Super all-around point guard

Chapter 481 Return to the top eight in the Eastern Conference!

Wade's expression is exaggerated. The playoffs are coming soon. The biggest theme of the Eastern Conference playoffs this year is James VS Xie Chen, that is, the duel between the Cavaliers and the Knicks, so Wade knew that the two would have a battle, but he never expected that Xie Chen would meet the most powerful Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference in the first round!

This is by no means a wise choice. Wade knows that Xie Chen has always been unfathomable. He has already won once against James and has enough confidence, so Xie Chen may want to beat James in the form of a black eight!
"Xie's idea is too crazy. If LeBron finds out, he will definitely go crazy." Wade thought to himself.

Now James is really in a bad mood. He lost to Xie Chen in the slam dunk contest at the All-Star Weekend. Afterwards, the Warriors, Spurs and other Western Conference teams all lost in a mess. These two teams have the best chance of winning the Western Conference.

Many people, including Irving, said that if the Cavaliers stayed healthy last season, they would definitely defeat Xie Chen's Heat and advance to the finals. As long as they reached the finals, they would definitely win the championship.

The Warriors didn't pay attention to the generals in the words. The reporter told Irving's words to the Warriors' Dream Chaser Green. Green's expression was very funny, and he rolled his eyes and said, "What if? If I were taller, I could still be Anthony Davis!"

Wade didn't understand why Xie Chen wanted to meet the Cavaliers in the first round. It wasn't because Wade thought Xie Chen wanted to black out James, but because he didn't have a choice. Xie Chen changed the subject and asked Wade, "What do you think of this year's situation? Which team do you think is most likely to win the championship?"

Wade said: "Frankly speaking, I think the Warriors will still enter the Finals this year. They have a greater chance of winning the championship. Maybe you think your team has double-killed the Warriors, but if you meet in the Finals, it will be a completely different contest, unless you still have the ability to use it."

Xie Chen smiled and looked into the distance. If he can still enter the finals this season, if he meets his old opponent in the finals, it should be a very pleasant thing, right?

……

After defeating the Heat, the March journey has already started in a blink of an eye. Carmelo Anthony returned to the team. The Knicks defeated the Trail Blazers and Celtics one after another. Finally, on this day, they were promoted to the No.8 position in the Eastern Conference!

The New York Knicks have returned to the ranks of the playoffs!

The fact that the Knicks became the eighth in the East has become the focus of attention of the entire league. In any previous year, no one paid attention to a No. 8 team, but this year is different. Because of Xie Chen's existence, everyone knows how terrifying the real strength of this No. 8 is.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also got the news immediately.

"The New York Knicks are now eighth in the Eastern Conference," Dellavedova reported to James, laughing, "Maybe our opponent in the first round is them."

James was completely dismissive. The leader of the Eastern Conference's No. 6 team was full of style: "They have finally caught up. There is still a month before the end of the regular season. They should be able to rush to fifth or No.[-], so they are unlikely to be our opponents in the first round. Oh, although I really want to solve them in the first round, but Xie will definitely try his best to avoid us first."

……

new York.

Xie Chen invited teammate Anthony, coach Fisher and President Phil Jackson to his home for dinner. After dinner, several people came to the gym, and Xie Chen explained the reason for inviting them over.

"Actually, I invited you here because I want to discuss something with you." Xie Chen said.

The Zen master smiled and squinted his eyes, and sat on a piece of fitness equipment: "I guessed that you have something to do, and calling all three of us here must be a big deal, so tell me quickly."

Xie Chen stopped hesitating and said, "The regular season is over in one month. According to our current winning percentage, if there are no injuries and luck is not too bad, we may rush to the fifth place in the Eastern Conference. In that case, we may face the Miami Heat in the first round. I don't want to meet them in the first round."

