NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

Coaches like old Nelson have always been known for their willfulness and arrogance. He either doesn't want to rest his players, or once he starts to rest his players, he will rest them until the end.

For example, after Lin Tian was sure that he could break the record for assists, old Nelson decisively started the rest mode. In the penultimate game of the season, he directly rested 7 players. The team's five starters plus Ward and Smith were all absent from the game.

In the last game of the following season, Nelson continued to work hard, temporarily signed two players from the free market, and then directly rested 9 players...

Rest, rest as much as you can.

Of course, the Knicks lost these two games miserably, losing about 260 points in two games. It was a miserable loss.

After these two crushing defeats, the Knicks' regular season came to an end.

They finished the season with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses, ranking second in the Eastern Conference.

This is also the first time in 98 years that the team has won more than 99 games in the regular season since the 6-50 season when Jordan, Ewing and others appeared!
The Knicks are back!

This season's Knicks can definitely be said to have fully recovered.

除了新加盟的林天本赛季场均拿到历史级别的24.8分14.8次助攻7.1篮板2.8次抢断和1.1次盖帽的数据之外，球队的其余球员也是表现优秀。

Amar'e Stoudemire is the team's second-leading scorer. He averaged 22.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this season, with a shooting percentage of 57%. He has the highest shooting percentage among all players in the league who average more than 20 points per game!
At the same time, his free throw percentage is as high as 77%, which is definitely top-level among inside players, demonstrating his extremely high shooting talent.

Sophomore Carmelo Anthony averaged 21.4 points per game, which is comparable to Stoudemire. Although his personal data has not improved much compared to the previous year, under the run-and-gun system of Lin Tian and Nelson, his efficiency value has made great progress compared to the previous year!

In his rookie season, Anthony's three-way hit rate was only 41%, 26% and 74%. It's not an exaggeration to say that he is an iron king. This season, Anthony's three-way hit rate has reached 47%, 33% and 81%! The overall improvement of the three-way hit rate has a lot to do with Lin Tian's arrival, which has given him a lot of open shooting opportunities and a lot of one-on-one opportunities!
Anthony who is not double-teamed and plays more worry-free will of course have higher and better efficiency!
The significant improvement in efficiency of the team's two core players once again proves that Lin Tian has the magic power to make his teammates better and more outstanding!
In addition to the core trio who average 68.3 points per game, the Knicks also have Okur who averages 10.4 points per game. This season, Okur has over 40% of his three-point shooting percentage, making him the team's number one three-pointer besides Lin Tian.

In addition, although Stephen Jackson only averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, his hard-working performance and all-round skills were noticed by everyone.

For the Knicks, the biggest problem now is that Jackson's contract will expire this summer, and the Knicks do not have his Bird Rights and cannot renew his contract with him on the cap, which means that this guy will almost certainly leave the team this summer.

In addition to the starting five, the team's three substitutes Josh Smith averaged 7.9 points per game, Gerald Wallace averaged 7.7 points, and Barnes averaged 6.6 points!
The team's eight most important players can contribute nearly 8 points per game to the team!
This is also the biggest reason why the Knicks can average 120 points per game this season and lead the league in offensive firepower!
In fact, if it weren't for the Suns who averaged 117 points per game, the Knicks' firepower would be far ahead of all teams in the league today!
After all, the Mavericks, who rank third in the league in offensive ability, can only score 107 points per game, which is a full 10 points lower than the Suns!
These two teams really set off a crazy small ball storm and run-and-gun frenzy!
Judging from the operations of each team this season, the league will definitely play faster and run more fiercely next season. There will definitely be more and more teams that will follow these two teams and play crazy offensive basketball for the sake of box office.

Of course, those are things for next season. This season's regular season has come to an end. No matter whether the teams are satisfied with their performance and playing style this season, and no matter what changes the teams want to make, it is too late this season!
After 82 fierce games, the list of 16 teams entering the playoffs has been finalized.

east:

1. Detroit Pistons 64 wins, 18 losses

2. New York Knicks 56 wins and 26 losses

3. Boston Celtics 53 wins, 29 losses

4. New Jersey Nets 52 wins 30 losses

5. Philadelphia 76ers 44 wins and 38 losses

6. Chicago Bulls 44 wins 38 losses

7. Cleveland Cavaliers 43-39

8. Washington Wizards 41 wins and 41 losses

The Eastern Conference rankings this season are not that terrible. The Pistons and Knicks, ranked first and second in the Eastern Conference, have already determined their respective positions early on, so the Nets and Celtics, ranked third and fourth, played more fiercely.

