The Magic lost the first game at home, which was a big upset, because it was the first time in recent years that the Magic team lost the first game of the series at home.

However, at this time, Orlando fans still generally believe that the Magic team is just a little underdog, after all, before the playoffs began, the Mavericks were not even the third favorite in the West, and they were ranked below the Lakers, Spurs and even the young Thunder.

Even now that the Mavericks are standing on the stage of the Finals, not many people think that they really have the strength of the Finals, just luck.

In fact, after the Eastern Conference Finals, Orlando fans have begun to celebrate the championship in advance, in their opinion, the whole team is currently only the Mavericks who are still a star now, and they have no ability to fight against the Magic team at all, even if they lose the first game, the Magic can quickly end the series.

However, it was not the same as imagined, two days later, in the second game, the Magic team actually lost again, losing two home games, and the score was 0:2 behind.

Not to mention the fans in Orlando, the media of the entire league are also dumbfounded.

What's going on?

Although the scores of the two games were relatively close and the game process was very close, the situation was really a little weird that the Magic team failed to seize the opportunity to win the game in two consecutive games.

However, there are still some more attentive media who have found the difference between the Magic team during the finals and the previous games.

The main problem is Howard.

In the two games that the Magic lost, Howard's offensive desire was very strong, and he frequently took the initiative to ask for the ball in the low post, which simply returned to the state at the beginning of the regular season, and even worsened.

In these two games, Howard's personal data was very luxurious, with 29 points and 13 rebounds in one game and 33 points and 11 rebounds in one game, which was almost close to Wang Chao, but his efficiency was obviously not good.

The Mavericks are not the opponent of the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat, there is no player who can support the defense on the inside, they have Tyson on the inside. Chandler & Brandon. Two center forwards for Haywood!

Tyson. Chandler is 2.16 meters tall and weighs 110 kilograms, although his weight tonnage is slightly lighter than Howard's, but his height is much taller than Howard. Although Chandler's career average data per game is not obvious, he will also win the DPOY award for the best defensive player in the future, and his interior rim protection ability and experience are very outstanding.

As for Mavericks backup center Brandon. Heywood, who is 2.13m tall and weighs 122kg, is a standard heavy-duty blue-collar centre-forward.

The two big centers took turns serving Howard on the inside, which greatly weakened Howard's offensive efficiency, and although he averaged 30+ points per game in these two games, he only shot about 48% from the field.

A 48 percent shooting percentage is a pretty good number for an outside player, but it's clearly inefficient for an interior center, especially a center like Howard, who shot nearly 60 percent during the regular season.

What's worse is Howard's free throws, shooting only 54%, and the number of free throws in both games exceeded 15, which greatly slowed down the offensive rhythm of the Magic team.

Anyone can see that Howard's purpose for doing this is that he wants to compete with Wang Chao for the finals FMVP.

In the first two years of the Finals, Howard honestly did his job, and used the solid interior of the Magic team as the strongest shield of the Magic team to help the team win the next game.

But the two championships and the final finals FMVP were awarded to Wang Chao, who had more gorgeous data.

This year, Howard obviously also wants to get an FMVP, and he doesn't want to become Wang Chao's vassal and foil again.

But when Howard's way of playing became not like him, the entire tactical system of the Magic team was affected, and the offensive rhythm became slow and inefficient was secondary, even if Howard occupied a lot of shots, but Wang Chao's offensive scoring ability has reached the point where it will not be affected by this small problem, and he can also average 30+ points per game in these two games, and the shooting rate is even slightly higher than Howard.

The problem faced by the Magic team is that after Howard focused a lot of energy on the offensive end, the defensive end investment was greatly reduced, which led to the collapse of the entire defensive system of the Magic team.

In the past two years, the reason why the Magic team is so strong and defeated the Lakers and Celtics one after another is because of the perfect fit between Wang Chao and Howard, Wang Chao is responsible for scoring and passing, taking the responsibility of the offensive end of the Magic team on his shoulders, and Howard is responsible for defense, building the top defensive system of the Magic league in the league.

But now, this balance has been broken, and the opponent is still underestimated by everyone, in fact, the Mavericks, whose real strength is very prominent, were caught off guard, and the Magic team naturally overturned in the gutter and lost two sets in a row.

——

Losing two home games, the whole Magic team was a little panicked.

Everyone knows the main reason for the team's loss, but this problem is not so easy to solve.

The solution is simple, Howard has to return to his blue-collar status, give up offensive scoring, and focus back on defense.

Head coach Van Gundy had already identified the problem and talked to Howard after two games, hoping that Howard would give up his current style of play for the sake of the team's victory.

Howard, however, flatly refused.

He has been fed up with being a foil by Wang Chao's side, especially Wang Chao won the regular season MVP for the second time this year, which deeply stung Howard's nerves, and unconsciously, Wang Chao has become Orlando and has become synonymous with the Magic team, and as the champion who was selected by the Magic team and spent his entire career here, he is becoming more and more despised.

