The 2022-2023 NBA Finals will be officially played against the Denver Nuggets and the Heat, the former is the top seed in the Western Conference all the way through, and the latter is the second Black Eight team in history to advance to the Finals. It is hard not to recall the finals 24 years ago, the same Western Conference against the Eastern "black eight" team, young Duncan led the Spurs to win the team's first championship, and the Knicks lost 1-4 without Ewing.

In 1998-1999, the NBA played only 50 regular season games, and the first round of the playoffs was still a best-of-five series. In that shrinking season, many off-court factors interwoven, to a certain extent, gave birth to the Knicks "black eight miracle." In contrast, this year's Heat can stand out through the play-offs and 3 rounds of series, and has eliminated the Bulls, Bucks, Knicks and Celtics to enter the finals, and the "black eight" is obviously deeper.

Can this Heat rewrite the history of the "Black Eight" teams that have never won a championship? Only from the strength and technical and tactical point of view, it is very difficult. However, the finals are different from the regular season and the division's three-round series, experience, team momentum, star willpower, injuries and other factors have a greater impact on the trend of the game. Therefore, this year's heat is not without the opportunity to carry out the "Black eight miracle" to the end.

Looking back 1999

Heat into the "black eight" background board, the Knicks can not shake the Spurs

The 1998-1999 season was a special one for the NBA. Due to the conflict between labor and management, from July 1, 1998 to January 20, 1999, the league had the longest lockout in history (203 days), until the beginning of February 1999, the regular season did not officially start, and shrunk to 50 games. Also that season, Michael Jordan retired for the second time, many factors intertwined, and the league pattern was reshuffled.

Due to the regular season decline of nearly 40%, there is great uncertainty in the ranking, the Spurs eventually won the regular season championship with 37-13, the East of the 33-17 heat, with Ewing, Alan Houston, Sprewell three All-Star level players of the Knicks, 27-23, with the identity of the eighth seed in the East to catch the last playoff train.

In the first round of the playoffs that year, the first round of the Eastern Conference, although the top seed Heat against the eighth seed Knicks, but considering the regular season shrinking and other factors, the strength gap between the two teams is not as big as imagined.

The coach of that Heat team was Pat Riley, the coaching staff included the current coach of the Heat Spoelstra, the home star was Mourning, and the All-Star guard Hardaway at the time, and later grew into the All-Star Mashburn. In contrast, the Knicks are led by Ewing, who is nearly 37 years old, and Alan Houston, the "king of the CIC" and Sprewell, the "mad man", are at the peak of their careers.

Almost the same lineup and strength is also reflected in the whole series, the first four games of the game, the two teams tied 2-2. The key fifth game, the two sides until the final moment is still not a winner, the last 0.8 seconds, Alan Houston threw the Knicks team's most famous kill, which has become the second "black eight" team in history.

After the heat and fire, the Knicks swept the Hawks 4-0 and eliminated the Pacers 4-2, successfully breaking through the Eastern Conference. However, during the Eastern Conference finals, the star Ewing was injured and missed all the games since then. In the subsequent finals, the Knicks met the Spurs who ushered in their peak years.

As the first draft pick in 1997, the young Duncan continued the hot state of his debut season, the regular game averaged 21.7 points and 11.4 rebounds, plus David Robinson, Sean Elliott two All-Star level players, as well as "little General" Avery Johnson, Jalen Jackson, Mario Eley and other warriors, The 1999 Spurs were almost unstoppable.

If there is a certain chance of winning the regular season title, when the Spurs entered the playoffs, no one questioned the team's strength. They beat the Timberwolves 3-1, swept the Lakers and Trail Blazers 4-0, and lost only one playoff game before the finals began. Facing the Knicks without Ewing, there were not many surprises, and the Finals presented a one-sided situation.

The weak Knicks take Duncan, David Robinson has no way, especially the super sophomore Duncan, 5 finals have scored 33 points, 25 points, 20 points, 28 points, 31 points, a total of 70 rebounds, the team won the team's first championship at the same time, there is no dispute to win the finals MVP.

24 years ago, the Knicks were not without brilliant play, center Marcus Camby's performance was far beyond the normal game, Alan Houston, Sprewell scored 50 points in the third occasion, but it only helped the team get a finals victory, and the ups and downs of the "black eight" trip ended in the finals.

Pick out the top two in the East, Butler "fly" a bunch of draft picks

The same Eastern Conference team, the same eighth seed in the playoffs, the same made it to the finals, compared to the Knicks 24 years ago, this year's Heat has walked a more difficult road.

In the 2022-2023 regular season, the competition in the East was more fierce than that in the West, and after 82 games, the Heat ranked 7th in the East with 44 wins and 38 losses, but fell into the play-offs. After losing the first game of the play-off to the Hawks, the thrilling elimination of the Bulls was followed by the eighth seed to catch the last bus of the playoffs.

