The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 340 - 185: Finals, Here We Come! _2

Chapter 340: Chapter 185: Finals, Here We Come! _2

"KD said before the game that he would finish the series in five games, and indeed, that’s what happened. Do you have anything you want to say to him?" the reporter teased Durant.

The idea of finishing in five games was actually brought up by Barkley first, but Durant had boldly taken it up.

"Tell him that my promise to him still stands; he doesn’t need to trade a championship for the shower water."

Hansen’s words drew laughter from the reporters; the shower water joke just wouldn’t go away.

"Did you think the series would end so quickly before it started?"

"No," Hansen shook his head, but then added in a very certain tone, "but I knew the winner would definitely be us."

"Who do you think your opponents will be in the finals?" asked someone from ESPN.

Yes, the Grizzlies had finished their games too fast while the East hadn’t even finished.

Or more accurately, the situation in the East was unexpected.

After taking an initial lead of two games, the Heat were overthrown by the Celtics, with the latter winning three straight, making the score 2-3.

You know, the Heat might actually not make it to the finals.

"It doesn’t matter who it is, like I said at the beginning of the season, the championship is our only target."

The Eastern Conference Finals hadn’t ended yet, and the Grizzlies got a rare break.

The day after they returned to Memphis, the league sent them two sets of new jerseys.

In the era before Hansen traveled through time, there were MVP awards for the division finals.

Although not in this era, players still wore new jerseys with the division champions logo.

There were no jerseys for runners-up, but being the Western champions was very real.

"Really cool." The Grizzlies’ players couldn’t get enough of it, and Guy was particularly thrilled.

It was just an additional logo, but it changed the aura completely.

After all, this was the most tangible acknowledgment of their playoff success so far.

"Han, you don’t think the Heat will really miss the finals, do you?" Guy asked as he sat next to Hansen in his new jersey.

"You could make a little money betting on the Heat as Eastern champions," Hansen offered Guy a money-making tip.

Despite being surprised by the current situation in the Eastern Conference, it didn’t change what he knew would happen.

"That would be great," replied Guy, slightly surprising Hansen.

"If we can triumph over them, we could become legendary just like the Dallas people last year."

Hansen laughed after hearing this, musing that the Heat’s Big Three seemed to be the perfect backdrop for anyone wanting to make an impression.

However, Guy’s confidence wasn’t unfounded as the Grizzlies had swept the Heat in the past two seasons, clearly showing their confidence.

"Do you think if we beat them, they’d have to break up?" Guy thought further.

Hansen hadn’t considered that.

Still, knowing Riley’s character, the same lineup under enormous outside pressure, coupled with consecutive failures of the peak Big Three, it was a real possibility.

Hmm, actually, Guy wasn’t the only one thinking this.

Because when Hansen checked social media, he saw that with the Heat currently behind 2-3, analysts were already discussing the likelihood of the Heat breaking up.

After all, the Big Three lost in the finals in their first year and didn’t get past the division finals in their second year—was there still a way forward for them?

This made Hansen curious about how the Heat had ended up in this situation.

Previously, he was too busy with games to pay attention, but once he did, he suddenly became alert.

During the semi-finals of the division, the Heat were pushed to a 1-2 deficit by the Pacers because of Bosh’s injury.

Then, during the Heavenly King Mountain game, James figuratively knocked Granger out.

Hansen remembered the incident, just not the exact year it occurred.

But thinking carefully, he could feel that that year, James was really at a point where he couldn’t afford to lose.

The Western Conference Finals had concluded, and Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals became the center of everyone’s attention.

James had the strongest game of his career in that match, shooting 19 out of 26, scoring 45 points with 15 rebounds and 5 assists, helping the Heat defeat the Celtics 98-79 away, leveling the score to 3-3.

Even before the game ended, ESPN captured a close-up of James’s expression during the game and labeled it: Death’s Eyes.

Even though Hansen had many disagreements with James, he couldn’t help but admit that James played impressively in that game.

Either break out in adversity or die in it.

He started to see the Heat’s 2012 smooth victory over the Thunders in a new light.

Due to Bosh’s unexpected injury, the Heat also seemed to have fought their way up through adversity, and their mentality was very different from the previous season.

So if they really underestimated the other team because they swept through the regular season, the Grizzlies might indeed take a fall.

Before the training session the next day, Hansen didn’t go to the third team; instead, he looked for Joerger before training.

Then, after the training ended, Joerger had the Grizzlies players rewatch the game between the Heat and the Celtics G6.

Then, Joerger gave the Grizzlies players a pre-match preventive talk.

This method was quite effective, just like Guy had shown before. Because of the record of encounters in the regular season, the Grizzlies were confident but indeed somewhat complacent.

So this preventive shot was very timely.

Two days later, the Heat defeated the Celtics 101-88 with James alone having more free throws (17) than the entire Celtics team (15), successfully advancing to the finals.

In fact, after losing G6, the Celtics had no chance.

After all, with Stern’s influence, the Heat’s error tolerance was much higher.

With the Heat’s advancement, the finals matchup was also set.

Then came the phase of generating hype for both sides.

The finals, as the league’s "endgame" of the season, like a boxing match, inevitably involved a lot of promotion and hype.

Especially since this year was a shortened season, Stern was originally counting on a Lakers-Heat showdown to make money.

Unexpectedly, the Lakers were eliminated early by the Grizzlies; now, they had to rely on marketing.

The good news was that it was the first time someone from East University had made it to the NBA Finals; regardless, viewership from East University would surely explode, and he didn’t need to worry too much about overseas revenue.

However, during this phase, a piece of news was hard to assess.

It was a report from ESPN, who had conducted a survey about the championship.

The content of the survey was simple—essentially asking who you thought was more likely to win.

The results showed that over 96% believed the Heat would win the championship.

This result was quite surprising, as regarding head-to-head matchups, the Grizzlies were clearly the favorites.

A closer look at the results revealed why—it was a media ploy.

The survey participants were all fans from Florida!

In comparison, the Grizzlies’ promotional efforts were significantly lower.

"We haven’t lost yet, so how could we lose?"

When this slogan was released, not only the Memphis fans, but also the neutral observers were fully engaged.

After both sides finished their promotional efforts, the grand stage of the Finals was about to begin.

The Grizzlies and Heat had the same regular season records, but due to head-to-head records, the Grizzlies would have the home-court advantage in the finals.

Having home-court advantage in the finals as the fourth team in the Western regular season showed just how large the gap had become between the East and the West over the years.

When the finals came, the FedEx Forum was not only packed inside, but crowded outside as well.

For Memphis, and even Tennessee fans, it was a historic event that no one would want to miss.

Not just fans—the prominent figures from Memphis, including the CEO of FedEx, were all present.

It was an unprecedented event.

During the pre-game ceremony, the cheers from the fans were thunderous.

Starting lineup for the Heat: Chalmers, Wade, James, McRoberts, Bosh

Starting lineup for the Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Guy, Randolph, Little Gasol

There was a minor incident before the game.

As the players were about to enter the arena, James went to the tech table for his routine throwing of talcum powder.

But when he picked up the talcum powder bottle, he found it was empty.

He even asked the staff for more but didn’t receive it, and he had to enter the court with a displeased expression.

With this move, the Memphis people subtly showed their malice.

There’s no helping it; after all, they’re from a chaotic city.

Hansen was amused by this scene.

But when he stepped onto the court, he took a deep breath and his expression became focused.

During his rookie season, he had the chance to step onto this stage, but it didn’t come to fruition.

Two years later, darn it, he finally made it!