In the Second Half of the Playoffs, the Lakers Won 66 Games and Took First Place in the League!

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The All-Star Weekend is over, and the league is back on track for the final sprint of the regular season.

For a long time, the period before and after the All-Star break has been a turning point in the regular season because, after the All-Star break, the league will close the free agent market. Each team must hurry to strengthen and improve its roster. Once the free agent market closes, there is no way to adjust the roster through trades or signing players until the offseason resumes.

The last thirty or so regular season games after the All-Star break are the final opportunity for teams on the edge of the playoffs to secure a spot. Therefore, the intensity of the games increases significantly during this period, and even the Lakers, who are at the top of the league, dare not slack off.

Fortunately, by this time, both O'Neal and Kobe Bryant had returned to the Lakers and had recovered well. Although Karl Malone remained absent from the lineup, the overall situation was not too serious.

The Lakers did not make any moves at the trade deadline. For them, as long as the team can stay healthy, they are the biggest favorite to win the championship, and their strength is on a different level compared to all other teams in the league.

This was indeed the case.

Even though the level of difficulty increased, the Lakers still managed to win five consecutive games after the All-Star break, defeating the Trail Blazers, Warriors, 76ers, Suns, and Nuggets in succession.

After winning the Rookie Challenge MVP, Wang Chong's tactical role on the Lakers had improved in an invisible way, and his average number of shots per game had increased to 14.

It is important to note that even O'Neal only averaged 14.1 shots per game this season.

However, Wang Chong cannot be compared to O'Neal in terms of shooting percentage. Even his best mid-range shot barely maintained a shooting percentage of just over 50%, which is still far from O'Neal's nearly 60%.

Although O'Neal does not take many shots per game, he attempts a lot of free throws. He scores an average of 4.9 points from 10.1 free throw attempts. Even though the efficiency isn't very high, it still contributes to his average of 5 points per game.

This allows O'Neal's average points per game to remain stable at 21 points.

21 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks. Among inside players, only a few score higher than him, such as Garnett with 24 points, Duncan with 22 points, and Nowitzki with 21.8 points.

As for Wang Chong, the increase in his shot attempts, combined with the fact that he briefly became the core of the offense when both O'Neal and Kobe were absent for about half a month, allowed his average points per game to break the 20-point mark. Although it was just barely 20.1 points, it still counted as 20+ points. This made Wang Chong the third player in the 2003 rookie class to average more than 20 points per game in his rookie season.

After a brief period of adjustment at the beginning of the season, both James and Anthony quickly became the absolute core of their respective teams, with their average points per game reaching more than 20 points before the All-Star Game.

However, their shooting percentages are slightly lower than Wang Chong's. James has a shooting percentage of 41%, with an average of 18.9 shots per game, while Anthony's shooting percentage is 42%, with an average of 17.9 shots per game.

Both of them averaged far more shots per game than Wang Chong, yet their scoring was not significantly ahead.

Although some die-hard James fans still argue that Wang Chong's offensive efficiency is high only because he is on the Lakers, with O'Neal and Kobe attracting the opponent's defense, allowing Wang Chong to attack and score under less pressure compared to James, who must rely solely on himself on the Cavaliers.

However, more and more fans believe that in terms of offensive ability alone, Wang Chong is definitely the strongest among the 2003 rookies.

Before we knew it, the February and March schedule had passed in the blink of an eye.

Led by the "pseudo Big Three" model of O'Neal, Kobe, and Wang Chong, the Lakers maintained a very high winning rate. On March 30, the Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 107-88 at home, concluding the month of March.

At this point, the Lakers' record had reached 58 wins and 15 losses. 

Only nine games remained in the regular season for April. There were many strong opponents among these 9 games, including the Spurs, Rockets, Grizzlies, Kings, and other teams—all strong playoff contenders.

But even so, it seemed natural for the Lakers to win 60 regular season games.

While Lakers fans were happy, they couldn't help but feel a little regret.

If the Lakers had remained fully healthy this season, they might have had a chance to chase the Chicago Bulls' best regular-season record of 72 wins and 10 losses under Jordan!

This isn't an exaggeration. With the F4 lineup and Wang Chong, the Lakers' overall strength is already a level above other teams in the league, and they would rarely lose.

Unfortunately, Malone was injured in the middle of the season and was out for the regular season. Kobe and O'Neal both missed nearly 20 games. The fact that the Lakers were able to achieve 60+ wins in the regular season despite a season full of injuries fully demonstrates the team's strength when healthy.

In the final 9 games, as expected, the Lakers achieved a record of 8 wins and 1 loss, only losing one game to the Trail Blazers on the road. The rest of the teams, including the Spurs, Kings, and other Western powerhouses, were easily defeated by the Lakers.

On April 14, the Lakers lost 104-105 to the Trail Blazers on the road, an upset loss that also ended the last game of the regular season.

After all 82 regular season games, the Lakers' record was 66 wins and 16 losses, with an 80% winning rate ranking first in the league.

Only two teams in the league had more than 60 wins: the Lakers with 66 wins in the West and the Pacers with 60 wins in the East.

Originally, the Pacers should have achieved a record of 61 wins and 21 losses this season, leading the league, but because the Lakers had Wang Chong, the Pacers lost one more game in the regular season, resulting in one less win.

The Pacers are not the only team affected by the Lakers.

The Lakers' 66 wins meant they won ten more games than their original 56 wins, which means that other teams' records were affected to varying degrees.

In the Western Conference, the Timberwolves, who were supposed to win 58 games, ended up with 57 wins, while the Spurs won 56 games, ranking second and third in the Western Conference.

Next, the Western Conference playoff teams included the Sacramento Kings with 55 wins and 27 losses, the Dallas Mavericks with 50 wins and 32 losses, the Memphis Grizzlies with 49 wins and 33 losses, the Houston Rockets with 45 wins and 37 losses, and the Denver Nuggets with 43 wins.

Wang Chong's arrival changed the Lakers' ranking in the Western Conference playoffs, but it did not change history on a large scale. At least the rankings of the other eight playoff teams in the West did not change much. It was just that the Timberwolves, who were originally first in the Western Conference, were squeezed to second place by the Lakers, who were originally second.

The ranking in the West remains the same, and the ranking in the East remains unchanged.

The records from high to low are 60 wins by the Pacers, 47 wins by the Nets, 54 wins by the Pistons, 42 wins by the Heat, 40 wins by the Hornets, 40 wins by the Bucks, 39 wins by the Knicks, and 36 wins by the Celtics.

It must be mentioned that the Cavaliers, led by the famous "Chosen One," had 35 wins and 47 losses in the regular season, ranking ninth in the Eastern Conference and unfortunately missing the playoffs.

End of this chapter

Derrick Rose :::::::::(((((((

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