NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

After the All-Star Game, each team still has about 35 regular season games to play.

Whether each team will continue to strive for better results, or just sit there and make it to the playoffs, or go all out to get a worse result, it all depends on how the management of each team considers it.

But no matter what the teams think, fans don’t have to wait until the end of the season to find out. The management’s operations before the deadline are enough for fans to understand the purpose of the team they support this season.

Some teams are facing internal strife and they have to make trades and take drastic measures to ensure that their team remains aggressive and competitive in the future.

For example, the Indiana Pacers are currently ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference.

The conflict between Webber and Artest, and even the incompatibility between Artest and the entire team, has long been an open secret in the league.

As for Artest himself, this guy was a troublemaker when he was with the Bulls, and he was a troublemaker after Lin Tian left. The only year in his entire career when he was with Lin Tian was when he was not a troublemaker.

As he is always looking for trouble, his trading value has basically reached the bottom.

Therefore, before all transactions were started, Lin Tian's nickname of "Beast Tamer" became even more famous.

At the same time, another sentence also resounded throughout the alliance.

"Lin Tian is the only person in the league who has Artest's instruction manual."

The entire league wants to see if the Knicks will make a move and buy on the dip.

Walsh: No!
The team's front line is now packed with Anthony, Jackson, Barnes, Smith, and Wallace, all of whom are crying out for more playing time. Even if Houston can return next season, the team will have to give at least 20 more minutes to this meritorious figure.

He directly refused Bird's call to inquire and was willing to do him a favor, which made Bird quite depressed.

Of course, Walsh went to find Lin Tian before making the decision: "Lin, do you want to team up with Ron? If you want, I can help you at any time."

Walsh himself doesn't dare to make the final decision on who to choose and who to discard. As I said before, the biggest advantage of this guy as a general manager is that he is obedient!

He knew exactly how he got his job and what he should do if he wanted to keep it.

"As for the team management, you can handle it." Lin Tian's response was also quite simple and clear. I won't interfere, you can handle it.

This is also Lin Tian’s consistent habit. If someone asks him for help and it is really beneficial to the team, he will help, such as Big Ben, Webber and others in the past.

For example, when Bird always asked him sincerely who he would choose in the draft.

But other times, he really doesn't care.

If Artest calls Lin Tian now and says he wants to come to New York, Lin Tian will help him, after all, he is his own man.

But if Artest didn't say anything, Lin Tian wouldn't intervene.

Players should just do their job well. If they interfere with the management's work, it may cause trouble.

For example, Pelinka, who will become a management member in the future, will encounter similar torture.

Not only was he forced to make a deal he didn't want to make, but he also offended his good friend, the Sacramento management, making him a pushover.

So miserable!

Since the Knicks won't take him, Bird can only continue to look for the next team. He has to send Artest away as soon as possible. Bird knows very well: if he can't send him away before the deadline, then during the offseason, Artest's value will only be lower!
Although he knows Artest's value and ability, this guy is really unable to integrate into the team's new system, and the conflict between him and Vogel is also unresolvable.

After Bird made a series of phone calls and inquiries, the person who finally helped him solve this hot potato was his old friend.

Joe Dumars!

The core figure of the first generation of the Pistons' Bad Boys and the guy who created Bad Boys 2.0 personally, took the initiative to express his willingness to add another beast to his new Bad Boys.

As soon as he saw someone was willing to take over, Bird didn't bother to care about the principle of avoiding trades between players in the same district. After several negotiations with Dumars, he sent Artest to Detroit. In exchange, he got the Pistons' first-round draft pick this year and several expiring contracts.

Judging from the Pistons' current record, as long as Artest's destructive power is not so amazing and does not directly lead to the collapse of the Pistons' record, the Pistons' draft pick will basically be between 29-30.

As for the final ranking, it depends on which of the two teams, the Suns and the Pistons, can become the first in the league.

Artest's trade sounded the first shot of the league's mid-season arms race! After them, all teams also took action and began to strengthen their lineups.

For example, the Suns, who are ranked first in the Western Conference, immediately made a trade after seeing the Pistons continue to improve their defense and add Artest, and brought in Jim Jackson, one of the former "Dallas 3Js", to increase their firepower on the bench.

Then the Cavaliers also secretly strengthened their team by bringing in the fourth pick in 02, Gro Gooden, from the Grizzlies to increase the team's inside firepower and depth.

Next, the Wizards made a big deal. They almost broke up the team and traded their star guard Gilbert Arenas from the Warriors, who were in poor form and had not made the playoffs for many years.

The Wizards have formed a double-gun combination of Arenas and Larry Hughes. Now ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference, they are full of confidence that the team will return to the playoffs!
In addition to these major transactions, many teams have also made minor adjustments to improve their competitiveness.

Then, there is the most explosive deal on this year's trade deadline.

The Magic, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, was disbanded!

