LeBron James, your house got robbed.

Chapter 95 The Future of the Celtics

"Traitor, go back to where you belong."

As soon as James walked into the player tunnel, Cleveland fans started yelling at him.

Seeing James look up at him, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Get lost, a clown like you will never win a championship."

James simply covered his head with a towel and walked straight into the players' tunnel.

The loss left him with no inclination to argue with the fans.

James isn't unable to accept losing; it's only the first game of the series, and it's on the opponent's home court.

However, losing so decisively only intensified James's worries.

In the center of the court, Kevin Garnett, who was named MVP of the game, is being interviewed: "Our coaching staff did a lot of work, especially on the defensive end. My teammates and I completely shut down LeBron James."

"We also dominated the boards, we had 18 offensive rebounds, it's hard to lose a game like this."

Chen Shuo then approached Paul after the game.

"Chris, listen, I'm impressed with your performance on the court."

"Your contribution cannot be reflected in the data."

This game was essentially a game where defense determined the outcome.

The Cavaliers shut down James with three lines of defense.

Facing the Cavaliers' defense, James only managed 13 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 turnovers.

While the stats may appear to be close to a triple-double, considering that this is a statistic from a ball-handling, core player, it's not hard to understand why the Heat lost.

The Heat also used a small lineup with their center spreading out to create double teams, trying their best to keep Paul out of the game.

Paul's stats were equally dismal, with only 14 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds.

But Chen Shuo's words were by no means an exaggeration.

Although Paul's stats are not impressive, the Cavaliers' offense always starts with Paul's pick-and-roll.

After each pick-and-roll, Paul faces a double-team from Bosh and Wade. After drawing the double team, he passes the ball to Thompson on the weak side or to Garnett, who acts as a pivot, to launch an attack on the weak side.

Paul's pick-and-roll remains the Cavaliers' starting point, changing the opponent's defensive formation. However, after being double-teamed and passing the ball out, it's difficult to accumulate any statistics.

The most commendable point is that Paul, who was double-teamed countless times throughout the game, managed to maintain a zero turnover rate.

It was precisely this terrifying ability to control turnovers that limited the Heat to only 4 points on fast breaks throughout the game.

Without fast breaks, the Heat could only play positional warfare. With one big man and four small men, they were constantly suppressed and beaten by the twin towers' tight defense.

Looking at Chen Shuo's sincere expression, Paul said in a slightly low voice, "I'm just making the right choice."

"You're doing the right thing, the coaching staff made the right decisions, and my teammates and I made the right choices on the field."

"So we won, which is exactly what we've always strived for as a team."

You don't need to worry about me all the time.

Paul patted Chen Shuo on the shoulder.

"Hey, I told you a long time ago that I'm not that fragile."

"But I'm always grateful for what you've done for me."

"Just like you told the Quicken Loans Arena fans, we don't need anyone's approval."

"Every victory is a testament to our hard work."

Chen Shuo hadn't expected Paul to have such awareness. He felt that the championship was in the bag, so he casually stroked Paul's head and said with great confidence, "The final victory will definitely belong to us."

There was no response from Paul after a short while.

Chen Shuo suddenly remembered that his head was a taboo subject for an old-timer, and quickly slipped away before Paul could explode.

Following the game, media outlets from various regions quickly published articles, overwhelmingly predicting that the Cavaliers would advance to the NBA Finals.

The New York Times remained sharp: "When an MVP player puts up numbers like these, it's easy to understand why the Heat lost."

"This season, Wade has relinquished ball possession for the Heat, and the entire team has adapted to the LeBron James system."

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"To give James more space, they adopted a lineup with one big man and four small men, which directly led to their rebounding disaster."

"Besides, Bosh and Wade were forced to play supporting roles."

"Bosh further increased his shooting range, losing his own offensive opportunities, and stood on the perimeter waiting for James' pass."

"Wade has given up ball possession and gained weight this season, becoming the last resort when James' system tactics fail. He needs to make a hard break with a one-on-one play when there are only a few seconds left in the game."

"Aside from that, Wade could only create space for James by frequently cutting to the basket."

"The Heat are practically using the entire team to prop up LeBron James' stats."

"If James can't get going on offense, their loss is inevitable."

"You can't expect Wade and Bosh to play supporting roles all season and then step up to decide the outcome of the game in the playoffs."

ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst tried to defend James: "The Heat only have seven players who played more than 10 minutes. Does Spoelstra expect to beat the Cavaliers with seven, or even 6.5, players?"

