The Godfather of Basketball

Before the official start of the playoffs, the major media still ranked the strength of this year's playoff teams.

ESPN is the most authoritative media, and their rankings have been the most concerned over the years.

First: Thunder

Second: Bulls

Third: Spurs

Fourth: Cavaliers

Fifth: Lakers

Sixth: Suns

Seventh: Heat

Eighth: Pacers

...

Another large sports media, TNT, has some discrepancies in rankings with ESPN in previous years, but this year, they are surprisingly similar to ESPN.

On TNT's latest episode, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and their new co-stars also had a sparkling debate about the list.

"LeBron's departure brought the league from a unified era to a divided era. To be honest, I think it made this year's playoffs more exciting." Kenny Smith is an honest man, and he spoke the truth.

"Yes, of course, the Thunder, Bulls, Lakers, Spurs, after last season, the goal set by the team management is to defeat the seemingly invincible Cavaliers, but now, LeBron's departure Letting their opponent 'biu' disappear in one fell swoop would complicate the situation," O'Neill continued.

"We're not discussing LeBron's issues, we're discussing this list, guys!" Barkley brought the topic back.

"There is no doubt that the Thunder are the most popular to win the championship. I think as long as they can make it out of the Western Conference this year, the championship will be theirs. In fact, they have already reached the Western Conference Finals last year. According to the normal script, this should be theirs. champion."

"Yeah, normal script, but the Bulls are not going to make it easy, their defense, their Derrick Rose, oh my god, why is that guy so strong, I think it's time for Chicago to start a new Bulls dynasty. ’ O’Neill retorted.

"Hey, why did you leave the defending champion aside? I think the Cavaliers will still easily win the three consecutive championships." Kenny Smith suddenly interrupted the two of them.

"Kenny, are you a rocket fan or a Tang Tian fan? After the Cavaliers lost LeBron, their front line is too fragile. A 34-year-old Vince plus a 22-year-old Jimmy Butler, and the same thing Very old Shane Battier and Artest, they are effective in the regular season, but in the playoffs, they are fighting for stars, what can they use to block the forward firepower of Cameron and Stoudemire?" Barker Leigh couldn't help but complain.

"So you think the New Yorkers can stop Yao and Paul? They can't even stop Jeremy Lin," Smith retorted.

"Don't be like that dude! That's just a role player! Okay! I just want to say that Tang Tian and his Cavaliers are likely to get into a fierce battle in the first round, or even lose the game. They are not in the same position as the Thunder and the Bulls now." Grade." Barkley continued to complain.

"No, I don't think the Knicks have a chance." Smith countered.

"Hey! Guys!" O'Neill saw that the two were arguing, and then said directly, "Why don't you make a bet?"

As soon as O'Neill spoke, Barkley and Smith looked at each other, and then both burst out laughing.

It's been a long time since they gambled, and when they look at each other, one of them sees a donkey's ass and the other a sexy Victoria's Secret underwear.

"How about this, let's play a smaller game, how about the loser just take off his pants in the studio?" O'Neill had an expression that he didn't think it was a big deal to watch the excitement.

"Dude! Is it smaller?" Smith said with an "excuse.me" look.

"I think it's a good idea." Barkley nodded.

Chance, that's a subtle word, not an overview, and in a way, as long as the Knicks win the first two road games, or make it 2-2, that's falls into the category of opportunities.

So this gamble actually has a high chance of winning.

"Hey, Kenny! Believe in yourself! I'm with you!" O'Neill urged at this time.

"Really?" Smith looked at O'Neill suspiciously, the show was full marks.

"Of course, compared to your...Charles' ass is sexy enough." O'Neal said and squinted his eyes.

Barkley and Smith burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay! That's it!" Smith finally shouted, slapping the table.

...

Two similar power rankings, one program with explosive effects, before the start of the playoffs, the media had completely stirred up the atmosphere.

And because of this show, New York fans have never been more enthusiastic about Barkley.

The first game of the series between the two sides will start at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, and the Knicks have arrived in Kecheng the day before the start of the game.

The media made a lot of noise about this duel, and the reporters naturally would not miss the opportunity to interview during training.

"Hey, JR, can you accept our interview?" Before training began, a reporter caught the Knicks' backup shooting guard JR Smith.

Smith and Anthony greeted each other, then stopped.

He seemed to be in a good mood.

"Tomorrow night's game will be intense, is the team ready?"

"Of course, Melo and I are ready to defeat our opponents. Yes, we will give our opponents a blow tomorrow night, and we will win the game." Smith is full of confidence.

"Amare has just recovered from his injury, how is his condition?" the reporter continued to ask.

"He's fine, he's fully recovered and he's able to provide firepower for me and Melo."

Smith's answer surprised the reporter. Smith seemed to think that this Knicks team was his and Anthony's team.

"Charles said on the show before that the Knicks have a chance to beat the Cavaliers in the series. What do you think?" The reporter changed the subject.

"No." Smith shook his head directly.

The reporter was taken aback for a moment, he really felt that something was wrong with Smith's mind.

"We are stronger than the current Cavaliers team. When the team was not good because of Melo, I and Amar all suffered long-term injuries, but even then we entered the season as seventh. Playoffs, now that we're all healthy, it's not that we have a chance, we're going to win the series."

The reporter's eyes widened after hearing this. Smith's thinking is really different from others.

However, from Smith's tone, he could tell that the latter was very confident.

After the interview, the reporter stayed in place to watch the Knicks' training.

The whole training atmosphere was very relaxed, and most of the Knicks players had smiles on their faces.

It can be seen that Smith is not the only one who is confident. It seems that everyone in this team thinks they can advance to the next round.

The reporter watched the training all morning, and in the afternoon, he turned around and went to the Cavaliers training camp a few kilometers away.

Cavaliers training is also open to the public.

It's just that compared with the Knicks' relaxedness, their training is obviously much more serious.

The head coach Tang Tian loudly pointed out the mistakes of the players on the court from time to time, as if they were the No. 7 seed.