The Celtics' game against the Magic was full of gunpowder, and all of this was originally in the plan of Xiao Xiao, who clearly wanted the Magic to drain the Celtics' physical strength, which is why they chose to avoid the Magic in the first round.

However, the thing that shocked the world a little was that the Magic team had the upper hand in the matchup with the Celtics, and they actually defeated the Celtics in the North Shore Garden...... Judging by this trend, it seems that they have a better chance of touching the O'Brien Cup than the Celtics!

And once the Magic advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks won't have much trouble taking them down...... After all, the whole world knows that the team that the Magic fear the most in today's league is the Knicks, and Xiao is their biggest sufferer.

The Magic team has not shied away from this at all, and they have publicly stated it more than once...... Except for the Knicks, we Magic are not afraid of anyone in the East!!

The implication is that they only serve the Knicks.

Now that the Magic have one foot in the Eastern Conference Finals, their thinking is starting to drift a bit. Their emotions towards the Knicks have gone from being grateful to Dade before the start of the playoffs to being 'cursed'. They want the Cavaliers to be the last winners, as they now want to go to the Finals and win a championship ring...... The Cavaliers are not afraid of the Eastern Conference Finals, and once the Knicks reach the Eastern Conference Finals, they have no confidence at all.

Similar to the Magic, the Western Conference giants don't want to meet the Knicks in the Finals, and they also want the Knicks to lose to the Cavaliers in the semifinals, because everyone knows that as long as the Knicks beat the Cavaliers. It's only a matter of time before we get to the finals. Because neither the Celtics nor the Magic are on the opposite side of them. They were all able to advance easily... Their real difficulty now is how to submit the knights.

"Let's be clear, I want the Cavaliers to win. Because I don't want to face the Knicks, I don't care about any Eastern Conference team other than the Knicks, whether it's the Magic, or the Cavaliers, or the old rival Celtics. Kobe Bryant had already defined himself as a Western Conference champion when he spoke. It seems that it is about to stand on the stage of the finals.

He looked very confident, and when it came to Xiao Xiao, he was silent again, turning into a rare restraint: "I don't mean to be afraid of the Knicks, I just don't want to face the team led by Xiao Xiao, this has nothing to do with fear, even if we are on the battlefield of the finals in the end, I am still confident that I can beat them and win the championship." ”

Of course, the Knicks are a tougher opponent than the other Eastern Conference teams. The other teams are strong, but they are generally manageable. But that's not the case with the Knicks. No one knows what kind of weapon Xiao Xiao will suddenly come up with, and I hate to be an enemy of such an opponent. No one knows what he will do in the next second? ”

Kobe Bryant focused on explaining why he didn't want to meet the Knicks in the Finals, and the explanation was very frank, but everyone still wondered if his frank admission hid a trace of fear of chic.

"The Cavaliers have actually lost, and the Knicks have a good chance of firing the Cavaliers in five or even four games. The Knicks' personnel rotation is not as bad as everyone thinks, in fact, because of the presence of Xiao, the pressure on the other players of the Knicks is not so great. Popovich was a very different idea, telling the press with great certainty that the Knicks had won.

At the same time, Popovich also emphasized one point very seriously: "The only person in the league who can beat the Knicks in the series today is the San Antonio Spurs, the Cavaliers can't, the Magic can't, the Celtics can't, and the Lakers certainly can't." If the Knicks make it to the Finals and the Spurs don't, then the championship will go to the East, and Xiao Sao will lift the Finals MVP trophy as a sophomore rookie. ”

It may be a bit shocking to say it now, but it is a very, very reliable analysis. There's no one in the world who knows more about basketball than I do, and trust me, this kid was planning this before the playoffs even began. ”

"In fact, if we go back in time, he was already laying out at the start of the regular season...... Take a look at their track record! They could have finished second or even first in the East, but they didn't, and they disguised their strength by losing to the underdogs again and again. They succeeded, or rather sloppily succeeded, until the playoffs began, and the outside world was still commenting on how weak the Knicks were, and it was impossible for them to make the playoffs. ”

"When I heard those arguments, I almost didn't laugh out loud. Are the Knicks weak? They faced off against the Cavaliers in the regular season, but they killed their opponents four times. Matchup against the Lakers, all wins and double kills. Three wins and one loss against the Celtics, three wins and one loss against the Magic, all wins against the Dallas Mavericks, and one win against the Spurs...... In the process of fighting against every strong team, they are all trying, they are all trying their best. ”

"I'm sure Xiao Xiao has always had a script in his head, and this script was already being described a year ago. Those of you who are still hoping that the Cavaliers will take out the Knicks in the second half of the game, do you really feel the horror of the chic spirit? This guy is going to be even greater than Michael Jordan!! ”

"These days, do you know what my biggest regret is? The thing I regret the most is that the Clippers' uniform team actually rejected my trade request, and it was three times in a row, I really don't know what McDonleavy thought, he actually vetoed my trade proposal, you know, I put all the Spurs players except Tim Duncan on the table, whatever he picks, he can choose Manu, or Tony, I don't think he has any reason to refuse. But that's exactly what he did, and he ended up selling Xiao out of New York!! While I don't think his deal is anything in line with the league's rules, it's already a fact! I will always regret in my heart that the Knicks will never trade Xiao again! ”

Popovich was very emotional and said a lot in front of reporters.

