Champion, please stay!

Chapter 170, Section 168: The Regular Season Ends!
"Royal Power: You have a 3-1 record against the Cavaliers in the regular season, giving you a head-to-head advantage. Congratulations on receiving the reward: 1 Intermediate Blind Box."

The next task is yet to be unlocked, requiring you to face off against LeBron James in the playoffs. Note: If you advance to a higher round while James does not, the task is completed immediately; if you do not advance to a higher round but James does, the task continues into the next season's playoffs.

"The intermediate blind box has been opened. Congratulations on receiving the reward: Enhanced Training (Month)."

After the final whistle blew, Yi Shui breathed a long sigh of relief.

The second training pass, not bad... He looked at the head coach wearing glasses opposite him.

Mike Brown's defense is truly fierce!

After the Cavaliers lost their first encounter, Mike Brown implemented a 'mid-range isolation' defensive strategy in the first game of the March series, forcing Yi Shui to take a lot of shots and score 40+ points, and also defeating the Knicks.

A month later, the 'mid-range isolation' was combined with a tough defense, which shut down the Knicks' offense at the start of the game.

Fortunately, D'Antoni's rotation was well-executed and Duhon's strong counter-attack performance was outstanding, which allowed them to withstand the opponent's defense and prevent the Cavaliers from extending their lead to double digits in the first quarter, which would have been much more difficult.

Curry's three-pointer at the start of the second quarter, which ignited the team's offensive surge, and Cheeks' on-the-spot adjustments to his defense against James after the opponent's long-range shooting performance declined, also played a crucial role.

However, Mike Brown's defensive prowess is matched by his offensive coaching skills... During the timeout, Yi Shui saw the opposing team huddled together discussing how the referee was going to urge them to come on, and thought the opponent would come up with some complicated tactics.

Surprisingly, it was James who received the ball and immediately went for a three-pointer!
To be honest, Yi Shui was actually a little nervous when James created some distance between them and when he saw James shoot the ball.

James' step-back move is very difficult to keep up with!

Because they didn't care about the rhythm or the shooting distance at all; they just wanted to jump back one step.

Anyway, Yi Shui just thought about that retreating step and felt that he couldn't imitate it.

James's technique doesn't rely on rhythm at all, so those shots have a chance of going in.

In short, having James rush to shoot three-pointers was a very unique idea and it certainly caught him off guard.

The player rotation is also bizarre. Szczerbiak was having such a good shooting night, but he only got consistent playing time in the final quarter... Is it because there are too many available role players and they don't know how to allocate playing time?

In the post-match interview, Yi Shui praised his teammates and coaches.

When asked to evaluate his performance, he replied, "My role tonight was just a shooting machine. Chris, Stephen, and Al were responsible for organizing the offense, pushing the fast break, and facilitating the offense. Without them, I wouldn't have had such good shooting opportunities and wouldn't have scored so many points."

On the other side, James, back in the locker room for an interview, said, "I tried my best, but our outside shooting suddenly went cold tonight, which caused us to fall too far behind after the first three quarters, and the other team was shooting better..."

...

The next day at noon, Yi Shui returned to New York with the team. While browsing the news during his lunch break, he saw James' interview from the previous night.

So, when the Cavaliers played such a high-intensity defense, they didn't consider that their shooting touch would be affected, and they didn't even make corresponding preparations on the offensive end?
During the game, Yi Shui thought the Cavaliers' strategy was for James to just shoot. James did play very hard in those two quarters. Including the shots he drew and went to the free-throw line, James took 8 shots in the second quarter and 10 shots in the third quarter. It turned out that it was all improvisation...

That evening, after finishing training and returning home, Yi Shui saw the news: Wade scored 17 points in the final quarter, leading the Heat to a one-point lead over the Hawks in the final moments of the game after trailing by 15 points in the third quarter, scoring 50 points in a single game... but was defeated by Bibby's buzzer-beating three-pointer.

The Hawks defeated the Heat 101-99, finishing the regular season with a 54-28 record.

Yi Shui anticipated the Hawks' victory, but they almost suffered a setback, highlighting their inconsistency...

