Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 284 "Making the Impossible Possible"

Shortly after eliminating the Hawks, the Cavaliers will face the Heat, who also swept the Nets 4-0 in the second round.

Because of Deron's injuries, the Nets' competitiveness has been declining in recent years, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and their playoff combat effectiveness is obviously much stronger than that of a fledgling team like the Hawks.

But even so, they were unable to win even one game against this Heat team.

In fact, the Heat's average net score in the first two rounds of the series was as high as 15+.

There is no doubt that the competitiveness they have shown in the playoffs so far is obviously higher than other teams.

It's not just the fit of the lineup, their desire for the championship this year is also unprecedentedly strong.

Dragic and Vucevic are both in their contract years this summer, and one of them will definitely leave. This is their strongest year, and it won't get any stronger.

The desire to win they displayed after entering the playoffs was exactly the same as that of the Mavericks back then.

Before the conference finals began, the league announced the winners of the season's final award, the All-NBA Team.
Han Sen was selected for the All-NBA First Team without any suspense.

Including the MVP and DPOY he received previously, Han Sen has maxed out his honors this season.

While announcing the best lineup, the league also began to vigorously promote the two sets of divisional finals that are about to begin.

In the East, the Cavaliers play against the Heat, and in the West, the Warriors play against the Lakers.

The Warriors eliminated the Spurs 4-2, and the Lakers also defeated the Grizzlies 4-2.

The Grizzlies still maintained their tough character, but without Hansen playing in the crucial games, they were ultimately defeated.

However, as a result, the Eastern and Western Conference finals became a one-on-one competition between UA and Nike, which became a hot topic.

Major media outlets also began to make predictions before the game.

In the Western Conference, the Lakers are considered the team with a better chance of advancing.

Their biggest advantage is experience.

This is the first time the Warriors have made it to the conference finals, and Kobe and James' experience in this area is fully worthy of the description of "you have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice."

And the Eagles' elimination also gave them evidence that their regular season record does not represent their strength in the playoffs.

Barkley and O'Neal also stuck to their previous views on the show: jump shots cannot win championships.

Their predictions are that the Lakers will beat the Warriors 4-2 and then the Lakers will return to the finals.

However, Kenny Smith believes the Warriors have a better chance.

He is relatively objective. He listed a lot of data, the most important of which is: the Warriors are the second team in NBA history to rank in the top two in the league in terms of offensive and defensive efficiency during the season.

The Warriors' offensive efficiency this season ranks second in the league, only behind the Heat, but their defensive efficiency is first in the league.

The last team to do this was the Bulls in the 95-96 season, when they won 72 games and eventually won the championship.

He also emphasized that this is the first time in so many years that the Warriors have appeared in the playoffs in a healthy state.

This allows them to have two players on the All-Defensive Team in Green and Bogut, and Iguodala and Thompson's defensive abilities are also among the best in the league.

There are still different opinions on who will win between the Lakers and the Warriors, but in the Eastern Conference, the Heat are unanimously favored.

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

The Heat are considered by them to be the championship team this season.

Moreover, judging from the performance of the Cavaliers and the Heat in the first two rounds, there is a clear gap in strength between the two teams.

Not to mention, Irving has not fully recovered yet, and it is unknown whether he will play in G1.

Barkley predicted the result of the Cavaliers 1-4 Heat, while O'Neal was a bit subjective and predicted the result of 2-4.

Kenny Smith analyzed from an objective perspective and his prediction was consistent with Barkley's.

The Cavaliers' offensive and defensive efficiency values ​​were both ranked between 5th and 10th in the league, especially their defense, which only ranked ninth at the end of the regular season.

Although this number is not bad, the Heat team they are facing is the team with the highest offensive efficiency in the league.

ESPN's prediction is even more thorough. They believe that the Cavaliers will not only lose the Eastern Conference Finals, but will also have difficulty winning.

The Heat had home-court advantage, and the day before the game, the Cavaliers were preparing to leave for Miami.

But just before they leave, Owen shows up at the airport.

