Chapter 619 lesson Artest + the end of the regular season

  No. 20, defeated the Grizzlies away and won nine consecutive victories.

   On the 21st, the team returned to Phoenix.

   This afternoon, the Lakers also arrived in Phoenix.

   However, O'Neal was absent due to injury. There were only Kobe and the old and injured postman, plus the older and injured David Robinson. Where is the opponent of the Suns.

   On the 22nd, the Suns beat the Lakers and won ten consecutive victories.

  In the following schedule, the Suns continued to defeat one team after another with a devastating momentum, maintaining the winning streak until the end of February.

  The Suns also successfully surpassed the Trail Blazers, reaching the top of the Western Conference and the league.

  The Trail Blazers suffered serious injuries inside, and there were not many players available. For the playoffs, they began to strengthen their rotation after the All-Stars, and their record dropped.

   On March 1st, the league's MVP rankings were announced. Although the Timberwolves' record was surpassed by the Suns, Garnett was still number one and Wang was still second.

   Time entered March, and the Suns' winning streak continued.

  After returning from Lao Wang, the Suns have become the most popular team in the league, bar none.

   Not only Lao Wang's personal strength and the team's winning streak, but also the running and bombing tactics he played from time to time, the style is really attractive.

  On March 15th, the Suns defeated Mosaic in an away game, and returned to home to defeat the Clippers back-to-back the next day, achieving their 20th consecutive victory.

   On the 19th, the Suns defeated the Timberwolves again at home and achieved 21 consecutive victories.

   On the 20th, the Suns played against the Bucks back-to-back at home.

   And in this battle, the Suns' winning streak was marked as a terminator.

   At this time, the regular season has played 70 games, and the Suns have 54 wins and 16 losses. After returning from Lao Wang, this is the first time the Suns have lost.

  Since Stoudemire was injured, he has not come back. His left knee is sprained and has accumulated water. He is still resting. Whether he can come back before the playoffs is a problem.

  Dr. Carter's suggestion is to rest at least 30 games for two months. He was injured on February 17. Calculating the time, he should be able to catch up with the first round of the series, depending on the specific recovery situation.

  Now the Suns have surpassed the Trail Blazers, who are second in the Western Conference, by 4 wins, and the first position in the Western Conference is very solid, so the management and coaching staff decided to slow down the pace. In the last 12 games, the main players increased their rotation.

   On the 26th, the Suns challenged the Cavaliers away.

The Cavaliers were okay in the 1990s and often made the playoffs, but since the 1998/99 season, they have not made the playoffs for 5 consecutive seasons, and this year's record is not good, hovering outside the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Currently ninth.

  In order to make room for LeBron James, the management traded the former core Ricky Davis, and the current rookie No. 1 pick has become the core of the team.

   At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting list.

  Suns: Wang Tiejun, Amare Stoudemire, Marion, Joe Johnson, Nash

   Cavaliers: Big Z, Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, Jeff McInnis, Bremer

  In the player tunnel, the starters are waiting to play.

  Old Wang looked down at LeBron James opposite with scrutiny eyes, his face expressionless.

  He knows this No. 1 pick, and he was in the limelight in the All-Star Rookie Challenge not long ago, and he had some criticisms of him in the interview on the day of the draft.

   But he has long forgotten that in a small street store in Cleveland, he paid for the football team of James' school.

Stared at by the first person in history and the first person in active service, the old K's aura is too strong, LeBron James felt the huge pressure, his back bent down involuntarily, he realized it immediately, and tried his best to stand up Chest, I want to stand straighter and more imposing.

   At this time, he was playing away from home, and Lao Wang didn't bother to pay attention to James, and walked out with his teammates.

  Seeing Old K leave, James couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He didn't realize that his forehead was already covered with fine beads of sweat.

   "Papa..."

   When Pharaoh came out, the Cavaliers immediately burst into warm applause at the Quicken Loans Center arena.

  It used to be called the Gund Arena, and the owner was the Gund family. Gilbert took over the Cavaliers. He was in the credit business, so he changed the name.

   LeBron James was envious when he saw that Old K could get such warm applause in his home court.

   "One day, I will also have such influence." He secretly thought in his heart.

"Snapped!"

Ten minutes later, in the second minute of the first quarter, LeBron James made a crushing breakthrough with the ball. After hitting Marion at the edge of the paint area, he entered the paint area and was about to dunk. It hit the floor and fell hard enough.

