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After the All-Star Game break, the Cavaliers and the Bulls engaged in a fierce rivalry. The Cavaliers are firmly in first place in the East and even in the league, while the Bulls, sitting in second, are unwilling to be outdone and aim to challenge the Cavaliers' position.
The two teams are competing fiercely against each other, overpowering one opponent after another. However, the high-intensity pace of the games is actually quite a strain for both the Cavaliers and the Bulls.
Soon, both teams faced injury issues.
For the Cavaliers, Irving has a wrist sprain and will need to sit out for a week, while Butler on the Bulls side requires nearly a month to recover due to a knee injury.
The sudden injuries made both teams appear alarmed, especially Wang Chong, who almost forgot the dilemma of the original version of Knight 2.0 from the Jedi Seven Samurai for the 14-15 season.
Compared to competing for the top spot in the league, player health is the priority, and their mission is to lead the team to win the championship, not merely to have the best league record.
From mid-March, the Cavaliers slowed down their game pace and played much more softly. Although they lost some games they shouldn't have, at least the chances of player injuries were greatly reduced.
Even though the Cavaliers decelerated, the Bulls couldn't capitalize on the opportunity to surpass them in terms of record.
There was no way around it; Butler's injury was a significant blow to the Bulls. The primary assets the Bulls had to compete with the Cavaliers this season were the rise of Curry and Butler, one assuming the role of the team's first core and the other playing at an All-Star level, making the Bulls competitive in the regular season to that extent.
Without Butler, the Bulls' strength dropped significantly, and naturally, they were no match for the Cavaliers.
Moreover, when Wang Chong built the Cavaliers' roster, he had already made two preparations; even if Irving was injured, Luis Williams could step up and fill the main roster spot.
Thus, the Cavaliers maintained a 4-5 game lead from late March to mid-April until the regular season concluded completely with a home victory over the Washington Wizards on April 15.
In the 82 games of the regular season throughout the 2014-15 season, the Cavaliers finished with a record of 68-14, achieving a winning percentage of 83%, occupying first place in the league.
The 68 victories in the regular season also broke the Cavaliers' record for the best regular-season record in the team's history.
Wang Chong has only been with the Cavaliers for one season and has completely outperformed James before winning the championship.
The Bulls once caught up to the Cavaliers mid-season but ultimately fell short. Seeing no hope of catching up with the Cavaliers, they directly approached them in April, finishing second with a record of 64 wins and 18 losses.
The Cavaliers and the Bulls are the only two teams to score over 60 wins in the regular season this year. There isn't a 60-win team in the league; the closest in the West is the Los Angeles Clippers with 57 wins, and the Clippers are already first in the West, trailing the Cavaliers by 11 wins.
The top eight teams in the East playoffs are the Cleveland Cavaliers with 68-14, the Chicago Bulls with 64-18, the Boston Celtics with 54-28, and the Miami Heat with 52-30.
In the first half of the Eastern Conference, the Green Army and the Heat both have 50 wins each, which is somewhat embarrassing, but what can be done? In the East, the Cavaliers and the Bulls, two 60+ win teams, have almost monopolized most of the victories, while the Green Army and the Heat have been plagued by injuries throughout the season.
The Celtics are doing okay; due to the butterfly effect, Durant only played 27 games with the Thunder during the same period before being sidelined for the season, which ultimately led the Thunder to miss the playoffs.
Yet, Durant's attendance this season has remained around 70 games, which has directly impacted the Celtics' record.
On the other hand, the Heat's team situation isn't good. While James is durable, Howard and Wade are not; Howard missed over 20 games in the regular season, and Wade also played 15 games fewer. Plus, James' earlier staggered travel seriously affected the Heat's record, and James could only lead them to 52 wins despite his solid performance in games.
The four teams in the lower half of the Eastern Conference are the Atlanta Hawks at 48-34, the Toronto Raptors at 47-35, the New York Knicks at 45-37, and the Washington Wizards at 42-40.
The record rankings in the Eastern Conference remain quite fluid; first place belongs to the Atlanta Hawks, who should have ranked first in the East with a record of 60-22, yet they ended up with just 48 wins and 34 losses.
But this cannot be blamed on the Hawks; if anyone is to be blamed, it can only be Wang Chong.
The most important player for the Hawks this season, their leading scorer, rebounder, and thief, Paul Millsap, went straight to the Celtics. Although the Hawks still retained the rest of their key players, their strength was significantly affected, and considering the four teams in the upper half of the conference that should not have existed, finishing the regular season in fifth place in the East isn't bad.
Additionally, the New York Knicks are also an exception; this season, the Knicks should have been led by Anthony to sink to the first pick.
However, the presence of Rose prevented the Knicks' record from being as dismal, and at the same time, Rose and Anthony could complement each other to a certain extent, which also mitigated the injury frequency between the two.
Throughout the season, both Rose and Anthony managed to maintain attendance around 80 percent, sending the Knicks back to the playoffs.
However, the upper limit of the Rose-Anthony combination is limited; at most, it reaches a second-round level, and given Wang Chong's current situation, with Curry, Durant, and James in the East's upper half, a first-round exit is likely.
In comparison to the East, the situation in the West is much more intense.
The eight teams entering the playoffs are, from highest to lowest, the Los Angeles Clippers at 57-25, the San Antonio Spurs at 55-27, the Oklahoma City Thunder at 52-30, the Portland Trail Blazers at 50-32, the Dallas Mavericks at 50-32, the New Orleans Pelicans at 48-34, the Memphis Grizzlies at 44-38, and the Golden State Warriors at 42-40.
The duo of Harden and Paul made it to the 14-15 season, and as Harden showcased the super scoring ability of a top shooting guard, he gradually began to assert his power. The Clippers not only have a strong duo but also a bit of Jordan inside.
