NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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In terms of lineup strength, the Rockets certainly can't compare to the Bulls. Among the five starting positions, only Yao Ming at center and Tracy McGrady at shooting guard have an advantage in their respective matchups.

However, McGrady's advantage at shooting guard pales in comparison to Wang Chong's advantage at small forward. Both are league-leading scorers, but when Wang Chong first entered the draft, his lineup still included McGrady. After some years in the league, Wang Chong has completely surpassed Tracy McGrady.

Not only does he have two championships, but he also boasts the league's highest honors such as MVP and FMVP. He even has one more scoring title than Tracy McGrady, a solid metric of a scorer's ability.

Furthermore, Tracy McGrady's performance has declined in the past two years, and his competitive status has been affected by injuries. During last season's regular season, he only averaged 21.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, effectively retiring from his position as a top-tier scorer.

This season, McGrady's condition has worsened even further. He has averaged just 15+4+5 per game, and his field goal percentage has fallen below 40%, hitting a career-low of 38.8%.

Because Artest, whom the Rockets were supposed to acquire in the summer of 2008, was intercepted by the Lakers, their lineup lacked a general and was considerably weaker.

But no matter what, the Rockets have a healthy Yao Ming, and their lineup also includes Luis Scola, the defensive expert Shane Battier, streetball king Rafer Alston, and the emerging point guard Aaron Brooks, in addition to another McGrady, who, though not in good form, occasionally has stellar performances. The Rockets are still able to contend for a spot in the top eight of the Western Conference, but their effectiveness in combat is strong when in good form. After all, this is because McGrady was missing from the playoffs, and Yao Ming missed half of the games. Nevertheless, they still managed to compete with the eventual champions, the Lakers, in a grueling seven-game series.

In this game against the Bulls, every Rockets player was in excellent condition, including Tracy McGrady, who performed well. With Yao Ming penetrating the Bulls' interior, winning the game was a natural outcome.

After the Rockets, very few teams in the league can represent a threat to the Bulls.

In the four games leading up to the All-Star weekend, the Bulls faced the Hornets, Mavericks, Pistons, and Heat, winning them all without exception, once again achieving a four-game winning streak.

Then came the All-Star weekend in mid-February.

Now Wang Chong had no interest in the All-Star weekend. For him, such a performance-oriented game wasn't as valuable as two extra days of rest.

But while he didn't care, some people did. After all, if he couldn't earn other honors, winning the All-Star MVP was just a consolation prize.

Additionally, the league had planned a big show for the All-Star weekend. Given O'Neal's age and declining competitive status, it was likely there wouldn't be many more opportunities for him to be selected as an All-Star, so the league gave him a chance. O'Neal not only performed a mechanical dance at the opening of the All-Star Game that excited the crowd but also allowed Kobe and O'Neal to share the All-Star MVP trophy, presenting a touching drama of letting go of past grudges with a smile.

This was because O'Neal, who now played for the Cavaliers, was part of the Eastern Conference, unlike his 2009 All-Star appearance with the Suns, and with Phoenix as the host, O'Neal could also be seen as the host of the event, sharing the AMVP with Kobe, which made sense.

However, O'Neal, who was now in the Cavaliers, belonged to the Eastern Conference. Even though O'Neal scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds with an extremely efficient performance, it still seemed a bit too deliberate and awkward for him to share the AMVP trophy with Kobe Bryant.

Wang Chong was watching the excitement from the sidelines since it didn't concern him.

He played a lot in the All-Star Game, almost as much as Howard, James, and Wade in the Eastern Conference All-Star Game. However, with no great desire to perform, Wang Chong only made 7 out of 10 field goals, scoring 17 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. That was all.

It's worth mentioning that Durant scored 46 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the Rookie Challenge, setting a new scoring record. It also boosted people's confidence that Durant was indeed the player most similar to Wang Chong. In his second season, Durant averaged 25 points per game. His scoring ability and efficiency had surpassed Green Army's older brother, Pierce, and there was a slight trend toward him becoming the core of the Celtics' offense.

This was only Durant's second season. He was just 20 years old. It was entirely conceivable that in a few seasons, Durant's scoring ability would be strong enough to threaten Wang Chong's position as the strongest scorer in the league.

Of course, that's for later. At least for now, Wang Chong is still recognized as the league's top scorer.

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The end of the All-Star weekend also meant that the 2008-09 regular season schedule had entered the second half of the sprint.

As usual, with the trade deadline ending, each team in the league completed their final reinforcements. The next goal was to secure their regular season standings and strive for the best home-court advantage possible in the playoffs to win the championship.

For the Bulls, in addition to this, they also had another source of motivation: breaking the best regular-season record of 72 wins and 10 losses, set by the Jordan-led Bulls in the 1995-96 season.

The Bulls currently have a win rate of 89%. If they maintain their current win rate through the end of the regular season, they can set a new historical record.

However, although there are fewer than thirty games left to play, it's still not easy. In the second half of the season, every team in the league has become more persistent in their pursuit of victories, and the intensity of competition is naturally higher.

Wang Chong knew this very well, so he didn't focus on this record from the start.

But the fact that he didn't care didn't mean others didn't. Whether it was the Bulls' management, coaching staff, or other players, including Garnett, Billups, and other veterans, they all took it seriously. How many people get the chance to have their name written in NBA history?

To put it bluntly, every year a new NBA champion is born, but the best record in history is only one, unless someone coming late can catch up to it.

The 72-10 record of the Bulls was once considered one of the hardest NBA records to break. However, it's highly probable that the Bulls, who have played over 50 regular-season games, will break this record. They intend to seize this opportunity.

Therefore, after the All-Star weekend, the Bulls team began taking every game more seriously, unwilling to lose any game. Even if Wang Chong wanted to give Garnett or Billups a rest, it was rejected.