   "Rookie, welcome to the NBA."

  Pharaoh generously gave the rookie his first trash talk.

   James turned over and got up, unconvinced: "Old K, I will come again."

"Snapped!

  In the fifth minute of the first quarter, Pharaoh sent out the second big hat of the day, which was Big Z.

   "Big Z, how dare you shoot on my head?" After the block was successfully blocked, he shouted at Big Z with a look of surprise on his face.

   Big Z bowed his head and said nothing, he could not afford to be provoked, and walked away.

"Snapped!"

  In the seventh minute, Pharaoh sent out the third big block, rushed to the position close to the three-point line, and blocked Boozer.

   Seeing old K's red eyes with excitement, Boozer, a second-year student, didn't dare to meet the domineering eyes, and immediately lowered his head and walked away.

   In the 10th minute, James broke through again with the ball, and when he was crushed to the left waist, he suddenly turned over and shot a jumper.

"Snapped!"

  Old Wang emerged from behind Marion, sent out the fourth cap in the first quarter, directly hit a blood cap, and slapped the basketball into the auditorium.

   This time, he didn't bother to talk trash, a rookie is not worth wasting saliva at all.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

  …

   This loud pumping sound throughout the game, from start to finish, Lao Wang sent 14 blocks.

Now LeBron James, who is only good at breaking through and scoring layups, has become the biggest victim. He scored 7 big blocks by himself, with two blocks in the first quarter and three blocks in the second quarter. Come on, give him two hats.

  In addition, on the offensive end, Lao Wang scored 39 points and led the team to blast the Cavaliers.

  After playing the Cavaliers, the Suns rushed to Indiana overnight. Tomorrow, on the 27th, they will play back-to-back against the number one Pacers in the Eastern Conference.

  The Pacers are still very strong this season. They have O'Neal inside, Artest at small forward, Reggie Miller at shooting guard, and Al Harrington on the bench. The lineup is thick.

  The Suns have no intention of winning this game. They have no competition with the Pacers, and it is back-to-back away games. The players are not physically fit.

   In the third minute of the third quarter, the Suns led by 3 points.

  Although it is not necessary to win, but the strength does not allow it, and the Pacers did not perform well today.

   Lao Wang played 18 minutes in the first half, and sat down in the third quarter. At this time, he was replaced. Zhu Fangyu and Josh Howard also played together. They played the third and second positions.

   Suns offense.

   Lao Wang took the ball in the low position on the left wing, attracted the double-teaming of Artest above, and immediately distributed the ball to Zhu Fangyu above.

   Open, Zhu Fangyu made a jumper without any hesitation.

"brush!"

   Splashes appeared and a three-pointer was hit.

"ah!"

  After succeeding, he raised his fist very excitedly, and seeing Artest running over, he quickly blocked in front, trying to delay the speed of his opponent entering the frontcourt.

  The rookie who was just being matched up made a three-pointer, and Artest was a little angry. Seeing that the **** rookie was blocking him again, he raised his left elbow and waved to the side.

   "Ouch!"

  Zhu Fangyu held his forehead and backed away.

   Artest walked forward as if nothing happened.

   "Fuck!"

  Once Lao Wang saw it, he rushed forward with big strides.

   "Old K!"

   When Nash, who was about to catch the ball, saw it, he hurriedly hugged Lao Wang from behind.

  However, he couldn't hug Lao Wang, and was dragged forward by Lao Wang. It didn't get in the way at all. Josh Howard rushed over quickly to block Lao Wang.

   At this time, Zhu Fangyu had already realized that he was elbowed.

   It's okay, I'm old K's queen thug, he immediately swung his fist and rushed up, rushing to the back of Artest, and greeted him with eight punches.

   Bang, the left fist hit the unsuspecting Artest's left face first, causing the opponent to groan, his head tilted, and the right fist followed up and hit the neck.

   Bang bang bang, after a few punches, Artest was stunned and wanted to run, but he didn't, and was directly knocked over on the floor.

   "Dididi..." The referee's whistle rang incessantly.

"Oh!"

   There was also a huge exclamation at the scene.

  Zhu Fangyu wanted to ride up and continue playing, but O'Neal rushed up and pushed him to the ground.

   Artest got a chance to breathe, turned over and got up, angry from the heart, evil to the gall, and was about to beat Zhu Fangyu violently, when a big hand waved over.

