During the timeout, James angrily demanded that his players show efficiency on defense! If they continued to play like this, the team would collapse...
James was right, but it wasn't easy for the Cavaliers to achieve this goal.
Because in this game, the Celtics' Big Three were all in good form!
Yao Ming opted for a strategic concession, letting Zydrunas Ilgauskas handle some matchups, freeing himself from foul trouble and compensating with offensive scoring, which was overall beneficial and harmless.
Carter remained the Celtics' primary scorer, sharp in both mid-range shots and drives.
Most importantly, He Xi Meng had started aggressively early in this game.
Before halftime, He Xi Meng had already made his presence felt from beyond the arc, causing considerable trouble for the Cavaliers.
After the second half began, James tried to lead his team on a scoring run, but it was thwarted by He Xi Meng, supported by his two fellow Big Three members.
In the early fourth quarter, with Yao Ming and Carter resting, He Xi Meng, leading the team solo, suddenly took over the Celtics' offense, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to extend the lead to double digits.
Despite an emergency substitution of the starting lineup by Coach Mike Brown, it was to no avail.
On the Celtics' side, Coach Rivers also seized the opportunity, fielding his full starting lineup to engage in an early decisive battle with the Cavaliers, successfully defending their lead!
102:109, the Cavaliers regretfully lost the crucial Game 5, and the fate of being upset seemed irreversible.
The player who undoubtedly decided the Cavaliers' fate was He Xi Meng, who hit 8 three-pointers in this game, scoring a game-high 36 points and 12 assists!
At the most critical moment, He Xi Meng, having fully recovered his form, finally bared his sharpest teeth, delivering a fatal blow and giving the Cavaliers no room for wishful thinking!
In the final Game 6, the Cavaliers still held onto a sliver of hope, but how could the Celtics' Big Three let a sure victory slip away?
James went on a scoring spree, notching a game-high 46 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, but it was in vain.
Yao Ming scored a team-high 26 points for the Celtics, Carter had 24, and He Xi Meng contributed 21. Together, the Big Three easily amassed 71 points. How could James possibly overcome that?
4:2, the Celtics completed their upset miracle, defeating the Cavaliers, the regular-season Eastern Conference champions, and advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
After the game, even the magnanimous James returned to the locker room without looking back.
"Growing up this much, it's not fair to be bullied like this... You have the strongest strength in the East, but you go and take the eighth seed. Isn't that deliberately trying to set people up?"
The Little Emperor was very sad.
The entire league said the future belonged to him, yet he couldn't even get past the first round. What was this all about...
He Xi Meng had originally wanted to comfort James, but now it seemed he had overthought things.
The Little Emperor didn't need his comfort; he was truly heartbroken by this upset.
In other Eastern Conference playoff series, the second-ranked Pistons swept the Magic 4:0, secretly feeling fortunate that they had ceded the top seed to the Cavaliers in the final stretch of the regular season. Otherwise, they might have been the ones to suffer an upset this year.
The third-ranked Raptors were surprisingly defeated by the Nets, losing 2:4 and being eliminated.
The trio of Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson finally had a strong showing, defeating the Raptors, who had only recently broken into the top four in the East and were still unfamiliar with playoff play.
The fourth-ranked Heat also suffered an upset, losing 2:4 to the young Bulls.
The Bulls' ability to eliminate the experienced Heat was partly due to the rapid growth of Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, and partly because they acquired Ben Wallace from the Pistons!
Although Shaquille O'Neal's physical condition had declined further this season, he was still able to contribute 17 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks.
The starting centers of most teams in the league couldn't do much against O'Neal.
But unfortunately, Ben Wallace was not an ordinary center.
Like Yao Ming, Ben Wallace was precisely one of the rarest centers in the league capable of countering a declining O'Neal!
O'Neal's advantage in the paint was gone, and Dwyane Wade was fighting a losing battle alone.
The Bulls pushed forward and defeated the Heat, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Their opponents in the semifinals would be the Celtics, who had just completed their upset miracle!
Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, entering the fray with youthful confidence, declared, "Whether it's the defending champions or an upset miracle, we just need to play our game, and we are confident we can beat any opponent..."
The Celtics' Big Three, on the other hand, unanimously expressed their admiration for the Bulls.
Yao Ming: "Big Ben is incredible. His defensive ability is the toughest I've faced among centers!"
Carter: "Luol's ability to finish off-ball is outstanding!"
He Xi Meng: "Ben Gordon's offensive ability is breathtaking!"
In the Western Conference first round, an upset miracle also occurred!
The eighth-ranked Golden State Warriors, led by Baron Davis, miraculously defeated the previous season's Western Conference champions, the Mavericks, 4:2!
While the previous season's Eastern Conference champions, the Celtics, were plagued by injuries and barely made the playoffs, the Mavericks were considered the hottest favorites for the championship this year!
Moreover, the Mavericks had not suffered any major injury setbacks. Their core players, such as Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Devin Harris, and Jerry Stackhouse, were all in normal condition...
Compared to the Cavaliers' upset, the Mavericks' upset surprised fans even more.
But upon closer examination of the Warriors team that created the miracle, you'll find that their current head coach is the legendary Don Nelson, who built the current Mavericks team. Many questions are then easily answered!
No one was more familiar with this Mavericks team than Don Nelson.
To defeat the Mavericks, Don Nelson assembled a small, fast-paced lineup for the Warriors: Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Gerald Green, Mickael Pietrus...
Especially Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, who went on a rampage in this series!
Across the six games, Baron Davis averaged 25 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks.
Stephen Jackson averaged 22.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2 steals, and 0.7 blocks.
And the Mavericks' soul player, Dirk Nowitzki, only managed 19.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game over the six games.
Looking at the statistics of these three players alone, it becomes clear why the Mavericks were upset...