The first matchup of the Eastern Conference Finals will be on May 12 at Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks, who will face the defending champion Cavaliers. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Before the game, various media outlets had already been mobilized to collect all kinds of gimmicks with reporting value, and the media in New York and Cleveland were also busy promoting their home teams, and even released smokescreens.

"It is reported that Phil Jackson, the Knicks' president of operations, will leave New York after the playoffs and return to Los Angeles to help the Lakers rebuild their glory."

A few days ago, the "Cleveland Honest Reporter" published a news about the Cavaliers' Eastern Conference Finals opponent, the Knicks, about Phil Jackson, who was rumored to leave recently.

The Cleveland media and fans are trying to shake the Knicks' morale, affect the team's morale, and make the Cavaliers' path to promotion smoother.

Last season, the Cleveland media and fans didn't hype up bad news for the Knicks, because they thought the Cavaliers would be a tough opponent in the East and the Knicks weren't a problem at all.

But this is no longer the case, the current Knicks have the best regular season record, the team is more deep, and in the three regular season matchups, also has a 2-1 head-to-head record, occupying the lead.

What makes Cavaliers fans feel even more fearful is that the strength of the Knicks in the playoffs is terrifying, the autumn wind sweeps away the first two rounds of opponents cleanly, just like the Cavaliers last season.

Just as Wang Zhuo declared in front of the media that Knicks fans are afraid of James, Cleveland fans are also afraid of the unprecedentedly powerful Knicks, so both the media and fans spare no effort to create unfavorable factors for the Knicks.

"Cameron, regardless of strength or honor, you have always been left behind by LeBron, and you don't want to catch up with LeBron in your lifetime."

Some crazy fans even made long banners to attack the Knicks' star Anthony in an attempt to give the Cavaliers a morale advantage.

"LeBron, don't expect to win a game in Madison, it was last year, and this year is no different."

Knicks fans also showed no weakness, turning out what Wang Zhuo said last season, pointing the finger at James.

Although the Cavaliers won the championship last season, the Eastern Conference Finals reached Game 7, and the Cavaliers failed to overcome Maddison, and finally eliminated the Knicks in the tiebreaker by relying on home-court advantage.

However, this season's Knicks have a home-court advantage, and if the Cavaliers still can't beat Maddison, it is unexpectedly that the Cavaliers will eventually be out.

The war of words between the two sides has even begun before the game has even begun, and Tyronn Lue even let off a smokescreen that Love may miss the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals due to injury.

Of course, Wang Zhuo knew that it was a smokescreen, and Lefu would definitely appear on the court at the Madison Square Garden Arena, which he completely ignored.

Creating a smokescreen has always been a means for the unconfident, and if they are strong enough to sweep any team, they will still be invincible even without smokescreens.

The first game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. New York time on May 12, and in addition to the players and coaching staff from both sides, two NBA celebrities, Maddie and Billups, were present.

The reason why Maddie and Billups came to Madison was to come as ESPN commentators, and at this stage of the game, every game was broadcast live in the United States, and the on-site commentators were also ESPN and *** alternately.

It's not uncommon in the NBA for players and coaches to join basketball commentators after retiring, such as Barkley, Miller and O'Neal, as well as Mark Jackson and current Knicks assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy.

Maddie and Billups, two former All-Stars, also accepted an olive branch from ESPN after retiring and joined ESPN to continue their favorite basketball career.

"Chauncey, do you have anything to say about the final outcome of this series?"

Maddie wears a headset and her eyes are misty and hazy, and she always has a sleepy-eyed expression, even when she speaks.

"T-Mac, please forgive me for being upright, not because I was teammates with Cameron or because I played for the Knicks, but because I'm a big Cameron fan and I appreciate everything about this Knicks."

Billups called Maddie by his nickname, and his tone was indeed quite straightforward, and there was no lack of lofty praise for Anthony and the Knicks.

Anthony and Billups once worked together to lead the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals, and were also bundled and traded by the Nuggets to the Knicks, and the feelings cultivated during the period are self-evident, in fact, what Billups really appreciates is the overall strength of the Knicks, after all, as the grassroots "FMVP" of the Pistons, playing overall basketball.

"Well, since you're rooting for the Knicks, I'm going to reluctantly support the Cavaliers."

Maddie shook her head, a smile on her lips, and her tone seemed slightly forced.

"T-Mac, don't pretend, who doesn't know that you were LeBron's childhood idol, and now the situation has reversed, you have become a LeBron fan, and you have praised James for his greatness in front of the media more than once."

Billups is really tough and doesn't shy away from debunking Maddie's performance.

"Chaunse, I'm not happy with you at all."

Maddie glared angrily, with an angry expression, and pretended to rebuke Billups.

"Give it up, my dear partner, no matter how angry you stare at you, your eyes are still like a coffee bean, far from my teammate Rashid."

“……”

Maddie was speechless, and the fact that Billups pointed out his small eyes did leave him speechless, especially when it came to "Roaring Heavenly Venerable" Wallace, who didn't know that when Rashid Wallace yelled at the referee, he always had a fierce expression of blowing his beard and glaring.

In the first 5 minutes of the game, Maddy and Billups announced the starting lineups of both sides, Wang Zhuo did not change the lineup, and the starting lineup of the Cavaliers was Irving, James, JR. Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Love.

As Wang Zhuo expected, one of the Cavaliers' Big Three, Love was among the starters, and Tyronn Lue's words were a complete smokescreen to confuse the public.

Five minutes later, the starters from both sides came on, with Noah and Thompson standing in the centre circle, on either side of the halfway line, hunched and holding their heads high, staring at the ball in the referee's hand.

"Beep!"

As the referee blew the whistle, the ball was thrown into the air, and Noah and Thompson jumped up at the same time like arrows off the string, and the game officially began. (To be continued.) )