NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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In the end, the five starting players for the Eastern Conference All-Stars were Rose, Wade, James, Wang Chong, and Bynum.

The starting players for the Western Conference All-Star Game were Paul, Kobe, Griffin, Nowitzki, and Howard.

From here, we can see the influence of the Lakers' Big Three. Three players from the team were selected as All-Star Game starters, one more than the Big Three from the neighboring Heat.

The final result of the All-Star Game was an Eastern Conference victory over the Western Conference, 154-151. Kevin Durant, who came off the bench for the Eastern team and scored 36 points with 7 rebounds, won the All-Star Game MVP trophy.

Wang Chong, as always, performed well on the All-Star stage, scoring 18 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists in 28 minutes of play. His performance wasn't bad, but he certainly didn't reach the level to compete for the MVP.

After the All-Star Weekend, the league's schedule officially entered the second half. The games started becoming more intense, and the intensity of the matchups began to increase.

But for the Bulls, the game was easy because the Jeremy Lin legend continued.

His exaggerated performance in the first five games made the whole league realize that this previously unknown, undrafted player had something special. Therefore, after the All-Star Game, opponents facing the Bulls, without exception, began developing defensive tactics specifically for Jeremy Lin.

Although Jeremy Lin was very powerful, he still lacked game experience and would be restricted by a specific defense.

But the problem was that the Bulls were not the Knicks, and Wang Chong was not Anthony.

When opponents focused their efforts on targeting Jeremy Lin, how should Wang Chong and the others respond? Going further, the Bulls didn't only have Wang Chong, but also Garnett and Gasol.

For this reason, after the All-Star Game, the Bulls continued their winning streak.

They defeated the New Orleans Hornets at home on February 28, beat their archrivals, the San Antonio Spurs, on the road on February 29, and triumphed over the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on March 2.

Counting the five-game winning streak before the All-Star break, the Bulls had won eight straight games, with a record of 33 wins and 5 losses.

However, in the following games, the Bulls began to slow down their offense and started rotating their key players for rest. Even Jeremy Lin, who had been the center of attention, also rested for one game, and his playing time was compressed from 30+ minutes initially to 25 minutes, and he began sharing point guard duties with Thomas.

This directly led to the Bulls losing many subsequent games, and their winning percentage began to plummet.

This move puzzled many people. They didn't understand what the Bulls were doing. Obviously, they could win many games, so why rest key players and lose games?

Some basketball commentators analyzed that the Bulls should have started preparing for the playoffs at this point.

The injuries to Billups and Curry had already sounded the alarm for the Bulls. In this shortened season, the probability of players getting injured was much higher than before, and many players had already had their seasons refunded due to injuries.

The Bulls, who had already lost two generals, were forced to have Jeremy Lin come out of nowhere and return, but they still couldn't afford to lose any more important players, especially Garnett, who was 35 years old. Despite his poor performance this season, he still plays a major role as the team's defensive backbone, and he cannot afford to get injured, not to mention Wang Chong and Gasol. Therefore, it was understandable for them to rest and recover properly.

But they couldn't understand why the Bulls would reduce Jeremy Lin's playing time.

If they wanted to relax the players, they could simply rest them. Why only give Jeremy Lin 25 minutes of play in each game?

Moreover, Jeremy Lin joined the Bulls halfway through the season and didn't play as many games as the other players. Logically, he didn't even need rest. Now was the best time to take advantage of Jeremy Lin's strengths.

Of course, they didn't know that in the original 2011-12 season, Jeremy Lin only played 35 games, including those earlier as a backup. In fact, after he truly became famous, he only played 26 games for the Knicks before his season was cut short due to a torn meniscus.

Even in the shortened 2011-12 season, there were 66 regular-season games, and Jeremy Lin got injured after playing 26 games as a starter, with a participation rate of just 39%, which can be called a "crispy golden chicken."

It's okay if they don't know. As a time traveler, Wang Chong knows the cost of Jeremy Lin's outstanding performance. How could he just stand by and ignore it?

Regardless of whether it works or not, reducing Jeremy Lin's playing time and giving him adequate rest is the only thing Wang Chong can do at this point.

He even specifically explained this to Jeremy Lin, but for some unbelievable reasons, it was hard to convince people.

