This year's finals attracted a lot of attention, and two days before the series started, major media took turns to report on it.
There are many reasons for attracting attention, the most important one is the grudges between James and the Warriors.
This is the fifth year that James has fought against the Warriors, and it is also the second battle between James and the Warriors between the Cavaliers and the Warriors.
James has changed teams twice in the past five years, from the Cavaliers to the Heat, and from the Heat back to the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers did have an average lineup back then, but the Heat were the Big Three. Most people thought that the Heat's lineup was much better than the Warriors, but they hadn't won once in the past four years, and the Warriors simply beat James away!
Of course, James' return to the Cavaliers is not a simple escape. That is because the Cavaliers have enough chips to allow him to operate and form another Big Three lineup to be able to fight against the Warriors.
The result was the same. James really got Love. Together with Irving, the Cavaliers also formed a Big Three lineup, and they were much younger than the previous Big Three of the Heat!
Although the Cavaliers did not perform well in the first half of the regular season, their performance improved after the introduction of J.R. Smith and Shumpert, and their final ranking was also good.
Especially in the playoffs, the Cavaliers performed very well. Although their ranking was not as good as the Hawks, they defeated their opponents without much effort and reached the finals.
Although Love was missing in the last game of the first round, the Cavaliers are still as powerful as the Hawks, who ranked first in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.
They also swept the opponent 4:0. The Cavaliers should be no worse than the Warriors, right?
The Warriors only have one star player, Curry, but the Cavaliers have two. In terms of lineup comparison, the Cavaliers are not inferior to the Warriors!
It seems that the Cavaliers are really in trouble this time!
As long as there is suspense in the series, there will be more viewers!
Of course, there is another reason why the series is so interesting, and that is whether Deng Fang will take action to treat Love!
The Cavaliers performed very well after Love was injured, sweeping the Hawks 4-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. It seemed that Love's absence had little impact, but senior experts know that this is not the case.
Without Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen, the rebuilding Celtics are just that strong. Sweeping them doesn't mean anything. The same is true for the Hawks. Although they rank first in the Eastern Conference, everyone knows that the playoffs are about
Regarding the quality and quantity of the stars, the Eagles need not talk about the quality of the stars. They do not have a real star at all!
So it's not convincing to say that the Eagles were swept 4:0!
The Bulls, the only Bulls to reach Game 6 with the Cavaliers, did have stars, but the quality of their stars was just that: Rose after a serious injury, and Jimmy Butler, who had just emerged.
Since Rose's serious injury, his explosiveness has not been as good as before. In addition, his shooting has not been good, especially the three-pointer, so it is not difficult to defend the current Rose.
As for Jimmy Butler, he is a ruthless character, but he has not been the core of the team for a long time, and his skills need to be polished. Even if he is a star, he is currently only a second-rate star.
The Bulls' two stars are of average quality, and the Cavaliers are missing Love and are a little worse on the offensive end, so the two teams mainly compete on defense.
In the end, the two teams fought for six games to decide the winner.
Against such a Bulls team, we have to go to the sixth game. You can only imagine how strong the Cavaliers are.
To be fair, this Cavaliers team is not weak, but its ability to fight tough battles is not top-notch. They rely more on defense, and the offensive end relies on James' sudden points.
Irving is very good in singles, but this is the first time Irving has played in the playoffs. He is obviously not fully prepared. He averaged only 19 points per game in this year's playoffs, which is obviously not even a little bit behind James.
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James is still in his prime this year, and his endurance is almost limitless. Therefore, Love's absence has an impact on the Cavaliers, but it is not too big.
Of course, no matter what, it would be a good thing if Love could return. Even one more role player would be good for the team, let alone a player like Love.
The question now is what to do about Love's injury!
According to the team doctor's estimation, Love will definitely not be able to play this season and will be absent for a period of time next season.
If Love wants to come back, there is only one way, and that is to find Deng Fang!
The Cavaliers approached Deng Fang before, but Deng Fang didn't agree. His answer was very clear - let's talk about it in the finals!
Now that it's the finals, Deng Fang shouldn't refuse, right?
But the Warriors are no longer what they were before, and the Cavaliers are no longer what they were before. Will Deng Fang still treat Love?
This is a problem!
If it were the Warriors with a strong lineup before, Deng Fang would definitely treat Love, and before treating him, he would pretend to be X, saying that we are not afraid, and it would be the same for anyone...
Deng Fang dared to do that because the Warriors' previous lineup was too strong, especially their bench, which was stronger than the starting lineup of most teams in the league!
But the situation is different now. The Warriors' bench is much worse than before. Although it is not bad, it is compared with the bench of other teams!
Does Deng Fang still dare to treat his opponents now?
This is a problem!
Not only that, some reporters also revealed that the Cavaliers not only wanted Deng Fang to treat Love, they also wanted Deng Fang to treat Irving as well!
Irving has been playing injured in previous games, which is also a big hidden danger for the Cavaliers.
Deng Fang knows best. In history, Irving only played the first game in this round of finals, and then it was James who faced off against the entire Warriors.
In the first game of this round of finals in history, Irving slipped to the ground while facing Thompson's defense during an overtime offense with the ball. Then he limped into the locker room. According to the results of the MRI examination,
Irving fractured his left kneecap and was ended for the season. His injury was a huge blow to the Cavaliers.
In an interview afterwards, Cavaliers coach David Blatt believed that it was Thompson's defense that caused Irving's injury - "His knee was on the other side of Irving's knee. This was an injury caused by physical contact. The final result
It's just a fractured kneecap," Blatter said.
However, judging from the video replay, although Thompson was defending closely, his knees did not seem to have much contact with Irving. After Irving fell to the ground, Thompson did not use this opportunity to launch a counterattack, but gave up this opportunity.
This attack reflects good sportsmanship.
In fact, Irving has always had knee problems. He had already rested two games in the Eastern Conference Finals due to knee problems. In the view of his family, the most direct cause of the injury in the Finals was that the Cavaliers did not allow him enough rest time.
After the Eastern Conference finals, Irving's family had been communicating with the Cavaliers, hoping that Irving would not take the risk of returning. However, due to the heavy workload in the finals, James did not agree with Irving to rest, and the Cavaliers had no choice but to let Irving play with injury.
In the end, Irving played 44 minutes in the first game of the Finals. This time obviously exceeded his physical load and also led to his injury.
The Cavaliers are not stupid. Since Deng Fang can take action, it would be great to let him cure Love and Irving at once!
If Deng Fang agreed to treat Love, Irving wouldn't refuse, right?
Otherwise, wouldn't it look like Deng Fang was afraid?
Being timid before fighting, even if Deng Fang refused to treat Irving, this news would be a very bad psychological hint for the Warriors generals!
Everyone’s eyes are fixed on Deng Fang, waiting for his decision! (To be continued)