In fact, only these four teams in the Eastern Conference have a certain degree of competitiveness. Although the remaining four teams played quite fiercely, their records were very close. Even with the Magic in ninth place and the Pacers in tenth place, the records of these six teams were actually quite close. The ranking was not determined until the last day of the season.

But in the final analysis, they are just a few teams with 40 or so wins. No matter how intense the game is, it is just a fight between weak teams.

Everyone is sure that there won’t be too many ups and downs in the first round of the Eastern Conference, and it will be difficult for any upsets to occur.

There is no way, the gap in strength is too obvious.

There are very few teams worth mentioning. The first is the Pacers, the absolute overlord and dynasty team in the East or the entire league in the past few years. They ended their dominance over the league. After Lin Tian left, they have been experiencing twists and turns this season.

In the first 20 games of the season, the team had only 5 wins and 15 losses, and then hovered between the 9th and 10th positions. After that, after trading Artest in the middle of the season, the team relied on a series of winning streaks to make it to the eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Later, Webber and others were exhausted, the team suffered another losing streak and bid farewell to the playoffs early.

The era of the Pacers is over!

Whether it is the current Webber or the young Parker and Ginobili, they are obviously unable to hold up the team's appearance and cannot provide enough firepower support for the team. Let alone continue the glory of the team's first seven years, they couldn't even lead the team into the playoffs!
The fact that the Pacers did not make the playoffs undoubtedly pushed Lin Tian to a higher position.

Compared with last season, the Pacers are missing Lin Tian this season, but they have two more injured players, Webber and Ginobili, who have returned. But what is the result? Last year, Lin Tian was desperate to play C, although he had proper tactics and strategy, and was well prepared. There are even many people who say that if the Lakers were not so strong, the Timberwolves would definitely have won the championship last year.

But no matter what the haters say, the Pacers won the championship! And their first-round upset of the Pistons was also a very valuable series.

But what about this season?

Even with a full complement of players and almost no injuries, the team failed to make the playoffs!
The Pacers' decline is as fast as that of the Bulls back then.

Another lottery team worth mentioning is the Magic.

They were ranked 6th in the Eastern Conference during the All-Star Game and could have easily made it to the playoffs, but as McGrady was determined to leave, the Magic had no choice but to trade him and then give up as much as they could.

But who knew that Hill was surprisingly healthy this season, and the Magic started their plan to tank too late, so in the end they only ranked ninth. They missed the playoffs, and it was difficult for them to get a high pick in the draft.

For the Magic, perhaps the biggest good news is the draft pick they have from the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers also did not make the playoffs this season. Although the Magic cannot get their draft pick this year, looking at the Trail Blazers' situation, it will be difficult for them to make the playoffs in the short term!

The draft pick of the Trail Blazers in their hands was lottery protected in 05, top five protected in 06, and unprotected in 07! Now the Magic's hope is that the Trail Blazers continue to rot, and then they will be given a good enough pick!

As for the Spurs' four draft picks? Anyway, there's nothing to count on in the short term.

James + Bosh + McGrady, I'm afraid they don't have any chance of winning the lottery.

As for the bottom, the Hawks have 13 wins, ranking last in the Eastern Conference and second to last in the league. The Bobcats have won 5 more games than them and are second to last in the Eastern Conference. These two teams are also the worst teams in the entire Eastern Conference. After all, the Bucks, who are ranked third from the bottom, have 30 wins!

Next, we have to see who has better luck!
After talking about the East, the rankings in the West are as follows:

1. Phoenix Suns 62 wins and 20 losses

2. Los Angeles Lakers 58 wins and 24 losses

3. Minnesota Timberwolves 57 wins and 25 losses

4. Dallas Mavericks 54 wins and 28 losses

5. Seattle SuperSonics 51 wins, 31 losses

6. Sacramento Kings 50 wins and 32 losses

7. San Antonio Spurs 47 wins and 35 losses

8. Utah Jazz 44 wins and 38 losses

The overall winning rate in the West is better than that in the East, with 6 teams reaching 50 wins. Although the Spurs, who are ranked seventh, have only 47 wins, no one will underestimate them.

Because they went through a big trade in the middle of the season, replacing almost half of the team, and after re-integration, it was remarkable that they got 47 wins.

It is worth mentioning that the Spurs are led by James and Bosh, the Cavaliers in the East are led by Wade, and the Knicks also have a guy named Anthony.