After all, there's something mysterious about being injured, and no one can explain it. How can you be sure the other person will get injured?

Fortunately, Wang Chong is now Jeremy Lin's idol and the object of his absolute admiration. Even if his idol's request isn't reasonable, Jeremy Lin accepts it without hesitation.

So, even though his playing time has been reduced and his personal stats have been affected, Jeremy Lin has no regrets.

As a result of the rotation adjustments, the Bulls' record began to decline, but under Wang Chong's management, they remained steady at the top of the Eastern Conference and even the league.

Thanks to Wang Chong's careful handling, the Bulls suffered no injuries in the second half of the schedule.

In the 16 games throughout March, the Bulls achieved a record of 11 wins and 5 losses. Then came the schedule for April, and the Bulls managed a record of 9 wins and 4 losses in 13 games.

This allowed the Bulls to finish the regular season with a final record of 52 wins and 14 losses, with a winning percentage of 78.8%. While they firmly held the top spot in the league, they were also the only two teams to achieve more than 50 wins in the shortened season.

The other team that reached 50 wins were the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference, with a 50-16 record, just as in the original timeline.

It's worth mentioning that the much-anticipated Big Three of the Los Angeles Lakers led the team to a final record of 48 wins and 18 losses during the regular season, placing third in the league behind the Bulls and Spurs.

But this result was no cause for celebration for Los Angeles fans.

What they had was a super trio. The Kobe + Paul + Howard trio is a unique super lineup even in the history of the league. Their strength allowed them to completely disregard other factors like tacit understanding, the overall strength of the lineup, etc. But they still lost.

Moreover, what teams had better records than them? The Bulls, who had lost two key players, and the Spurs, with the aging Duncan, only averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds per game in the regular season.

No matter how you look at it, the Lakers were the team that deserved the best record in the league.

But in the end, they had to settle for third place, with the Miami Heat, who finished fourth, recording 47 wins and 19 losses, just one game behind them.

In the Western Conference, the eight teams that eventually qualified for the playoffs were: Spurs with 50 wins, Lakers with 48 wins, Oklahoma City Thunder with 44 wins, Houston Rockets with 42 wins, Los Angeles Clippers with 40 wins, Denver Nuggets with 38 wins, Dallas Mavericks with 36 wins, and Utah Jazz with 35 wins.

Compared to the original 2011-12 season, the Western Conference standings had changed significantly.

Among them, the two most impacted teams were undoubtedly the Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the original 2011-12 season, after Yao's retirement due to injury, the Yao-Mai combo became a thing of the past. The team began to tear down and rebuild, hoarding a large number of draft picks. With players like Lowry, Scola, and Kevin Martin, they fell just short and ended up in ninth place in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs despite their impressive performances.

But the Rockets' current situation is completely different. Firstly, although Yao has suffered several minor injuries, he hasn't had any major ones that would affect his career. Especially this season, the Rockets participated in a trade between the Lakers and the Hornets, acquiring Gasol from the Lakers in exchange for a first-round pick.

Although Gasol was ruthlessly abandoned by the Lakers, it's undeniable that even at 31 years old, Gasol in the 2011-12 season was still one of the best power forwards in the league.

With Gasol joining, the Rockets formed a twin towers partnership with Yao, with Gasol averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, which greatly relieved the pressure on Yao inside.

It's precisely thanks to Gasol's presence that Yao has had the chance to rest peacefully and rotate. After all, once Gasol joined, the Rockets' experts immediately became the strongest in the league. With diamond feet and the three players rotating, the Rockets performed quite calmly on the court.

This directly led to the Rockets having a much better record than before, finishing fourth in the Western Conference with 42 wins, placing them in the upper half of the division.

As a result, the Memphis Grizzlies were tricked by Wang Chong and ended up with the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies had originally managed to successfully assemble the white-and-black duo this season. Randolph and Gasol performed well during the regular season, and with the help of key players like Rudy Gay and Mike Conley, the team won 41 games, securing the fourth spot in the Western Conference. However, they were still paying the price for selecting Oden as the first overall pick in the 2007 Draft.

If the Grizzlies' management had known that everything they were facing now was the result of the butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong earlier, they would certainly have written the word "tragedy" in large letters on the Bulls' court.