Conley has been really strong these past few years. If you give him a player who can organize the offense and make shots when needed, he could challenge a team with nearly 55 wins.

Another piece of news: Rose got into serious trouble...

April 20th marked the final day of the regular season.

Today, the NBA has scheduled a total of 12 games, with the most attention focused on three games: Lakers vs. Jazz, Cavaliers vs. Heat, and Knicks vs. Nets.

Rumors circulated that Phil Jackson originally planned to rest the Lakers' twin towers in the last two games, abandoning the pursuit of the league's top seed. At that time, with only two games remaining, the Lakers had a record of 62 wins and 18 losses, while the Cavaliers had a record of 63 wins and 17 losses, trailing by one game and seemingly unable to catch up.

But the Cavaliers lost to the Knicks the night before last, bringing their record to 63 wins and 18 losses!

So last night, the Lakers went all out, with Kobe scoring 26 points in the third quarter, leading the team to a 45-19 run against the Grizzlies. In the end, the Lakers crushed the Grizzlies 132-94 by 38 points.

Kobe scored 58 points in the game, tying Yi Shui's record for the highest single-game score this season. There were still 8 and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter when Kobe asked to leave the game.

The hottest topic this morning was Kobe's post-game interview.

“Getting 58 points is no big deal. I can get it 10 times a year if I want to.”

"We were just two points away from 60, why didn't I shoot? Why should I shoot? It's only 60 points, who cares?"

When Yi Shui saw the news, he felt that the old blacksmith had been holding back for the past two weeks and finally let out his anger at the last moment of the season. It was just a pity for Rose, the second rookie of the 08 class...

However, no one thought there was anything wrong with what the old blacksmith said, and no one even said he was showing off; it seemed that was just how things were.

Tonight, the Lakers will face the Jazz at home in a back-to-back game. If they win, they can secure the top seed in the regular season based on their head-to-head record against the Cavaliers.

For the Cavaliers to take first place, they need to defeat the Heat. For the Lakers, losing also gives them a chance, since they are playing back-to-back games.

For the Knicks, a win in their farewell game would make them the fifth team this season to reach 55 wins, which is more important to fans than home-court advantage.

At 1 p.m., the Celtics' home game against the Raptors tipped off, marking the beginning of the regular season.

The Knicks' game started very late, at 9 p.m., and this game was again a 'special offer for the Chinese market'.

Last summer, the Nets traded Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian, clearly indicating that their goal for the new season was not to win, but to cut costs and gamble on whether they could make a living in the Chinese market.

The Knicks had just won the number one draft pick, changed their head coach, and cut Marbury, Randolph, and Crawford, among other top stars, who were also traded away for low prices... At that time, no one expected them to achieve any good results, and even the reports from American cable sports only focused on Yi Shui.

The NBA officially scheduled this game specifically for broadcast on Chinese television.

But tonight, this game in the United States replaced the originally scheduled nationally televised Hornets vs. Spurs game...

After the game started, the Knicks, with an unwavering belief in victory and a full-scale offensive attack from the outset, quickly seized the initiative.

In the first quarter, the Knicks rotated nine players, and each of them scored, leading the Nets 34-26 by eight points in the quarter!
In the second quarter, Harris drove to the basket relentlessly, and Carter took a lot of shots, performing well. In addition, Yi Jianlian made 2 of 3 three-pointers, bringing the Nets' score to 28 points.

However, the Knicks managed to maintain their lead thanks to 8 points each from Big Q and David Lee, who scored 28 points in the quarter!
In the third quarter, his teammates went cold, but Yi Shui stepped up, making 5 of 9 shots and 2 of 2 free throws for 12 points. With Curry's two three-pointers at the end of the quarter, the Knicks scored 29 points in the quarter.

For the Nets, after Harris and Carter went cold offensively, no one could step up. Brook Lopez was double-teamed in the paint, and Yi Jianlian couldn't get the ball when he ran out of position on the perimeter or cut in from the wing... The team's score dropped to 24 points in the quarter.