"Snapped!"

  Amidst the loud thrashing sound, he grunted, turned around, and fell headfirst to the floor, with several **** teeth rolling down beside him.

Lao Wang slapped Artest down, went up and kicked O'Neal who was about to hit Zhu Fangyu, pointed to O'Neal on the floor with his big hand, and roared: "Little bastard, if you dare to do anything again, I will kill you!" I can't spare you!"

   O'Neill Jr. was taken aback, and was so scared that he backed away several times on the floor.

  Other Pacers players who were about to pounce, including those on the bench, froze in place for a while.

   "Beep!"

   While blowing his whistle, the referee stood in front of Lao Wang, while the security guards also rushed into the arena to maintain order.

   "Zhu Fangyu, how are you?" Old Wang shouted.

   "It's okay, brother, I'm fine." Zhu Fangyu got up, with a swollen forehead and a swollen left cheek.

   "Nice job!"

  Old Wang patted Zhu Fangyu on the head, and the latter laughed.

  At this moment, Artest got up, his head turned into a pig's head, and he was very embarrassed.

  He stared at Zhu Fangyu fiercely, but immediately felt the menacing sight from old K, so he had to grit his teeth and lower his head.

  Reggie Miller, who was sitting on the bench, shouted at Lao Wang with an ugly face: "Old K, you are too disrespectful to me."

  Old Wang squinted at Miller, and said, "It was your people who made the first move. You didn't manage them well. Let me teach you a lesson. Do you have any objections?"

  Reggie Miller twitched his face. If it was Jordan, he would have rushed up now, but this is old K. Old K will not talk to him, he will only fight.

  The referee didn't dare to waste time, and directly sent Artest, O'Neal Jr., and Zhu Fangyu off the field. Of the four who made the move, Lao Wang was the only one left.

  If it was last season, Lao Wang would definitely be sent off, but after being suspended last time, the league suffered huge losses, so now his star whistle has been restored.

   On the second day, the league made a penalty.

  Artest was banned for two games and fined three thousand dollars.

   O'Neal Jr., one chase and ban, a fine of 3,000 U.S. dollars.

  Zhu Fangyu was banned for ten games and fined $10,000.

  Old Wang helped Zhu Fangyu pay the fine, was suspended for ten games without salary, and threw him a lot of shopping cards, worth at least two hundred thousand dollars.

  At the end of March, the Suns had 58 wins and 17 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference and first in the league.

   This time, relying on the strong performance of the Suns and strong personal performance, Lao Wang finally ascended to the first place in the league's MVP rankings.

   Comeback 27 games, he averaged 39 points, 16 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.8 steals, 3.6 blocks, 1.2 turnovers and 2.9 fouls per game, ranking first in the league in personal performance.

   Many American media still have a lot of objections to his rushing to the top of the MVP rankings, but the league has not responded.

  There is more and more publicity about him in the league. Everything has fully demonstrated that he has once again become the head of the NBA.

   April 14th, beat the Jazz, the Suns completed all the regular schedule of the 03/04 season.

  In April, the Suns had 6 wins and 1 loss, achieving a good record of 64 wins and 18 losses, ranking first in the league.

  West, top eight regular season rankings, Suns, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Kings, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Mosaic.

   The top three are in different divisions, so this is also the ranking for the playoffs.

  The first round of the Western Conference playoffs is against the Suns against the Mosaics, the Lakers against the Kings, the Timberwolves against the Grizzlies, and the Trail Blazers against the Mavericks.

  The winners of the first (rear) two groups will play against each other in the second round.

  East, top eight regular season rankings, Pacers, Nets, Pistons, Heat, Bucks, Hornets, Knicks, Celtics.

  Because the Pistons and the Pacers are in the same zone, they automatically withdraw from the top three and will be replaced by the fourth Heat.

  The first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs is against the Pacers against the Celtics, the Pistons against the Bucks, the Nets against the Knicks, and the Heat against the Hornets.

  The first round will start on the 17th and 18th, and the Suns' first round will start on the 17th.

  Personally, Pharaoh came back in 34 games, averaging 41 minutes per game, averaging 37.5 points, 16.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.8 steals, 3.7 blocks, 1.2 turnovers and 3 fouls.

  He won the 7th career scoring champion, the 7th rebounding champion, and the 4th blocked shot champion.