Whenever the game is over, the first object of reporters flocking away has become Wang Chao.

This strong sense of disparity made Howard feel very unhappy.

He wants more accolades to prove that he is no less important to Orlando than Wang Chao, if not more so.

Therefore, Howard attaches great importance to this Finals FMVP, and it has almost reached the level of paranoia and madness, and no matter who tells him, it is not easy to do it.

June 4, the day before the third game of the finals.

The Magic players flew from Orlando to Dallas a day early and stayed at a local hotel to recharge for Game 3.

For this crucial battle, all members of the Magic team are very serious, after all, if they lose one more game, the score will come to 3:0, and then they will really have no skills!

In this case, even Howard, who is fun-loving by nature, rarely went to the local nightclub in Dallas to play with girls, but rested in the hotel.

In the evening, there was a knock on Howard's door, Wang Chao pushed the door in, looked at Howard, and said straightforwardly: "Dwight, I want to talk to you." ”

——

Wang Chao sat on the sofa, looked at Howard, who had a calm expression on the other side, who seemed unusually quiet and silent, sighed and took the initiative to speak.

"I want to make sure first, are we still the best brothers?"

Howard was stunned, couldn't help but look up at Wang Chao, hesitated slightly, nodded and said, "Of course, we will always be the best brothers and best partners." ”

From beginning to end, Howard did not have any contradictions with Wang Chao, he just wanted to prove his strength to the outside media and the fans in Orlando, and prove that he was also the ace of the Magic team.

Wang Chao's existence has affected Howard's status on the Magic team, but he also knows that it is not Wang Chao's fault, it is precisely because of Wang Chao's existence that the Magic team has been able to win two championships in the past three years, and is now attacking for a third championship.

Hearing Howard's answer, Wang Chao couldn't help but smile.

In fact, he also knows this answer, because although he and Howard have basically not had many pick-and-roll combinations in the last few games, even when there are only a handful of pick-and-roll combinations, his talent and skills are still effective.

This also means that the relationship between Wang Chao and Howard is still above 60.

Until now, there are only five or six players in the entire Magic team and Wang Chao who can activate the best partner, which is enough to prove that Howard's relationship with him has not deteriorated to the extent that it is incompatible with Kobe.

"Do you remember when I first joined the Magic team, you took the initiative to call me and went to New York to train with me, only to drag me to a nightclub and stink?"

Wang Chao asked.

It's okay not to talk about this, but when he mentions it, Howard is so angry.

"Of course I remember, how can I not remember? MD Boy's shit luck is too good! Howard said angrily: "There are so many supermodels, but the two you selected have actually become Victoria's Secret top supermodels, and their popularity has been rising in the past two years and they have become the top figures in the modeling industry!" Don't think I didn't see it, they went to Amway Arena to cheer you on the scene in the first two finals, right? It's your fault for losing those two games, you must have played too high, and your legs are weak! ”

Listening to Howard's mother-in-law's chattering complaints, Wang Chao smiled knowingly and suddenly spoke.

"Dwight, I'm leaving Orlando."

Howard's voice stopped abruptly, and he looked at Wang Chao in a daze.

"What did you just say, Wang?"

"At the end of the season, I'm ready to leave my contract and choose to leave Orlando and join a different team." Wang Chao said seriously.

"Leaving Orlando? Why? Is it because of my performance in these two games? Howard couldn't help but stand up and looked at Wang Chao in puzzlement. We're the best partners, and as long as the two of us join forces, we can create a dynasty like Jordan Pippen that belongs to the Magic team, or even surpass them! ”

Wang Chao shook his head slightly, and sighed: "The world is impermanent, in four years, you and I have different ideas and new goals and pursuits, but I can clearly tell you that I am ready to leave Orlando, not because of you, and I don't need to feel guilty about it, but in this last finals before I leave, I don't want to leave regrets, win this championship, achieve a three-consecutive championship dynasty, and make the Super Magic Group like the OK combination, become the top partner group in history that can be talked about the most, how about it?" ”

As he spoke, Wang Chao also stood up and stretched out his hand towards Howard.

Looking at Wang Chao's outstretched palm, Howard didn't hesitate, "Smack!" He and Wang Chao completed the high-five.

"Brother, let's work together to defeat our opponents and win the championship!"

——

"Wang Chao and Howard's blocking and dismantling cooperation, after blocking and dismantling covering, Wang Chao made a quick shot outside the three-point line! Three-point hit! The Mavericks call a timeout! ”

"It's back! It's all back, this is the Orlando Magic team we are familiar with, and this is the super magic combination that works with tacit understanding! ”

"With the frequent blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation of Wang Chao and Howard, the Mavericks' defensive system was torn apart, because they were both inside Tyson. Chandler or Brandon. None of Heywood has the ability to keep up with Howard's speed. ”

"The suspense of this game has been completely lost, and the Magic team successfully pulled one back at the home court of the Dallas Mavericks, chasing the big score to 2:1, and continuing to retain hope! As long as the Magic team can go to the next game in one go, the scores of the two teams will return to the same starting line, and the Magic team with home court advantage will have a high probability of winning the final victory! ”

In the CCTV sports studio, Director Yu and Director Zhang explained excitedly.