Fisher saw what Xie Chen was thinking: "I understand what you mean. You want to take the initiative to choose a team as your opponent in the first round. Although the Miami Heat have an unstable record, they will definitely be very difficult opponents in the playoffs. The two core players, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, have won championships and made it to the Finals many times. Hassan Whiteside's interior defense will also cause us a lot of trouble. Plus, it is your old team and your first team in the NBA. You definitely don't want to meet them. I agree with Xie's idea, in addition to avoiding the Miami Heat as much as possible, we also need to avoid the Cleveland Cavaliers..."

Before Fisher finished speaking, Xie Chen interrupted: "No, I mean, except for the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls, anyone can play in the first round! Cavaliers don't care either!"

"What?" The three were stunned at the same time. If they said they didn't want to play against the Heat, it could be understood that Xie Chen didn't want to fight emotionally, but why did the Chicago Bulls avoid it?Indeed, the Bulls are also very strong, but they are no stronger than the Cavaliers, right?

Anthony was puzzled, "Why do you avoid bulls but not knights?"

Xie Chen replied: "Every time I play against these two teams, I feel very uncomfortable. Frankly speaking, playing against them will make me lose all confidence."

The three looked at each other after hearing this. This answer really shocked them. Of course they knew that this answer was too far-fetched, but Xie Chen is the most critical figure in determining how far the playoffs will go. Since even he said "no confidence", then these two teams must never meet!
Zen Master, who has always been calm, couldn't sit still anymore. He thought that with the strongest ace Xie Chen, he could sit back and relax and enjoy the championship trophy in the playoffs. Unexpectedly, Xie Chen also had something to be afraid of!

The Zen Master hurriedly said, "Fisher, show me the current Eastern Conference rankings."

Fisher quickly took out the paper and pen, wrote out the ranking without thinking, and handed it to Zen Master. Zen Master glanced at it. From No.1 to No.8, they are the Cavaliers, Raptors, Bulls, Eagles, Heat, Pacers, Celtics and their New York Knicks.

Zen master pondered for a moment and asked Xie Chen a question: "Xie, every team will try to avoid the opponents they don't want to meet, but do you know that there are some things we can't control. Maybe we can control our record, but we can't decide the record of the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. In the next month, the ranking is very likely to change. The Chicago Bulls may drop to fourth or fifth in the Eastern Conference, and the Miami Heat's record may rise. We may not be able to avoid them perfectly."

"There is a way." Xie Chen stepped forward, took out a pen and circled the No.1 Cavaliers and No.2 Raptors, and said, "I just want to avoid the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. I don't care about any other opponents. The rankings of these two teams will definitely change a little in the next month, but no matter how they change, the first and second positions of the Cavaliers and Raptors should not change. At the very least, the Cavaliers will not change again. Therefore, we only need to secure seventh and No.8. location will do.”

After Xie Chen finished speaking, the three of them were startled, and Anthony said loudly, "Thank you, are you crazy? You want to stick to our No.8 position, just to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round? No, no, no, you must have eaten something wrong. The Cavaliers are scarier than those two teams! It is definitely not a wise choice to face the No. [-] in the Eastern Conference in the first round. If this is the case, the Celtics and Pacers will have to kowtow to thank us!"

It is normal for Anthony and the others to be excited and surprised. After all, anyone who hears such a crazy idea will think it is too crazy. The Cavaliers are the strongest team in the Eastern Conference. There is no reason to avoid weak teams and face strong teams.

Zen master was also secretly shocked: "Xie actually defended the eighth position in order to avoid those two teams, and confronted the Cavaliers. Why did the Bulls and the Heat scare Xie so much? I just finished playing against the Heat a few days ago, and it was obviously easy to win!"

The more he can't figure it out, the more worried Zen master is. You know, Xie Chen is the only guarantee for the Knicks to win the championship!

Zen master looked at the excited Anthony and comforted him: "Do according to Xie's idea. He is the key to our team. We must respect all his ideas. I believe his actions are not completely unreasonable. Next, if I guess correctly, you should deliberately lose games from time to time to ensure our place at the end of the playoffs, right?"

