One Year Left to Play

However, even though they are about to face the Bulls, who are highly praised by the old fox, the Lakers players remain fully confident and their fighting spirit is at its peak since the start of the regular season.

It's precisely because it's the Christmas game and they're facing the league's strongest team that they've mustered such strong confidence and fighting spirit!

...

At 2 PM Eastern Time, the game between the New York Knicks and the Rockets kicked off the Christmas games.

With Olajuwon performing so well last season and the Knicks bringing in several star players during the offseason, this Christmas game was initially considered one of the most attractive regular season matches.

But who knew that with so many stars, the Knicks' games became increasingly boring. As the season progressed and they got through the adjustment period, their record improved, with 20 wins and 10 losses before the Christmas game, reaching 4th in the East. But the games became even more tedious than at the beginning of the regular season!

Averaging 94.4 points scored and 92.1 points allowed per game, each match dragged on from start to finish! The games were usually intense but had little entertainment value.

The Rockets had it worse. Although they started poorly in the previous two seasons, Olajuwon's individual performance was visible. But this year, Olajuwon is only averaging 22.6 points, 9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game, still an All-Star level, but much lower than the past two years.

After a series of flashy trades, the Rockets sent away Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, and other championship contributors. Their record improved, but it was mostly due to Olajuwon and Drexler regaining form as the season progressed. The trades, apart from acquiring Divac which was a good deal, seemed to be holding them back.

With 14 wins and 15 losses, the Rockets still haven't reached a 50% win rate.

The first Christmas game was very dull. In the end, after a brutal 2-hour and 21-minute battle, the New York Knicks defeated the Rockets 79 to 71.

The second Christmas game was between the Heat and the Pacers.

The Heat's performance this season mirrored the Knicks'... Both teams acquired a lot of stars and then played the ugliest games.

And the Heat were even worse than the Knicks, averaging 93.2 points scored and 89.1 points allowed per game so far this season!

61 to 39, the Heat had only scored 61 points in the first three quarters but had already led the seemingly inexplicable collapsing Pacers by more than 20 points.

Simultaneously with the Heat and Pacers game, the Spurs and Utah Jazz Christmas game also kicked off...

The Spurs vs. Utah Jazz game was originally one of the most popular games every year to see how badly the top center would be bullied by Malone. This year, Malone was at his peak, but he had no one to bully.

86 to 51, after three quarters, the Utah Jazz were already leading the Spurs by more than 30 points.

Just as the third quarters ended in the games between the Heat and the Pacers, and the Utah Jazz and the Spurs, at the United Center in Chicago, the most anticipated Christmas game commenced as the two teams entered the court.

...

At 6:40 PM, at the entrance to the visiting team tunnel in the United Center, after the Lakers bench players got in position, O'Neal was the first to run out, and the boos had already started.

Zhang Hao ran out second, greeted by even louder boos than in any other arena.

The fans in this city and this arena were extremely unfriendly to Zhang Hao.

Last year, it was because Zhang Hao pushed off Jordan in this arena to complete a buzzer-beater.

This year, it's because the Bulls fans feel a strong sense of threat!

Since Jordan entered the NBA, except for his rookie season, in every subsequent season, as long as he played most of the games, Jordan was the scoring leader. From the 1986-1987 season onwards, it was always this way.

In the past 10 years, only in the two years when Jordan retired was there any talk of competition for the scoring title. Last season, there was no discussion about competition for the scoring title either.

But this year is different!

Currently, Jordan is averaging 30.6 points, and Zhang Hao is averaging 30.3 points, almost equal!

Up until now, as the regular season ends and we move into the midseason, originally only Jordan seemed assured of maintaining an average of over 30 points and dominating the scoring chart without suspense, but an unexpected change happened over the past week.

After scoring 50 points in one game and 64 in another, Zhang Hao, who had dropped to an average of 28.3 points per game after O'Neal's return, surged back into the 30+ points per game category with these explosive performances!

This truly threatened Jordan's dominance in the scoring chart!

Moreover, Zhang Hao, who is not yet 20 years old, also threatens Jordan's record for the number of scoring titles. Last year, Jordan finally surpassed Chamberlain to become the player with the most scoring titles in NBA history, but now, Zhang Hao, who won't turn 20 until next month, is already challenging for the scoring title!

The other Lakers players also received intense boos; Barkley, Kenny Anderson, and the Magician all experienced this.

Apart from Zhang Hao's threat to Jordan, the Lakers are also seen as a thorn in the side for Bulls fans.

The Christmas game is certainly nationally televised.

At the start of the season, the Christmas game between the Heat and the Pacers was broadcast by two TV stations, and the game between the Utah Jazz and the Spurs by three TV stations. Due to the collapse of the Pacers and the Spurs' performances for various reasons, both were reduced to just one TV broadcast, which the league had to mandate, after all, it's the Christmas game, leaving it untelevised would be too embarrassing.

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