Champion, please stay!

Chapter 224, Section 222: The Christmas Battle
Madison Square Garden erupted in revelry!
They entered Christmas with a record of 23 wins and 4 losses, tying for fifth all-time with the 06-07 Mavericks!

自有详细数据统计以来，只有95-96赛季和96-97赛季的公牛队、99-00赛季的湖人队、07-08赛季的凯尔特人队，圣诞节前的战绩比这更好，都是24胜3负。

Although it's not tied with those other teams for the best of all time, it's already a new team record, a significant improvement!

Feeling the frenzied atmosphere, Westbrook couldn't take it anymore and rushed towards the players' tunnel.

Durant looked at Westbrook, and tonight he learned a little more about his teammate.

He knew that Turtle and Li Bingbing had a good relationship in private and jointly owned a streetwear brand with a high valuation, but on the court, Turtle didn't hold back at all when facing Li Bingbing and gave it his all... Of course, the other side did the same.

Such a strong reaction after losing shows a genuine desire for victory!
That's good. Durant will feel much better if a player like that takes the ball from him. If a player who isn't very competitive but is obsessed with stats had taken the ball from him, he would definitely sign a qualifying contract next year.

Looking at Yi Shui, who was surrounded by reporters and cameras, Durant also prepared to leave.

I don't want to see Yi Shui again for now. Durant only admires that guy's basketball skills; he believes he has the potential to catch up.

But he was genuinely jealous of that handsome face!

When the media joked about Yi Shui, they all said that if he didn't work hard at playing ball, he could only go to Hollywood and become a star.

When people tease him, it becomes, "If you're this tall and can't play basketball, you'll only be able to become a painter..."

...

After playing the Thunder, the Knicks had two days of rest, and the coaching staff did not arrange any training. That night, the whole team went to a nightclub to celebrate their good record in the early part of the season.

The next day at noon, Yi Shui woke up refreshed and full of energy.

He parted the legs of the two large women clinging to him on either side and got up to take a shower.

Thinking back to last night's game, even though it's been a night, I still feel excited.

Just like those two games against the Suns and Nuggets.

However, compared to those two teams, the Thunder are clearly weaker. Their floor is too low. They are very strong when their stars are going head-to-head, but once Durant can't carry the team, the Thunder don't have much of a fighting chance.

Looking back on the two games against the Trail Blazers and the second game against the Bulls, Yi Shui felt good. However, he didn't remember most of the games during the winning streak, especially the first few. He was in such good form then that once he got going, the opponent was gone.

He opened the system and looked at the ongoing mission 'The Enemy of the Mirror'.

Goal 1: To score more points than Durant in both games against the Thunder. He achieved this last night with 45 points, while Durant scored 39.

Target 2: He remembers that he went one-on-one against Durant at least 20 times last night.

However, the system only recognized 17 one-on-one opportunities, meaning Durant only had 17 one-on-one chances against him.

其中出手13次，有4次吸引夹击后分球了，13次出手进了6球，4次分球有3次拿到助攻。

In his 17 one-on-one responses, he only made 2 passes, shooting 8 of 15. Both passes resulted in assists, and his one-on-one goals and assists combined totaled 10 to 9, narrowly achieving goal 2.

Yi Shui felt inexplicably melancholy. He had just finished playing against the Thunder, and he was already looking forward to the next time they would face off, but that next matchup wouldn't be until March.

After taking a shower, Yi Shui said goodbye to the two girls who had already woken up and left the hotel to go home.

After getting home, he browsed the news for a while. The third quarter of last night's game had become the focus of discussion among the media and fans.

The unprecedented one-on-one battle between two tall players on the perimeter has been described as a futuristic form of basketball.

Yi Shui saw that the two young players were enjoying the same treatment they received last season. Even if they lost to strong teams, as long as their individual performance was good, most media and fans would not criticize them, except for a very few media outlets and a very few extreme fans. Instead, they expressed their expectations.

To be precise, Durant is treated better by the media outside of New York than he is by some media outlets. Some media outlets seem to be intentionally praising Durant and creating a persona of Durant as an adversary of them.

Last night in the third quarter, Durant battled him for nearly 11 minutes, only losing out in the last minute or so of the quarter. His performance was indeed excellent.

ESPN data expert Hollinger wrote a column to comment that compared to Brook, Kevin's biggest problems are game experience and stamina, his shot selection is worse and his consistency is worse; secondly, his confidence and ability are lacking. Without a height advantage, he plays more hastily and abandons some of his usual shooting methods. His shooting itself is also somewhat inferior to Brook's.

These individual differences may not seem significant, but when combined, they represent a difference between 15 points and 21 points in a single quarter.

Besides last night's match and the preview of the upcoming Christmas game, Yi Shui also saw a news item related to him: a change in a ranking list.

After last night, his three-point total for the season has increased to 73, averaging 27 three-pointers per game in 2.7 games. He has surpassed Aaron Brooks, who has made 71 three-pointers in 27 games and averaged 2.63 three-pointers per game, and moved into second place on the three-point list!

