no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 216 The 2012~2013 regular season ends

During his second and final visit to the Lakers this season, Xu Yong went to Los Angeles to visit Kobe.

He went there after afternoon training, and when he went, Kobe was sitting in a wheelchair shooting.

Xu Yong was a little moved when he saw it. He remembered an interview video he had seen in his previous life.

That was when the reporter was interviewing Tyronn Lue, who had become the head coach of the Cavaliers at that time. Lue recalled an incident in Kobe's first year in the league.

The 17-year-old Bryant (when the league still allowed high school students to be drafted) broke his left wrist in a preseason game against the Wizards, and his left hand was placed in a cast.

Normal people would take good care of themselves at this time. Lu also thought the same when he went to the training hall, and he was a little excited.

Because Kobe would go to the arena about an hour and a half early every time before, and he was always the first to arrive.

At that time, Lu was young and also had a strong competitive spirit. You should know that he was the first to arrive at the training hall in high school and college, so he thought it would definitely be his turn this time.

"When I walked into the training hall, I heard the sound of dribbling. Fear came to me. I was trembling: No, no, it can't be done there! But that's the fact. Kobe is already in the training hall. Inside, covered in sweat, with his left hand in a plaster bandage, dribbling and turning to shoot. gif."

Lu's vivid words are still fresh in his mind.

So Xu Yong was not surprised, just moved.

For many people, basketball is just a job or even a business, but for people like Kobe, or Kobe and Thibodeau, it is something they are obsessed with.

When Kobe Bryant's training was over, Xu Yong went over and leaned over to shake hands and hug Kobe Bryant.

"Wait for me to come back. I'll be back soon." Kobe patted Xu Yong on the shoulder.

Xu Yong nodded, then pushed the wheelchair to the side and found a place to sit down.

"I remember when we first played against each other, on November 2009, 11, you told me that you hadn't learned how to hit your pivot foot, and then you used it in the game." Xu Yong said.

"You did the same thing." Kobe also laughed loudly. Xu Yong was able to tell the day so clearly, which shows that he attaches great importance to their relationship.

"I must admit that as a mentor, you surpass Michael." Xu Yong continued.

After so many contacts, Xu Yong found that Jordan's character was actually not complicated. He only spent his energy on people he valued, which made his emotional intelligence seem to be high and low.

But as long as Kobe has the opportunity, he is willing to teach anyone who wants to learn.

Kobe laughed happily when he heard this. Although this was not the answer he wanted to hear the most, it was worth being happy to be able to surpass Jordan in some aspects.

"I watched your game, and you are also training your left hand?" Kobe then asked.

"It's just that the progress is a bit slow." Xu Yong nodded.

"That's not an easy thing." Kobe sighed, and then shared some experience in training his left hand with Xu Yong.

And not only that, they also discussed more knowledge related to basketball.

Differently, Xu Yong could feel that Kobe now regarded him as a player on the same level.

They chatted for more than an hour, and the sun was going down before they knew it.

Sunsets always come faster in winter.

Xu Yong was about to get up and leave, but at this moment, he suddenly thought of something.

Paul's contract expires this summer.

Originally, if Kobe was not injured, the CP24 combination would have continued.

But now, with Bynum and Kobe injured, Paul has more options.

After all, Kobe suffered a torn Achilles tendon.

Before this, as long as NBA players encountered this injury, it meant that their careers began to decline.

The most recent example is "Captain" Brand, who went directly from an All-Star to a starting-level player.

Even if Xu Yong knows about it in the future, Cousins, Klay Thompson, and Durant will all be the same after this injury.

Kobe can be very confident, but how much reason does Paul have to use his peak to accompany him in his recovery?

You must know that this contract extension is for five years. It is better to leave now than to make trouble later.

"Kobe, have you ever regretted it? You taught me puppy steps. If not, you should have won your sixth championship last season." Xu Yong asked.

"No." Kobe shook his head.

"Really not at all?"

