December 26.

With the end of the NBA Christmas War, this also represents the end of 2008.

In the Christmas game that just ended, the Cavaliers, ranked No. 1 in the East, lost to the Rockets in a sudden defeat.

This situation obviously surprised many fans. After all, the Cavaliers' record has always been excellent this season, and they are even in line with the Lakers, who are the number one in the league.

So far, the pattern in the alliance has been called the East Riding West Lake.

In the new season's championship prediction list, the Lakers rank first in the league, the Cavaliers rank second in the league, and the defending champion Celtics can only rank third in the league.

But in this case, in a situation like Christmas game, the Cavaliers lost to the Rockets in an upset manner, and they were not defeated, but a 14-point defeat.

Although the fans think this situation is a bit puzzled and even shocked, it is a bit normal in Yang Fan's opinion.

Although the Rockets' lineup this season is very popular, no other players except Yao Ming can afford the word "core".

On the other hand, what do you mean by Mo Williams and LeBron James, as well as real All-Star players.

Among them, LeBron James has the potential to compete for the first player in the league.

But to put it bluntly, if you ignore these external factors, when the Cavaliers meet this Rockets, the Cavaliers' advantage is really not very big.

Especially for Yao Ming's point, the Knights could not compete at all.

This season, the Cavaliers' inside line, whether it is Big Z Ilgoskas or Valaijo, these two people can only be educated one by one when facing Yao Ming.

LeBron James, the Cavaliers' most proud, was obviously struggling when facing the personal defense of Artest, the beast on the front line.

After all, James has not developed the long-range shooting ability of the Lakers era.

So when a forward player like Artest, who has a strong physique, defends him head-on, James' offensive efficiency has obviously declined to the naked eye.

Among them, during the Cavaliers' 1.0 period, the Cavaliers' playing style was not the one-star game that people imagined later generations.

Instead, they will rely more on LeBron James to break through into the inside and cause damage.

As for passing, it is a pass for the purpose of passing after facing double-teaming.

It is no exaggeration to say that if James passed the ball in the Lakers era to connect the attack, but broke the basket to tear the defense apart.

Then LeBron James broke through the basket for the purpose of scoring, but he was double-teamed when he passed the ball out.

It's more just to pass the ball.

So this also leads to the fact that as long as the defensive team has a top center who can sit in the penalty area and a defensive tough guy who can play close to him on the front line, LeBron James' performance will naturally be greatly reduced.

Similarly, this is the main reason why on the normal historical trajectory, the Cavaliers led by James were the Magic led by Howard in the playoffs.

In this game, Yao Ming was so powerful that he contributed a total of 28 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks throughout the game.

So in Yang Fan's opinion, it is not too strange that the Rockets beat the Cavaliers.

Because even if the Cavaliers are so powerful, when facing teams like the Rockets and Magic, their natural disadvantage in the lineup cannot be compensated.

After the game, Yang Fan, who was watching the game on the spot, sent his blessings to Yao Ming as soon as possible.

Similarly, after Yao Ming took a shower and cleaned up, Yang Fan took Dimaxi to Yao Ming's restaurant.

After all, after agreeing to Dimaxi, Yang Fan must take him to achieve it. Even during the entire game, Yang Fan was not in a good mood at all...

…………………………………

With the end of the Christmas battle, although fans are still discussing some details about this year's Christmas battle.

But for other teams in the league, they are destined to become busier than before.

As the team's head coach, Yang Fan obviously empathized with this.

Because the end of the Christmas battle not only means that 2008 is coming to an end, but also means that the NBA regular season has officially entered a white-hot stage.

At this stage, all teams in the league can be said to be crazy about trading and strengthening.

With the running-in of the new season, the players and the team have a running-in state, as well as the personal strength of the new season, have already reached a very obvious standard.

So in this case, the team in the playoffs hopes to continue to strengthen and strive to further touch the championship stage.

For teams who are destined to miss the playoffs, they will consider whether to bring the team to the reconstruction stage.

Then use some players whose contracts are about to expire to exchange for some draft picks and make plans for the team's future.

As for those teams that are capable of making the playoffs but have the hope of falling out of the playoffs, they can be regarded as the protagonists of the trading market during this period.

As we all know, the saddest team in the league is never a weak team, because the teams at the bottom of the league often have a very high chance of getting a high pick.

Gambling in the draft will undoubtedly become the hope for the team's revival.

For teams in the playoffs, they can get more fans' attention and earn more tickets.

But for those teams ranked ninth and tenth in the East and West, they will undoubtedly become very embarrassing, they will not be able to enter the playoffs and they will not draw any good picks in the lottery.

So often at this stage, the most anxious thing is the team in this position.

However, the Thunder did not have so many worries this year, although during this period, the Warriors and the Knicks also contacted the Thunder.

He expressed his interest in making some deals between players, but Yang Fan, as the head coach, did not have a deep conversation.

After all, although the Thunder's lineup still has considerable flaws, there are not many players who can take it out for trading.

In addition, whether it is the Warriors or the Knicks, the sincerity of these two teams is obviously insufficient, so Yang Fan is not in a hurry to trade.

No matter what, the transaction deadline will not end until the All-Stars, so when the Thunder is in a good situation at this moment, the Thunder still has plenty of time.

At least in the last few games in December, the Thunder finished with a record of three wins and one loss.

While saying goodbye to 2008, he also achieved his best performance in recent years with a record of 25 wins and 8 losses.

Among them, at this time, the Thunder not only ranked third in the West, but also the team's star Kevin Durant officially surpassed LeBron James with an average of 29.1 points per game and rose to second place in the league's scoring list.

Second only to the "Flash" Wade, who can contribute 30.2 points per game this season.

While the team's head coach Yang Fan has completely gained a foothold from the NBA, he has also become one of the candidates for the "Best Coach" award this season.

Similarly, it is also a popular candidate for the "Best Coach" award this season so far...
Chapter completed!