On May 12, the Heat defeated the Celtics 97-87 at home to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 4-1 overall score.

It was the Heat's first time in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2006, and Dwyane Wade and LeBron James finally got their revenge on the Green Shirts. James finished with 33 points and seven rebounds, Dwyane Wade had 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Chris Bosh had 14 points.

The Celtics didn't score a point in the final 4 minutes and 29 seconds, and after being beaten 16-0 by the Heat, they fell apart. Rajon Rondo didn't play in the final quarter, scoring just six points, Ray Allen 18, Kevin Garnett 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Paul Pierce 12.

The Heat are hungry for revenge on the Celtics, especially Wade and James, both of whom have been suppressed by the Green Shirts in the past few years, and now they have finally crushed the Green Shirts and successfully reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

The next day, May 13, another player in the Eastern Conference Finals was also released, and the Bulls defeated the Hawks 93-73 on the road, thus advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2 and will face the Heat led by the new "Big Three".

The Bulls reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998, and finally reached the Eastern Conference Finals again since Michael Jordan won the last championship on the flyer.

Derrick Rose had 19 points and 12 assists, Carlos Boozer had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Lore Deng had 13 points and Joaquin Noah had 11 points and six rebounds.

The Hawks fell short and stopped in the second round for the third year in a row, with Joe Johnson scoring 19 points, Josh Smith 18, and no one else scoring in double figures, with Al Horford scoring seven points and four rebounds on just 2-of-10 shooting.

The Hawks were confident before the game that they were going to push their opponent into Game 7, and they thought the pressure was on the Bulls' side for Game 7. It's a pity that the Hawks themselves were under too much pressure, and they failed to pass the sixth game, and the seventh game became empty talk, and the young Rose was made in vain.

At this point, the roster for the Eastern and Western finals is out, Warriors vs. Mavericks, Heat vs. Bulls.

Looking closely at these four teams, in fact, only the Mavericks are different, in contrast, the other three can be said to be the youth army, it is the Mavericks who stubbornly defend the dignity of the traditional heroes, if it is not for them, then the NBA can enter a new era.

The Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Suns, these old powerhouses, are now all yesterday's yellow flowers!

Over the years, the Mavericks have actually been quite unlucky, they have always had quality, excellent players, and a wise coach who is good at kneading the team into a whole, and can also play a record like 60 wins.

However, even if these elements are all superimposed, not many people take them seriously. Dallas is third in the West, with the same record as the Lakers, but the world sees them as just high-end soy sauce players.

As for the overall winner? Don't even think about it, it's no wonder that before the Western Conference semifinals, the Los Angeles media said with a little contempt: "The Lakers don't need to go to great lengths to compete for any rankings, anyway, even if the Mavericks are given the first place in the league, we have enough strength to deal with them." ”

As a result, the Lakers stumbled, and as it turned out, they were shaved by the Mavericks and suffered their first semifinal sweep in the 21st century.

This is not a very surprising thing, looking at the Mavericks' lineup, it can be regarded as the peak of military appearance: Nowitzki is not old, Chandler has played his best season since leaving Paul, Terry, Marion and others are also doing their jobs, plus the strength of the substitutes such as Kidd Sr., Barea, and Heywood, in fact, the Mavericks theoretically have the strength to compete with any team.

Looking at their record against the top giants in the East, 1-1 against the Bulls, 1-1 with the Magic, and 2-0 with the Celtics and Heat, these records are enough to prove their quality.

However, the league just doesn't seem to take the Mavericks seriously, they unexpectedly swept the Lakers, but they still haven't attracted the attention of fans and experts, in fact, a large part of the reason for this situation is that the Mavericks don't have their own label.

The Warriors are kings of the world, the Spurs are old and strong, the Lakers are indomitable, the Heat are star-studded, the Bulls are rising, and the Celtics have a solid lineup......

There are only Mavericks, and it is really difficult for fans to use an adjective to describe them, and even if there is, it is the kind of words with derogatory connotations, such as soft egg boss, pseudo-strong team, falling off the chain at critical moments, and not being able to fight a tough battle.

is a bit similar to the protagonist in a tragic novel, Maverick's heart is always higher than the sky and his fate is thinner than paper, especially after experiencing a series of tragedies such as being hacked and being reversed in the finals, Dallas people are full of sadness.

In the battle with the Lakers, the Mavericks can be regarded as justifying themselves, you must know that even the Warriors have not swept the Lakers, but the Mavericks have done it.

However, this time in the Western Conference Finals, when the Mavericks and the Warriors stood together, even the Mavericks fans with the most confidence also beat drums in their hearts.

The reason is too simple, go back four years, and the black eight Mavericks at that time were the Warriors! And it's a Warriors team that's far worse than it is now!

In 2006, the Mavericks went all the way to the Finals, only to be beaten by the Heat for four games in a row, and then rolled back to Dallas with the hat of a pseudo-strong team and a soft egg team.

A year later, the Mavericks were in shame and had a record-breaking regular-season record. Originally, the Mavericks were going to be ashamed, but an even greater shame came, they didn't even touch the threshold of the Finals, and they were hacked by the Warriors, who were eighth in the West, directly in the first round......

