Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 586 The Playoffs Reignite! The Arrogant Jordan and the Shameless

After the Knicks secured the top seed in the league, the rest of the teams in the league, after a season of fierce competition, gradually took their places.

Rankings in the East:

1. The New York Knicks have a record of 65 wins and 17 losses.

2. Detroit Pistons: 62 wins, 20 losses.

3. Boston Celtics: 58 wins, 24 losses.

4. The New Jersey Nets have a record of 54 wins and 28 losses.

5. Washington Wizards: 50 wins, 32 losses.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers: 47 wins, 35 losses.

7. Chicago Bulls: 43 wins, 39 losses.

8. Miami Heat: 41 wins, 41 losses.

Honestly, the overall rankings in the East are pretty much a foregone conclusion. Each team is significantly different from the teams ahead and behind them, so there aren't any two teams that are evenly matched and whose outcome can only be decided on the last day.

But this does not mean that the East is less competitive; five teams have reached 50 wins, and eight playoff teams have a winning percentage of at least 50%.

This team's regular season strength is absolutely the strongest in the Eastern Conference, at least in recent years!

The East's competitiveness this year is astonishing!

Making it out of the Eastern Conference this year and reaching the Finals will definitely not be an easy task!

As for the situation in the West this year, it remains quite chaotic, and their competitiveness is no less than that of the East, or even greater!

The top spot in the Western Conference alone changed hands four times throughout the season, making the upper half of the Western Conference a complete mess, with each team truly battling it out until the very last day.

Their specific rankings:

1. Dallas Mavericks: 62 wins, 20 losses

2. Phoenix Suns: 61 wins, 21 losses

3. San Antonio Spurs: 59 wins, 23 losses

4. Minnesota Timberwolves, 59 wins, 23 losses

5. Los Angeles Lakers: 53 wins, 29 losses

6. Denver Nuggets: 52 wins, 30 losses

7. Los Angeles Clippers: 51 wins, 31 losses

8. Utah Jazz, 51 wins, 31 losses

Compared to the five teams in the East with more than 50 wins, the West has seen an even bigger surge, with all eight of its playoff teams achieving 50 wins!

Every team had a fantastic regular season performance.

The fact that a total of 13 teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences have more than 50 wins is also the highest number in league history! Before this year, there had never been a year in which the league had so many teams with 50 wins at the same level!

In other words, at least judging from the regular season record, this year's playoffs will be the most intense and crazy year in NBA history!

All players absolutely must be fully focused and give their all in every round of the competition!

This year's playoffs are definitely something to watch!

However, while the strong teams were putting on outstanding performances and achieving amazing results, the poor teams in the league were naturally performing terribly.

After all, if some people win more, then naturally some people will lose more!

Apart from the 16 teams that made the playoffs in the East and West, among all the remaining teams in the league, the 76ers have the best record with 31 wins, followed by the Grizzlies with 30 wins!

Apart from these two teams, there isn't another team in the league with more than 25 wins!

The wealth gap in the league has never been so vast!

To be honest, if this year were a super-good year like 2003, it would be reasonable for these teams to be this bad.

The problem is, the quality of this year's rookies isn't that great.

There aren't many really good players who are worth so many teams tanking for.

This proves that these teams aren't just tanking; they're genuinely bad!

The gap in strength between teams is widening.

This situation is definitely not good news for the league. At the very least, Stern doesn't like it at all. He prefers a situation where at least 20 out of 30 teams are striving for the playoffs, no team is tanking, and everyone is competitive.

This kind of alliance is healthy and will attract viewers!

Otherwise, how can those weak teams, teams from small markets, and teams from small cities survive?

But despite his thoughts, Stern didn't really have a good solution for the time being.

At least for now, all he can do is pray, pray that those lousy teams can turn things around quickly.

Those struggling teams, of course, also want to turn things around, especially those that are extremely bad. They desperately hope to get a high draft pick so they can acquire a super talent this summer who can transform the team.

This year's competition is even more intense!

The Raptors are last with 12 wins, while the Portland Trail Blazers and the Hornets (who are not in New Orleans) are second and third from last with 14 and 15 wins respectively.

Then there are teams like the Bobcats, Rockets, Hawks, and Pacers, who have 16-20 wins.

In short, everyone needs a higher draft pick to save the team!

"Michael, do you need me to show you the way?"

Because the sneaker GG that Jordan and his partner filmed together at the end of March was just too amazing. Two top stars, and two stars from different camps, actually appeared in the same GG. The impact of this GG on fans is probably no less than that of the "Street Dance Storm" back then!

The result of this influence and impact was that Lin Tian's sneakers sold out again!

His new sneakers this year ignited the market as soon as they hit the market. From their release at the end of March to the start of the playoffs in mid-April, the shoes became the best-selling shoes in the United States so far in 2006 in less than a month!

