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Chapter 158, Page 156: The Celtics' Big Three at their Peak Are Now History

After the All-Star Weekend, with a record of only 2 wins and 2 losses, both the individual players and the team are in a lot of trouble with ESPN experts.

These days, Yi Shui has only been thinking about how to improve himself and how to improve his team's performance, and he has no mind to pay attention to the monthly best player award.

Seeing the data posted in the news about the Player of the Month award, he realized that their record in February was 8 wins and 3 losses!
He remembered that from the last game against the Grizzlies in January to the last game before the All-Star break, they had a record of 7 wins and 1 loss. In those two weeks, they had the best record in the league, and their record of 36 wins and 16 losses, which had dropped them to 29 wins and 15 losses, which had dropped them to 29 wins and 15 losses, which had dropped them to 29 wins and 11 losses, which was 29 wins and 15 losses, was 29 wins and 15 losses, which was 29 wins and 15 losses, and they were 29 wins and 11 losses, respectively ...

The main reason is that there was an 8-day All-Star break in between, and when we came back from the break to play the Trail Blazers, our mentality was completely focused on the new stage of the competition.

那波7胜1负，有6胜1负是在2月前半段，加上后面的2胜2负，单月战绩依旧是联盟第一，比8胜4负的爵士队和凯尔特人队、7胜4负的骑士队都要好。

2月份易水记得他大部分比赛得分都不高，全明星周末前，正在适应状态、全明星周末后又被针对了，但单月场均得分居然高达28.7分！外加8.3板6.3助攻1.6抢断1.9盖帽。

He opened the Knicks' official website section and clicked on his personal data details... Oh, I see.

11场比赛开头打勇士队拿到44分、中间打热火队拿到36分、全明星假期结束后首场打开拓者队拿到31分，最后一场打马刺队30投拿到37分，这3场比赛硬生生将场均24分拉高到了28.7分。

As for the first month's Player of the Month award, Yi Shui himself felt that the league saw that his performance was worthy of the award and wanted to promote him.

Seeing his own data, achievements, and the fact that he was the focus of analysis by some media outlets and the target of his competitors... he was very confident that he had genuinely defeated all his competitors to win the award!
The official website's award announcement lists four other candidates from the Eastern Conference.

霍华德，单月10场比赛场均24分14板3.3盖帽，数据爆炸，但魔术队单月战绩5胜5负。

At the beginning of the month, the Magic had a 2-1 record, and after Nelson's season-ending injury, they went 2-4. Howard's ability to lead the team alone was questioned by some media. However, the Rockets' assist came in time. Last night, Alston scored 11 points and 9 assists in his debut, including 3 three-pointers, assisting Turkoglu in leading the team to rain down three-pointers. This helped the Magic easily defeat the Trail Blazers 111-99 and maintain their precarious third place in the Eastern Conference.

Like Howard, Wade had great stats for the month, averaging 31+6+5, but his record was also not great, with 6 wins and 5 losses. The last time he won Player of the Month with a similar performance was because his record was much better than the month before. In February, his stats and record were stable and without fluctuations compared to January.

Granger was just there to make up the numbers.

The Celtics, Hawks, and Cavaliers all have good records, but the first two are team-oriented teams and no one has a candidate for Player of the Month.

骑士队，7胜4负，詹姆斯场均26+8+8+1.7+1数据也够。

但易水觉得他8胜3负、场均28+8+6+1.6+1.9，不论战绩、还是数据都要更好一些。

In the West, Deron Williams beat Billups, Paul, Gasol, Duncan, and Roy to win the award, averaging 22.5 points and 12 assists per game in a single month, leading his team to an 8-4 record, the best in the West, and overtaking the Trail Blazers and Nuggets to take first place in the Northwest Division and third in the West.

Coach of the Month: Mike D'Antoni won in the East, while Jerry Sloan won in the West.

Rookie of the Month, in the East, it's still Derrick Rose; in the West, two-thirds of the season has passed, and Rose has finally secured his position as the top rookie in the West, winning the award for two consecutive months.

...

Yi Shui calmed his excited heart, tried to straighten his trembling hands, and then, with a "I knew it" expression, returned to the training ground. He followed Walsh to the president's office, drank a small glass of red wine to celebrate, and then returned to the training ground to continue training.

Even though you've won the award, you still need to train, and even harder. If your performance declines afterward, the consequences will be even more severe.

At noon, Yi Shui received the Player of the Month trophy and Rookie of the Month certificate. It's really good to be so close; the league staff took a stroll before lunch and delivered them to him.

Two Player of the Month trophies, four Rookie of the Month certificates, two Player of the Week certificates, two Player of the Week trophies purchased by the team, an All-Star Rising Stars Challenge MVP trophy, an All-Star Game ring... The bookshelves in the study aren't so empty anymore.

After lunch, Yi Shui browsed the news and forums for a while and saw that his popularity and traffic continued to skyrocket!
Winning Player of the Month twice as a rookie is a first in NBA history!

This Player of the Month award allowed him to capitalize on the increased attention he received from winning the Rookie of the Year vote!