"No." Kobe shook his head firmly, "I have understood a truth over the years. Easy success will not satisfy people. Only after experiencing failure and regaining success can you truly feel proud. "

"But what if we can't succeed later?" Xu Yong looked at Kobe.

Kobe was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Xu Yong to ask this question, and he probably hadn't thought about this question carefully.

After pondering for a while, Kobe gave his answer: "I think it's the same thing, all the achievements you achieve can't be taken away the day you leave, but as long as you do your best, it doesn't matter." Worth regretting.”

Xu Yong was thoughtful, then nodded.

He finally stood up to say goodbye to Kobe.

At this time, the sun was setting, and Xu Yong saw the golden afterglow shining on Kobe's body, as if Kobe was shining.

He couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth.

It is already a very lucky thing to witness the peak and curtain call of a legend.

……

Time flies, and it’s late April in a blink of an eye.

After a season of fierce competition, the final rankings of the Eastern and Western regular seasons have been released.

In the West, the Thunder's 63-win record leads the pack.

杜兰特场均28.2分7.9板4.6助攻1.4抢断1.3封盖，51%的投篮命中率，41.6%的三分命中率。

Last season's Durant was already dazzling enough, but this season's Durant has taken a step forward.

哈登的表现也很出彩，场均24.6分5.5板7助攻1.8抢断，47%的投篮命中率，36.8%的三分球命中率。

The Mavericks are close behind with 60 wins.

伦纳德在自己二年级生涯就交出了场均14.6分6.2板2.6助攻1.7抢断的表现，投篮命中率达到52.2%，三分球命中率37.9%。

The Spurs are in third place with 56 wins.

The Lakers' record finally dropped to 55 wins, fourth in the Western Conference.

科比最后的数据定格在出场72场，场均28.1分5.4板4.6助攻，46.3%的投篮命中率，32.4%的三分命中率。

Because Bynum will not return until at least the second round, Paul will have to fight alone in the first round of the playoffs like Xu Yong last year.

Their opponent is the Grizzlies, who are ranked fifth in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies also have a record of 55 wins, and are no weaker than the Lakers in terms of strength. Paul's wave may be full of misfortune.

The Clippers rank sixth with 51 wins.

The Hornets are in seventh place with 50 wins.

The Warriors are in eighth place with 47 wins.

The Rockets' last 46 wins ranked ninth. Competition in the Western Conference this season is still brutal, and they still missed the playoffs.

After letting Yao Ming go, the playoffs seemed like a luxury for them.

The first-round matchups in the Western Conference: Thunder VS Warriors, Mavericks VS Hornets, Spurs VS Clippers, Lakers VS Grizzlies.

In addition to the Lakers and Grizzlies, the encounter between the Thunder and the Warriors will be exciting.

After Mark Jackson took over the Warriors, he spent two seasons to eliminate the team's past habit of only attacking and not defending, and injected defensive genes into the team. Today they are a team that is both offensive and defensive, and Growing.

Moreover, Draymond Green was still selected by the Warriors. Bob Myers, the new general manager of the Warriors who was born in UCLA, has a soft spot for Green.

In the East, the Heat lead the pack with a record of 67 wins, setting a new record for the best record in team history.

韦德场均25.6分5.4板6.8助攻，投篮命中率达到52.1%，三分命中率28.4%；

波什场均21.2分6.8板2.4助攻，投篮命中率53.5%，三分命中率33.9%；

格兰杰场均16.5分4.2板2助攻1.5抢断，投篮命中率45.2%，三分命中率40.4%；

希伯特场均10.9分8.8板，雷阿伦场均9.2分（三分球命中率41.9%），钱莫斯8.2分，布鲁尔场均6.6分。

Wade has regained the feeling of being the core ball-handler of the Big Three. Bosh has increased his shooting rights and has also developed three-pointers. The Heat have reached an unprecedented balance.

Moreover, in their decisive moment, the lineup of Wade + Ray Allen + Granger + Bosh + Hibbert was balanced offensively and defensively, making it difficult for opponents to find a breakthrough.

