As time came to December, the Cavaliers' record began to gradually decline, not because the team's strength weakened, but because head coach Tyronn Lue began to consciously rest players.
James, Irving, Love and even Wang Feng all got one or two rest opportunities.
Obviously, the Cavaliers don't value their regular season results.
Being in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers with James are already unsolvable, and this will still apply even two years later.
Therefore, no matter where they are ranked in the regular season, the Cavaliers can successfully break through and advance to the finals.
And with James' status, he doesn't need regular season wins to prove himself.
How to win the championship is the key to everything.
The rotation in December is mainly to prepare for the Christmas Day game against the Warriors.
Both sides are determined to win this game.
After all, we can only encounter this situation twice in the regular season, so every victory is very important.
Tyronn Lue had to start using the players carefully and strictly control the playing time of Irving and Love. After all, neither of them has a particularly durable physique. They have not played full attendance in the first two seasons, and they always have problems due to some reasons.
If you are absent due to a minor injury, if you get injured in a regular season game and it even affects your plans for the subsequent playoffs or even the finals, then it will be really over.
With the team's main players taking turns to rest, the Cavaliers' record in December plummeted from 84% to 72%, which is already significantly lower than the Warriors and Spurs in the Western Conference, ranking third in the league and first in the Eastern Conference.
All the sacrifices the Cavaliers made were in preparation for the Christmas Day game.
The entire league is also looking forward to this battle of the century.
Finally the time has arrived on December 25th!
Christmas night.
Countless fans around the world are sitting in front of the TV, eagerly waiting for the game to start.
For this game, TNT TV station directly sent its own all-star commentary team, the legendary superstars Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
"Welcome to watch tonight's Christmas fight!"
The experienced Smith went straight to the topic as soon as he started to arouse the audience's interest.
"Shaq, Charles, which side do you prefer to win in this game?"
His two partners also cooperated tacitly.
Barkley immediately cooperated and said: "Do you still need to ask? Of course it is the Golden State Warriors. They have two MVP-level players, and the Warriors were obviously the better team in the December game, so I think the Warriors
The team will win this game.”
"No, no no, I don't think so."
O'Neal shook his finger with a confident smile on his face.
"I know LeBron, he is not a guy who can hand over victory so easily. What's more, the Cavaliers now have a super scorer, and the situation is completely different."
"Super scorer?"
Buckley laughed.
This was actually a line they had prepared a long time ago, so he didn't hesitate and immediately said it in a tone of voice.
"Are you talking about Kyrie Irving? I don't think his performance can be considered a super scorer."
"Of course not Kerry, I mean Wang Feng."
O'Neill knocked on the table and said.
"Wang Feng? Are you kidding me? His current scoring average is not as high as Irving's. Do you call averaging 21 points a super breakup?"
Buckley shook his head disdainfully.
"Charles, it is a very unwise choice to use simple data to measure Wang Feng's strength. You must know that Wang Feng's shots are close to Love and far lower than Irving, but his score is only slightly less than Irving. The two of them have
The efficiency is completely different…”
"Okay, okay, stop it, stop it!"
Barkley shook his head repeatedly and interrupted O'Neal impatiently.
"I'm not discussing with you who is better, Wang Feng or Irving. It makes no sense to compare the two of them."
"The problem now is that the Cavaliers have to face two super scorers in Curry and Durant at the same time, but the only one they can match is LeBron. Do you think Wang Feng's scoring ability can compete with Kevin's?
?I think he is at the level of Thompson at best. I am not looking down on Clay, but there is a gap in quality between him and Curry and Durant."
"Oh, brother, didn't you watch the Olympics?"
O'Neal chuckled.
"I still have vivid memories of the Olympic finals. How many points did Wang Feng score in that game? Oh yes, it was 39 points! He scored 39 points under the defense of Green and Paul George. Durant scored 39 points in that game.
How many points did Wang Feng score?
What O'Neal said is actually a bit cunning.
In the Olympics, the Dream Team has multiple offensive cores. Naturally, there is no need for Durant to compete with Wang Feng, who is extremely capable of perimeter defense.
But looking at the Chinese men's basketball team, the only one who can attack with the ball is Wang Feng.
The proportion of ball possessions and the number of shots taken by the two are completely different, and there is no comparison at all.
But O'Neal didn't talk all about the Olympics.
"Wang Feng's scoring this season has indeed not improved significantly compared to last season, but his shots are fewer than last season, and his shooting percentage has become higher, especially three-pointers. He no longer relies solely on corner three-pointers.
The range extends to almost all outside areas, even on par with Curry!"
"What's more, Wang Feng also has a strong perimeter defensive ability. Since Wang Feng came to the Cavaliers, the Cavaliers' defensive efficiency per 100 rounds has been higher than last season. These are the advantages brought by Wang Feng!"
"Wang Feng's improvement to the Cavaliers is definitely greater than Durant's improvement to the Warriors! Therefore, I think the Cavaliers will definitely win this game."
Faced with O'Neal's argument, Barkley obviously dismissed it.
"Want to bet something? Shaq."
Barkley's love for gambling is no longer news in the league. The famous donkey-butt-kissing incident was attributed to Barkley.
At that time, Barkley believed that Yao, who joined the NBA as the No. 1 pick, was simply not worthy of his name. If he could score 19 points in a single game, he would kiss Kenny Smith's ass.
Dayao did not let him down. In just one week, he made 9 of 9 shots and scored 20 points in one game.
Unwilling to be frivolous, Smith brought a donkey with his namesake for Barkley to kiss, which became one of the most famous memes in the league.
Although he lost the bet and was humiliated internationally, Buckley still went his own way and made many bets in recent years.
There are winners and losers in these bets, but they undoubtedly bring him huge ratings, so he never tires of them.
"OK!"
Hearing Barkley's words, O'Neal was not deterred at all but eager to try. He is also a person who likes this type of game.
"Well, Charles, let's make two bets. One is the winner of today's game. I bet the Cavaliers will win, and you beat the Warriors."
"The second time we make a bet is on the winner of this year's championship. I choose the Cavaliers, and you will definitely choose the Warriors, right? If we draw in two bets, then we will shake hands and make peace. But if we win both games,