ESPN's First Take, on the other hand, is more forward-thinking.

Smith told the camera, "Perhaps Miami should do what New York does and start thinking about the upcoming offseason soon."

Bayless scoffed: "Next year, the Big Three's salaries will account for more than 80% of the salary cap, leaving them no room for maneuver."

"They couldn't even keep JR Smith, who played exceptionally well today."

"If you ask me, trading James is the only hope for the team to get back on track."

The program caused a huge uproar as soon as it aired.

The Miami Heat's Big Three have attracted a lot of attention since their formation, and the decision to broadcast the game nationwide made the whole thing dramatic. Now it seems that the Big Three may have an even more dramatic ending.

In no time, countless media reporters found material.

Let your imagination run wild with the three giants' hair loose, and freely express yourself with your pen.

But the most popular story is about Cleveland's revenge.

Alva Fields, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain News, was a witness to this event.

Organize all the information and start from Decision 1: Gilbert's official letter, hiring Chen Shuo as general manager, the four matchups between the Heat and Cavaliers in the 10-11 season, Chen Shuo's declaration at the press conference, the Cavaliers' offseason moves, the coaching change controversy, the trade of Garnett, the crazy 36-game winning streak, and finally, their meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Alva concluded with the words, "The story continues."

This article garnered a staggering number of clicks online, was widely reposted and circulated, and quickly became the number one story in the North American sports world.

The topic quickly rose to number one on Twitter, surpassing the popularity of the newly released Avengers and the US election.

"It all started with that seemingly absurd appointment of the general manager."

"You're right, I'm a Cleveland native, and I thought Gilbert must have been furious."

"Haha, me too. Right now, it looks like this might be the most important appointment in Cleveland sports history."

"Chen turned the tide of the decline, the great Cleveland dictator."

"If you ask me, this is even more exciting than The Avengers."

Even Trump himself chimed in on Twitter, saying, "I love revenge stories, make this into a movie."

Countless fans learned the details and, without exception, became Cavaliers fans.

At the same time, Chen Shuo's Twitter followers skyrocketed, exceeding 50 in the first week.

While it can't compare to stars like Kobe Bryant who broke a million in the first week, it has completely outclassed general managers like Morey.

No one dislikes a revenge story.

5 month 30 day.

As public opinion quickly spread, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals became the focus of everyone's attention.

Even people who don't usually follow sports turned on the TV to watch the game.

Chen Shuo also turned on the TV, not to watch his own team's game, since he was already at Quicken Loans Arena.

The main reason is that today is also the NBA lottery draw ceremony.

The NBA broadcast the draft lottery live before the game.

Unlike the previous year's lottery, Chen Shuo had not yet caused much change.

This season, due to Chen Shuo's several trades, many teams' draft picks have changed hands, and even Chen Shuo himself has been affected.

Understand the rules of this lottery draw.

Moreover, there's always some shady stuff in the lottery draw; the same draw spot given to different teams doesn't necessarily mean they'll get the same spot as on the original timeline.

In addition, the impact of Chen Shuo's appearance on the overall performance also needs to be considered.

The Boston Celtics being dismantled, the Clippers failing to acquire Paul, the Knicks failing to get Chandler, and the Cavaliers' unexpected rise will all affect the draft order.

Of course, what Chen Shuo was most concerned about was the draft pick held by the Celtics.

The Celtics' dismantling of the team makes them the team with the most first-round picks this year.

In addition to having their own pick, they also have the picks from the Kings, Timberwolves, Spurs, and Thunder.

With a total of five picks, the Spurs and Thunder, ranked second and fourth respectively, did not enter the lottery and have been confirmed as the 27th and 29th picks.

The Celtics started tanking midway through the season. Although Ainge had already sidelined Rondo due to injury, they still couldn't tank as aggressively as their Eastern Conference counterparts. Their 29-win record only ranked 20th in the league.

But the Celtics also have first-round picks from the Timberwolves and the Kings.

Despite their best efforts, the Kings only managed to reach 25th place, two wins behind the 21st-place Timberwolves.

Based on probability, it should be either number 6 or number 9.

Chen Shuo glanced at this year's draft list, and if he remembered correctly, Lillard was the 6th pick.

If the Celtics had used their 6th pick to select Lillard, they could have risen rapidly, and with some maneuvering, making the playoffs wouldn't have been a problem.

The Kings might become the biggest clowns then.

Of course, the main focus this year is still Anthony Davis, but the question of who will receive the number one draft pick this year is quite complicated.