   And, he continued to rank first in the league's official MVP rankings.

   In addition, his career total score reached 28,977 points, and he should be able to complete 30,000 points in the middle of next season.

   This is his 11th season, and next season will be his 12th season, and he can complete 30,000 points in 12 seasons.

He joined in the middle of his rookie season and only played 56 games. This season he only played 34 games. The remaining 9 seasons have a total of 21 games. That is to say, he has played a total of 807 games in 11 seasons so far. Contest.

  If he can score 30,000 points in about 30 games next season, with a total of 840 games and an average of nearly 36 points per game, he will surpass Chamberlain and Jordan and become the fastest player in league history to complete 30,000 points.

   Jordan, the second in history, used 960 regular season games to rank among the 30,000-point club.

   Chamberlain, who is number one in history, scored 30,000 points in only 941 games.

Of course, Chamberlain transformed into an organization center because of the mid-to-late stage. His 20,000 points were completed in only 499 games. If he maintains the scoring speed of 40 points per game, he can even complete 30,000 points before 800 games. .

  The performance of his teammates is also very good. Although after his return, the data of several main players have declined, but the decline is not too severe. The main reason is that Zhu Fangyu and Josh Howard have been more affected.

   Nash scored 13 points and 10.6 assists, and is expected to win the second assist king.

  Before the injury, Stoudemire averaged 18 points and 8 rebounds per game. Since April 7, he has started training with the ball. He is currently actively preparing for the playoffs and can return in the playoffs.

   Marion had 17 points and 10.5 rebounds, Joe Johnson had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Their scoring and rebounding dropped a bit.

  Starting from the 15th, major professional media conducted various analyzes on the first round.

  In the West, the mainstream view is that the Suns will face the Lakers in the second round, and the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves will meet in the second round.

  In the East, the mainstream view is that the Pacers will play against the Pistons in the second round, and the opponents of the Nets in the second round are not so clear. Depending on who plays better, the Heat and the Pelicans have a chance to reach the second round.

  ESPN, as in previous years, made predictions for the probability of winning for 16 teams.

After Lao Wang came back, the performance of the Suns was too good, and their personal strength was so strong that ESPN could not ignore it. The performances of several other strong teams also had their own problems, so this time the Suns became the team with the highest probability of winning. team, 35%.

  The Trail Blazers are second, 25%, and together with the Suns accounted for 60%. It can be seen that ESPN is basically sure that the championship will be produced by these two teams. Whoever can make it out of the West will win the championship.

   The third is the No. 1 Pacers in the East, 15%.

  The fourth is the Timberwolves, 10%.

  The fifth is the defending champion Nets, only 7%.

  The sixth is the Lakers of the Big Three, 4%,

  The seventh is the Pistons, 3%.

  The other 9 teams add up to 1%.

   "Brother, we are only 7%, it's too pitiful!" Dayao called to complain.

   "I heard from Kobe that O'Neal wants to trade and leave the team. Kobe wants to join forces with you. Do you want to go to the Lakers?" Lao Wang asked.

  Dayao over there was silent for a while, and said: "Forget it, I'm not bad here. I ran away as soon as I signed the contract. It's not righteous. If Mourning can recover to a certain strength next season, our strength will increase a lot."

  Old Wang smiled and said: "I guess your management will not agree."

  While the two were chatting, in Los Angeles, the postman Karl Malone was staring at ESPN's chances of winning the championship in a daze.

  For the dream of a championship, he ran from the Jazz to the Lakers, and lost the promise of one player, one city, but this season is a very disappointing season for him.

   Kobe's scandal made him completely unable to concentrate on the game, and he was sidelined for 17 games.

   O'Neal and Kobe have more and more contradictions, because of injuries, he also truce for 15 games.

  As for himself, injuries broke out again and again, and he even had a truce of 40 games.

  David Robinson can't be counted on.

  The so-called F4 lineup of the four giants is completely blown out by the media.

  Even if he beats the Kings in the first round and the Suns in the second round, he can't see any hope of reaching the Western Conference Finals.

  ESPN only gave the Lakers a 4% chance of winning the championship, accepting one-tenth of the Suns, he was really completely disappointed.

   "A life without a crown is like a dog."

  He remembered what Old K said to him, and couldn't help but sighed deeply, feeling very depressed.

  (end of this chapter)