For example, the Heat is led by Hinrich, and the Nuggets, who are ninth in the Western Conference and only one step away from the playoffs, are led by Milicic...

And they all have a common label: 03 generation!
The generation that is said to be the strongest and most talented after 96 has begun to rush to seize power and has already begun to produce results!
It is worth mentioning that in the Western Conference, McGrady became the biggest loser this year. Before joining the Spurs, he averaged 29.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the Magic. Not only did he rank first in the scoring list, he was also just one step away from his first annual first team in his career.

But after coming to the Spurs, the new style of play, new positioning and some sacrifices that had to be made caused his season statistics to begin to decline.

By the end of the season, McGrady's average stats were only 27.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Not only was his scoring title snatched away by Kobe, who averaged 27.7 points per game this season, but he also had a high probability of losing his spot in the All-NBA First Team.

It can only be said that it was fate. He was jealous of Hill's popularity and insisted on leaving the Magic in a hurry. Naturally, what he lost was his personal honor and data.

I just hope the Spurs can perform well this year, so that McGrady’s sacrifice will not be in vain.

In addition, the last-to-last team in the Western Conference is the Hornets with 18 wins, and the second-to-last team is the Warriors with 19 wins. These two teams, along with the Bobcats and Hawks next door, will become some of the favorites for the No. pick this season!

As usual, the competition for the annual championship will be decided in mid-June, while the competition for the annual No. 6 pick will be decided a little earlier, on May 5, during the Eastern and Western Conference finals.

Then, when everything is settled and the rankings of all teams are determined, the 04-05 season playoffs officially begin!
The New York Knicks' first opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers led by Dwyane Wade.

Compared to the Cavaliers last season, the Cavaliers this season have not made much progress in their record, and they have even regressed. There are many reasons for their regression, such as Boozer asking the team to give up his team option so that he can renew his contract with the team with a 4-year, $3200 million contract.

But who would have thought that Boozer would completely deny his promise and went straight to the Jazz, forming a short and strong twin towers with O'Neal Jr. and signed a four-year, $4 million contract.

This time, Boozer's betrayal incident was also called the NBA version of Sima Yi's oath at Luo River. Since this incident, the NBA's verbal agreements are basically no different from farts, and no one believes in them anymore.

You can regret it anyway!
As for the agent who helped him carry out this crazy operation and allowed him to earn an extra 400 million US dollars a year, needless to say, it was Pelinka, a guy with no shame!

Even after tricking the Cavaliers, this guy still proudly showed off to Lin Tian how shameless, despicable and shameless he was!
I am not ashamed of it but proud of it.

In other words, Lin Tian is not a moral guardian either.

On the contrary, compared to being shameless, Lin Tian...

Well, not as good as Pelinka.

Mr. Lin attaches great importance to his promises.

In short, Boozer's departure dealt a serious blow to the Cavaliers. Although they brought in Drew Gooden, the No. 4 pick, to fill Boozer's vacancy in the middle of the season, Gooden was obviously not comparable to Boozer in terms of ability or data.

But fortunately, although Boozer is gone, the team's young leader Wade is playing better and better. This season, Wade's average stats have risen to 24.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He has become the best shooting guard among the younger generation, without a doubt!
This guy's rapid progress and increasingly strong performance on the court have become the Cavaliers' reliance and the biggest proof of their rise and even their championship bid!
In addition to Wade, the Cavaliers now have the representative center of the league's last golden generation, "Big Z" Ilgauskas, who averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per game this season, and the talented rookie recruited in the middle of the season, Gro Gooden, who averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game.

These three are also the most important core trio of the team. Nearly half of the Cavaliers' points were scored by these three people together.

In addition to these three, another person worth mentioning on the Cavaliers is Jeff McGinnis, who averages 13 points and 5 assists per game. This guy is the team's fourth-leading scorer and the only player on the team, besides the core trio, who scores more than 6 points per game!

Yes, in addition to these four players, the Cavaliers' fifth highest average scorer is Ira Newbell, who averages 5.9 points per game.

From the scoring distribution, we can also see that the Cavaliers' lineup, especially the bench lineup, is quite lagging behind. They rely on the core few players to conquer the world.

Except for a few main players, the strength and level of the rest of the players are really not worth mentioning.

This is also the biggest reason why the team's record has deteriorated despite Wade's considerable progress this year: the role players are not strong enough!
At the same time, the Cavaliers averaged 96.4 points per game this season and conceded 95.6 points per game, both of which are in the middle of the league.

In general: This team is pretty mediocre except for Wade! (End of this chapter)