This was not in the team's plan. The team's original plan was to let Irving stay in Cleveland to continue resting until he fully recovered and played in G3.

"If you don't let me play, trade me."

However, Irving's attitude was extremely firm.

Han Sen was actually a little surprised, because Owen was essentially a rather self-centered person.

Compared to taking risks for the team, it is more likely that he will be forced to play by fans on the grounds that he "is not strong enough to play with an injury".

But Owen's attitude was so firm that he did not object.

After all, the opponent is the Heat, which is not a team of the same level as the Hawks.

Even if Irving plays, it will be difficult for the Cavaliers to win.

Of course, he also reminded Irving that if he returned early, there would be a risk of getting injured again, or even seriously injured.

"If I lose the game because of me, I can't stay in Cleveland."

He performed mediocrely in the first round and missed the second round. If the divisional finals are lost again because of him, the public pressure Irving will face will indeed be unprecedented.

The deal he talked about was not some empty talk, but something the management would really consider.

After all, no one said that the Cavaliers must keep Irving.

Replacing the Cavaliers with a Pippen-like player would allow Hansen to focus on scoring like he did with the Grizzlies. For the Cavaliers, it would simply be a matter of changing their tactical system.

After listening to Owen's words, Han Sen smiled and said, "Do you know what inscription I'm going to use under the statue in Memphis?"

Under Owen's curious gaze, Han Sen continued,

"Make the impossible possible."

No one thought the Grizzlies could win the championship, and no one thought the Grizzlies could complete a dynasty.

But Han Sen finally fulfilled his words, and this inscription is completely worthy of it and is also the best interpretation of that dynasty.

Owen's eyes were filled with excitement.

What could be more worthwhile than trying to make the impossible possible?
After arriving in Miami, the Cavaliers began their daily open training.

Although the Cavaliers' morale seems to be high rather than low despite being unanimously viewed negatively by the outside world.

This was not only because Han Sen, the backbone of the team, remained calm, but also because they had never been favored this season.

When the game was tied 1-1 with the Bulls, many people thought they would be eliminated in the first round, but now they have made it to the divisional finals.

More importantly, this is the first conference finals experience for most of this team.

Just like Han Sen back then, no matter how bad the conditions are, he always wants to give it a try and touch the floor of the finals.

Even some of the old knights like Williams were like this.

During the James era, they also reached the conference finals, and more than once, but all ended in failure.

It was an 8-on-5 game that year, and they still didn't win despite Howard being fouled out many times. They were also put down in the shit book along with James.

Originally they were the closest five years ago as they had eliminated the Celtics in the semi-finals, but Hansen's injury made that a possibility.

Regardless of whether they can win the championship in the end, the regret they want to make up for most now is to fight for the finals with Han Sen. At least Han Sen didn't get injured this time, right?

And there was an unexpected person coming to the training site.

When Han Sen saw O'Neal appear, he was a little surprised, but he still stopped training and walked towards him with a smile.

"You are a big fat fish now." Han Sen joked.

"When you retire, you will gain weight faster than me." O'Neal gave Hansen a suffocating bear hug like a big fat fish.

"I really want to make a comeback now." O'Neal looked at Williams and others and couldn't help but rub his hands. This idea had already appeared in his mind uncontrollably the moment the Cavaliers entered the playoffs.

"I can say hello to David and ask him to arrange a part-time job for you as the captain of the stadium security, and you will be considered a member." Han Sen knew that O'Neal's dream was to become a policeman.

O'Neill laughed out loud.

"How is it? Have you figured out how to play against the Heat?" After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two sat on the sidelines, and O'Neal also became concerned about tomorrow night's game.

Han Sen shook his head.

This Heat team was already very strong, and after trading for Dragic, it can be described as outrageous.

The gap in strength between the Cavaliers and them is indeed obvious, otherwise Barkley and O'Neal wouldn't have felt that they had no chance.

"Aren't they saying we can't win a game? My goal now is to win a game first," Han Sen continued.

"Then?"

"Win the second one."