As for the other teams in the Western Conference, one worth mentioning is the Thunder's Big Three: Westbrook + Griffin + Ray Allen.

Although the Thunder's strength is quite different from the original version of the three young Thunder players, it is undeniable that both Westbrook and Griffin are young players who currently appear to be full of potential, impact, vitality, and stability. Allen, in crucial moments, can land a fatal blow. The Thunder remain quite strong in the Western Conference, and it is not surprising that their record places them in third place in the West.

However, it's difficult to say if this lineup will perform well in the playoffs without Durant's consistent and irreplaceable mid-range shot. Once the Thunder find themselves at a deadlock or in a disadvantageous game, it will be hard to find an opportunity to recover.

Another team worth mentioning is the Los Angeles Clippers.

When Griffin joined the Thunder, the chain reaction led the Clippers to select the bearded James Harden, whose career trajectory changed. Harden performed exceptionally well from the start, quickly becoming the core player of the team with absolute ball possession.

This season, Harden serves as the Clippers' undisputed first core, averaging 25 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game. He has performed very well and has become the third best shooting guard in the league, only surpassed by Kobe and Wade.

No one doubts that, over time, as Kobe and Wade age, Harden will undoubtedly succeed them and become an iconic superstar at the shooting guard position.

The Clippers also carried Harden to reach the fifth spot in the Western Conference.

As for the other teams, they are all likely to be eliminated in the first round, not worth mentioning, including the Dallas Mavericks, who reached the finals last season. This season, their record only places them seventh in the Western Conference, and they will face the Lakers in the first round. The giants are destined to be eliminated in the first round.

On the other hand, the standings in the Eastern Conference are not much different from the original timeline.

From first to eighth in the East, it was 52 wins for the Bulls, 47 for the Heat, 45 for the Boston Celtics, 41 for the Indiana Pacers, 40 for the Atlanta Hawks, 38 for the New York Knicks, 35 for the Philadelphia 76ers, and 33 for the Orlando Magic.

The previous eight teams were those that originally made the playoffs in the 2011-12 season, but the ranking order has changed slightly. The Celtics' third-place record and the Pacers' fourth-place record should have been reversed during this period. The Big Three of the Celtics are already aging, and the team depends entirely on Rondo to organize and connect. The team's overall effectiveness in combat has been low. Of course, this has something to do with the Big Three's routine in the regular season. When they played the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, they weren't as outdated as they were before. During the regular season, they were fiercely outplayed by the Heat, who directly eliminated the "death stare" of James.

The current Celtics are no longer the old Big Three. They have been replaced by a team led by Durant and dominated by younger players like Rondo, Al Jefferson, and Paul Millsap, with the oldest member of the starting lineup being 34-year-old Paul Pierce.

Therefore, in this shortened season, the Celtics' record is much better than in the original timeline. Their 45-win record not only places them second behind the Bulls and Heat in the Eastern Conference, but also third behind the Spurs and Lakers in the Western Conference.

The lineups of the Pacers and Hawks have not changed much from the original timeline. They were able to exert their strength in the second half of the season, overtaking the New York Knicks to claim the fourth and fifth spots, which surprised Wang Chong a little.

But if you think about it carefully, this is not surprising.

Although the Knicks also have their own Big Three, there is a saying that Rose is the only player they can truly rely on this season.

Both Anthony and Stoudemire have suffered injuries this season, their attendance rate is below 80%, and their statistics have also dropped due to these injuries.

Anthony is averaging 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 43%, which has been somewhat unsatisfactory.

Compared to Anthony, Stoudemire's decline is a bit more serious. Stoudemire, who could easily average over 20 points per game last season, has dramatically dropped to 16.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season, much worse than his neighbor Bosh. Although he takes the blame, it's even worse. He is also a member of the Big Three, and Bosh is still averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds per game this season.

Basically, the Knicks' Big Three combination is considered the widest among the many Big Three combinations in the league.

The Knicks, who made the playoffs with the sixth-best record in the Eastern Conference, will face the third-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round. Although the game has yet to begin, most fans basically believe that the Celtics will defeat the Knicks by a large margin. The possibility that the two teams will not be on equal footing during the game is extremely high.

End of this chapter

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