Xie Chen nodded: "Of course we have to strive for the seventh place. We are facing the Toronto Raptors, not the Cleveland Cavaliers. What I mean is that even the Cavaliers cannot be the Bulls and the Heat."

Anthony thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Actually, I think thank you for being too nervous. It's the same no matter who we meet. If our goal is to win the championship, then it doesn't make sense to avoid anyone in the first round. We will meet sooner or later."

"Yeah, what Cameron said is right. You can't hide from what you should encounter. Even if you avoid the Bulls and Heat in the first round, what about the second round? I think they all have a high possibility of advancing in the first round." Fisher also said sadly.

When Fisher said this, Zen Master became even more worried. Now Xie Chen just found a way to avoid the Bulls and Heat in the first round. What about the second round?What if the Heat and the Bulls are destined to have a team that can reach the Eastern Conference Finals?If Xie Chen really can't beat these two teams, does that mean that if he meets their championship, he will be ruined?
Xie Chen also sighed, there was no way to choose to avoid it in the first round, and if they encountered it again, they would have to bite the bullet.

……

The decision to choose to lose is currently only the four of them who have reached a consensus on the team, and they have not told others. They do not want to hurt the confidence of the players, and they cannot give a reasonable explanation.

Fortunately, without Anthony and Xie Chen, the team is a second-rate team. Basically, there are not many opponents that can be defeated, so as long as Xie Chen and Anthony have the idea of ​​​​deliberately losing, what others do will not affect the result.

In the next game, the Knicks' opponent is the Pistons, ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference.

Zhuang Shen Drummond was very nervous before he came to New York. The whole team took this game very seriously. Before the game, the coach talked about the importance of the game and the fear of the opponent many times.

"The New York Knicks are very close to our record, but their strength is far superior to ours! They have returned to the top eight in the Eastern Conference, and they will never fall back. They will definitely rush to a higher position before the end of the regular season, so we may face a massacre at the beginning of this game! You must play hard. Xie and Anthony will not let us go. If you don't want to be humiliated, just work hard on the court!"

At the crucial moment of competing for the playoff rankings, when teams with such awkward positions as eighth and ninth meet, it must be a fight to the death, and everyone agrees that the Knicks are stronger, so everyone generally believes that this game will be a massacre.

Zhuang Shen Drummond was very serious from the beginning, and he didn't expect to win this game. Xie Chen got serious, even the Golden State Warriors with the best record in the league couldn't beat them, let alone them, he just didn't want to lose too badly.

But after playing for a few minutes, Xie Chen didn't score. Instead, the Pistons took the lead. This made Zhuang Shen a little impatient. He walked over to Xie Chen and said, "Don't pretend, I know you want to kill us in this game. If you want to fight, you should shoot as soon as possible. You have not acted like this, and I feel even more uncomfortable!"

Xie Chen smiled and said, "Then feel uncomfortable for a while."

Xie Chen wanted to lose this game. Of course, it's okay to win, but he didn't try his best to win. The outcome depends on God's will, but Drummond thinks that Xie Chen will win at all costs.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pistons led by seven points, and the coach began to speak again.

"We led by seven points in the first quarter, and Xie will definitely start a crazy attack in the second quarter. You must cheer up and hold on!"

Everyone was highly nervous by the coach's words, and Reggie Jackson was almost nervous. However, in the second quarter, Xie Chen and Anthony still didn't make any crazy moves to score points, and the score stretched to more than 10 points!
The coach once again told the main players: "Xie is about to start scoring crazy! He is about to attack! You must defend!"

Reggie Jackson stretched out his hand to the coach while covering his bottom, "Coach, stop talking, I'm so scared by you that I can't even stand!"

Unexpectedly, Xie Chen's deliberate loss could also bring another kind of torture to the opponent.

(End of this chapter)