The showdowns between the Knicks and the Heat, and between Lian Dao and James, have also been hotly speculated recently.
Although Lian Dao and James have always been regarded as the strongest players at the third position in the league, the two have never played against each other in the playoffs.
This time is the first head-to-head match between the two in the playoffs. Everyone wants to know who is stronger at the third position.
This season, both Lian Dao and James have become more mature. Lian Dao has changed the most. In some offensive choices, Lian Dao is more reasonable. Although his data has not improved much, his efficiency value has improved more than his rookie season.
James is more mature, and he is constantly changing and adapting to the team during the team's running-in. The reason why the Heat made great efforts in the later period is because the Big Three finally found a relatively consistent point after running-in.
This time, it was indeed the "matchup between the strongest small forwards" as hyped by the media.
Although I don’t know what Anthony and Durant think about this title, in the eyes of fans and the media, Lian Dao vs. James is the strongest matchup at the third position.
Although both teams performed very well this year, the Knicks also achieved the league's first record.
However, in the prediction of the Eastern Conference Finals, a small number of people still believe that the Heat's Big Three will advance.
Although judging from the team's paper strength, the two teams have their own merits and are difficult to distinguish, but the "Big Three" gave the Heat a lot of extra points.
At the end of the playoffs, what are you watching?
It's very simple. It depends on the dominance of the superstars. Whichever team's superstar performs more steadily and is stronger, whoever is more likely to reach the end.
In the competition of "superstars", the Knicks are indeed weaker than the current Heat, but in the competition of role players, the Knicks completely beat the Heat.
So in the end, more people believed that the strength of the two teams was 50-50, and anyone could reach the end. However, due to their scoring ability at critical moments, more fans tended to favor the Heat.
But many people also predict that this year's Eastern Conference Finals is likely to be the same as last year, with a tiebreaker to truly determine the winner.
As soon as this conclusion came out, it was immediately opposed by the New York media and the Miami media.
"Our record against the Heat during the regular season is 3 wins and 1 loss. I think even if we meet again in the playoffs, it will at most give the Heat a chance to win one more game. I think this should be the worst for the Knicks.
Situation!" The New York Times expressed its views unceremoniously in its print news.
They believe that ESPN's prediction of the Knicks' strength is not accurate enough, and they clearly underestimated the Knicks' strength.
Of course, the local media in Miami were not just for nothing and responded directly.
"The regular season record has a pitifully low reference value for the playoffs. The Heat have the strongest team lineup in the league, and they cooperate tacitly. They are moving forward in the playoffs. The Knicks will not become the Heat's Big Three.
A stumbling block on the way forward, believe us, we will only let the Knicks win one game at most!"
The interaction between the media in the two places instantly triggered a war of words between fans in the two places, and posts were flying around the Internet.
What "The Heat's Big Three are invincible, kill the Knicks!".
There is also "The Knicks' two guns will make the Heat better".
"The Heat, a bunch of clinging dogs, will never win!"...
The online scolding war has never stopped for a moment, which of course has also made this duel extremely popular.
…
Wade looked at the reports about the Heat in newspapers and on the Internet. He enjoyed the praise, but ignored the attacks from negative fans.
They have faced too many attacks this year, so when they see message attacks, they find a way to just ignore them and just ignore them.
However, the Heat's Big Three are very confident and feel that they are very close to winning the O'Brien Cup.
"LeBron, how many games do you think we will play with the Knicks this year?" Wade asked James next to him while scrolling through the news online.
"Hey, Dwyane, please open a hotspot for me first!" James, who was taking out his cell phone next to him, did not answer Wade's question directly, but asked Wade to open a hotspot for his cell phone first.
Wade gave James a look of disdain, but then opened the hot spot for him.
James is definitely one of the league's most lucrative stars, but sometimes he is so frugal that even Wade feels embarrassed.
"Phew, I'm connected, brother. Thanks, you just said how many games to play, right?" James thought for a moment, and then said: "Four games!"
After hearing this answer, Wade was stunned for a moment.
Listen, is this human language?
This is even more radical than the local media in Miami. The media in Miami only said 4:1 to advance. Good guy, by your time it has become 4:0.
"Hey, brother, don't underestimate the Knicks. We have suffered a lot from them." Wade was stunned for a moment, thinking that James was a little arrogant.
"I know, just kidding, sickle is not that easy to deal with. I have long been prepared for a tough battle. To be honest, I don't know how many games we will play in this series, but I think the winner will
It's us!"
After James and Wade high-fived each other, he turned his attention to Twitter on his mobile phone.
…
The Miami Heat came to New York the next day.
They came to New York early to prepare for the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks.
The Heat's Big Three attended a press conference the same day they arrived in New York.
James was smiling all over his face, and he didn't feel nervous when the big game was coming.
When reporters asked him what he thought about the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks.
James smiled and said: "The Knicks are no different from the opponents we have played against, because we treat every opponent with all our strength. I am looking forward to the Eastern Conference finals!"
James' answer was watertight, but the meaning conveyed in his words was not what it appeared on the surface.
You must know that in the playoffs, the two teams that played against the Heat have already been defeated by them.
What this means is that the Knicks' final outcome will be the same as the teams the Heat have played against.
But media reporters were obviously not satisfied with James' answer.
This answer was too perfunctory and tactful, and these reporters felt that it was not easy to operate.
Immediately, they set their sights on Dragon King Bosh.
"Chris, do you think you can beat the Knicks who made it to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago?"
"Of course there is no problem. I am very confident in our own strength!" Chris Bosh has never been as excited as he is today. If he were with the Denver Nuggets, he would have struggled to reach the playoffs, let alone reach the Eastern Conference finals.
Therefore, Bosh, who was standing on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time, immediately felt high-spirited, and his outstanding performance in the last round also gave him endless confidence.
"With all due respect, your record against the Knicks in the regular season was not outstanding. Why do you have such strong confidence in the team now?"
After the reporter heard Bosh's reply, he immediately felt that there was some bad information to be mined, so he immediately asked in pursuit of victory.
Reporters have always been interested in watching the excitement, and there are various traps hidden in their interviews, just to deliberately create trouble and create pre-game focus.
Before the game starts, the more topics you create, the more attention you can draw, and the more bad news they and the media can dig out.
"Hey, Miss Reporter, you also said that it was just the regular season, and we are more adjusting the lineup. Now our lineup has been completely adjusted, and our current strength is no longer the same as before."
"You must know that the Knicks didn't take much advantage against us who were short of major generals in the regular season!" Chris Bosh even deliberately shrugged as he said that, indicating that he would not cut it.
The reporters at the scene were very grateful to Bosh for the information, and now they especially want to know what Lian Dao thinks about it.
Reporters still want to jump into the dispute between Heat and Knicks players.
"Don't worry, we will definitely prove ourselves!"
James and Wade also came over and said.
At this time, when James saw what Bosh said, he also knew that he could no longer be at odds with him, so he simply sided with Bosh.
"The three of us joining forces this season will definitely become the Knicks' biggest rival!" Wade said on the side.
After the Heat players answered the questions, they walked directly out of the press conference.