NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 52 Finals, against the Heat
The Suns eliminated the Mavericks from the West and reached the finals. This is the first time in team history since the Barkley team reached the finals in the 92-93 season.

It has been nearly 13 years since then.

At that time, after the Suns led by Barkley broke into the finals, they encountered the Bulls led by Jordan. In the end, they lost 4:2 to their opponents and lost, which also achieved the Bulls' first three consecutive championships.

Thirteen years later, the Suns returned to the finals after a long absence, and their opponents became the Miami Heat.

热火队的东部突围之路并不算困难，首轮4:2淘汰公牛，次轮4:1击败基德卡特与理查德.杰佛森所率领的篮网，东决4:2击败活塞五虎。

After the running-in of last season, the two core players of the Heat, Shaq O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, have become more and more in harmony with each other, faintly feeling a bit like the OK period.

Although the current Sharks are getting old, they averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds per game in the regular season, and the data of 18.4 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs so far is far from the courage of the past. The Lakers are strong.
But it is a mistake to use the Lakers in the OK period as a measurement standard. The Heat at this stage are one of the strongest teams in the league.

When the Heat and the Suns met, most people believed that the Heat would win the final victory and win the championship trophy.

Including Wang Chao is no exception.

Wang Chao knows very well that the Suns' ability to beat the Mavericks 4:3 to reach the finals is already commendable, and it is simply wishful thinking to go further and beat the Heat.

The Mavericks have Nowitzki alone, even if they can't defend, they can still find a way. The Heat have the configuration of peak Wade and old O'Neal at the same time!
05-06赛季的韦德有多狠就不必多说了，原本时空中，小牛队会在先下两城2:0领先的情况下被连追四盘2:4被击败，主要就是因为他们对韦德一点办法都没有。

In the 6 games of the finals, Wade averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He seemed to be an unstoppable killer. He used his lightning breakthroughs to tear the Mavericks' defense to pieces time and time again.

The Mavericks couldn't defend against Wade, and the Suns couldn't defend either. Don't look at their Raja Bell, who has a top-notch defensive ability on the outside. Bell's defense in front of Wade is basically useless.

Not only that, O'Neill in his old age should not be underestimated either.

In the finals with the Mavericks, O'Neal's performance was not very good, averaging only 6 points and 13.7 rebounds in 10 games, but that was because he was facing the Mavericks.

The inside combination of the Mavericks is Nowitzki + Dampier. This player who claims to be the second center in the West is not very good, but he is also a standard heavy center. He needs tonnage and strength.

If it was O'Neal's peak period, Dampier might just be a casually kneaded ball, but now O'Neal's strength is not as good as before. Facing Dampier, a young and heavy center in the interior, it is a bit difficult to fight.

The problem is that the Suns don't have a heavy center like Dampier, and even many times they don't even have a truly qualified center on the court, and they mostly use the front line to play the center.

This makes it impossible for them to face O'Neal, the big killer at the basket!
……

On June 6, the first game of the finals began at the home court of the Suns with a better record.

Then the Heat used practical actions to tell the Suns what a super center is.

奥尼尔仿佛焕发了职业生涯第二春，全场比赛14投12中，罚球13中7，以85.7%的恐怖命中率砍下31分16篮板。

The inside line of the Suns was defeated by O'Neal alone, and the game was lost to the opponent without any suspense.

At 99:94, the Suns lost the game in their first home game.

The Heat, which won the first game, pursued the victory in the second game, trying to win two consecutive away games.

O'Neal continued to be the Heat's main attacking point. He made 20 of 13 shots in the game. Unfortunately, he missed free throws. He made 10 of 3 shots and scored 29 points and 10 rebounds. 15 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

However, the Heat failed to win 2 consecutive victories, but lost in this game.

After all, the Suns are not muddled. In this game, they gave full play to the advantages of running and bombing tactics. The frequent and fast-paced offense and defense made the Heat exhausted. Chao got a lot of shots. He made 16 of 9 three-pointers and scored 27 points.

O'Neal's disadvantages were undoubtedly revealed in this game. Although the Suns did not have a heavy center inside and could score casually, whenever the Suns made a fast break or the inside pulled out a pick-and-roll, O'Neal was not effective. At this time, he was on the court. Can only hold back.

Moreover, due to O'Neal's poor free throw feel in today's game, the Suns also frequently used shark-slashing tactics to limit the opponent's performance, and finally defended one of their home courts and evened the score to 1:1.

It's just that this situation is only temporary. As the game venue came to Miami, the Heat's home court, the Suns began to be unable to contain the defeat.

6月13日，太阳96:98不敌热火，2分惜败对手。

6月15日，太阳104:112再度输掉比赛，大比分来到3:1，热火队先一步取得赛点。

In these two games, the Suns lost not because of O'Neal, but because of Wade's efforts.

Wade in this period was really terrifyingly strong, as Wang Chao expected.

G3全场26投14中，罚球17中14，狂砍44分11篮板5助攻，尤其是第四节独砍15分，硬生生的将原本处于落后的比赛扭转给赢了下来。

紧接着G4，韦德23投13中，罚球10中9，得到37分6篮板4助攻。

Facing O'Neal, the unstoppable Suns can still use the shark-slashing tactic, but facing the rampaging Wade, the Suns, like the Mavericks, have no choice.

Even Wang Chao couldn't handle this gap in strength.

In fact, Wang Chao played more easily against the Heat than against the Mavericks. The Heat's small forward Antoine Walker is an All-Star player who averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds per game at his peak.

But the 05-06 season is already the end of Walker's career, and his average data has dropped to only 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and his age has also made his physical fitness and explosive power far worse than before.

It is easier for Wang Chao to run without the ball than when facing Josh Howard, and because of O'Neal, the success rate of his teammates pulling out from the inside to screen for him is also very high.

But even so, the existence of Wang Chao still couldn't offset the huge gap in strength between the two teams.

(End of this chapter)