Riley's trade last summer gave him a chance to compete for the goat of the trade world.

Even since the end of the season, Heat fans have been thanking James, because without James, they would not have been able to get two such suitable reinforcements in Granger and Hibbert at the same time.

The Bulls ranked second in the Eastern Conference with 58 wins.

Xu Yong ended his last year as a rookie and his most brilliant season.

他场均出场43.2分钟，比上赛季还多了0.6分钟，场均32.6分7.5篮板7.2助攻1.6抢断1.2盖帽，49.5%的命中率，36.3%的三分命中率。

This is a crazy enough stat sheet. Xu Yong played data similar to Jordan's in the 88-89 season, but the difference is that he brought the team to a higher level.

From a personal comparison, his number of shots, points and assists have all increased significantly compared to last season.

姚明最后出场了38场比赛，场均15.5分9板2盖帽，投篮命中率50.5%；

巴特勒出场了82场，并首发了55场，场均12分4.5板2.1助攻1.9抢断，投篮命中率46.2%，三分命中率38.1%；

The Nets rank third with 54 wins.

The five All-Star lineup is excellent, but the reason why the Nets failed to achieve a better record is that they have never found the most suitable head coach.

As a championship contending team, they changed three head coaches in one season, which is also very rare in history.

The Pacers finished fourth with 53 wins.

One very embarrassing thing is that because the Heat and Bulls have locked up first and second in the Eastern Conference, no matter where the Pacers are, there is a high probability that they will play against these two teams in the second round.

Especially for James, it's either playing against his bitter team, the Bulls, or against his old team, the Heat.

Of course, it can be seen from the record that whether it is James or the Pacers, they want to play the Bulls more. After all, the Bulls are missing Rose compared to last season, and Yao Ming has declined again, and is at best half-disabled.

But it's a pity that the Nets had the same idea. With a more balanced lineup, they ended up keeping the Pacers behind.

数据统计方面，詹姆斯场均26.8分8板7.3助攻，56.5%的投篮命中率和40.5%的三分命中率都是生涯新高。

James has proven one thing with his performance this season. In addition to the upper limit of his scoring explosion, he has never lost in terms of data comparison.

霍华德场均21.2分12.2板1.8助攻1.8盖帽，51.2%的投篮命中率。

Howard's statistics are very interesting. His scoring is the second highest of his career, but other than that, including his shooting percentage, they are all the lowest of his career.

It can be seen from the data that the running-in between James and Howard is more like a mutual concession in data and ball rights. You are good, I am good, and everyone is good.

The Knicks, Hawks, Celtics and Bucks ranked 5th to 8th respectively.

First round matchups in the Eastern Conference: Heat VS Bucks, Bulls VS Celtics, Nets VS Hawks, Pacers VS Knicks.

The Bulls and Celtics are undoubtedly the most watched group in the Eastern Conference. The two teams that staged a "classic" showdown in last year's Eastern Conference Finals. The two Boston veterans who were deeply involved in the trade vortex at the trade deadline but still stayed on the team in the end, this year Who could have imagined that they would face each other again in the first round of the playoffs?

Of course, the main reason for this situation is that Rondo suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee at the end of January this year and was reimbursed for the season.

Rondo showed signs of being Boston's new king in the playoffs last season. In the new season, he averaged 13.7 points per game, which is also a career high. However, unfortunately, injuries have prevented his progress.

But the good thing is that Jeff Green, who suffered from heart problems last season, returned this season and seems to be in good condition.

Moreover, the balance of the Celtics lineup is still there, and the lineup is still competitive.

In the ESPN survey, this matchup was also considered the most suspenseful.

The Bulls did not take it lightly.

Although they still ranked second in the Eastern Conference in terms of record, they did not have the strength to crush their opponents this season, and any series must be taken seriously.

After this training, Xu Yong chatted with Thibodeau about the Celtics after the extra training.

"Rondo can't play, and Bradley can't dilute the ball. Their approach in the second half of the regular season was to let Pierce control the ball." Thibodeau can easily draw this conclusion from the video.