After three quarters, the Knicks led the Nets 91-78 by 13 points!
After the point difference widened to double digits, the Nets players' desire to prove themselves in the final game completely collapsed.

In the final quarter, the Nets took 24 shots, making only 5. Harris, Carter, Yi Jianlian, and Ryan Anderson surrounded them on the perimeter, but they only made 1 of 12 three-point attempts. In addition, Brook Lopez grabbed two offensive rebounds and drew fouls, making all 4 of his free throws, but he only scored 15 points in the quarter.

For the Knicks, the starting lineup for the fourth quarter was Duhon, Q, Wilson Chandler, Swift, and Anderson. D'Antoni originally intended to give the core combination of Yi Jianlian, Curry, Harrington, and David Lee a few minutes of rest, but after those four sat down, they didn't get a chance to get up again.

Du Hong led four fast and agile teammates to score 31 points in a single quarter!
易水出战26分钟，20投11中，其中三分球1中1，加上5中5的罚球，拿到28分6板3助攻2盖帽，三节打卡下班。

大卫-李16分、库里12分、杜洪5分11助攻、威尔森-钱德勒17分、鸟人15分、斯威夫特14分……

尼克斯队今晚11人上场、11个人全部有得分，6人得分上双，以122比93狂胜篮网队29分，拿下谢幕战，以55胜27负结束常规赛！

...

After the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks' record over the past ten years was displayed on the big screen. The last time they had a better record was 12 years ago in the 96-97 season!

The fans at the scene cheered wildly, and Yi Shui and his teammates also celebrated excitedly.

Before the season started, who could have imagined that the team would have such a record by the end of the regular season? Who dared to think it?

But they did it!

After the celebration, Yi Shui looked at the player statistics for both teams posted on the big screen.

Seeing his teammates all scoring, with so many scoring in double figures... he felt that this was the reason they had won so many victories this season, and that everyone was doing their best to do what they were supposed to do!

对面，卡特拿到全场第二高的28分、哈里斯拿到全场第三高的23分外加5助攻、大洛佩茨12分14板……

Yi Jianlian made 6 of 14 field goals, including 2 of 6 three-pointers, and 2 of 3 free throws, scoring 16 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, a pretty good performance. Before the final quarter, Yi Shui remembers that Yi Jianlian was making 6 of 10 field goals, but in the final quarter, he missed all 4 of his three-point attempts, dragging down his shooting percentage.

Yi Jianlian played very well in the first three quarters, and his playing style impressed Yi Shui.

He recalled their first encounter before Christmas. Yi Jianlian was still playing the "core style" and loved to attack with the ball. His performance was disappointing, averaging 8 points per game with an overall field goal percentage of less than 40%. He also had a low-post conflict with Brook Lopez.

I don't know why those skinny guys would go and go head-to-head with those muscular men in a low position.

At that time, the scouting report showed that Yi Jianlian had a 35% three-point shooting percentage when receiving the ball and a 64% close-range shooting percentage when cutting to receive the ball. It wouldn't be to say that he was that strong, but it was much more efficient than his ball-handling attack.

That night, when Yi Shui and Yi Jianlian went to a bar in Jersey City, Yi Shui, after drinking, brought up the topic of playing style with Yi Jianlian, suggesting that he separate his "national team" and "club" roles, make good use of his strengths, and cited Ginobili, Arroyo, and others as examples...

At the time, Yi Shui didn't care whether Yi Jianlian listened or not, and he never mentioned it again during their subsequent matches, treating it as drunken ramblings. Besides, they didn't communicate as much in private as he and Yao Ming did, so he just let it go after mentioning it once.

After all, some things are not entirely up to the players to decide.

Just like how the team behind Yi Jianlian often hinted to him 'don't call yourself an inside player,' the team and brands behind Yi Jianlian may also have requirements regarding his playing style.

Surprisingly, Yi Jianlian actually listened to the advice and changed his playing style!

Before the game, when Yi Shui was reviewing the scouting report, he saw that Yi Jianlian was averaging 11.3 points and 6 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 43%, which was much better than he remembered Yi Jianlian's performance in the NBA!
Judging from Yi Jianlian's performance tonight, this "avoiding defense" style of play is obviously more suitable for Yi, who is not strong enough but has excellent speed and jumping ability at the power forward position.

