After clinching a hard-fought away victory over the Timberwolves, the Knicks broke their two-day winless streak, bringing their record to 33-14. With a win over the Timberwolves, the Knicks ended the month of January.
Lin Yi, anwhile, kept up his steady rise. For the month, he averaged an impressive 23 points, 11.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.9 blocks, and 1.1 steals per ga.
Unsurprisingly, he was nad Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month — again. At this point, it wasn't even a contest.
Those who were hyping Brandon Jennings as Lin's rival earlier in the season are probably feeling a bit awkward now. Since that flashy 55-point ga, Jennings has had a green light to shoot — and boy, has he been using it. He's beco the chief bricklayer at the Bucks, hamring up bricks night after night. Bucks fans can practically hear a symphony of clank-clank-clank whenever he's on the floor.
To put it bluntly: when most players shoot 40%, it's considered inefficient. When Jennings does it, it's considered a hot streak.
Over in the West, the Rookie of the Month title went to Stephen Curry. The other half of the Shooting Stars was finally heating up, averaging 18.6 points, 6.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals. He shot 48.1% from the field and an eye-popping 47% from three — now that's efficiency.
The Eastern Conference Player of the Month was LeBron Jas, who, unsurprisingly, picked up the honor once again. King Jas led the Cavaliers to a 12-2 record in January, averaging 30.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks per ga. He shot 50.3% from the field and made 2.1 threes a night at 35.3%.
The Cavaliers have been on a tear lately, especially after pulling off a trade for Antawn Jamison — a consistent 20-point scorer — from the Wizards. anwhile, Shaquille O'Neal, rejuvenated by the roster upgrade, was hyped enough to start declaring championship ambitions in front of the dia.
As for the West's best player in January, that honor went to Chris Paul. Since Byron Scott's dismissal, Paul had been carrying the Hornets on his back. He averaged 20.8 points, 11.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 steals while playing 41.8 minutes per ga.
The Hornets looked like they might claw their way back into the playoff picture, but Lin Yi could tell it wasn't sustainable. CP3 was playing an insane amount of minutes, taking on more one-on-one scoring duties, and still going all out on defense. Sothing had to give. At this pace, it felt like only a matter of ti before things started breaking down — and not just the team.
By the end of January, the Knicks were holding strong at third in the East and sixth in ESPN's power rankings.
In the MVP race, Lin Yi had climbed to third place, trailing only LeBron and Kobe.
He also made a special appearance on CCTV right before the Spring Festival, sending out New Year greetings to Chinese fans through the screen. Unfortunately, while China celebrated with fireworks and dumplings, the NBA kept chugging along like it was just another week. No holiday cheer in sight.
Feeling the loneliness of being abroad during the holidays, Lin Yi even made a quiet resolution: by next Spring Festival, he had to find a girlfriend. Celebrating solo just wasn't it.
...
February is always an eventful month in the NBA. First, there's the All-Star Ga. Second, the trade deadline looms mid-month, stirring up the rumor mill.
And then there's the Knicks — probably the strangest team in the league.
While everyone else was scrambling for upgrades, New York just stood by, calmly observing the chaos like they were fans watching from the sidelines.
Knicks fans, on the other hand, were far from calm. Desperate for action, so were practically role-playing as GMs online.
The truth is, the Knicks had considered moves. But it was assistant GM Javier Stanford who stopped GM Donnie Walsh from making a few... questionable decisions.
Case in point: Walsh, looking at raw stats, beca convinced that John Salmons was a major upgrade and nearly pulled the trigger on a trade involving Gallinari.
Thankfully, Stanford convinced him otherwise.
When Lin Yi heard about it, he made sure to personally thank Javier. Once again, it proved a simple truth: most NBA GMs don't know what they're doing.
Lin and Javier both believed that midseason trades weren't the right move. The Knicks didn't have great assets to trade, and Walsh had worked hard to clear cap space for the future. Any panic-buy now would've likely brought in bloated contracts and minimal upgrades.
Donnie Walsh wasn't stupid. The reason he kept asking around was simple—he was worried Lin Yi might be unhappy with the team's lack of moves. But since Lin didn't seem upset at all, Walsh figured he could relax a little. After all, basketball decisions should ultimately be made by the professionals—guys like Stanford.
Of course, Lin Yi wasn't going to complain. He knew exactly what killed the Knicks in the tiline he rembered—bad dical decisions.
In the future, people will criticize the Warriors for building a "superteam" with the Kevin Durant trade, a roster packed with stars. But few will talk about the real reason they could do that: because Jerry West, the LOGO man himself, laid a rock-solid foundation for them.
Sotis, the smartest move is not to make a move. Throwing out contracts or pulling off flashy trades isn't always the best way to strengthen a team.
...
As February rolled around, fans got hit with so tough news.
Allen Iverson, the iconic Sixers guard and a legend to countless fans known as A.I., held a press conference. Fighting back emotion, he announced he'd be withdrawing from this year's All-Star Ga in Dallas. The reason? His young daughter had been suffering from an illness and a persistent high fever. He decided to end his season early and return ho to care for her.
The announcent left him in tears. Fans had voted like crazy this year, hoping to see Iverson one more ti on the big stage. But that dream was gone now.
In the wake of Iverson's withdrawal, the league nad Knicks forward David Lee as a replacent on the Eastern Conference All-Star bench. anwhile, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks was bumped up to the starting lineup.
Soon after, the Lakers officially announced that Kobe Bryant would also be pulling out of the All-Star Ga due to a nagging index finger injury. To make things worse, they added that Kobe would be out for two weeks.
With both Iverson and Kobe gone, the star power of the All-Star Ga took a serious hit. Commissioner David Stern began to feel more confident that pushing Lin Yi into the spotlight had been the right move.
Fan comnts across the internet confird it. For many, the only reason they'd still tune into the All-Star Ga was to see Lin Yi compete in the Dunk Contest and the All-Star Ga itself.
But the bad news didn't stop there. Brandon Roy, the Blazers' rising star, also had to withdraw from the All-Star festivities due to injury.
Injuries—every player's worst enemy. The NBA has seen more promising careers derailed by them than anyone would like to admit.
With all the changes, the rosters for the 2010 Dallas All-Star Ga were nearly locked in.
Eastern Conference starters: Lin Yi, Kevin Garnett, LeBron Jas, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson
Reserves: Rajon Rondo, David Lee, Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Gerald Wallace
Coach: Stan Van Gundy
Al Horford, who should've made the bench this year, unfortunately got edged out by the presence of Lin Yi and "Superman" Howard.
Western Conference starters: Amar'e Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlo Anthony, Steve Nash
Reserves: Pau Gasol, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul
Coach: George Karl
The Western Conference periter lineup was battered by injuries. With Roy and Kobe both out, and if Lin rembered correctly, Chris Paul would soon withdraw too. That ant soone like Chris Kaman would end up filling in. No disrespect to Kaman, but that's not exactly box office.
It was a brutal year.
Lin Yi knew deep down that if it weren't for his enhanced recovery, he might've already racked up seven or eight injuries this season alone.
Sure, there might be more free throws in today's ga, but the pace? It's way faster. Today's players are more athletic, the ga more demanding, and despite better dical care, so things—like wear and tear—can't be completely avoided.
A frustrated David Stern found himself wondering: Is it ti to rethink the rules? Because if every year turns into an injury fest, the All-Star Ga won't be much more than a stage for the understudies.
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