Butler, Adebayo is when the year of the All-Star, there are love, Lowry two former All-Star, but compared with the regular season in the East of the top three Bucks, Celtic, 76ers, the Heat in the hard power gap, the outside world is not optimistic about their playoff prospects.

Especially the first round against the regular season champion Bucks, the latter led by the two-time regular season MVP Antetokounmpo, including Middleton, Holiday, Lopez and other all-stars, few shortcomings of the Bucks aimed at the second championship trophy in 3 years. If not for Butler's 37.6 points per game, the last two were 56 points, 42 points, it would be difficult for the Heat to overcome the Bucks.

Eastern semifinals, finals were against the Knicks, Celtic, Butler has been difficult to copy the first round of crazy performance, fortunately Vincent, Struth, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson and other draft breaks out, Love, Lowry and other veterans also timely play the heat, the whole people are involved in the heat into the finals.

Especially the end of the Eastern Conference finals, in the face of the Celtics full of talent, Butler is still the team's anchor, but when the team 3-0 lead was levelled, the series into the brutal tiebreak, if not Martin alone 26 points, the team is likely to be blocked in the finals.

Therefore, whether it is the difference in the competition system, the strength gap with other Eastern teams, or the ups and downs of the entire playoffs, compared with the "Black eight miracle" of the Knicks in 1999, this heat can enter the finals, more valuable than 24 years ago.

Unknown factors affect the trend, the heat is not without a chance to attack

Different from the regular season and the previous 3 rounds of series, the finals competition is not only hard power, skills and tactics and experience, team momentum, star willpower, injuries and other unknown factors may affect the trend of the finals. The powerful Nuggets are like a "deep cut" that is difficult to overcome, but the heat also has a chance to find the key to win.

The reason why the Nuggets are generally optimistic, the omnipotent Jokic is undoubtedly the biggest advantage, from Murray, Michael Porter Jr. to Gordon, Bruce Brown and Pope, they have a tacit understanding, both offensive and defensive main force and rotation. Whether it was a 4-1 win over the Timberwolves or a 4-2 victory over the SUNS and a 4-0 sweep of the Lakers, the Nuggets proved they were the favorites.

Although there is an all-star inside player Adebayor, as well as the experienced Loew, but the reality is that no one in the Heat can match Jokic. Even with the double-team strategy, the failure of the Timberwolves, SUNS and Lakers proved that there was almost no way to effectively limit Jokic, let alone the Nuggets not only Jokic.

However, this heat has its own advantages. Unlike the Nuggets, who have an early truce since May 23, they have just experienced a tie-break with the Celtics, the team's competitive state is in good shape and momentum, the first two games of the finals, the Heat who entered the game faster had the opportunity to make trouble for the Nuggets at home, and even returned to Miami with a victory.

The amount of finals experience can not be ignored. This is the first time in the history of the Nuggets to advance to the finals, from Jokic to Murray, Michael Porter Jr., several main players are on the finals stage for the first time, head coach Michael Malone as a teaching assistant of other teams experienced the finals, but as a head coach led the team to the finals is the first time. The only Nuggets who have played in the Finals are Pope, who won with the Lakers in 2020, and Jeff Green, who played in the Finals with the Cavaliers.

In contrast, as a Heat assistant and head coach, Spoelstra experienced the Heat's previous six finals and three championships, and this year will be the seventh time the team will appear in the finals. The main force or main rotation players of the 2020 finals, Butler, Adebayor, Duncan Robinson and other people are still in the team, and the eye-catching fall draft Vincent this season is also in the playoff list three years ago. In addition, the Heat bench also has Loew, who has won titles with the Heat many times, Lowry, who helped the Raptors win in 2019, and Haslem, the spiritual leader, and the veteran's experience sometimes plays a magic role.

In the best-of-7 finals, injuries will also affect the series. Tyler Shiro, the league's sixth man of the year last season, was injured in the opening game of the playoffs, but there is still a chance he can return during the finals, and he could be a surprise for the Heat at any time. The Nuggets have been plagued by injuries in the past two seasons, although this year's playoffs are smooth, but as long as a key player is accidentally injured and unable to appear, it is possible for the Heat to find a winning chance.

Before the Eastern Conference finals, foreign media predicted that the Heat's probability of advancing to the finals was only 3%, and the latter eventually responded to the outside world's doubts by winning the tiebreak. Before the finals began, the Heat's probability of winning the title had "increased" to 11%. Can you once again complete the following gram, holding the highest symbol of the O 'Brien Cup? Already accustomed to adversity, the heat may surprise to the end.