficient. Bosh received Gasol's pass again and hit the rebound.

The Heat are already leading by 21 points!
As far as fans can remember, this is the first time that Wang Yan failed to have an immediate effect after coming on the court in the second quarter, but instead lost 4 points in a row!
The Quicken Loans Arena was in complete silence.

In the next few rounds, both sides attacked and defended, but the score difference was always around 20 points.

The Heat were well prepared and had strong execution, catching the Cavaliers off guard.

And Spoelstra is very smart. The Heat did not play like this at all in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

In other words, the Heat have two completely different tactics in training.

Other teams and the Cavaliers have different strategies. So even though the Cavaliers watched many Heat game videos before the game, they didn't use them.

In the end, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat defeated the Cavaliers 106:95 and won their first game.

The media exploded instantly!
Almost all media headlines were about the Cavaliers losing the first Eastern Conference Finals game!
Among the top ten hot searches, six are about knights and Wang Yan.

"The Heat unexpectedly beat the Cavaliers on the road. Is the uncrowned champion going to fail?"

"Wang Yan's dominance is gone, he only scored 35 points in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Cavaliers lost Game 1!"

"Wade scored 36 points, overpowered Wang Yan, and led the Heat to a successful revenge!"

"The Cavaliers lost their first game, and an earthquake occurred in the NBA again!"

. . . .

After losing the first Eastern Conference Finals, not only the media but also the fans were criticizing them.

Although Wang Yan has the most fans in the world, the number of his black fans is also astonishing.

Not only in basketball forums, black fans dominate the discourse, but even in entertainment sections and other news, there are people cursing Wang Yan.

This is what the famous saying goes: There are as many people who love you as there are people who hate you!

There are also those basketball legends who are trying to add insult to injury for Wang Yan.

Even those who had praised Wang Yan before began to criticize Wang Yan fiercely after the fact.

Especially O'Neal and gorilla Ewing, their performance was particularly intense.

They believe that inside players should create damage in the restricted area instead of running outside the three-point line to shoot three-pointers.

There were many veteran fans who didn't like three-pointers in the first place, and now that the Cavaliers finally lost the game, they all started to attack them.

Of course, the happiest person is James.

The Lakers defeated the Warriors at home in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

James got a big triple-double in the game, with 33 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists.

Kobe scored 40 points.

James and Kobe teamed up to win their first Western Conference Finals.

The Splash Brothers performed poorly, with Curry making only 8 of 2 three-pointers, far below his usual performance.

Thompson was okay, but he only scored 24 points.

James was in high spirits, and when facing the media, he naturally did not forget to be sarcastic to Wang Yan.

"Oh, the Cavaliers lost? How is that possible? Don't we have the best player in the league, Wang Yan? Haha!"

"Wang Yan's three-point shooting is amazing. I don't believe the Cavaliers will lose. Hehe, hahahaha!"

"I hope to meet Wang Yan in the finals, but now it seems unlikely..."

. . . .

As soon as these remarks came out, they resonated with many black fans.

Wang Yan’s fans were suppressed to the point where they couldn’t even raise their heads.

This is the cruel competitive sports, the winner takes all.

No matter how many times you have won before, if you lose this time, you will be ridiculed by everyone!

An earthquake also occurred within the Cavaliers team.

Although the Cavaliers have been in the limelight in the past two years, winning the championship and sweeping the entire league in the regular season.

But there were also voices within the top leadership opposing Wang Yan, who believed that his style of play would not last long.

Especially since this season, Wang Yan has led the NBA in a three-point craze.

They believe that the three-pointer is not a long-term solution.

In addition, although Wang Yan did not interfere with the management of the team, he prohibited the team from buying and selling players.

After winning the championship last year, the value of some Cavaliers players has skyrocketed.

So the management wanted to sell some players to make money.

There is no way. The Cavaliers have always been a small market and have not made much money for many years. In many years, they have been making losses to gain publicity.

When a poor man suddenly becomes rich, he wants to cash in quickly.

But Wang Yan’s advice is to keep the team intact as much as possible and avoid major personnel changes.

Bonuses for some players can be increased, and Wang Yan will also help teammates increase their income through advertisers.

In this way, although the players made money, the team's top management felt very unhappy.

But the Cavaliers kept winning, and Wang Yan's popularity was rising. Even though the top executives were unhappy, they had no choice but to endure it.

Now the Cavaliers actually lost the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals at home.

Those senior executives collectively exploded.

Wang Yan and Scott were under a lot of pressure.

When interviewed after the game, both Wang Yan and Scott took the responsibility for the team's defeat.

The reporter asked: "Wang Yan, did this defeat exceed your expectations?"

Wang Yan lowered his head slightly and replied, "It didn't exceed my expectations. This is a game, there are wins and losses. The Heat is a strong team. We lost with conviction, but the winner of the series must be us!"

This answer is very rational and confident.

The reporter asked again: "What do you think is the main reason for losing to the Heat?"

Wang Yan did not hesitate at all, did not pass the buck, and did not avoid the issue.

“The main reason is me!”

This answer was so powerful and resolute that the reporters did not expect it.

Wang Yan is now the most popular star, and his performance in every game will affect his business interests.

Even if they don't perform well, most stars will find a reason for themselves to avoid negative impact.

But Wang Yan spoke frankly and took all the responsibility!

He continued: "The Heat performed very well. They played a different tactic. We were not well prepared. In addition, my adaptability was poor and I did not respond in time. So I must take full responsibility!"

The reporters were moved by Wang Yan's sense of responsibility and the audience stood up and applauded.

This is the mind and bearing that a superstar should have.

If Wang Yan tries desperately to shift the blame and shirk responsibility, then these reporters will think in their hearts that the Cavaliers are really no longer good.

But Wang Yan was brave enough to take responsibility, and reporters were full of confidence in the Cavaliers.

During the team training, Wang Yan stayed up late to formulate an emergency plan against the Heat.

Although there were only two days, the whole team took it seriously.

Of course, Wang Yan will not let the players consume too much physical energy, after all, they still have to play the game.

He asked the entire team to understand the Heat's new style of play as quickly as possible.

In the interior, Wang Yan asked TT to increase the intensity of defense, even at the cost of committing fouls.

At the same time, it is necessary to cut off the connection between the Heat inside and outside.

With Gasol as the axis, the effect is very good, making the Heat a strong whole.

Coupled with Wade's impact, the Cavaliers were stunned all of a sudden.

But Gasol is difficult to limit.

Wang Yan can limit his scoring, but his support and passing are hard to defend against.

This requires the entire team to predict Gasol's support and passes in advance.

How to predict?
It is to defend other players and cut off Gasol's passing route.

This is too difficult.

Take Wade for example. Butler can't keep up with Wade's speed and his body is not as strong as Wade.

Irving and Chalmers have similar physical conditions, but Chalmers is slightly faster than Irving.

Chalmers can't defend against Irving, and Irving can't defend against Chalmers.

At the small forward position, Jamison and Haslem are similar, both are older and slower.

But at the center position, Bosh crushes TT.

Needless to say, the Heat's bench is top-notch in the league.

The situation is very unfavorable for the Knights!

(End of this chapter)