"Hmm..."
Michael Jordan rubbed his chin and paused for a moment before saying in a serious tone, "What I'm saying is that the Suns played an almost flawless game tonight.
"They lost, but it wasn't because of anything they did wrong. Right now, there's simply a real gap in overall strength between the Suns and the Heat.
"When both teams are playing at their normal level, the Suns just can't beat the Heat."
"That's true."
Pippen nodded. "For a rookie who's only just entered the league to beat three superstars on the Finals stage...
"That's an incredibly difficult task.
"Blake and the Suns have already done everything they could, maybe even played perfectly. But the gap in overall strength keeps them from overcoming the mountain that is the Heat Big Three."
After the game, only Michael Jordan and Pippen themselves heard that conversation.
But anyone who had watched the entire game, or more accurately, the first three games of the Finals, had begun to arrive at a similar conclusion.
What conclusion?
The Suns couldn't beat the Heat!
The next day, reports and articles expressing that view were everywhere, while fans online debated it nonstop.
"Is Blake really that good?!"
"Good? He's incredible. Ridiculously good. Terrifyingly good. So good it's almost hard to believe!!!"
"How good are we talking?!"
"Before Blake, there was LeBron, 'King James,' who won back-to-back FMVPs and carried his team to the Finals as the lone superstar.
"Forget about influence for a moment. If we're talking purely about individual ability, LeBron is already extremely close to being the best player in the league. You could even argue that he already is.
"And Blake is still better than him.
"On top of that, Blake is only a rookie this season. If you give him more time to develop, what kind of player will he become?
"It's impossible to imagine.
"That should tell you just how good Blake already is."
"Exactly. Blake is unbelievably strong, even stronger than any individual member of the Heat Big Three.
"But in the end, he's still only one player.
"So even after Blake dropped 50-plus points in two straight games, it still wasn't enough to overcome the combined strength of the Heat Big Three.
"The gap in overall strength is just too great.
"Even Blake can't solve that problem by himself.
"Carrying a team as the lone superstar is difficult enough. Doing it against an opponent as overwhelmingly powerful as the Heat Big Three makes it even harder.
"And don't forget, Blake is still just a rookie. In his first season, you could still call him a newcomer to the league.
"Expecting a rookie to single-handedly bring down the Heat Big Three at the height of their powers is simply asking too much.
"Blake has already given everything he has.
"But... it still isn't enough to win."
"Exactly."
"No team in NBA history has ever won a championship with just one star. Besides, superheroes only exist in movies.
"Reality doesn't work that way!"
"Man, Blake has already pushed himself to the limit and done everything he possibly can, but they still can't win. The Suns are going to lose the Finals."
"Hey, don't be so pessimistic. Look at it another way. Blake is only a first-year rookie, and he's already led his team all the way to the Finals.
"He's already this good.
"So what if they lose? Give him a little more time to grow, and I believe... he'll eventually lead his team to a championship."
"Exactly."
"Right. No matter how the rest of the Finals goes, I'm sticking with Blake all the way!"
"Same here."
"Count me in. I'll always be a Blake fan, even after he retires."
"Blake is an incredible rookie, arguably as good as a rookie can possibly be. But looking at things objectively, the direction of this Finals is becoming clearer."
"Exactly."
"The balance is gradually tipping toward the Heat!"
"..."
Suns fans still believed in the team as strongly as ever. They believed in Blake, and they believed the Suns could still win the Finals and capture the first championship in franchise history.
But across the league and throughout the media, after watching the first three games of the Finals, most people believed the Heat would win the series.
And the odds seemed heavily in their favor.
...
As for Blake.
After Game 3, he met up with Mia Quinn and Yoona, who had arrived together.
Before Blake came over, a casual conversation between Mia Quinn and Yoona had finally revealed how each of them knew him.
For two close friends, that was naturally a good thing.
Once Blake joined them, the three finally understood their connections to one another, and the atmosphere between them immediately became much more familiar.
Of course, they had all been close in their own ways already.
They had simply never had the chance to meet together like this.
Under normal circumstances, such a coincidental connection would have called for the three of them to go out for a meal and celebrate.
But the Suns had lost two games in a row and now trailed the series 2-1.
Worse, they had lost even though Blake and the rest of the team had played well.
Blake simply wasn't in the mood to go out and have fun.
Mia Quinn and Yoona understood. After encouraging him for a while, they left him alone and went out together.
Blake returned to the team hotel and rested for the night.
Around noon the next day, Coach Gentry knocked on his hotel room door.
Curry had already gone out.
"Coach!"
Blake collected himself as Gentry stepped inside.
Gentry didn't waste any time and went straight to the point.
"Blake, you should understand the situation.
"Right now, the Finals aren't looking particularly good for us.
"The truth is, everyone on the Suns is playing the way they should, and yet we still can't win.
"That means we have a serious problem. You understand that, right?"
"Yeah."
Blake nodded.
He understood perfectly.
In the first round against the Grizzlies, everyone had struggled because they were still adjusting to the intensity and rhythm of the playoffs.
Now they had adapted and were playing at their normal level.
Yet they were still losing.
That was far more troubling.
Because if things continued like this, they had almost no chance of winning.
"Hmm..."
Gentry pursed his lips before continuing.
"But we're not in a hopeless situation yet.
"We still have you. You're the one factor that can change this series.
"Blake, there's something you need to understand.
"The Heat's teamwork and chemistry actually aren't as good as ours in some respects.
"The problem is the Heat Big Three.
"The individual talent and ability of those three are simply too overwhelming. It's difficult enough to contain one of them, much less all three.
"Every time we adjust to stop one guy, it feels like we're opening up something somewhere else.
"But there is one weakness we can exploit.
"Now that Ilgauskas is out for the season with an injury, the Heat's interior rotation is basically down to Haslem, who's only 203 centimeters tall.
"They even need Bosh to handle jump balls, and the Heat Big Three have to spend extra energy helping on the boards.
"So while Miami's perimeter defense is extremely strong, and they frequently turn that defense into suffocating fast breaks, their interior defense is actually quite weak.
"That's where your opportunity lies.
"Starting next game, you need to attack the rim as much as possible and overwhelm them in the paint.
"That might be the opening we need to turn this series around."