"So the key point is to defend Pierce. I will defend him." Xu Yong volunteered.

Putting aside the defensive effect first, regarding last season's playoff experience, Pierce's yellow memories may have automatically come to mind when he saw him.

Thibodeau shook his head: "I will let Jimmy start and let him face Pierce."

Yao Ming's current role is more on the defensive end, and the offensive end has declined sharply.

To give a simple example, in the past, Yao Ming and Xu Yong played pick-and-rolls. They could bounce out or slide down, and they were very flexible. However, now that he is too slow to slide down, he can only create more mismatch opportunities for Xu Yong to block defenders. .

Therefore, the Bulls still have to rely on Xu Yong on the offensive end.

Xu Yong felt a little pity, but still nodded.

Looking at Leonard's experience with the Mavericks, we know that players need training to grow.

Pierce's level and stage are a good training target.

After chatting with Thibodeau, Xu Yong went home to rest.

As soon as he got home, he received a text message from Scarlett, saying that she would come to Chicago to cheer him on.

Xu Yong trembled when he saw it, and quickly said that he didn't need it yet.

How could he not know what Scarlett wanted to do? The playoffs were about to start, and he couldn't bear to fight on two fronts.

After replying to the message, he watched the news.

The first batch of awards for this season is out.

Spoelstra successfully won the best coach of the season.

This handsome man who in Xu Yong's impression has always been owed the best head coach trophy by the league finally got this trophy.

It seems that not only Heat fans, but also Spoelstra has to sing a song "Listen to me to say thank you" to James: Hear me to say thank you, because of you, the four seasons are warm; thank you, thank you, the world more beautiful...

Of course, it’s not just Spoelstra who sings this song, but also Paul George.

Paul George won this year's Most Improved Award in a near-crushing manner.

Last season George averaged 12.1 points per game with the Pacers, but this season he averaged 23.1 points per game, which was basically doubled.

And he also averaged 7.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, which is simply second to McGrady.

Although in fact, his scoring explosiveness is much different from McGrady's, his 42.4% shooting percentage, and the Magic's last record in the Eastern Conference, make his data somewhat shabby.But it's obvious that he took a completely different route from what Xu Yong knew, and it became possible to become a super giant.

That's it, not only did I thank you, I probably had to give James a thumbs up.

……

The Bulls sat out the first day of this year's playoffs.

The Heat and Pacers in the upper half of the Eastern Conference, and the Thunder and Lakers in the Western Conference took the lead.

Xu Yong did not go to extra practice that day. Instead, he took out Squid Cigar and Whiskey and watched the game with Butler, Brown, and Anderson in a room in the city.

There are too many focuses on this first day. As the strongest team in the Eastern Conference and a potential opponent, the Heat need to be studied. The game between the Thunder and the Warriors is also very interesting, and the Lakers and the Grizzlies are very suspenseful. As for Between the Pacers and the Knicks, how can watching the game be less fun?

Xu Yong didn't have the same gambling spirit as Jordan, but he still took the bank and played chuanchuan with the two of them.

Four games, only the wins and losses are compared, and then the odds are given.

This is relatively easy to win, but the odds given by Xu Yong are very high, which is equivalent to giving some pocket money to his younger brothers.

Brown and Anderson matched up the same, both the Heat won & the Pacers won & the Thunder won & the Grizzlies won;

Butler is something special, the Heat win & the Knicks win & the Thunder win & the Lakers win.

There was absolutely no suspense in the game between the Heat and the Bucks. The Heat suppressed their opponents from the first quarter and settled the game in the last three quarters.

The games of this Heat team are not as enjoyable as the previous Big Three Heat, but their stability is a level higher, and their style of play is also very team-oriented and tacit.

From Xu Yong's perspective, he is closer to the championship Spurs team in the 13-14 season.

The later Thunder and Warriors also didn't have much suspense.

Curry and Thompson, who entered the playoffs for the first time, were directly beaten by Harden and Durant, and David Lee was taught by Gasol.