In the end, they failed to convince McGrady, who is now ranked first in the scoring list, and failed to keep him in the team. When McGrady was still unwilling to agree to renew his contract with the team in advance and repeatedly stated that he would definitely leave after the contract expired, the Magic finally put him on the shelf and quickly made the deal.

After ruling out all trade requests from the Eastern Conference, the Magic thought again and again and sent him to San Antonio.

As for what the Magic got, first of all, it was used to balance the contract. In addition to the "Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire, who performed poorly this season but had a big contract and averaged only 9 points and 5 assists per game, the only other thing they got were multiple draft picks.

Then there are the massive draft picks: the pick from Portland that the Spurs got last year, four future draft picks of the Spurs, plus the 4 first-round pick Udrih and the young forward Devin Brown who has played well for the team in the past two years.

5 draft picks and two young rookies with some potential.

The Magic's deal is certainly not to promote Grant Hill, their goal is to rebuild! A complete rebuild!

They actually wanted to trade Hill, but other teams took into account that Hill had one year left on his contract and his shocking injury history, so no one dared to bid for him.

Instead of signing Hill at this time, it would be better to wait for his contract to expire and sign him easily!
The only pity is that the team started rebuilding too late. Now ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, it will be difficult for them to get a top three draft pick even if they lose more games in the future.

In short, this wave of team building for the Magic has officially come to an end. They have to start accumulating talent again and enter the next round of reconstruction.

Although the Spurs lost several important rotation players and a large number of draft picks, they finally found the best partner for James.

The current Spurs will be able to field a starting lineup of James, McGrady, Finley and Bosh, which at least looks quite competitive! As for how far they can go in the playoffs this year, it depends on Popovich's magic and how well McGrady can fit in with the team. It is also worth mentioning that McGrady became the second star in NBA history who was still ranked first in the scoring list halfway through the season but was traded by the team.

As for the one before him?

In the 1965 season, Chamberlain was traded to the 76ers by the Warriors halfway through the season, and two years later he led the 76ers to win the first championship in team history!
As for whether McGrady can replicate Chamberlain's success in Philadelphia this time, it has become something that many people are looking forward to. After McGrady's earthquake-level trade, the remaining trades seem a bit boring. In the words of the fans, a bunch of random people are traded back and forth, not worth mentioning at all!
The trading deadline for this season has basically come to an end!

Some people built tall buildings, some hosted guests, and some people’s buildings collapsed.

But no matter what, the season must go on!

The Knicks did not make any trades before the deadline. They maintained the stability of the team, and the players did not disappoint Walsh's inaction. They played quite well in the games after February!

In the 7 games after the All-Star Game, they achieved a beautiful 7-game winning streak, and Lin Tian himself also showed an unparalleled state in these 7 games!
His average score of 25.1 points per game is basically the same as his average level this season, but he has made a total of 7 assists in these 120 games, averaging more than 17 per game!
There were two times when he had more than 20 assists in a single game!
In terms of the record of 20+ assists in a single game, he only has five games left to catch up with Magic.

Just 6 more times and he will surpass Magic Johnson and become the second person in NBA history to have 20+ assists in a single game!

Lin Tian had previously said that averaging 15.5 assists per game in the second half of the season was too difficult, and that it would be impossible for him to do so, and it would be difficult for him to surpass Stockton and become the person with the most assists per game in a single season in NBA history.

But now he has proved with practical actions that he is quite interested in this title and has already launched an attack!
At the end of February, the Knicks had a great record of 2 wins and 7 losses for the whole month thanks to their 9-game winning streak at the end of the month, ranking first in the league during the same period!

Their overall record is temporarily fixed at 39 wins and 18 losses.

In March, the Knicks continued their good performance. Although they lost the first game in March, they continued their tough performance on the offensive end in the following games. After another 3-game winning streak, they have surpassed the Celtics and moved to second place in the Eastern Conference.

Then in the second half of March, it became a battle for position between the Celtics and the Knicks. The two teams went back and forth, neither giving in, and neither could secure the second place in the Eastern Conference.

It wasn't until the last five days of March that the two teams finally faced off!
In this game, Lin Tian was in great form, scoring points from both inside and outside. He also took advantage of the Celtics' twin towers' inability to defend and continued to work from the outside. He made 16 of 3 9-point shots in the game, and scored 47 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks in the game!
Thanks to Lin Tian's crazy performance, the Knicks defeated the Celtics and expanded their lead over the Celtics to 2 games!
Then they continued to work hard and won all the remaining three games in March! On the contrary, the Celtics seemed to have sequelae from this defeat, and they only won one of the next three games!
As one side gained strength while the other lost strength, the gap between the two sides widened to 4 games!
With only 8-9 games left in the regular season, the Celtics have basically lost the possibility of overtaking the Knicks again and becoming second in the Eastern Conference.

Throughout March, the Knicks achieved an impressive record of 11 wins and 5 losses, continuing their strong output as the league's top offensive team.