This season, Jordan Jr. averaged 14 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game, with the offensive wing alternating with Paul and Harden's assists to make scoring easier. His defensive performance has also been remarkable, and besides averaging 15 rebounds per game to become the league's rebounding king, he significantly improved the Clippers' defense.
The Spurs sit second with a record of 55 wins, which is also quite unfortunate. This season, the core group that has dominated the league for many years has finally begun to show signs of aging in the truest sense.
Whether it's superstar Duncan or Parker and Ginóbili, all have performed mediocrely this season; Duncan averages 14 + 7 per game, Parker 14 + 5, and Ginóbili 10 + 3 + 4.
The reason the Spurs can still enter the playoffs in the West with a record of 55 wins and second place is truly thanks to two young players, Leonard and Gobert.
Leonard's performance in the regular season this year wasn't as strong as Butler's during the same period, but he still averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds per game, and his contribution on the defensive end was quite substantial.
The same goes for Gobert, who has gradually started to replace Duncan's tactical position in the Spurs, that is, the core of their interior defense. Although he's still averaging just around 8 points per game this season and hasn't been able to achieve a double-double, he averages 11 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks.
With the Spurs having two important defensive players inside and out, even if the GDP is no longer the force it used to be, it remains the favorite among all teams in the West.
Continuing, teams like the Thunder, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Pelicans don't need to be mentioned; their situations are similar to the past, with no significant changes, and their records and rankings are reasonable.
As for the seventh place in the West, the Memphis Grizzlies (44-38) have finally emerged from the haze of selecting Oden in 2007 and losing Gasol Jr.
The main players are Mike Conley, Randolph, Tony Allen, and Jeff Green, among others. Even without Gasol Jr., this Grizzlies team is still decently strong, even if it's not as good as the Grizzlies with 55 wins during the same period, but achieving 44 wins in a progressively weaker West is not an issue.
The same goes for the Warriors, who miss Curry and Drummond. With Green in the lineup, the Warriors still have Klay Thompson, who has already demonstrated his advantages, in addition to players like
Iguodala, Barnes, David Lee, and Bogut, making them competitive, though they are not at all comparable to the Warriors, who should have won 67 games this season and secured the playoffs.
By the way, regarding Kobe Bryant's season return, even though the Lakers still have Bosh to lead the team, and the latter has also averaged 20+10 per game under the team's guidance, the Lakers' record continues to plummet, occupying second-to-last place in the West, becoming a strong contender for the first pick.
The 16 teams for the East and West playoffs have already been decided, and the first-round matchups are clear.
The four matchups in the East are Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks, Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors, and Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks.
Since each of the four teams in the top half of the division is led by at least one superstar, they have a significant advantage over the four teams in the upper and lower halves, and the probability of winning the first round is extremely high.
The four matchups in the Western Conference are Los Angeles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks.
Compared to the four matchups in the East, where there's a huge disparity in strength, the four matchups in the West still hold quite a bit of suspense; at least the two matchups between the Thunder and Pelicans, and Trail Blazers and Mavericks are hard to judge which is stronger or weaker without a real fight.
In the 2014-15 season, Wang Chong won his ninth scoring championship trophy in his career, averaging 31.4 points per game, bringing him one step closer to Jordan's record of ten scoring titles.
This season, the only one who can compete with Wang Chong on the scoring list is Durant, who averages 30.7 points per game. However, unlike last season, Wang Chong deliberately reduced his shot attempts to allow the Bulls players to grow, and with the Cavaliers, he only needs to safeguard Irving's shot rights, not sacrificing too many shooting rights.
Furthermore, Durant has also been affected by certain injuries this season, effectively withdrawing from the scoring title competition in the second half of the regular season.
As for the other players, James averaged 26+8+8 per game as always, focusing more on versatility than scoring.
Promising players like Curry, Westbrook, and Harden hover around 28+ points per game, but none of them can threaten him in the scoring title race.
When Harden can reach the ultra-high scoring level of 36.1 points per game in the 18-19 season, Wang Chong might truly face an opponent for the first time since Kobe Bryant in the 05-06 season.
Of course, this refers to an opponent in terms of pure scoring title competition, and there are few players in the league today worthy of being called Wang Chong's rivals. Even looking at history, only Jordan qualifies for this.
On April 19, 2015, the inaugural match of the first round of the playoffs took place as scheduled.
The Cavaliers' first-round opponent was led by John Wall and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.
The backcourt duo of Wall and Beal has been quite good this season. Wall, as the team's core, averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists per game in the regular season. Due to the partnership of Paul and Harden, Wall's assist statistics were somewhat affected, with this season's numbers at 18.6 points and 9.7 assists. Thus, Wall became the only player with double-doubles in assists this season and earned the honor of assists king for the first time in his career.
Beal, as Wall's right-hand man, averaged 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, and his shooting percentage of 42.7% was just acceptable.
The real peak for the duo should be the 2016-17 season; during that season, both reached the height of their individual capabilities. In the regular season, Wall contributed 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 10.7 assists, while Beal also averaged 23 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
But the duo's ceiling is limited; even with such luxurious statistics for two backcourt weapons, the Wizards only placed fourth in the East with a record of 49-33, being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Celtics led by Thomas Jr.
Two years later, the strength of their strongest period remains similar, and even less so now.
The Wizards simply didn't have the capital to compete with the Cavaliers, and they were immediately suppressed by the Cavaliers at the start of the game, with the point difference quickly widening as they were ruthlessly overrun.
With a score of 117-99, the Cavaliers won the first game against the Wizards by 18 points, and in the following games, they swept the Wizards 4-0 to advance to the second round.
End of this chapter
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