In fact, Yi Jianlian's adjustment of his playing style was not entirely due to "listening to advice," but mainly influenced by "realistic factors."

Yi Jianlian rose to superstardom in his rookie year, and his status in the hearts of Chinese fans underwent a tremendous change.

Originally, domestic fans expected Yi Jianlian to become the 'next Yao Ming'.

However, with Yi Shui, who is the same age as Yi Jianlian and whose performance is far superior to Yi Jianlian's, making them incomparable, expectations for him have changed.

The image management team and brands need to be adjusted accordingly, including their marketing strategies.

Catching long-range shots, cutting to the basket for easy baskets, and setting screens on the wings—these are exactly what Yi Shui and Yao Ming need their teammates to do in national team games.

...

After finishing up the post-game chores and making plans with Yi Jianlian for a dinner together back in China in the summer, Yi Shui returned home and turned on his computer.

Two hours ago, at 12:40 AM, the last game of the regular season, between the Lakers and the Jazz, ended, officially concluding the regular season.

Yi Shui opened the game report between the Lakers and the Jazz: 125 to 92... The Jazz are really in a bad situation!

The old blacksmith was going on a scoring spree for the top spot in the regular season when he ran into the Jazz, his 'childhood nightmare,' and scored another 40 points!
25投13中、其中三分球2中1、还有14中13的罚球！
除开三分和攻框，科比在中距离投进了9球！加上有3次中投被犯规6罚6中，在中距离狂飙24分！
After defeating the Jazz, the Lakers improved their record to 64 wins and 18 losses. The Cavaliers also won, defeating the Heat 102-93, bringing their record to 64 wins and 18 losses as well.

However, since the Cavaliers lost both of their previous encounters with the Lakers, the Lakers secured first place in the regular season thanks to their head-to-head record.

Western Conference Rankings:

湖人队64胜18负第一、掘金队53胜29负第二、马刺队53胜29负第三、开拓者队53胜29负第四、火箭队53胜29负第五、小牛队49胜33负第六、黄蜂队48胜34负第七、爵士队48胜34负第八。

Despite having a roster that seemed no worse than the Lakers', the Suns' inconsistent style of play resulted in a 46-36 record, failing to make the playoffs.

The Grizzlies are the most surprising team in the West. They had such a terrible start, but they still managed to climb to tenth place in the West with a record of 40 wins and 42 losses. It was only because Marion was injured and sidelined that they were able to make the playoffs, but at least they could have made it past .500.

The player who prevented the Grizzlies from achieving a .500 winning percentage was none other than the veteran Timberwolves, who stepped up in the last two games...

Eastern Conference Rankings:

骑士队64胜18负第一、凯尔特人队60胜22负第二、魔术队58胜24负第三、尼克斯队55胜27负第四、老鹰队54胜28负第五、热火队41胜41负第六、步行者队39胜43负第七、76人队36胜46负第八。

公牛队34胜48负第九、活塞队33胜49负第十、山猫队30胜52负第十一。

Yi Shui felt it was a real pity that these three teams didn't make the playoffs, as it was all due to human error.

当然最让他遗憾的还是凯尔特人队，前面57场比赛45胜12负，最后25场比赛只有15胜10负。

If the Celtics had maintained their form before Garnett's injury, they could very well have won 67 or 68 games, putting the Lakers and Cavaliers out of the running for the top seed in the regular season.

He could have faced this Celtics team, now in their true prime, in the playoffs...

倒数前三分别是15胜67负的奇才队、17胜65负的国王队、19胜63负的雷霆队。

Yi Shui remembered that the number one pick had nothing to do with these three teams. In fact, only the Thunder got a top-three pick. However, things are likely to change. The Grizzlies have already won 40 games, which is better than the seventh team in the East. It would be a miracle if they got the second pick.

Before the Lakers-Jazz game even ended, major media outlets had already begun compiling statistics for each team and star player.

Yi Shui first looked at their team's data.