First is Granger of the Pacers, who averages 3 three-pointers per game.

Yi Shui remembered that Granger averaged 2.7 three-pointers per game last season, second only to Lewis. This season, Lewis lost Turkoglu's passing and the team gained another three-point expert, Carter, so his long-range shooting performance declined. It was not surprising that Granger topped the three-point list.

However, Yi Shui saw in the news that Granger's three-point shooting percentage was over 40% last season and the season before last, but so far this season it is only 37.5%, with a total of 81 made out of 216 three-point attempts, averaging 3 made out of 8 attempts per game!
But looking at the Pacers' player stats, Randolph averages 4.3 offensive rebounds per game, more than Howard's 4.1 per game... then it's not surprising.

If it were him, he would also shoot eight or nine three-pointers every game.

他最近一个月15场比赛有5场三分出手数达到10次及以上，27场比赛合计三分出手也才169次，命中73球，命中率43.2%。

The team needs him to raise the ceiling, but also needs him to be a safety net. In tough matches where there's no other way, he can play recklessly, but against weaker teams, he must be steady and ensure the team doesn't suffer a setback.

As evening approached, Yi Shui was about to ask a girl out for dinner when he received a phone call and went to a club to have dinner and discuss business with Westbrook.

The Thunder have three days of rest today, tomorrow and the day after, and they don't have a game until the 26th. After all, they were the third overall pick last season, and this season they have directly entered the Western Conference playoff competition, which is quite unexpected. Otherwise, they would not have earned the title of "the number one team with the most talented players".

The Thunder's schedule is similar to that of the Knicks last season. Yi Shui's rookie year was able to play in the Christmas Day game thanks to the "Chinese Derby", but the young Oklahoma City team didn't have that kind of treatment.

They fought tooth and nail on the court, and even in the latter part of the fourth quarter when several of his talented teammates were exhausted, they refused to give up. But off the court, their relationship remained unaffected...

...

After a day of rest, Christmas Eve has arrived, and the entire league is on holiday.

Although he intended to "do as the Romans do," Yi Shui celebrated Christmas purely as a Western holiday for the "third time," simply buying an apple and eating it. The brand and his agent, aware of this, arranged two events for him on that day, as they liked this kind of spokesperson.

Yao Ming was in a similar situation. The Rockets' chartered plane arrived in New York in the afternoon, but Yao Ming had already arrived in the morning and had also conducted business activities in New York in the afternoon.

That evening, the two men met for dinner and chatted about their recent lives. Yao Ming's words were full of envy.

The Knicks have been unable to acquire any big-name players in the past two summers due to salary cap constraints; they haven't brought in any big names, which seems to be worse than the Rockets' high-profile signings.

However, their management has already used every available exception, and they don't care whether salaries continue to increase. They've even found ways to replace bad contracts with good ones, doing everything they can to improve their capabilities.

Meanwhile, in the early part of the season, they were still using the gimmick of the 'Houston version of the OK combination' to sell tickets, but they couldn't keep up with the hype, so they started trying to make trades... I wonder what they can get in return.

Yao Ming felt envious and melancholy, but Yi Shui was in a good mood when he saw Yao Ming, thinking that the Little Giant could still play!
He saw it when he was browsing the news yesterday. Yao Ming played 23 of the first 27 games of this season, with an attendance rate similar to last season. Two of those games were back-to-backs with four games in five days. He explicitly asked the coaching staff not to play the second game of either of those back-to-backs so that he could rest.

On Yao Ming's birthday, Yi Shui brought up the topic of "rest rotation," and unexpectedly, Yao Ming took it to heart.

It might also be related to the Rockets' overall strength this season; they really don't have much of a future.

姚明个人表现依旧出色，场均打31分钟，13投7.3中，以56.1%命中率拿到19.6分8.3板2.3助攻2盖帽。

Highly efficient scorer, strong one-on-one player, and good rim protection; he's a shoo-in for the All-NBA team.

However, the Rockets are currently 15-12, and they also lost a game the day before yesterday. They continue to be tied for ninth place in the Western Conference with the Thunder. Unlike the Thunder, who are still on the rise, the Rockets have clearly reached their peak.

Given the Rockets' current situation, they are likely to fall out of the Western Conference playoff race, with the earliest stretch of 17 games in January and the latest in March when other teams begin their final push.

However, the fact that the Rockets agreed to rest Yao Ming might be because Yao Ming can opt out of his contract next summer?
Although Yi Shui and Yao Ming did not discuss the contract, he saw the news that Yao Ming rejected the Rockets' offer of a three-year short-term contract.

Two days of rest passed in a flash, and on December 25th, Yi Shui ushered in his second Christmas game in his professional career.

This year, the NBA has only scheduled three Christmas Day games.

The final game was a classic Lakers-Green battle.

