The Bulls faced the Hawks.
The Bulls had Derrick Rose, the "Windy City Assassin," a player destined to become a superstar after this season. As "Jordan's successor," he was the Bulls' strongest core and leader.
For the Bulls, the strategy was simple.
Rose was the center of everything. The rest of the team revolved around him, either creating scoring chances for him or using the threat he created to attack on their own.
"To be honest, I think the Bulls' system is a lot like the Suns'. Both teams are built around one star," Jon Barry said.
"Yes."
Mark Jackson nodded. "The Bulls build around Rose, and the Suns build around Blake Su. The Bulls use size and defense to shape their tactics around Rose, while the Suns use speed and fast breaks to shape theirs around Blake Su.
But at the core, they really are similar."
"Exactly!"
"The Bulls have a superstar in Rose leading them. The Hawks don't have an absolute superstar, so if they want to win, they have to rely on the strength of the team.
Every player has to contribute.
That may sound possible, but on the playoff stage, where people call it a 'superstar stage,' it's not easy at all."
As the two were talking, Rose led the Bulls to a strong 15-5 run right out of the gate, stretching the lead to double digits. At that point, the Hawks badly needed a core player to step up and chase the score.
However, whether it was Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, or Al Horford in the paint, none of them could do it.
They were not superstars. They did not have that kind of ability.
All they could do was keep the game hanging around a 10-point deficit.
But for the Hawks, that was not good news. Playing under the constant pressure of a 10-point gap, their offensive form began to decline.
That continued all the way into the final quarter.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
It was Rose again, leading the Bulls on another fierce run that pushed the lead even wider and broke through the Hawks' mental defense.
In the end, the Bulls beat the Hawks by 8 points. Although it was not a blowout on the scoreboard, they controlled the entire game and played comfortably throughout.
In other words, the Bulls handled the Hawks with ease and took a temporary 1-0 series lead.
After the game, Jon Barry sighed and said, "He really is worthy of being called 'Jordan's successor.' He really is this year's strongest MVP candidate after Blake Su.
Rose... he's truly playing at his peak this year!"
"That's right."
Mark Jackson nodded in agreement, then summarized, "With the Bulls beating the Hawks tonight, both semifinal games avoided the string of first-round upsets we saw earlier. The higher-seeded teams both defended home court."
...
The next day.
Starting early in the morning, everywhere that carried basketball news, from the internet to newspapers, was buzzing about the two games from the night before.
However, starting around 10 a.m., the tone gradually began to change.
That was because many active and retired stars, both major names and smaller figures, were all posting on Twitter to congratulate Blake Su.
They were congratulating him on becoming the youngest MVP ever and the first unanimous MVP.
"The Answer" Iverson tweeted, "@Blake Su, congratulations, brother. You deserve this honor. You earned it.
And from the moment you asked me for my autograph, I knew you were going to become this great. Hahaha!"
"King James" LeBron also congratulated him on Twitter. "@Blake Su, great job, man. You showed us a player who can stand above even the biggest names.
You changed the way people see international players.
Keep going!
You're going to become even better!"
Suns head coach Alvin Gentry posted, "Congratulations to Blake Su on becoming the youngest MVP in history and the first unanimous MVP.
He deserved this season.
He is a 'Monster Rookie' who became a legend right from his debut. He deserves all of this. Being able to coach Blake Su is absolutely my honor.
Continuing to wish him the best."
Teammates Stephen Curry and George seemed to have planned it together.
At the same time, they posted the same tweet. "@Blake Su, the voters gave their votes to the right person. Congratulations to my brother on winning regular-season MVP!"
Even after losing the game, the "Black Mamba" Kobe generously sent his blessing. "A flawless season. Blake Su winning this MVP, the highest honor of the regular season, is only right."
The "God of Basketball," Michael Jordan, also congratulated him. "He is a phenomenal center who had a phenomenal season.
He is special.
And there's no question about his performance. He deserves this MVP. Keep going, Blake Su!"
Besides them, many others, including Woj, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Wall, Dwight Howard, and plenty more stars, also sent their congratulations.
There was no way around it.
Blake Su had produced a phenomenal season and won MVP. His performance had simply been too outstanding, so outstanding that even current stars and legendary greats had to offer praise and encouragement.
Everyone hoped Blake Su would keep getting better, and they hoped the league would keep getting better too.
Because of that, Blake Su, who received so many blessings, was not only very happy, his popularity also surged again.
Although he did not have much time himself, he still had his agent Austin reply to as many people as possible.
The congratulations continued nonstop into the evening. Fans who were watching the excitement and sending their own blessings also kept following along.
Only when the Mavericks and Spurs game tipped off did everyone finally shift their attention away.
Mavericks vs. Spurs.
Before the game, experts predicted it would be a fifty-fifty matchup. In other words, it was expected to be a hard-fought battle between two evenly matched teams.
However, the result shocked everyone.
The visiting Mavericks took a 7-point lead in the first quarter and stretched it to as many as 13 points by halftime.
In the second half, after switching sides, their offense did not slow down. They kept pressing the attack, and near the end of the third quarter, Nowitzki led the team on an 8-2 mini-run.
It did not seem like much.
But by the end of the third quarter, the lead had already reached a full 19 points.
This was the playoffs. A 19-point deficit, especially on the opponent's home court, was extremely difficult to overturn, even for the Spurs with "GDP."
It was truly, truly difficult.
Sure enough, the Mavericks ultimately crushed the Spurs by 17 points, dominating the full game and taking Game 1 of the series with a big win.
That near-rout shocked countless people.
It also left countless fans sighing. "This year's German Wunderkind is unstoppable! This year's Mavericks are ridiculously strong!"
...
And while fans were still marveling at that, at American Airlines Arena, the Heat and the Celtics began their clash of giants.