Dropped the chain for two consecutive seasons, and the Mavericks were broken, which also caused their sinking for the next four seasons, because the NBA battle is like a real big battle, which requires morale and fighting spirit, and the Warriors' Black Eight hurt the Mavericks a lot, almost sweeping away all their morale!

Meeting the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals this time is the best chance for the Mavericks to take revenge.

However, if this time it is lost in the hands of the Warriors, then the future of the Mavericks will stop there!

For Mavericks fans, the best they can expect is to take out the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals and then meet the exhausted Heat and beat the Heat, so that they can sweep away the shame of 2006 and 2007.

Of course, these thoughts are a bit like a dream, because the Warriors are not calves to the slaughter, they are butchers with butcher knives in their hands, and the Mavericks are calves!

On May 16, the Eastern Conference Finals kicked off first, and then the Bulls beat the Heat 103-82 at home to take a 1-0 lead.

Among them, Derrick Rose chipped in 28 points and had six assists, Lore Deng had 21 points and seven rebounds, Carlos Boozer had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Joakim Noah grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Heat's "Big Three" scored a total of 63 points, Chris Bosh had the highest 30 points, he also grabbed 9 rebounds, Dwyane Wade 18 points, LeBron James played very badly, it seemed that the elimination of the Green Shirts consumed all his energy, and he played a very depressed game, and only scored 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the end.

On May 18, the Warriors collided with the Mavericks at home.

The starting lineup sent by the Mavericks is: Chandler, Nowitzki, Sean Marion, Kidd, Stevenson.

On the Warriors' side, Chamberlain, Evans, Jamison, West and Carter were fielded.

Seeing this lineup, the TNT trio in charge of the commentary was already shocked, and Kenny Smith nodded and said: "Nelson Sr. is very bold, he actually overturned the Warriors' ironclad starting lineup last season, and the appearance of Evans and Jamison made the game full of unknowns." ”

Barkley rolled his eyes and said, "The unknown of bullshit, this Western Conference Finals is definitely the least challenging in history, and the Mavericks are doomed!" The Dallas only have a disadvantage, not a single advantage, and they have a manager who knows them best, how can they play? I'm willing to bet my head that the Warriors will advance 4-1, or even faster! ”

The Mavericks are far from being as weak as expected, after all, they can reach the Western Conference finals, after all, they can fight in the West surrounded by tigers and wolves, after all, they can sweep the Lakers, who are known as the second strongest in the West, even if they are weak, how weak can they be?

After the opening, both teams put their defense first, but the game was still exciting.

The elder Nelson put Evans, who hadn't been heavily used in a season, in the starting lineup, even to use him against Nowitzki, who knew too well the disciple who had been trained by himself.

Nowitzki's physique is also excellent, but he is a technical stream, lacking Chamberlain's sense of confrontation, as long as he encounters that kind of tough hooligan-style opponent, he is not willing to play under the basket, but will go to the outside to solve the offense with a jump shot.

That's what Nelson Sr. is for, no matter how good Nowitzki is, but the farther away from the hoop, the less deterrent it is.

Sure enough, under Evans' entanglement, Nowitzki was very out of shape, he missed his first three shots, and was beaten by the Warriors who seized the opportunity, Carlisle had to call a timeout, he replaced Stevenson, who did nothing, and replaced Terry, who shot the Lakers with three points in the last game.

It wasn't until five minutes left in the quarter that Nowitzki seized the opportunity to shake off Evans in the penalty area, and Kidd, who was the league's No. 1 demon, immediately seized the opportunity to pass the ball out in time, and Nowitzki made a quick shot to score for the first time of the game.

After that, Terry after a few shots, his hand warmed up, found the spot, he caught the ball outside the three-point line and hit a long-range shot, 30 seconds later, he received Nowitzki's response, and scored three points from three-point range again, so that with Nowitzki's breakthrough layup, the Mavericks completed an incredible 20-19 comeback in the second half of the first quarter.

In the last two and a half minutes of the first quarter, the two sides launched a defensive battle, that is to say, the commonly known playoffs fighting bayonets, pressing each other and not giving in.

The Warriors relied on Chamberlain's prowess on the inside to win a one-point lead, and at the end of the first quarter, they were able to take a two-point lead over the Mavericks at 27-26.

Judging from the first quarter, the old Nelson's change of lineup seemed to have no effect, but the old coach was very calm, watching the game as steadily as Tarzan, that is, not changing the lineup, as long as Nowitzki was there, he asked Evans to follow.

Evans is like a maggot on the tarsal bone, he does nothing else on the field, specifically harasses Nowitzki, where the German tank appears, he follows, so that the king of Nortian, who has not met an opponent in the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, is forced to be a bit wolf.

But on the Mavericks' side, the outside accuracy is very good, and Barria, who came on as a substitute for Kidd, is like a cunning groundhog, breaking through and hitting two consecutive throws to help the team bite the score and not fall behind.

Halfway through the second quarter, Terry hit another three-pointer to put the Mavericks up 36-34. However, Terry, who played bravely against the Lakers before, was also average today, and as soon as he got the ball after that, the Warriors' outside line went to cover him, so that he couldn't find a suitable shot, and the three-point game was never seen again.