The suspense emerged in Game [-] between the Pacers and the Knicks.

Xu Yong also didn't expect that the Pacers would be suppressed by the Knicks in the opening game.

There are two main reasons for this. The first is that Anthony beat Jamison.

After being rubbed against by Xu Yong last season, Anthony learned from his second brother James and started to gain weight in the new season.

Then, his effect is better than James.

The most important change is that his offense has become very fierce, averaging 28.7 points per game, ranking second in the league after Xu Yong.

His speed has indeed decreased a bit, but it is still an advantage when facing off against power forwards. Coupled with his excellent skills, it can be said that he basically beats all the power forwards facing him offensively.

The second is the existence of Okafor.

Another rule of the amnesty clause is that after a player is amnesty, there is a 48-hour claiming mechanism. That is, after a player is amnesty, other teams can bid, and the team with the highest bid can get the player (can only use salary cap space).

Then, the Knicks bid for Okafor from the Lakers.

Okafor is still weaker than Chandler, but he is definitely much better than Camby last season.

Especially this year, Howard was troubled by a back injury. He didn't have much advantage against the second-place finisher in the same class who was once known as his lifelong enemy.

As for James, it would be uncomfortable to face such a hard C.

According to some fans, any well-known insider can steadily limit James' performance.

Then, the Pacers really lost, pulling off a big upset on the first day of the playoffs.

When Butler stood up and shouted excitedly, Xu Yong was stunned.

With the Pacers' performance, they won't be able to make it into the second round, right?
Is this James' Smart basketball?
As long as I don't advance to the second round, I won't play against the Heat or Bulls?
After asking three questions in confusion, Xu Yong could only shake his head.

The last game, Lakers and Grizzlies.

Now that Brown and Anderson are out, only Butler is left.

If he guesses correctly, he can take away [-] US dollars from Xu Yong according to the odds.

There is a small episode to mention here. The reason why the Magic were willing to acquire Odom in the first place was because he was on an expired contract and had performed well with the Heat before, so he could be exchanged for some chips.

But the Magic management has underestimated the salary pressure that the super luxury tax will bring to each team. Odom is like a house bought with a loan during the real estate downturn. No one wants to give it away, let alone the price reduction.

Odom has remained with the Magic until the trade deadline.

Odom, who was physically assigned to Orlando, also struggled.

First, his wife Kohler was unwilling to join him and returned directly to Los Angeles. Second, the Magic were training young people and were unwilling to give him much playing time.

So in the end, he sacrificed part of his salary to buy out the contract and returned to Los Angeles with a minimum salary.

Returning to his familiar "home" Los Angeles and reuniting with Kardashian, Odom is actually playing well again.

Then in this game, he became the X factor for the Lakers. His spatial ability pulled Randolph out of the paint. Paul's successive attacks in the opening period caused Gasol to get two defensive fouls early, which also established the game advantage.

Although the Grizzlies later recovered the score, the departure of Mayo and Gay greatly reduced their outside strength.

最后，凭借着保罗28分6板11助攻，以及奥多姆18分8板的表现，湖人队以91比83击败了灰熊队。

From the perspective of the Western Conference rankings, the fourth-place Lakers defeating the fifth-place Grizzlies is not an upset, but in fact this is indeed another upset.

Butler had stood up with a proud look on his face and made a "who else" look to Brown and Anderson.

Xu Yong was also smoking a cigar, opened the drawer cheerfully, took out fifty thousand US dollars in cash and threw it on the table.

Butler's behavior at the gambling table is nothing like Jordan's.

However, this proves Butler's golf intelligence and his ability to analyze the game.

After the game was over, several people got up and went back to rest one after another.

Xu Yong stopped Butler and reminded him to be cautious and focused against Pierce tomorrow.

Pierce's statistics are not explosive, but it is not easy to match up.

"Don't worry, senior, I will prevent him from getting shit." Butler looked relaxed and even made jokes.

……

The next day, the Bulls played at home against the Celtics.