Lin Tian's shoes once again swept across the league and the streets of the United States.

Of course, Lin Tian got to eat a lot of meat, and Jordan and AJ also got to drink the soup. While Jordan was filming another brand's GG, AJ's sales also increased significantly.

However, neither the magnitude nor the level of madness could compare to Lin Tian's.

However, Nike had anticipated that Jordan would significantly boost its own sales, which is why they didn't argue and let Jordan join them.

Even if the other party takes the lion's share, we still benefit, right?

Moreover, this was between Jordan and Lin Tian. After discussion, NIKE's top management really didn't want to offend either of them, so they just let them have their fun!

Having tasted the sweetness of success, Lin Tian naturally called Jordan immediately after the regular season ended.

Hehe... Let's do it again if we have the chance!

That's a huge sum of money!

Who doesn't like money!

It's still money that's so easy to get.

"No need!" Jordan refused without hesitation as soon as he heard Lin Tian's voice.

His pride told him: even if Lin Tian is good at judging people, he can't let Lin Tian control him! Otherwise, who knows what kind of trap this kid will set for him.

"Shall we make another bet?" Lin Tian continued to ask.

"No bet! I swear, I'll never bet with you again!" Jordan cursed as he rejected Lin Tian once more.

I don't want to gamble with him again!

Not enough losses?

Even Jordan had long since given up on losing.

He also came to a complete conclusion: the best, or rather the only, way to avoid losing to Lin Tian was to not gamble.

"What a pity, you just missed a Hall of Fame-caliber player and a great opportunity to beat me." Lin Tian shook his head, indicating that it was truly a pity.

After saying that, Lin Tian hung up the phone, leaving Jordan scratching his head in frustration by his own phone.

Should we fight back?

Should I give Lin Tian another chance to humiliate me?

Lin Tian didn't care whether Jordan was conflicted or completely indifferent; he had tons of experience points right now! Having not acquired any new skills for many years, Lin Tian was already indifferent to the small amount of experience points Jordan was giving him.

He made the call mainly out of a mischievous sense of humor, and he also knew that Jordan would definitely not accept his suggestion!

This guy is so arrogant.

Just for the sake of being cheeky.

However, to Lin Tian's surprise, the phone rang again in less than 10 minutes.

"Lin, if you got the number one pick, who would you choose?" Jordan's question was simple and direct! He had obviously rehearsed for a long time before making the call, with the aim of getting straight to the point and not giving Lin Tian a chance to humiliate him, so that he would give him the answer without him even realizing it!

"Are you asking me a question? Shouldn't you be a little nicer?" Unfortunately, no matter how well-prepared Jordan was, who was he facing?

His nemesis for life!

After Lin Tian exposed him, Jordan fell silent.

However, he didn't hang up.

He didn't hang up, and Lin Tian wasn't in a hurry either. He just left the phone there without urging him at all.

If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either.

Jordan remained silent for at least two minutes before finally saying, "I'm begging you, you damn bastard! If you had the number one pick, who would you choose?"

"LaMarcus Aldridge".

This time, Lin Tian was quite decisive and gave his answer directly.

After all, when fishing, you can't just pull hard; you have to let it run for a while. If you just keep thrashing and jerking, the fishing line will break in no time.

If you have enough patience, wait until the fish is exhausted, then you can do whatever you want with it, and arrange it into a hundred or eighty different shapes!

Jordan? No rush! Take your time.

This phone call with Jordan was just another minor incident before the playoffs began; there was another similar incident.

Bird also called Lin Tian.

The questions were quite similar, but Bird was far more shameless and thick-skinned than Jordan. He didn't ask something like, "What would you do if you got the number one draft pick?"

He asked, "Lin, can you give me a draft prediction list, from 1 to 60, all of them!"

"Get lost!" Lin Tian's response remained consistently simple and direct: "Have you no shame?"

"Okay, let's do it for the first round then. I'll cut your workload in half right away, isn't that generous of me?"

"Get lost! Are you 'Big Bird' or 'Cowardly Trash'? Have you no shame?"

"Lotto! Lotto, how about that?"

"Top five! Top five isn't too much to ask, I just need five names!" Bird finally revealed his bottom line: "Name any benefits you want."

"All I can say is that if I had the number one pick, I would choose Aldridge." After saying this, Lin Tian hung up the phone.

The main principle is to ensure that everyone receives equal treatment, without favoritism.

What if neither the Pacers nor the Bobcats make the top three and they can't draft Aldridge?

That's not my fault.

Master Lin has already provided the optimal solution.

It's going too far to blame me for bad luck.

After those two phone calls, the Knicks are about to meet their first playoff opponent.

