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Although the Cavaliers lost to the Spurs, marking the start of their first defeat of the new season, the team's morale wasn't significantly affected.
After all, it's the same old saying, with 82 games in a season, even the strongest teams will lose sometimes, not to mention that the Cavaliers are still a new team that was just formed this summer.
Additionally, in the game against the Spurs, the other Cavaliers players were limited by the Spurs' defense, but there were no instances of them being severely underestimated or having a really bad shooting night.
The most typical example was Irving, who faced Tony Parker, the main point guard for the Spurs. Parker is not particularly known for his defense, and even with the Spurs' overall defensive bonuses, he couldn't prevent Irving from shooting just 4 of 16, which can only be attributed to a bad performance from Irving himself.
This poor performance doesn't mean the next games won't go well, so the loss in one game isn't that critical for the Cavaliers.
In fact, it's true, after the Cavaliers lost to the Spurs, they immediately bounced back with a 5-game winning streak, bringing their record to 14-1!
At this point, what many people were most excited to see was the showdown between the Cavaliers and the Heat. Not only because these two teams are currently the biggest favorites to win the championship, but also because there were some rumors and drama.
Whether it was the revenge between Wang Chong and James, the two fateful opponents, or the grudges and hatred between the Cavaliers and James, it became the favorite plot for many people just looking for drama and not being too busy to watch.
The first meeting between the two teams in the new season was set by the league for December 25th, which is the league's traditional Christmas Day game, and the game would take place at the Cleveland Cavaliers' QuickLoan Arena.
Since the beginning of December, Cavaliers fans had been counting down the days on their fingers in anticipation of Christmas.
Although more than four years had passed, many Cavaliers fans still got angry when they thought about James' arrogant expression on the TV show when he chose to leave them without hesitation and join the Heat.
Before Wang Chong's arrival, they still viewed James as one of the league's top stars, hoping to play the emotional card to invite him back. But now, with Wang Chong in the team, who cares about James? He's just a joke!
With the excitement of Cavaliers fans, time passed day by day, and soon it was the end of December.
Throughout most of December, the Cavaliers were quite consistent, losing only one away game to the Oklahoma City Thunder out of more than a dozen games, winning all others.
As a result, the Cavaliers' record had reached 25-2 by December 25th, with a winning rate of 92.5%, heading towards the best record in NBA history, previously held by the Bulls at 73-9.
On the other hand, the Heat's performance in the new season had been somewhat unstable, losing several games they should have won, with a record of only 18 wins and 10 losses, giving them a win rate of just 64%. They were surpassed not only by the Cavaliers and the Bulls but even by the Celtics, falling to fourth place in the East.
This disappointing performance frustrated Heat fans. After all, the Heat's "Big Three" lineup should be unmatched by any other team in the league, so why was their record so bad?
But this could not be avoided. The Heat's Big Three has been plagued with injuries this season, including James, who, despite having a steel-like body, had missed several games due to an injury. By mid-December, both Wade and Dwight Howard had missed nearly 10 games each due to injuries.
Fortunately, their injuries were not synchronized, so in most cases, the Heat could at least ensure that both giants were on the court at the same time, which helped stabilize their position in the upper half of the Eastern Conference.
But injuries were no excuse because the Cavaliers also had injuries, yet even if Irving or Pau Gasol missed a game or two, the Cavaliers could still win under Wang Chong's leadership.
This highlighted the Cavaliers' high margin of error.
The Cavaliers' bench featured Luiz, who should have been the sixth man of the year this season. Williams, as a result of the Cavaliers' depth, didn't play much, averaging just 24 minutes per game, with around 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, but his offensive ability was undeniable. Williams was capable of making an immediate impact with his scoring ability.
The deep depth of the Cavaliers' bench meant that their tolerance for error was very high. Unless Wang Chong were to miss a game due to injury, maybe the Cavaliers' record would drop sharply, but it would be extremely difficult for Wang Chong to get injured.
One reason is that Wang Chong's primary style of play involves shooting, although he will drive to the basket or even engage in some contact in the paint, but the frequency of this is much lower than guards like Irving, and less contact means a smaller chance of injury.
Additionally, after Wang Chong upgraded his system, the first improvement was his durability, which was maxed out at a full 99. Unless there was a very special accident, like an assassin suddenly running onto the court with a chainsaw to cut off Wang Chong's leg, or the opponent pulling off a kung fu football tackle to his groin, the probability of Wang Chong getting injured was practically nonexistent.
So, in recent seasons, apart from the occasional back-to-back games or particularly tiring travel schedules, Wang Chong has played 82 games in a regular season most of the time, and his attendance rate is the highest in the league today.
On December 25th, the much-anticipated Christmas Day game began.
However, the process was a great disappointment for the fans.
Before the game started, the Heat had already confirmed that Dwight Howard would miss the game due to an injury.
But the day before the Christmas game, the Heat issued an announcement stating that the team's star, LeBron James, would miss the upcoming game against the Cavaliers due to an ankle injury.
As soon as the news came out, it immediately disappointed Cavaliers fans.
They thought they might get the chance to humiliate James, but little did they expect that James wouldn't even bother to fight.