The starting lineups of the two teams, Bulls: Hinrich, Butler, Xu Yong, Gibson, Yao Ming;
Celtics: Bradley, Pierce, Jeff Green, Garnett, O'Neal.

Before the game, O'Neal Jr. came over to say hello to everyone on the Bulls team and reminisce about old times.

Although he left the Bulls, he is still very grateful to the Bulls. After all, he has two championships and a new contract.

The game started quickly, and O'Neal gave the Celtics the opportunity to take the lead.

Then, just like Thibodeau said, Bradley just acted as a porter, dribbling the ball through the frontcourt and giving the ball to Pierce.

Xu Yong felt very familiar. Historically, during the Lakers' championship season in the park, he and James did a very good job together.

Pierce caused a defensive foul on Butler in his first offensive possession.

As a player who does not rely on physical play, Pierce basically relies on rhythm and technique on offense.

In the playoffs last season, when Xu Yong's physical talent completely overwhelmed him, he could only be beaten.

But when faced with a defender like Butler who relies on enthusiasm and average physical fitness, it is much easier for him to fight.

And the key is that after causing the foul, he began to take advantage of this crazily, and Butler's defense became very passive.

In the end, Butler was unwilling to remain passive, and then received his second defensive foul and was replaced by Artest.

He looked a little frustrated sitting on the bench.

At this time, the Celtics called a timeout. Xu Yong walked to him and leaned over to say some words of encouragement, and finally patted him on the shoulder.

It's definitely not going to go smoothly for a rookie in his first playoff appearance.

The reason why he reminded Butler yesterday was because he had been there.

In his rookie season, he performed so well against James in the first round that most fans didn't notice that he was in a mess against the Celtics in the second round.

Veteran players like Pierce are very good at dealing with newcomers.

After the substitution came back, Xu Yong defended Pierce.

He immediately taught Butler a lesson.

Don't take fake moves, put pressure on the football, force Pierce to use a step back in front of him, and then defend the three-pointer.

Pierce, who was still going strong against Butler earlier, now feels like he is in his twilight years.

Butler looked sharp off the court.

After regretting not listening to Xu Yong's reminder last night, he now regained his defensive confidence.

Although his physical condition makes it difficult to defend Pierce against the three-pointer, he can still do what Xu Yong did before.

However, Xu Yong showed him the beautiful art of trash talk.

After guarding against Pierce's attack again, Xu Yong looked at Pierce with a smile and asked with concern: "Paul, you don't have stomach discomfort tonight, right?"

This sentence directly made Pierce, who had been in the league for more than ten years, mentally shattered.

Last summer Bogut was astonishingly bad in the Olympics, and then fans also brought up his experience in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was simply a pinch of salt that was forcibly sprinkled on an unhealed wound.

Then now that the wound had finally scabbed over, Xu Yong tore it off without saying a word.

It hurts, it hurts too much!
After Pierce was defeated by Xu Yong's defense and mentality, the Celtics' already poor offense was directly constipated.

The ball can only be given to Garnett, allowing him to provide more support.

If Yao Ming can't play, this kind of strategy can be effective.

But with Yao Ming at the basket and the Bulls' ability to protect the basket, the Celtics can't attack the basket very well. The effect of this kind of support is very average.

In turn, their defense couldn't do much against Xu Yong.

Garnett is one year older this year, and with the addition of playing the fourth position, his help defense can basically no longer threaten Xu Yong.

Yao Ming's pick-and-roll method also gave Xu Yong many mismatch opportunities.

Although Xu Yong was smiling when O'Neal Jr. came to say hello before the game, he would not be soft-hearted at all on the court.

Rivers was so beaten that he was knocked down on the sidelines.

As the game progressed, the fans no longer felt angry about this Celtics team, but instead felt angry.

92 to 78, the Bulls defeated the Celtics at home.

Xu Yong played well and scored 41 points.

In the words of Barkley on the TNT program after the game: Xu Yong buried the Celtics with his own hands.