This made Wang Chong realize that what he thought wasn't very important seemed not to be the case in the eyes of others.

This was not surprising. 73 wins and second place are what will happen in the future. Before that, the 72-10 record held a different status in everyone's hearts in the league.

As a result, Wang Chong is the only one with the idea of breaking the 72-win championship record.

Seeing his teammates working so hard, Wang Chong couldn't say anything else. He couldn't directly tell his teammates that he didn't care about the historic 72-10 record. After all, he had asked everyone to play more during the regular season to rest and prepare for the playoffs, right?

Although Wang Chong holds a lot of influence with the Bulls, and management and the coaching staff often consider his opinions, which could be considered ball dominance, this does not mean he will have the full support of everyone in everything he does.

So, after thinking it over, Wang Chong decided to do everything he could to help the team break the 72-win record and make everyone's dream of making history a reality.

What he did was increase his ball-handling and shooting rights on the court, trying to share the pressure between the two veterans Garnett and Billups. Looking at the entire Bulls team, only Wang Chong could do this. After all, in intensive training, Wang Chong's physical condition improved. His stamina reached a full value of 99, and he was full of energy on the court. At the same time, his overall durability of 98 also guaranteed that he wouldn't get injured easily, especially since he was only 24 years old, the likelihood of injury being extremely small.

The increase in his ball-handling and shooting rights gradually raised Wang Chong's personal stats, from the original 29 points to 30.8 points, surpassing Wade, who averaged 30.2 points per game, and jumping to the top of the league's scoring list.

With Wang Chong's efforts, the Bulls' record stabilized. They almost never lost to weak teams in the league, and even when they met strong opponents like the Cavaliers and Magic, they continued to win with high probability.

Before anyone knew it, the March calendar ended, and the Bulls' record reached 67 wins and 9 losses, maintaining a win rate of 88%.

Only the last six games of April remain in the regular season. The opponents are the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors.

Fortunately, among these six teams, none of them is superior in the league. Even within playoff range, there are only two teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons, still occupying the seventh or eighth spots.

But the Bulls cannot be negligent at all, because even if they lose just one of the last six games, the possibility of breaking the 72-10 record will be shattered. Only if they win all the games will the final record reach 73 wins and 9 losses.

The league has begun to pay special attention to this from the beginning, and major media outlets are also rushing to report on it.

"In the final stretch of April, can the Bulls break the best league record set by their predecessors and become a new miracle in the NBA in the new century?"

Under the spotlight, the last six games of the Bulls' regular season begin one after another.

On April 4, the Bulls defeated the Nets 103-94 at home to claim their 68th win.

On April 7, the Bulls defeated the Knicks 110-102 at home, achieving their 69th victory.

On April 9, the Bulls defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 113-99 at home, officially reaching 70 wins, becoming the second team in NBA history to achieve 70 wins in a single season, though the previous team was also the Bulls. Over ten years later, the Bulls are now two completely different teams.

On April 11, the Bulls defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 115-106 at home, marking their 71st win.

After a wave of four consecutive away games, the Bulls marked the start of an away game and traveled to Detroit to challenge the Pistons.

Facing his former team, Billups showed no mercy. He scored 24 points and 8 assists in a single game, helping the Bulls win their 72nd game of the season, officially tying the best record in NBA history set by the Jordan era.

But unlike the Jordan Bulls' 72-10, the current Bulls team, led by Wang Chong, now has a record of 72 wins and 9 losses. One final game remains, which will directly determine whether they can make history!

On April 15, the final NBA game, the Bulls faced the Toronto Raptors at home.

The Raptors, led by Bosh, felt the pressure on their faces.

The Raptors' record this season wasn't great. They were only third from the bottom in the Eastern Conference, their record just slightly better than the Wizards, who are second-to-last, and the Knicks, who are second to last.

The Raptors, already destined to miss the playoffs, had started playing without a strong desire to win since March.

But the current situation was very embarrassing. If the Raptors lost, they would directly help the Bulls make history in the league.

73 wins and 9 losses, this record sounds exaggerated. One can imagine that a team capable of achieving such a record would be very dominant in the NBA.

However, in consequence, to achieve such a record, the overall strength of the team is important, but the support from their peers is also crucial.

In other words, if the Bulls can achieve a 73-win, 9-loss record, it means other teams in the league are too weak.

There are still teams in the West that could challenge them. For example, the Bulls lost some games to teams like the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, and others. In the regular season, when teams from the East and West only met twice, it was considered a 50-50 tie with the Bulls.

But one can't blame the other teams in the league. It's precisely because they lost the games that their opponents achieved amazing feats.

The Raptors are the last team, and the most watched.

Fans who dislike Wang Chong and the Bulls place all their hopes on the Raptors, hoping they can explode and defeat the Bulls to stop them from making history in the NBA.

But unfortunately, this last game was held at the Bulls' arena. Tickets for this game had sold out a month ago because everyone judged that if the Bulls had a chance to break the 72-win record, they wouldn't miss it. Basically, all attention was focused on the last games of the regular season.

The stands were full of Bulls fans, all wearing white jerseys representing the Bulls' home court and holding various banners with "73 Wins and 9 Losses." The atmosphere was no less than that of a Finals tiebreaker. The sense of pressure deeply affected the Raptors players even before the game began.

The Bulls were in the right place at the right time, so how could they miss this inevitable game against the Raptors, who were second-to-last in the Eastern Conference?

As soon as halftime ended, there was no suspense left in the game.

The Raptors played timidly, including their star Chris Bosh, whose shooting percentage was below 40%. The Bulls had established a lead of more than 20 points by halftime, and the win was already certain.

End of this chapter

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