Miami Heat!

This season, the Heat have finally returned to the playoffs after many years of dormancy. This is their first time back in the playoffs since the 01-02 season.

The team's current roster is vastly different from the last time they made the playoffs. Apart from the fact that the general manager is still Riley, everything else is different!

The team's head coach became Stan Van Gundy, Riley's former assistant, who is also the older, chubby brother of young Van Gundy.

The team's core lineup has absolutely no connection to the original Heat team.

The team's starting point guard is Kirk Hinrich, the number one point guard from the 03 draft class, nicknamed "Little Stockton," a white guard known for his calmness, stability, tenacity, and hard work. The shooting guard is James Posey, who is known in the league for his defense and shooting.

这两人本赛季场均分别能贡献15分6次助攻和8分3篮板1抢断。

At the same time, this backcourt duo is also known as the worst athletic and slowest, but hardest-working backcourt pair in the league.

These two have a high ceiling, but a high floor as well. Overall, they are a very pragmatic and practical duo.

The small forward position was held by Antoine Walker, one of the Boston Twin Stars back then. He was also the oldest player on the team. However, years of wandering and lack of self-discipline had caused his weight to increase significantly. He was no longer the promising forward that people had high hopes for.

This season, Walker is averaging only 15 points and 6 rebounds per game, which is at least two levels below his peak of 20+10! And he is only 29 years old this year!

Since Auerbach lost his discipline, this guy's decline has been as rapid as Kemp's back in the day.

The team's power forward position is now their absolute core and leading scorer, Lamar Odom, an all-around forward who averages 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists per game.

Odom entered the league with the reputation of a talented player and the "left-handed magician," but after playing for so many years, he has remained mediocre. Although his stats have always been good, he has never been able to take it a step further.

Individual honors like All-Star selection and All-NBA selection have nothing to do with him. In fact, this is only Lamar Odom's first time playing in the playoffs since he entered the league in 99!

He had won the lottery in all of the previous six seasons!

Given his talent and energy, this guy's career has been incredibly disappointing! He's let down everyone's expectations of him when he entered the league.

But this year, he was finally able to live up to expectations and lead his team into the playoffs for the first time!

The Heat's center is Eric Dampier, a pure blue-collar center who has been in the league for 10 years, but his level is really just so-so.

After being traded from the Pacers to the Spurs, this guy once boasted, "I'm the second-best center in the West," but the final result showed that what he said was not a boast at all, but just wishful thinking.

Forget about being the second-best center in the West, he couldn't even compete with Nesterovic within the Spurs team, directly becoming the Spurs' second-best center.

As his playing time with the Spurs decreased and he became virtually invisible, he transferred to Miami last season and gradually secured a starting center position. This season, he is averaging 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block per game, which can be considered a decent role player.

The five players mentioned above, along with sharpshooters Kapono and White on the bench, and Haslem, who was acquired from the Pacers, constitute the Heat's main rotation lineup!

Overall, this is a mediocre team with average talent and prospects, whose ceiling is basically around 40 wins, and whose best performance would be only enough to get them to the second round of the playoffs.

Riley's team-building efforts over the past few years have been quite unsuccessful.

Since Mourning left, he has never been able to find a suitable tactic for the team or a person who can lead the team out of its predicament. In the drafts of the past few years, Riley has also been unlucky, firstly because he has not been able to get a high draft pick, and secondly because he has not been able to find a suitable cornerstone.

In the short term, the Heat need to calm down and wait. They need to wait for Riley to recover and get back on track before they will have a chance to compete for the championship again.

As for when that was?

Who knows?

Perhaps that day will only come when the three down-on-their-luck guys have made up their minds and come to Miami at the same time!

But before that day comes, the Heat have to finish this series with the Knicks!

Even though the two sides are vastly different in terms of strength, personnel, regular season record, and all other aspects, the game still has to be played one match at a time!

"Relax, everyone, just relax! This should be the first playoff game for most of us, so just treat it like a regular season game, there's no difference."

Before the game started, Van Gundy didn't even shout any slogans like "We're going to win," "We'll take the game," or "We're guaranteed to win."

Throughout the game, he told the players to relax and play with a normal mindset.

This was the best solution for him.

Winning is very difficult.

If at least the players aren't nervous and can perform well, then we've succeeded.

With Van Gundy holding this attitude, the suspense of this series is pretty much clear.

Perhaps the only suspense in this series is how much cheering and respect Alonzo Mourning will receive when the Knicks play on the road, and how many fans will send him their heartfelt blessings.

Well, to be honest, Lin Tian really wanted to see that scene.

He wanted to see how far the cold-blooded Riley would go for his beloved disciple.

Riley: Want to see? No problem! Let's watch now! (End of Chapter)