靠着最后10场比赛场均115.3分，把前72场比赛打完时的场均109.5分拔高到了110.25分！赛季总得分9041分，联盟第一！

The Suns are second with an average of 108.6 points per game, the Warriors are third with an average of 108.3 points per game, the Lakers are fourth with an average of 107 points per game, and the Nuggets are fifth with an average of 105.3 points per game.

The team with the lowest average points per game is the Grizzlies, with 93.5 points per game. They are the only team with an average score below 95 points. However, the Grizzlies only allow 94.5 points per game, and their overall defense is very good, ranking sixth lowest in the league.

The league median score is just over 99 points, with the Hornets, ranked 15th, averaging 99.3 points and the Hawks, ranked 16th, averaging 99 points per game.

In terms of points allowed per game, the Knicks are not so good. They allowed a total of 8782 points in 82 games, averaging 107.1 points per game, the third highest in the league. Only the Suns, who allowed 107.5 points per game, and the Warriors, who allowed 112 points per game, are worse than them.

With an average margin of victory of 3.15 points, they rank last among teams with 50 or more wins.

Even the Suns last season had a net point differential of 5.1 points per game.

Seeing this, Yi Shui recalled that their season had indeed not been easy.

They are said to be very good at beating weaker teams, but if the opponent has a strong inside player or a good outside penetrator, they can keep the game close until the final quarter. For example, against the Raptors, the highest point difference was only 11 points, and there were two games where the point difference was in single digits. If they want to win, they really have to go all out from the moment they step onto the court and fight until the very last moment.

易水个人这边，82场比赛全勤，场均出战37分钟，合计拿到2296分、714板、464助攻、146抢断、169盖帽、以及投进了178个三分……外加231次失误和240次犯规。

场均刚好28分，外加8.7板5.6助攻1.8抢断2盖帽2.8失误2.9犯规，投篮命中率47.9%，罚球命中率87.3%。

He made 178 of 432 three-point attempts, averaging 2.17 three-pointers per game with a 41.2% success rate. His three-point average ranks behind Artest and tenth in the league!

The team's second-best player is David Lee, one of only three players on the team who played every game, averaging 15.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.

Next is Curry, one of the three players who played every game. His performance improved in the later part of the season, and his final stats were 14.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 30 minutes per game.

Besides those three, there are two other players who average double-digit points: Big Q, who played 72 games and averaged 11.4 points per game, and Swift, who played 74 games and averaged 10.5 points per game.

The player with the third-highest assists on the team is Du Hong, who has played 80 games, averaging 26 minutes per game, and scoring 7.6 points and 5.2 assists. He has the highest assist efficiency on the team, and his turnovers are also better controlled than Yi Shui and Curry.

In the league-wide statistics, Wade played 75 games, averaging 30.6 points per game, and won the scoring title.

James averaged 28.2 points per game, second; Yi Shui averaged 28 points per game, third; and Kobe Bryant averaged 27 points per game, fourth.

Howard led the league in rebounding with 14 rebounds per game, while Randolph came in second with 12.8 rebounds per game.

Looking solely at offensive rebounds, Randolph leads with an average of 4.1 per game.

In the assists rankings, Paul slipped to 11 assists per game, but still beat Deron Williams, who averaged 10.7 assists per game, to take the assist title. Williams' average of 11.2 assists per game, which he had three months ago, also dropped.

Dwight Howard won the blocks title with an average of 2.9 blocks per game, while the second place went to... Chris Anderson! He averaged 2.5 blocks in 20 minutes of playing time per game.

Without Yi Shui and Birdman averaging a combined 4.5 blocks per game, the Knicks' interior defense would be utterly unwatchable.

In the steals rankings, Chris Paul leads with an average of 2.8 steals per game, followed by Dwyane Wade with 2 steals per game, and Yi Jianlian with 1.8 steals per game, ranking seventh.

易水注意到了一个球员的数据——武圣杰克逊，打了60场，场均20.6分5.1板6助攻4.1失误。

He strongly suspected that the mad scientist and King had a grudge against each other...

There are so many ways to give up, but the mad scientist chose the most controversial one!
(End of this chapter)