Chapter 795: Eastern Conference Finals Analysis
David Stern was never going to introduce a rule specifically designed to limit Chen Yan.
Chen had become the new face of the league.
If anything, Stern wanted to promote him as much as possible.
Chen had already won 2 championship rings in Phoenix, but he had yet to establish a true dynasty of his own.
Stern hoped that over the next few seasons, Chen could accomplish exactly that.
And if the dynasty happened in New York?
Even better.
The league could hardly ask for a more marketable scenario.
If anything, Stern might have been more tempted to invent a 4 point line for Chen than to create a rule that restricted him.
Over the past 2 seasons, Chen had attempted more and more shots from absurd distances.
Some fans had even suggested adding a 4 point line several steps beyond the normal 3 point arc, or perhaps placing a special 4 point area around the logo.
Their argument was simple.
Chen was already regularly shooting from there.
Why should those shots be worth only 3?
Of course, those suggestions were mostly jokes.
Chen was already difficult enough to defend.
If the NBA actually introduced a 4 point shot, other teams might as well stop playing.
1 day later, Game 5 between Boston and Miami tipped off.
The Knicks watched closely.
Durant finally exploded.
After struggling for most of the series, he delivered 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
After 4 relatively quiet games, he had finally broken through.
LeBron James, meanwhile, failed to reproduce his dominant Game 4 performance.
He finished with only 19 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Miami lost at home.
Wade recorded 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Ever since accepting the 2nd option role beside James, Wade's numbers had declined sharply.
Strangely enough, the criticism aimed at him had increased.
Whenever Miami lost, fans blamed Wade.
They said he was declining.
They said he did not attack the basket enough anymore.
They said he had lost his explosiveness and no longer placed pressure on defenses.
But the situation was more complicated than that.
Miami's primary ball handling responsibilities now belonged to James.
Wade spent far more time playing without the ball.
Naturally, that made it harder for him to attack with the same volume and rhythm he once had.
Most fans did not care about those details.
They simply looked at the box score.
The Western Conference also produced another dramatic result.
In Game 5 between the Lakers and Grizzlies, Mike Conley hit a last second shot to give Memphis the victory.
The Grizzlies now led the series 3 to 2.
Momentum had clearly shifted in their favor.
Lakers fans refused to accept the idea that the roster had grown old.
On paper, Los Angeles still looked powerful.
Many fans remained convinced that Kobe would find another level and lead them back.
Kobe was already averaging 30.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in the series.
He was shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from beyond the arc.
His average playing time had climbed to 39.5 minutes.
At his age, asking Kobe to produce more than that was unreasonable.
In other words, Kobe had already done nearly everything possible.
Memphis leading the series was not some accident.
The Grizzlies had a major advantage inside.
Pau Gasol was averaging 22 points and 8 rebounds.
Kevin Love was averaging 20.9 points and 12 rebounds.
Together, they had dominated the Lakers frontcourt.
Kevin Garnett and Marcus Camby had clearly declined.
Both veterans were being punished by younger players on offense and defense.
Camby had already decided to retire after the season.
Garnett planned to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves once his current contract ended, returning to the place where his NBA career had begun.
Memphis also possessed more youth and energy on the perimeter.
Conley and Rudy Gay were not unstoppable superstars, but both could provide stable scoring.
The outside world continued calling a Memphis victory an upset.
People who truly understood the matchup knew better.
The Grizzlies overall strength was not inferior to that of the Lakers.
2 days later, the Miami and Boston series finally reached its conclusion.
Back at home, Durant felt the pressure.
He had played brilliantly in Game 5 and wanted to carry that rhythm into the next game.
He also did not want to disappoint the Boston crowd.
The more he thought about it, the tighter he became.
Durant opened the game 0 of 6 from the field.
Not a single basket in the 1st quarter.
But nerves were not the only problem.
Miami immediately returned to the strategy that had troubled him throughout the series.
Double teams.
James.
Wade.
Chalmers.
Haslem.
Miami rotated different defenders and repeatedly sent help toward Durant.
Once again, Durant struggled to solve the pressure.
He attempted to shift into more of an off ball role, using movement to create catch and shoot opportunities.
It did not work particularly well.