"And then?"

“Win the third game.”

O'Neal was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing and patted Hansen on the shoulder.

To translate what Han Sen meant, it means to win every game.

After all, you only need to win four games in a series to advance.

"I heard that you compared KD to me." O'Neal put away his smile and suddenly became serious.

"You don't think that's an insult to you, do you?" Han Sen looked at O'Neill's changing expression with confusion.

Although O'Neal is petty in some ways, but...well, O'Neal actually has a small mind.

"Of course he can't compare with me, but that's not the point. The point is that I also went through the situation of the Heat now."

Han Sen was confused for a moment, not knowing what exactly O'Neill was referring to.

"When we eliminated Michael, we thought we had it figured out, because the Rockets were the sixth-best team in the Western Conference and we had just eliminated the God of Basketball."

O'Neal also felt emotional when he recalled this experience.

They were really in the limelight that year, and before the finals started, the outside world even thought they would be able to sweep the whole team.

We all know the result. Someone did have his head shaved, but it was them, not the Rockets.

"You know what I mean, no matter what the outside world thinks, no matter how the strength is compared, anything is possible."

Han Sen finally understood that O'Neal had come here specifically to encourage him.

"Thank you, Shaq." Hansen looked at O'Neal with gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
"I'll win them with your share."

When the Cavaliers finished training and left, they happened to meet the Heat players coming to the training hall.

Wade saw Hansen and took the initiative to say hello.

"DW, who will guard me tomorrow night?" Han Sen also tried to find out the news.

"Who else but me?" Wade was very realistic. He couldn't let Dragic defend Hansen, right?
"How is Kyrie's injury?" Wade also began to care about Irving.

Han Sen shook his head, looking pessimistic.

"I probably won't be able to fight tomorrow night."

"Take your time. There's no need to rush this one." Wade comforted Hansen.

"You too, take care of yourself and don't get hurt like last time. They all said I won because of your injury." Han Sen joked.

Wade laughed when he heard that. When he saw Riley coming in, he patted Hansen on the shoulder and then went into the training hall with his teammates.

The next night, the American Airlines Arena was packed.

Miami fans are at an all-time high.

The two teams had a record of 2 wins and 1 loss in the regular season, and the only game the Heat lost was when Hansen scored a 60+ triple-double.

It was obviously impossible for Hansen to do this again in the playoffs.

Not to mention they later traded for Dragic.

This is a series they can enjoy watching.

Riley also came to the scene. He sat there with his arms folded across his chest, with an equally relaxed expression.

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the Cavaliers took the stage first as the visiting team.

Irving, JR, Hansen, Tucker, Thompson.

Malone directly used his death lineup as the starting lineup, and used his ultimate move as soon as the game met.

Spoelstra didn't seem surprised when he saw this.

The Cavaliers are weaker and don’t stand much of a chance in a conventional win.

However, Wade was obviously stunned when he saw Irving come on the court.

What happened to Irving not being able to play?
The Heat then took the stage as the home team.

Dragic, Wade, Durant, Deng, and Gasol.

In this starting lineup, neither Dragic nor Durant can defend Hansen, so it is indeed Wade who defends Hansen.

Wade is still the "good guy" and he told Hansen the truth yesterday.

After the opening ceremony, both sides entered the final preparation time.

Just as the time was almost up, Durant saw a girl he liked in the stands as he walked onto the court.

He also immediately glared at the other party.

This scene was projected on the large LED screen. The girl was a little confused, but cheers broke out at the scene.

"KD looks like he's ready to win tonight!" Barkley exclaimed with a smile after seeing this scene in the commentary booth.

-Dividing line-

All-NBA First Team: Curry, Hansen, Durant, James, Anthony Davis

Second team: Paul, Harden, Kobe, Gasol, Gasol

Third team: Westbrook, Wade, Klay Thompson, Duncan, Noah

All-Defensive First Team: Paul, Hansen, Leonard, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis

Second team: Wall, Jimmy Butler, Duncan, Bogut, Gasol

(End of this chapter)