As for the so-called ankle issue, to many, it seemed like an excuse. It's likely that James knew that without Howard, the Heat would have no chance against the Cavaliers, so he came up with this excuse to avoid playing. After all, James had been fine just the game before, even executing a flying tomahawk dunk across the court—how could anything be wrong with his ankle?
Cavaliers fans were upset, and Heat fans were upset as well. After all, to them, James' move seemed like cowardice.
What happened to the Cavaliers? What about Wang Chong? Why didn't they dare to fight?
Though from a strategic point of view, James made the right choice by avoiding this tough match and focusing on playing against other teams to secure more victories.
But from a team morale perspective, it was incredibly demoralizing not to show up and compete.
On December 25th, Christmas Day,
At the Cleveland QuickLoan Arena, in the fourth quarter of the game, the main players of both teams had already sat out to rest, as the score gap was so large that there was no need for the key players to continue playing.
With a 112-84 score, the Cavaliers had a 28-point lead at home, and with little time left, there was no chance for a comeback.
It was a game without suspense, and the only player left on the Heat side was Wade, leading the team with the Big Three. How could they possibly beat the fully healthy Cavaliers? From the start of the first quarter, the Cavaliers dominated the game, and the Heat could never recover. Wang Chong didn't even exert much effort during the game, cruising through the match and retiring after the third quarter. The Heat never had a chance to catch up.
The game was about to end, but suddenly, a burst of boos erupted from the Cavaliers fans.
Sitting near the Heat's bench, James, in a suit and leather shoes, had a pale face, but everyone knew those boos were aimed at him.
In fact, for the past four years, whenever the Heat played in Cleveland, they were bound to hear the jeers of the local Cavaliers fans.
Because the positions of the two teams had changed dramatically.
No matter how much Cavaliers fans had mocked James in the past, they couldn't hide the fact that the Cavaliers had become one of the top teams in the East without James.
But now it was different. The Cavaliers had become the top favorites to win the championship this season, while the Heat's Big Three had been together for five years and underwent a midseason change, replacing Bosh with a stronger Howard, yet still, they were far from championship contenders.
This allowed Cavaliers fans to mock James from a much higher point of view.
As soon as the game ended, James couldn't wait to get up and walk toward the locker room, not even bothering to look back. After all, every second spent sitting there was a torment for him.
Seeing James enter the players' tunnel, the local Cavaliers fans erupted in cheers.
In the most luxurious box on the court, the Cavaliers' owner, Daniel Gilbert, watched this scene with a smile on his face.
It felt really good, and even though Gilbert was already a billionaire, he wasn't immune to this feeling.
He signed Wang Chong and slapped James in the face. Although Wang Chong would only stay with the Cavaliers for a year, still...
"What guts!"
If the Cavaliers could maintain their current strong form and win the championship this season, then even if it was only for one year, the Cavaliers definitely wouldn't lose out by losing Wang Chong after this season.
At the postgame press conference, James avoided answering any difficult questions from reporters about the Cavaliers and repeatedly emphasized, "I felt some discomfort in my ankle, it's nothing serious, I have to think about my body, and for the long-term development of the team, even if there's the slightest possibility…"
James said this loudly, but very few people believed him. After all, compared to words, everyone was more willing to believe what they had seen with their own eyes. James had been completely fine in the previous game, and yet for this game against the Cavaliers, he suddenly had a serious injury—obviously, he was ducking the fight. What else was there to explain?
Not to mention, both the media and fans from both teams, even the league, were very dissatisfied with the well-planned Christmas Day game ending in such a way. A few days later, the league publicly announced that they would investigate players who missed games without valid reasons, including players who refused to play for personal reasons, pretending to be injured or ill, and others, with severe punishments for those found guilty.
Don't think the league's sanction would be as lenient as a legitimate injury; teams still have to pay players' salaries when they're injured, just like the future Chandler Parsons—after signing a big contract with the Grizzlies, he immediately got injured, and no matter how mad the Grizzlies were, they had to pay him over $20 million a year because it was considered a work-related injury.
However, the league's ban doesn't require a salary, and if a fine is added, things would get worse.
Of course, this level of punishment was just a way to make noise about James, and he didn't care about it at all, but the league wasn't in a rush to punish James—they were only trying to shake things up. With James' character of valuing his image, he surely wasn't willing to admit that he was avoiding a match against Wang Chong and the Cavaliers, so he intentionally avoided the reputation of the fight.
In the end, the league investigated with great fanfare for a long time, but nothing came of it. No one was punished.
However, for a long time afterward, no team dared to rest their players so openly.
The Heat and James weren't particularly affected, but it was the San Antonio Spurs next door who criticized James for being ruthless.
"LeBron, you're really a dog! It's bad to hurt others, but at least it's your own fault!"
As we all know, the Spurs are a team that likes to rotate their roster, including Duncan. After reaching 30 years old, he would miss at least three to five games per season. The Spurs are a team-based team, so even if they're missing a star, their record wouldn't suffer much.
But when James pulled such a stunt, the league's oversight had strengthened, and even the Spurs didn't dare rotate players easily. Poor Duncan, who was 38 years old during the 14-15 season, had to keep playing. Who wouldn't scold James for that?
Well, James definitely deserves the criticism. It seems there's no one who's not criticizing him.
End of this chapter
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