The first two games really made both of them sweat for Wang Chao, after all, the Magic team looks a little bad, maybe it is really possible to be caught off guard by the Mavericks and miss the opportunity to win three consecutive championships.

Fortunately, in the third game, they finally adjusted back, to be exact, it was Howard who took the initiative to make the change, he was no longer obsessed with frequent ball-holding singles in the game, but returned to the best style of play in the past, the defensive end did his best to defend, and the offensive end frequently used his mobility advantage to pull to the outside to block and cover for his teammates, willing to be a green leaf.

Such a change directly revitalized the entire tactical system of the Magic team.

In the whole game, Wang Chao scored 37 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists, while Howard had 18 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks.

Under Howard's surging defensive intensity, the Mavericks' collective hand declined, including Nowitzki's hand in front of Howard, who shot 6-of-19 from the field and shot just 31.6% from the field to finish with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

While it's unclear why Howard suddenly changed his mind and voluntarily forfeited the fight for FMVP in favor of the team's primary goal of victory, such a change was really crucial for the Magic.

Two days later, in Game 4 of the Finals on June 7, the Magic won again at the Dallas Mavericks' home court.

In this game, Howard scored 20 points, 21 rebounds and 5 blocks, and with Wang Chao, who scored 42 points in 8 of 15 three-point shots, the Magic team defeated the Mavericks again 116:103 and stubbornly equalized the score to 2:2.

The strength of the Mavericks is indeed very strong, the structure of the starting lineup and the bench lineup is reasonable, and there is Nowitzki as a weapon to attack the enemy, but in terms of pure strength, they are indeed not the strongest in the 10-11 season, let alone the Magic team, even the strength of the Heat is not necessarily weaker than the Mavericks.

According to the original historical process, the Heat and the Mavericks met in the finals to face off at the peak, and it was the Heat team who had the upper hand at the beginning, and after three games, the Heat took a 2:1 lead, and it seemed that the victory was in hand, so that the Big Three excitedly coughed and mocked Nuo Tianwang.

I didn't think that as soon as I finished the taunt, I was led by Nowitzki to lead the team to three cities in a row and take away the game in one wave.

The next three games, that is, the three games in which James pulled his hips the most, assuming that James' performance is normal, even if he does not count James' explosive state in the playoffs, it is difficult for the Heat team to lose to the Mavericks according to the average data of 27+7+7 per game during the regular season.

Of course, there weren't so many ifs in the game, and it was an indisputable fact that the Heat lost the Finals because of James' crotch pull.

But when the Mavericks encounter a Magic team that has returned to normal play and is playing normally at all times, it is natural that they will continue to lose because of the difference in strength.

As the league's top scorer, Nowitzki's scoring ability is undoubted, but compared with the current Wang Chao, it is obviously slightly inferior.

Howard's interior defense, whether it is the ability to protect the rim under the basket or the ability to help defend and make up for the defense, absolutely throws off Tyson. Chandler Street.

Even the bench lineup, Mavericks sixth man Jason. Terry confronts Jamal, who also has the attributes of the Nerve Knife. Crawford is also at a significant disadvantage because of the height gap.

As for the rest of the Mavericks...... Kidd is old and slow, and there's nothing to mention other than using the pass to connect the team, and the power he prides himself on is of little use against Nelson, who is also known for his strength.

Jose. Barria was completely beaten by Wang Chao at both offensive and defensive ends, and there was no way to reproduce the highlight scene of James who wanted to beat him with his back in history.

The difference in overall strength made the entire game of Game 5 of the finals back to the home court of the Magic team uneventful, and the Magic team was always in the lead from the beginning to the end of the game, and did not give the Mavericks a chance to fight back at all.

With a score of 3:2, the Magic team lost two games in the opening game, but they rose up to win three games in a row and took the lead to win the match point.

On June 12, the Mavericks who returned to Dallas still wanted to win the sixth game, tie the score to 3:3, and then fight with the Magic team to fight for the seventh, but the Magic team did not give the Mavericks this opportunity, as against the Heat, in the sixth game, Wang Chao and Howard broke out again, one cut a big triple-double of 39 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, and the other cut 26 points, 16 rebounds and 8 blocks.

The Super Magic combination combined for 65 points, 26 rebounds, 15 assists and 10 blocks, completely dominating both offensive and defensive ends.

On the Mavericks' side, although Nowitzki scored a team-high 31 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to him, there were only Terry with 20 points and Sean with 15 points. Marion scored in double figures for three players.

Wang Chao and Howard teamed up to lead the Magic team to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 105-95 and defeat the opponent with a total score of 4-2, winning the NBA championship for the third consecutive year, officially achieving three consecutive championships, and becoming the new three-consecutive champion dynasty team after the Lakers OK combination!

(End of chapter)