Who would have thought that the Grizzlies and 76ers would eventually reach the Finals?

It’s not that a rising team really has a chance to win the championship. Let alone the championship, most of the young and emerging teams that once shined on the NBA stage have never even made it to the conference finals. For example, in the Eastern Conference that year

The Wizards' Three Musketeers, the Western Supersonics' Three Musketeers.

Entering the finals is even more of a luxury. In the past 13 seasons, the Western Conference finals team has been the Lakers, Mavericks, and the Suns. Among them are the Kings, Jazz, Nuggets, and Suns... Many teams have emerged one after another, but none of them has broken the Lakers, Mavericks, and the Cowboys in the finals.

's rule.

Moreover, since the new century, only two teams have won the championship for the first time in team history, the Mavericks and the Heat.

The other champions, the Lakers, Spurs, Pistons, and Celtics, are all teams that have won championships in the last century.

Therefore, it is difficult to add a new championship team, and even many superstars have never entered the finals in their careers.

When both Kobe and James were eliminated, the restless media began to support the Grizzlies and hoped that the Grizzlies could win the championship.

In addition to the emergence of a new championship team, there is also Nash. After the Grizzlies defeated the Lakers 4-1 to advance to the Finals, the scene of Nash crying on the court touched the tear ducts of many old fans.

The day after the 76ers advanced, the team immediately came to Memphis and began preparing for the game.

After the Grizzlies had a day's rest, they also began to prepare for the game.

All major mainstream media have begun to run programs analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the Grizzlies and 76ers.

Judging from the comparison of regular season games, the Grizzlies have the advantage.

Comparing the lineup, the 76ers' stars are stronger.

The giant combination of Evans, Iguodala, and Howard is very strong. In terms of role players, Holiday, who was selected as a second defense player in his second year, Lou Williams, who has the best sixth man ability, and quality pitcher Judy

-Meeks, two inside men, Thaddeus Young and Hawes, who are unreliable on defense but can shoot well... The substitutes are not so good, just Lou Williams, Meeks, and Hawes.

Reliable, Lavoie Allen and Sam Young are both pretty bad.

Basically, the 76ers relied on four stars with unique characteristics on both offense and defense in Evans, Iguodala, Holiday, and Howard plus sixth man Lou Williams to rise to prominence.

As for the Grizzlies, if you compete for stars, they really can't compete with the 76ers. The only player who can compare with Evans and Howard in terms of strength is Randolph.

But the Grizzlies have better overall cooperation and stronger team strength. Sun Ce, Nash, Gasol, and Tony Allen all have their own characteristics. They are first-class players in the eyes of the media, experts, and fans. In team cooperation, in

There are top players performing in their respective fields of expertise.

Paul George and DeAndre Jordan are both near-first-class players, and they perform as first-class players when doing what they should do.

Klay Thompson, Yi Jianlian, Neal, Ridnour, and Battier are also very high-quality role players.

It’s unclear whether Jimmy Butler has a future. He’s not playing well in the Development League, but the Grizzlies didn’t send him away in the trade. Lewis signed him back mainly because he didn’t want other teams to sign him away. Of course, if

He is considered to be the best, but he only appeared twice in the playoffs, both of which were garbage time.

There is also Aaron Gray, the fifth big man who performed well against Yao Ming.

In this year's playoff performance, the media believed that the Grizzlies' performance was more stable and their overall strength was stronger, because once the Grizzlies established an advantage, they played very steadily. The Thunder and Lakers both played in 5 games.

Solved by the Grizzlies.

The 76ers, on the other hand, led 3-1 twice but failed to solve their opponents immediately. They were dragged to the tiebreaker by the Bulls and almost dragged to the tiebreaker by the Heat.

Analysis after analysis, the media all feel that the Grizzlies have the advantage.

Perhaps it's because people want to see team-based teams defeat teams with a lot of stars.

…

Even if they don't deliberately pay attention to public opinion, the media, and fans hope that the Grizzlies, who are famous for their team, will win the championship, it will reach the ears of the Grizzlies players.

Sun Ce was very happy when he learned about the change in public opinion. As a socialist successor who was born under the red flag and grew up in the spring breeze... Any player who truly integrates into a team hopes that his team will be praised.

This sense of team honor may be more exciting than individual honor.

However, Nash and Battier have been urging their teammates not to be too complacent. They have played for so many years and understand the difficulties of winning a championship. They have reached the last step, and they cannot be careless.

"Don't be happy until you hold the O'Brien Cup." This is a saying that Nash and Battier have been saying since they advanced to the finals.

