But when it came to his playoff record, Leonard had failed to lead the Heat to a true revival.
At least from management's perspective, Leonard bore no small share of the blame for Miami repeatedly struggling in the first round or failing to get past the second round in recent years.
As for the problems with their own string of decisions... that was a separate matter~~
Perhaps Kawhi had raised the team's ceiling a little too high when he first arrived. Having tasted the Finals, the Heat were still dissatisfied with their situation: the roster had barely changed, yet their results remained underwhelming.
In short, a combination of factors had left the Heat in a rather bleak position.
Their star player was out, injuries clouded the team's future, the locker room was tense, and management remained overbearing.
Under those circumstances, what sort of performance the Heat could deliver tonight was pretty much self-evident~~
In the end, the game ran smoothly from start to finish, wrapping up right on schedule.
The final score: 118–102.
The New York Knicks comfortably beat the Heat by 16 points, defended their home court once again, and opened the season with an incredible 13 straight wins, further cementing their position atop the league.
Chen Xi played 27 minutes and finished with 26 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Paul George played 25 minutes, recording 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Neither core player had really needed to exert himself. They casually clocked out after two quarters, then spent the entire second half on the bench, pretending they had nothing to do with the proceedings~~
In some respects, winning too easily might not necessarily have been a good thing for Chen and the others.
It reduced his playing time and individual numbers,