Yes, the series that was predicted to be the most suspenseful by ESPN before the game actually didn't have much suspense.

It is true that the Bulls are a semi-disabled team, but the second record in the Eastern Conference cannot be false, and the Celtics are actually not much better without Rondo.

In the end, except for defending one home court, the Celtics were swept out by the Bulls 1-4.

After the Game 5 game, Pierce and Garnett sat on the sidelines for a long time.

The ship of the new era can no longer carry the remnant souls of the old era.

Not long after the Bulls and Celtics series ended, the league successively announced the names of the best defensive players and MVPs.

This year's dpoy was given to Ibaka of the Thunder.

Ibaka averaged 12.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game this season.

It is worth mentioning that James was second only to Ibaka in this year's Defensive Player of the Year voting, and received nearly 15% of the votes.

You can always trust the King when it comes to voting.

Of course, dpoy's reputation has been increasing over the years. Compared to this, fans are more concerned about this year, or what they pay most attention to is the MVP.

The people with the highest voices this year are Kobe, Wade, Xu Yong, Durant, James, and Westbrook.

Although Kobe is out for the season, he has played enough games, and his statistics and team record this year are excellent;
Wade's situation is a bit similar to Rose two years ago. Although he is the weakest in terms of statistics, the Heat's 67-win record is there;
Durant's voice is very high this year, because the Thunder's record has also set a new record in team history, and his performance in all aspects is worthy of it;

Westbrook is a very special being. Although the Hornets are only ranked seventh in the Western Conference, Westbrook's quasi-triple-double average of 22.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game is quite impressive.

As for James, you can’t miss him when discussing the topic of MVP. If you don’t believe it, just take a look at the dpoy that was just released;

Xu Yong, of course, the one with the highest voice this year is definitely Xu Yong.

Because of the situation the Bulls encountered this year, and the fact that Xu Yong finally brought the Bulls to the second level in the Eastern Conference, he is definitely the most worthy of the honor of MVP and Most Valuable Player.

And his performance of 32.6 points per game is so explosive.

To use Xu Yong's experience in his previous life, unless Westbrook averages 30+ triple-doubles for the season in advance, basically no one can shake him.

The final voting results came out, and Xu Yong successfully won the MVP title with a high vote share of 42%.

Durant ranked second with 24% of the votes, Wade ranked third with 15% of the votes, and the others in order were Kobe, Westbrook, and James.

Xu Yong thus became the 11th player in the league to win the MVP honor after James.

However, what is different from James's time is that this time the league's official account used a very powerful sentence: Xu's era is coming.

This is basically equivalent to officially announcing his status as No. 1 in the league.

Regarding this result, Xu Yong's mentality is much calmer than last year.

Winning the MVP title is good, but even giving you three consecutive MVP awards is in vain if you don't win the championship.

Just like Jordan, the league deliberately disgusted him and broke his three-game streak twice. In the end, wasn't Jordan still the greatest player?
Championships are always the most direct evidence of a player's dominance.

Not long after the MVP results were announced, the league's first-round matches also ended one after another.

西部那边，雷霆没给勇士队太多机会，4比1绅士横扫了勇士；小牛则更早直接，4比0直接给黄蜂剃了光头；马刺也4比2击败了快船。

As for the Lakers, although they won the first game, they were defeated by the Grizzlies 2-4 in the end. This also means that after missing the championship last season, Paul no longer has a window to win the championship with the Lakers.

In the Western Conference semifinals, the Thunder and Grizzlies met, and the Mavericks and Spurs had another classic Texas derby.

东部这边，热火4比0无悬念送雄鹿队钓鱼；篮网队则是4比2击败老鹰顺利晋级到次轮；步行者队则在先输一场的情况下完成逆转，4比2淘汰尼克斯队也顺利杀入半决赛。

As a result, the Bulls, the opponents in the Eastern Conference semifinals, faced the five-star Nets, while the Heat successfully met the Pacers in the semifinals.

James ushered in his battle of revenge.

(End of this chapter)