Durant was not an elite mover without the ball.
He had spent most of his career creating with the basketball in his hands.
Trying to completely change his style in the middle of an elimination game was never going to be easy.
Stoudemire went cold too.
Boston encountered the worst possible scenario.
Both primary scorers struggled at the same time.
By the end of the 3rd quarter, the game had already become garbage time.
Durant finished with 18 points.
Stoudemire had 15.
LeBron scored 23.
Wade added 17.
Pau Gasol dominated inside with 29 points and 15 rebounds.
Miami crushed Boston 109 to 83 on the road.
The Heat were headed to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After advancing, James sounded confident about the next round.
Wade was even more direct.
"We are going to beat the New York Knicks. It is not complicated. We just need to do what we did last year."
That quote immediately angered Knicks fans.
To them, Wade sounded far too confident.
The series had not even begun, and the hostility was already building.
At the same time, the remaining regular season awards were announced.
Don Nelson won Coach of the Year.
He had guided New York to the best record in the league.
Few could argue with the result.
Donnie Walsh won Executive of the Year.
His offseason additions had significantly improved the Knicks roster.
Most of the players he acquired were role players, but each filled a specific need and produced more value than expected.
Still, plenty of fans questioned whether Walsh deserved all the credit.
Everyone knew Chen Yan had recommended many of those acquisitions.
And New York finishing 1st in the league had just as much to do with the players and coaching staff.
Lou Williams won Sixth Man of the Year.
He averaged 14.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.
Those numbers were respectable rather than spectacular.
Had Barea remained healthy throughout the middle of the season, he might have challenged for the award.
Ryan Anderson won Most Improved Player.
Once New York officially learned that Miami would be its opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals, the coaching staff immediately began preparing specific strategies.
The players were given 1 day to relax.
That same day, the Lakers and Grizzlies played again.
Chen Yan invited the entire Knicks roster to his house for steak and basketball.
The first 3 quarters remained close.
Then the age difference between the teams became obvious in the 4th.
Los Angeles started missing more shots as fatigue accumulated.
Memphis continued running.
Fast breaks.
Hard cuts.
Constant movement.
The younger Grizzlies still looked fresh.
The Lakers did not.
Memphis eventually won 99 to 92 on the road.
The Grizzlies celebrated wildly inside Staples Center.
They had eliminated the Lakers and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
For such a young team, it was a historic moment.
The Conference Finals matchups were now set.
San Antonio against Memphis.
New York against Miami.
Analysts immediately began breaking down both series.
Most viewed each matchup as roughly 60 to 40.
San Antonio and New York were considered the favorites.
The Spurs had swept both of their previous Playoffs opponents.
Their dominance had temporarily made everyone forget how old the roster was.
But Memphis could not be underestimated.
The Grizzlies had just eliminated Kobe and the Lakers in 6 games.
If San Antonio's greatest advantage was experience, Memphis had youth.
And youth meant energy.
Athleticism.
Recovery.
The possibility of creating something unexpected.
The same argument applied to New York.
The Knicks roster was not filled with aging veterans.
It was built around young players with energy and confidence.
When analysts compared New York and Miami position by position, many concluded that the Heat held clear advantages only at small forward and center.
At the other positions, New York was at least competitive.
On the bench, there was little debate.
The Knicks were much deeper.
Several Miami reserves existed mainly to fill rotation minutes.
New York's reserves could actually change games.
The Heat players were not pleased by the analysis.
They had formed a Big 3.
How were they somehow considered weaker on paper than the Knicks?
Erik Spoelstra noticed the growing irritation during practice.
He repeatedly told his players to ignore outside opinions.
Play their own basketball.
Compete harder.
Use effort and fighting spirit to overcome whatever weaknesses analysts believed existed.
Unfortunately, the message did not have the intended effect.
To some Miami players, Spoelstra's speech sounded like an indirect admission that New York had the better roster.
James was particularly dissatisfied.
He had never been completely convinced by Spoelstra's tactical decisions.
After losing to Dallas in the NBA Finals the previous season, tensions between James and Spoelstra had already surfaced.
Now, after watching New York dominate the league all year, James increasingly felt that the previous season had been his best opportunity to win a championship.
And he had let it slip away.
....
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