Many media outlets and experts have actually compared his rookie year performance with that of Larry Bird and Tim Duncan, and the discussion is—who is the strongest rookie since 1976?

Previous players can't be compared together and are usually discussed separately. Otherwise, let alone players like Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's rookie year averaged 28.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists, and reportedly also averaged 5+ blocks per game, which would have crushed all rookies since 1976.

But the voices from the opposing sides are also more intense. This time, ESPN, NBC and other networks seem to no longer care about the 'prestige' of the awards, insisting that the current Player of the Month award is only equivalent to the Player of the Month award for the half month before the awards were split in 01.

Yi Shui saw that his team didn't seem to deny the claim. Bartelstein continued their magical exchange... It's better to hurt the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own than to lose two hundred of your own while the other side is unharmed. Anyway, the trophy is already in his wardrobe.

However, compared to these, Yi Shui noticed something he found even more interesting. Every year when discussing the 'Best Rookie,' there would always be a 'Greatest Rookie of All Time' list—Jordan first, Oscar Robertson second, and LeBron James third, with the criteria for inclusion being an average of at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

大鸟场均20+10+4？邓肯场均21+11？奥尼尔场均23+13？大卫-罗宾逊场均24+12？没有场均5助攻就入不了这个榜单。

Moreover, the appearance of this list feels abrupt. For example, last season, the best rookie, Durant, barely averaged 20+ points per game, which is not related to the 'greatest of all time', but this list just appears at the beginning and end of each month.

This season, apart from a brief appearance at the very beginning, we haven't seen them for a long time.

Today, Yi Shui learned what 'traffic monetization' means. Hook contacted him and prepared to launch a player-exclusive version of sneakers for him, with small-scale production, which is what fans often call a PE (Player Exclusive) collector's edition. He was asked to choose a classic sneaker to be modified.

Just like the two PEs before the Olympics and the start of the regular season, he chose the S-4 again. This shoe is indeed good. Although it is not a high-top shoe, its support performance is comparable to most high-top shoes. The 'Emperor 1' was also designed in this direction.

Curry's PE also chose the fourth driving test...

Old Blacksmith: Are these still my sneakers? They're practically shaped like New York City now!
Meanwhile, HTG, a streetwear brand that is currently in preparation, also took this opportunity to promote itself.

The team unveiled their new T-shirts this afternoon, which simply changed the original text to "Best Rookie of All Time".

The fast food brand he endorsed changed its packaging, and the wristband also had a new color scheme and lettering... Innovation is just a skin change.

As evening fell, Yi Shui was browsing the news before bed when she came across a story that made her heart skip a beat.

In the final moments of the game against the Jazz, Garnett received a lob pass from Rondo and completed an alley-oop. Upon landing, he collided with the ball and fell to the ground, injuring his knee and leaving the game.
...

March 2nd marked the Knicks' 57th game day.

This month, Yi Shui is under unprecedented pressure – from today until the 31st, 30 days, 17 games, their most intensive month of the season!

But he was mentally prepared to meet the challenge.

After finishing his morning preparations, at noon, Yi Shui saw the news he didn't want to see—the Celtics officially announced that Garnett had suffered a stress tear in his right ACL and would miss the rest of the season.

Online, media outlets and fans alike are hurling insults at Boozer.

The scene at the time was that Boozer couldn't keep up with Garnett's run and rushed to the basket, where Garnett had already completed the alley-oop. Boozer didn't dodge and collided with Garnett as he fell, causing Garnett to fall to the ground and pull his leg.

This directly led to Garnett's season-ending injury, and Boozer was also penalized with a flagrant foul after the game.

However, the Celtics announced a 'stress injury,' meaning that Garnett's ligaments were already overburdened.

Yi Shui realized just how dirty the Jazz team under Sloan's coaching was. Boozer's many misdeeds throughout his career can't be washed away no matter how hard you try, and this foul was just him venting his emotions.

At that point, the Celtics were already leading by more than ten points and had secured the victory, which is why Rondo and Garnett were playing the flight attendant celebration.

But Rivers also has a lot of problems!

Last season, the Big Three had just been formed, and they wanted to compete for first place in the regular season and prove themselves, which is understandable.

But they've already won the championship, and it's their second year. Their regular season tactics haven't changed. While maintaining high-intensity defense, they're still focusing on fast breaks. This coaching is simply inept! Ray Allen is 33 years old, Garnett is 32, and Pierce is 31.

The Celtics currently have a record of 45 wins and 12 losses, ranking first in the league. Now that Garnett is out for the season, the Celtics have lost all hope of defending their title.

Yi Shui felt a deep sense of regret, a melancholy that arose from the realization that "I was born when you were already old." He had never properly faced the Answer, the Pistons' starting five, or the Celtics' Big Three at their peak...

As evening fell, the Knicks hosted the Bobcats.

Facing Elvis, who suffered a fractured right sternum and a serious lung injury and returned to the court with a sudden drop in form after less than a month of rest, Yi Shui made 8 of 15 shots, scoring 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, leading the Knicks to an easy victory of 104-90!

(End of this chapter)