Their overall record is temporarily fixed at 50 wins and 23 losses, and they are far ahead of the Celtics.

Of course, they can't catch up with the Pistons, who are like fish in water after getting Artest, as if they had found their last piece of the puzzle. The Pistons now have 57 wins and 16 losses, and are likely to break the team's best record set in the 88-89 season.

That season, the Pistons won 63 games and 19 losses and finally won the championship!
Can they make the team regain the style that locked down Jordan continuously in the late 80s this time?
By this point in the season, the vast majority of teams in the league have already been ranked. Except for a very small number of teams that still have to fight for position and ranking, the vast majority of other teams have already been determined.

The Knicks, for example, can’t catch up with the Pistons, nor will they be overtaken again by the third-placed Celtics.

They are in second place this season, and there are no records or team best records to break.

So April for the Knicks was quite a leisurely one.

They don't need to care how fiercely the Pacers, Cavaliers, Wizards, Heat and other teams at the end of the Eastern Conference are fighting for a better playoff spot, nor do they need to care how fierce the battle for third place between the Celtics and the Nets is.

They don't even have to worry about the battle for second place between the Lakers and the Timberwolves and the entire mess of the Western Conference qualifying.

Leisurely, absolutely leisurely!

Especially Lin Tian. After the madness in February and March, this guy's average assists per game has now reached 2.

Surpassed Stockton's single-season NBA record set in the 89-90 season: 14.5 assists per game.

This means that even if Lin Tian rests for the next few games, he can easily become the man with the most assists per game in a single season in NBA history!

But of course, who is Mr. Lin? Although many of his fans even prayed that he would not play again, if he was in a bad state or had bad luck and his teammates could not score, and the record that had been obtained was lost again, where would they go to seek justice?

But Lin Tian didn't care about this worry at all.

He doesn't want to give those who don't like him any chance to find any flaws or loopholes in him.

Some were afraid of losing the record, so they just stopped fighting and ran away; some were so scared that they didn't dare to fight in order to be the first in history.

Lin Tian would never give his haters such an opportunity.

My way of playing is to walk all the roads and leave those black guys with no way to go.

Block you!

So, on April 4, Lin Tian played for 1 minutes, easily scored 36 points and 21 assists to lead the team to a victory.

接着4月3日，林天更是打出超高效率，只打了25分钟就拿到19分19次助攻的准双20数据，继续刷新着自己的赛季总助攻数字。

On April 4, Lin Tian and the Knicks played back-to-back against the strong Mavericks. Lin Tian played for 4 minutes and scored 41 points and 31 assists, a big double-double. Not only did he reach 21 times of 20+ assists in a single game, leaving him only two times away from Magic's 20 times, but his average assists per game continued to increase!
After three fierce battles in early April, Lin Tian played another four games and played four "mediocre" games.

这4场比赛尼克斯拿到了3胜1负的成绩，他们整个四月的成绩也来到了6胜1负。

After these 7 games, Lin Tian has played 80 games this season and his total assists have reached 1184 times.

Surpassing Stockton, who played all 90 games in the 91-82 season and had a total of 1164 assists.

同时他的场均助攻数也被自己提升到了14.8次，超越了89-90赛季出战78场，场均拿下14.5次助攻的斯托克顿！

Stockton's two historical statistics that were known as 'difficult to break' were broken by Lin Tian in just one season!

At the same time, considering that Stockton played only 89 games in the 90-78 season, he had a total of 1134 assists, averaging 14.538 assists per game.

Then in the next two games, even if Lin Tian is in terrible shape and plays terribly, he only needs to make 9 assists to bring his assist number to 1193. His average assists per game can also reach 14.548, still able to surpass Stockton and become the number one single-season assist king in league history.

Considering Lin Tian's condition and ability this season, it is definitely more difficult to suppress him to the point where he can get less than 9 assists in two games combined than to lead the Bobcats, who have only 18 wins this season, into the playoffs!
It's basically an impossible task!
Under this circumstance, no matter whether Lin Tian plays in the remaining two games or not, the haters and those guys who like to question will not be able to say any gossip or cause trouble.

So, after satisfying the dreams and wishes of his fans, Lin Tian chose to rest with ease.

He did not play in the last two games.

而他本赛季的最终数据，也定格在了场均24.8分14.8次助攻7.1篮板2.8次抢断和1.1次盖帽上。

No one in NBA history has ever matched or even come close to those numbers.

After all, Stockton does not have the same level of offensive power as Lin Tian. In the two years with the most assists, he only averaged 17 points per game. Compared with Lin Tian's nearly 25 points, there is a gap of at least three levels.

At the same time, this has also become a regret for Lin Tian’s fans and data-lovers.

Can't you just score a few more points, give two more assists, and keep your stats at 25 points and 15 assists? That would sound cooler and more comfortable!

Lin Tian: I won’t!

I will drive your obsessive compulsive disorder to death and make you feel uncomfortable and itchy all over! (End of this chapter)