king of defenders

Chapter 820

East champion?

This is no surprise, the Heat experienced so much last season, and even encountered the difficulties of Bosh's reimbursement, and finally reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to the Cavaliers.

The situation this season is better than last season. The players are all thinking of fighting the Cavaliers again. With the pattern of the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers are extremely strong, and with the current ranking in the Eastern Conference, the Heat will meet in the playoffs. The Cavaliers are likely to be the Eastern Conference finals. If they can beat the Cavaliers, wouldn't they be the Eastern Conference champions?
However, Spoelstra did not stop there, and said: "We must first win the Eastern Conference championship, reach the finals, and then strive to win the championship."

champion?
The crowd was in an uproar and could not calm down.

That's the championship. What is the purpose of the 30 NBA teams playing so many games every season? Isn't it the championship?So many people sweated and even got injured for it, fought for it, fought hard for it, isn't it just for this?
Coach Spoelstra's goal turned out to be a championship!
"Can we really do this?"

"Competing for the championship, can our strength win the championship?"

Players are drumming in their hearts. Although the Heat are now No. [-] in the Eastern Conference, but the rise of the Heat is just these two seasons. Compared with the Cavaliers and Warriors, their background is far less than that of teams such as the Cavaliers and Warriors, and even compared to the Spurs and Rockets. The team is a little bit inferior.

Yes, the Heat are very strong and have a good record, but their background is a bit worse.

The playoffs are not the regular season, and the relationship between competing for the championship and the ranking in the regular season is not absolute. It doesn’t mean that you can win the championship if you rank first in the Eastern Conference in the regular season. If that’s the case, why play in the playoffs?

What's more, the regular season is not over yet, and the East is not without strong opponents. The Cavaliers, Raptors, and Bucks are all eyeing each other. It's hard to say whether the Heat, the No.

At this time, Spoelstra shouted "sword to the championship"?
Everyone is a little confused!
Seeing everyone's expressions, Spoelstra was a little depressed. Fortunately, Wade was relatively calm and said: "The championship is not so dreamy. Although it may not be successful, at least we have the qualifications to fight for it." .”

Meng Yun also said: "Wade is right, who knows what will happen in the end? Who can be sure that they will win the championship, can the Cavaliers? Can the Warriors? Or other teams? No, no one dares to say It will definitely win the championship. It can only be said that it may be born in a few teams. And we are definitely one of them."

Wade has experienced a lot, and he will not underestimate himself. Meng Yun is full of confidence and fighting spirit.

Is the championship far away?
He doesn't think so. Losing to the Cavaliers last season may not necessarily lose to the Cavaliers this season. As long as they reach the finals, there is always a chance to give it a try. What if it succeeds?

Hearing this, everyone calmed down a bit.

Spoelstra nodded at Wade and Meng Yun, and said: "I said, our primary goal is the Eastern Conference Championship. As long as we can win the Eastern Conference Championship, it is natural to compete for the championship, isn't it?"

"But."

"No but." Spoelstra interrupted: "No one can predict the future. Even if you fail, it is not terrible, but if you dare not even think about it? Then I can only say that I am very disappointed with you. .”

Everyone immediately raised their heads and looked at Spoelstra unconvinced.

Spoelstra didn't care, and clapped his hands: "Okay, let's stop here, let's disband."

Everyone dispersed and practiced freely, but they all seemed a little absent-minded, still whispering about what Coach Spoelstra said just now.

"The sword points to the championship." Meng Yun repeated, his eyes shining.

After the All-Star weekend, all teams began to sprint.

Even for strong teams such as the Heat, Cavaliers, and Warriors, the atmosphere at the moment has become a bit dignified, and this is what the team's coaches want. It is not difficult for these teams to enter the playoffs, but they still have to Strive for a higher ranking, and the last third of the regular season schedule is also a transitional stage, from the regular season to the playoffs.

At this time, the coach will ask the players to increase the intensity of the game so that they will not feel uncomfortable in the playoffs. After all, the intensity of the playoffs is different.

On February 2, the Heat rushed to Charlotte for the first game after the All-Star Weekend, an away game against the Eagles.

There is no suspense in this game. Although the Eagles performed very well this season, they are not the opponents of the Heat after all. Especially after Spoelstra proposed "sword to the championship", the mental outlook of the Heat players is obvious. There are some differences from before, and it has become more fierce.

From the very beginning of the game, the Heat beat the Eagles and played again. In the end, the Heat defeated the Eagles 121:105. Meng Yun scored 28 points, 11 assists, Wade 24 points, Lu Wei 17 points, Monroe 15 points, Whiteside scored 14 points. The Heat team blossomed more, and the three armies used their lives to defeat the Eagles without bloodshed.

After that, the Heat returned to Miami overnight, ushered in back-to-back games the next day, and defeated the Pacers at home.

The Pacers played very tenaciously in this game, which caused a lot of trouble for the Heat, especially Paul George, who scored 35 points in the game. It seems that after the All-Star Game, he finally showed 100% The state, unstoppable on the offensive end, always able to score the ball.Fortunately, Wade on the Heat's side showed his power and scored 30 points. Meng Yun also got a double-double of 25+10 again, which suppressed George and led the Heat to victory.

However, after this game, the sudden back-to-back games may have overdrawn the players' physical fitness. After all, the All-Star weekend rested for several days, and the game status has not yet recovered.

Then against the Mavericks, the Heat lost the game.

The Mavericks are not strong and are currently in the rebuilding period. This year, they basically missed the playoffs, but the Heat lost to them because of cheating, which once again verified the saying that there is no weak team in the NBA.

After that, the Heat adjusted for a day, checked the state of the game, defeated the 76ers at home, but then lost to the Magic, not because the Heat played badly, but because the Magic played too well and the players felt It was hot, and the shooting percentage of the audience was as high as 50.00%, which made people speechless.

Then the Heat encountered the Cavaliers again. The last time they played against the Heat, they experienced a hard fight and defeated the Cavaliers, but this time they failed and lost to the Cavaliers away.

So far, six games after the All-Star weekend, the Heat have 3 wins and 3 losses. The performance is not outstanding, which makes Coach Spoelstra feel a headache. I don't know if it is putting too much pressure on the players.

At the same time, the Cavaliers have won 5 consecutive victories after the All-Star Weekend, narrowing the gap with the Heat. Originally, the gap between the records of the two teams was not that big. It's one game away.

The Heat's No. [-] spot in the Eastern Conference has become precarious.

(End of this chapter)