Why do teams competing for the championship want to bring in veterans who have never won a championship but are experienced and have been superstars or famous leaders? It is because they have authority, know how difficult it is to win a championship, and can supervise young players.

Under the tireless supervision of the two veterans, the teammates did not feel noisy, because the glory of the championship was right in front of them, and what the two said made sense, so they all settled down and prepared for the battle.

After all, they didn't know much about the 76ers. Even the coaching staff only started studying the 76ers and making specific tactical preparations the night after they defeated the Lakers and reached the finals.

Moreover, they saw the visiting team's training ground next door in full swing and actively preparing for the game.

Evans + Howard, one of the three best point guards in the league. Evans, who is comparable to Rose and Paul, paired with Howard, the best center in the league today, is extremely intimidating.

…

While the Grizzlies and 76ers are actively preparing for the game, the basketball world on the south coast is looking like a prelude to a storm.

Pat Riley sent an email to team owner Mitch Arison, then leaned back in his chair and sighed. At this time, sitting opposite him was their Heat star LeBron James.

After losing to the 76ers in an away game last night and ending up in the Eastern Conference Finals, James flew back to Miami overnight and came to Pat Riley's office early this morning to force him out.

After acting like he was extremely anxious, Pat Riley began to lie: "LeBron, you have to believe me, we will definitely find a suitable center for you."

James has been hearing this for two years. In his first season with the Heat, he was confused about why the team's best center was Big Z, who came to Miami with him.

After Big Z retired, the team's only real centers were Eddie Curry and Dexter Pittman, two fat men weighing over 140 kilograms who could only play a few games a season.

Therefore, James switched from small forward to power forward. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the 76ers, he had to play center to compete with Howard.

Now that he's at this level, James doesn't care about face or anything else. Even if Pat Riley reveals that he forced the wife to marry him, he will still do this.

James said directly: "I need a clear signing target. Dwyane, Chris and I have all taken salary cuts, not to help the team save luxury tax. Our total salary this year is only 71.11 million, and we have three All-Stars.

, three! They actually didn’t pay the luxury tax, and they didn’t even use the middle-class clause this year.

Dwyane and Chris don't want to say it, but I want to say that our salary reduction is not to help the team save money, but to use the money to bring in better teammates.

I now need a clear signing target and if that doesn't work, I will apply for a trade this summer."

These words were very clear. Pat Riley could hear James' seriousness. He knew that James could definitely do what he said.

Well, this person is not afraid of a bad personality, but he is afraid that the good personality he established will collapse. But now that James' personality has collapsed, the new egoist personality has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In this case, no one thinks it is a surprise to change teams again.

Yes, even if he forces the team to recruit him, James will not be scolded worse for this kind of thing, but it will be in line with his current personality.

And this time the Heat have no reason to argue. Among the four teams in the conference finals, except for the 76ers who have two rookie contracts of Evans and Holiday, they are the only ones who have not paid the luxury tax. The Lakers and Grays

The Bears will have to pay more than 10 million in luxury tax.

As for the lack of salary space, Pat Riley knows that James knows the team's salary space very well. At present, in addition to James and Bosh's salary of US$6.02 million, and Wade's salary of US$15.69 million, there are only Chalmers and Mike

-Miller and Haslem have guaranteed contracts, while others are on short-term contracts. For example, James Jones, a good friend of James, signed a year with a low salary, Joel Anthony, and Juwan Howard.

, the contracts of Eddie Curry and others have also expired, and the mid-level exception this season is useless. They just don’t want to keep a long-term contract and want to try their best to control the total salary below the luxury tax threshold.

Chalmers, Mike Miller, and Haslem are all good trading chips. That is to say, the Heat have only fixed contracts with the Big Three. Even in the offseason, the Big Three will start the next season.

In terms of salary calculation space, James and Bosh's salary is only US$17.55 million, and Wade's salary is only US$17.12 million, which adds up to less than 53 million US dollars. According to estimates, the salary cap next season will be between US$64 million and US$66 million.

At least $11 million can be freed up.

After thinking quickly, Pat Riley maintained that anxious look and said: "I understand, LeBron, I have been working hard, but you understand this kind of thing, saving money is definitely not my original intention, it is the boss's

If you ask, I will try my best to talk to him, but you have to give me a clear goal and let me know how to talk to him."

James nodded, thought for a while and then said: "I hope to bring in teammates with athletic ability like Tyson Chandler or Andrew Bogut, who can help Chris share the pressure inside and return Chris to the power forward.

The position can help Dwyane and I reduce the pressure on the pick-and-roll!"
Chapter completed!