He said so. It immediately caused an uproar.

The first thing that caused an uproar was. Everyone didn't expect the original dashing plan to be so deep. Originally, everyone thought that Xiao Sao was just sprinting to the fifth place in the East before the start of the playoffs in order to plan the opponent, but I didn't expect the whole plan to start in the regular season, combined with what Popovich said, everyone went to check the Knicks' record, and it was really like this, deliberately losing to those weak teams at the end of the crane, but in the battle against the strong team, they were always able to devour the opponent fiercely. At that time, everyone thought that the Knicks' internal instability led to instability in strength, and they didn't think about it in the direction that it might be a conspiracy at all, but now it was broken by Popovich so little, and it suddenly became clear.

"Xiao Xiao is really thinking about the long term. The person who is crying bitterly now should be Kenny Smith, right? He was obviously cheated, in the regular season when the Knicks' record was so bad, he threw out a $3 million bet, and now it looks like his $3 million is about to go into Charles Barkley's bank account!! ”

"Xiao Swan is so smart, I noticed a little bit of weirdness in the regular season for the Knicks. I didn't expect it!! ”

"Chick's calculations are too deep, his IQ is no longer the same dimension as those stars, he is more like a manager. Or the general manager, who not only commanded the Knicks' tactics. And also made a detailed plan for the Knicks to win the championship!! To be able to get a player like that... The Knicks simply advanced a hundred years of luck!! ”

“…………”

While admiring Xiao Xiao's wisdom, everyone also began to be curious about another old thing that Popovich mentioned, and they were questioned, the most enthusiastic of which was undoubtedly the Clippers fans.

The Clippers recently moved on to a new owner, although they have ejected McDonleavy from the team and promised to bring back the team within three years. But everyone's resentment towards McDonleavy did not disappear because of this, but became more and more resentful as the Knicks became stronger and stronger...... Because the power of the Knicks should have belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers!

"I can't believe that McDonleavy would turn down Popovich's offer, what the hell was he messing around with in the first place? On the one hand, he rejected the application for a value-added trade, and on the other hand, he sold Xiao Sloppy to the Knicks, could it be said that he has a bottom-of-the-table contract with the Knicks? ”

"Either way, Dunleavy shouldn't have made that choice. The only possibility is that he hates Xiao Shi and wants to throw Xiao Xiao into a bad team. ”

"Essentially, the trade that traded the Shaws to the Knicks in the first place was not legitimate, and we should have asked the Knicks for the Shaws back. And, we should call the police now and investigate what role McDonleavy played in this bizarre deal! ”

"We've got to teach McDonleavy a lesson from the law, if he does take some fall!"

“……”

Popovich obviously didn't expect his words to cause such an uproar, let alone such an emotional reaction from Clippers fans...... But then again, this excitement is also understandable, after all, Xiao Xiao was originally their pride, but now they shine in New York and become the first person in the league, how can this strong psychological gap be indifferent and not react at all after learning this inside information.

And no matter how aggressively the Clippers fans reacted, it was the Knicks fans who were still wearing the clothes on Xiao Sa. This is a fact that cannot be changed, and it is why Knicks fans did not respond to Clippers fans at all.

The second game between the Cavaliers and the Knicks finally came as promised in this atmosphere.

From the start, McBrown still used a firm man-to-man tactic, which he tried to drain the Knicks' physical strength.

However, this time, the Knicks played a dynamic offensive tactic under Xiao Xiao's command. It's essentially somewhat similar to the DDP tactics that Coach Frank of the Nets constantly emphasized. It's just that this set of tactics has been slickly improved and I don't know how much higher than the Nets, maybe this may be the ultimate version of DDP tactics!

Xiao led Raymond Felton and Tracy Maddy to constantly break through the inside, Milicic and David Lee responded to various covers, and constantly attacked the Cavaliers' restricted area while the basketball kept the ball open.

The Cavaliers' defense is tight enough, and their motivation is high enough.

However, that still didn't organize the Knicks to put baskets in the basket one after another. Because the dashing breakthrough ability is too strong, and Raymond Felton and Tracy McGrady, who were driven by him, are not fuel-efficient, and the Cavaliers' defense is being torn wider and wider.

Fortunately, the Cavaliers' offense is supported by the dual core of LeBron James and Shaq O'Neal, and they were not instantly blinded by the Knicks' dynamic offense, and the score gap has been maintained within five points.

The score difference between the two sides is very anxious, and this stalemate has not opened up with the progress of the game!

Although the Knicks were not in order, they changed to a new set of tactics in the second quarter, with Tyson Chandler and Eddie Curry on the inside, and Stephen Marbury and Jeffries on the outside.

The Cavaliers apparently didn't adapt to the Knicks' sudden switch from dynamic offense to positional offense, so in five minutes, they actually trailed the score to double digits!!

It was a point they were desperate for, and their original plan was to lead the Knicks by at least double digits in the first three quarters, only to end the second quarter and fall behind by 10 points.

This huge gap took a heavy toll on their self-confidence, which made them constantly think about the regular season matchups...... They lost all four games in the regular season!

Could it be that what Popovich said is true? Do we really have no chance at all?

A strong sense of pessimism hung over the Cavaliers' bench!

…… (To be continued.) )