湖人队目前以20胜7负，落后21胜6负的太阳队1个胜场，排在西部第二。

After a dismal 4-7 start, the Celtics have gradually recovered, achieving a respectable 10-6 record since late November. Currently, they have a 14-13 record, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference, behind the Knicks, Cavaliers, Magic, Pacers, Heat, and Hawks.

The first game was a home game between the Magic and the Cavaliers. The last two high school number one draft picks in the NBA, two generations of superheroes... the topic was also very popular.

The "Chinese Derby" stuck in the middle is also a "Chinese market exclusive".

As the league's only superstar-level traditional center, Yao Ming's away games in New York drew immense enthusiasm from local fans in the greater New York area and Chinese communities across the United States.

However, other fan groups are not very interested in this game.

The gap in team strength is too large. The Knicks had the second-best record in history before Christmas, while the Rockets' playoff hopes were slim; the star matchups were also mismatched.

However, domestically, the hype surrounding this match surpasses that of the other two matches combined...

At 8 p.m., the Knicks and Rockets will play their Christmas Day game at Madison Square Garden.

The first half was very intense. Yao Ming has played very few games this season due to various reasons, you could count them on one hand, but he started the game very aggressively tonight.

More than a dozen months have passed since Yao Ming started losing weight, and his playing style has also changed significantly. He rarely sits down to play anymore and prefers to rely on his position to play high up and shoot from close range, which is still unstoppable.

But apart from Yao Ming, the rest of the Rockets... can only be described as very resilient and hardworking.

Ariza plays hard on defense and shoots decisively, but his shooting is incredibly poor. So far this season, he has a 38% field goal percentage and a 32% three-point percentage, averaging 14 points on 13 shots per game, which is a serious drag on the team's overall performance.

McGrady started and played for a few minutes before being substituted and never returned to the game.

首节尼克斯队26比25领先1分、第二节26比27落后1分，两队半场打成了52比52平，但到了第三节，半场10投8中加上4中4的罚球拿到20分的姚明体力下滑后，火箭队崩了。

The Knicks finally came alive in the third quarter, scoring 32-21 and extending their lead to double digits.

The Knicks couldn't get going in the final quarter, scoring only 20 points, but the Rockets only managed 22. The double-digit difference, with only one quarter left, became an insurmountable obstacle for the Rockets at that moment.

They still have McGrady, that's true, but McGrady has collapsed after undergoing minimally invasive surgery. He only played 17 of the first 27 games, averaging 18 minutes per game, scoring 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2 assists. He can still do everything, but he can't do anything well anymore.

姚明下半场6投仅2中，加上6中4的罚球拿到8分，全场16中10、加上10中8的罚球拿到28分12板。

不敌拿到25分9板7助攻的易水、17分6助攻的库里、15分3助攻的休斯、14分7板的大卫-李……

The Knicks easily defeated the Rockets 104-95, winning the Christmas Day game!
When Yi Shui returned home in the early hours of the morning, he saw the battle reports of the other two Christmas battles.

The Lakers defeated the Celtics 97-87, a result that was not surprising.

Yi Shui was a little surprised that the Cavaliers defeated the Magic 115-109. If the Cavaliers had played a defensive battle and shut down the Magic's shooters, it would have been quite normal for them to win the game.

But with this score, it's clear the Magic are on fire and the Cavaliers can still win!

打开战报详情看了看……奥尼尔聊发少年狂，拿到赛季新高的26分，外加9板5盖帽，和拿到20分16板4盖帽的霍华德刚了波正面。

From the current perspective, Yi Shui thinks that the Cavaliers' acquisition of O'Neal seems to be the right decision!

O'Neal has only missed two games this season. Including the Christmas Day game, he has played 26 games, averaging 26 minutes, 15.5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.5 blocks, with a field goal percentage of 60%. This is definitely the strongest center that James has partnered with in his seven seasons in the NBA.

Ke Yishui remembered that O'Neal didn't play very well during his year with the Cavaliers... Was this big moth really that effective?
One night later, on December 26th, the 2009-2010 NBA regular season entered its mid-term stage.

At noon, the league officially announced that voting for the All-Star starters had begun.

Fans were hotly debating who would be in the starting lineup this year, who would be the top vote-getter, who would fall out of the starting lineup, and which newcomers might break into the starting lineup... when a trade suddenly occurred, it stole everyone's attention!

The Rockets, Bulls, and Kings have completed a three-way trade!

The Rockets traded Tracy McGrady and Carl Landry to the Bulls for Brad Miller, Jared Jeffries, a 2011 lottery-protected first-round pick, and Kevin Martin from the Sacramento Kings.

The Bulls traded Brad Miller, Kirk Hinrich, Jared Jeffries, and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick in 2011 to the Sacramento Kings for backup center Mickey Moore and Tracy McGrady from the Houston Rockets.

The Sacramento Kings traded Kevin Martin for Carl Landry and Kirk Hinrich.

Yi Shui was shocked when he learned of the deal; McGrady was still worth so much at that time!
(End of this chapter)