The 2005 Denver All-Star Weekend will begin on February 19th, with the main game on February 21st.
This year's All-Star voting is divided into three rounds. The starting lineups of the East and West are determined entirely by the votes of fans, and the substitutes are determined by the votes of the head coaches of the 30 teams.
At the same time, for Lin Fei’s fans at home and abroad, there is also good news worthy of attention.
That is the first signature endorsement basketball shoe tailor-made by Anta Group for Lin Fei: Lin Fei Generation, which will be officially unveiled to the fans in tonight’s Christmas game.
Lin Fei can finally wear his signature shoes to play games in the future.
This "Lin Fei 1st Generation" basketball shoe uses the most advanced nitrogen technology developed by Anta, which performs very well in terms of shock absorption.
At the same time, the appearance is also very brilliant, with red, white and blue as the main colors, showing the passion and vitality of youth.
The upper is made of microfiber and PU leather, with Lin Fei's jersey number No. 22 and the words "LF1" printed on one side.
The promotional advertisement Lin Fei shot for his "Lin Fei Generation" basketball shoes was officially launched on major sports TV stations in China a week ago, and the promotional posters also appeared on billboards in major mainstream shopping malls across the country.
As for tonight's Christmas game, Anta Group also spent millions of dollars to advertise "Lin Fei Generation" basketball shoes at the Staples Arena.
At present, this basketball shoe has not been officially circulated on the market. It is in the pre-sale stage and is priced at 298 Tianchao coins.
Even so, this basketball shoe is still very popular.
In 2004, when mobile shopping was not yet popular, more than hundreds of thousands of people still made reservations in advance on Anta's official website, which shows that fans at home and abroad are eagerly anticipating this "Lin Fei Generation" basketball shoe.
The Christmas war is naturally very popular. In addition, this is Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. At the same time, there are also conflicts between the OK group, and Lin Fei’s deep hatred for defeating the Lakers in G6 of the Western Conference Finals last year.
Taking all these factors into consideration, tonight's Staples Center was naturally packed with people, with tens of thousands of fanatical fans gathered outside the square.
The streets and alleys of Los Angeles are filled with a festive atmosphere. Snowflakes are flying in the sky, beautiful Christmas trees are placed in the windows, and Santa Claus in a red hat shuttles among the crowds to send blessings to children.
Familiar Christmas songs also ring with melodious and beautiful tunes:
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, we are so happy skiing, we are sitting on the sled..."
In the front-row VIP seats of Staples Arena, a front-row ticket has been sold for more than $500,000, but there is still an endless stream of familiar faces from celebrities.
Compared with the Western Conference Finals at the end of May last season, Leonardo DiCaprio who came to the scene tonight has already had a new young model girlfriend.
Goddess Scarlett Johansson and best friend Amber Heard also appeared on the sidelines.
Although Lin Fei already has his manager girlfriend Qin Dongmei, Amber still regards Lin Fei as a good friend, and the two occasionally chat on the phone.
Amber's new movie, released in November, has given her a certain breakthrough in her acting career, and Lin Fei also sent her blessings for it.
As a loyal fan of the Lakers and Kobe, Scarlett is now watching Lin Fei achieve dazzling results in the new season, and her heart has begun to sway between the two sides.
Now Scarlett likes to watch the Lakers and Kobe Bryant games, as well as the Heat and Lin Fei games.
But after losing O'Neal this season, the Lakers' strength and record have declined sharply. Coupled with the chaos of the coaching staff, whether they can make the playoffs this season is a question.
The time soon came to 7pm, and the game officially started at the whistle of the famous referee Stephen Garvey.
The starting five for the Miami Heat are:
Point Guard (PG): Jason Williams,
Shooting Guard (SG): Dwayne Wade,
Small forward (SF): Shane Battier,
Power forward (PF): Udonis Haslem,
Center (C): Shaquille O'Neal.
Jason Williams and Shane Battier had just been traded to the Heat. Although they still lacked tacit understanding with their teammates in daily training, Stan Van Gundy still showed the importance he attached to the two new players and directly Let the two start the game.
The starting five for the Los Angeles Lakers are:
Point Guard (PG): Chucky Atkins,
Shooting Guard (SG): Kobe Bryant,
Small forward (SF): Caron Butler,
Power forward (PF): Lamar Odom,
Center (C): Chris Mihm.
Compared with the Lakers in previous seasons, with the departure of O'Neal, the current Lakers only have one Kobe left in the starting lineup, and the rest are new faces.
And except for Kobe, there is no All-Star (Caron Butler was only selected to the All-Star for the first time in 2007). This is indeed incredible for Los Angeles, the second largest city in the world.
Nearly two months into the new season, the Los Angeles Lakers have a record of 10 wins and 19 losses, ranking only 13th in the Western Conference.
On the other hand, the Miami Heat, led by the Big Three, have 27 wins and 2 losses so far in the new season, losing only 2 games. Their record ranks first in the league, 3.5 games ahead of the Phoenix Suns.
Since entering December, the Heat have not lost a game. Counting the three consecutive wins at the end of November, they have now won 15 consecutive games.
Before the game, betting companies also gave a huge handicap of 13.5 points for the Miami Heat.
It can be seen that the strength gap between the two teams is still relatively large, but the gimmicks and topicality are very high.
"Beep!"
The game started quickly. O'Neal stood in the center circle and easily lifted the basketball over the head of white center Chris Mihm. "White Chocolate" Jason Williams advanced with the ball.
Jason Williams was the No. 7 pick in the first round in 1998. He was selected to the Rookie First Team in his rookie season. In the 2000 All-Star Rookie Challenge, he became famous for a behind-the-back elbow pass that shocked the world.
Although Jason Williams is not considered a top point guard in the league, and his best season in his career only averaged 12.4 points and 8.3 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of less than 40%, he has a high reputation in the United States.
Various gorgeous passing movements have captured the love of many fans and have a certain box office appeal.
Therefore, the exchange of Eddie Jones for Jason Williams and Shane Battier also made Heat fans excited.
Williams was interested in making a show when he came up. When facing Atkins, the unknown starting point guard of the Lakers, he suddenly made a free pass behind the head during a change of direction.
The basketball seemed to have swollen eyes and quickly flew into the hands of O'Neal in the low post.
Because the ball passed by "Bai Qiao" was so weird, O'Neal almost missed the ball, but he quickly controlled the basketball, turned over and pushed away Chris Mihm, jumped up, and dunked with both hands.
"Boom!"
Returning to this home arena where he has played for 8 years, and the Los Angeles that he is so familiar with, and the younger brother with whom he fought side by side and then parted ways,
Tonight's "Shark" O'Neal is obviously in active form. He wants to prove in front of the Lakers' home fans that without Kobe, he, O'Neal, can still win the championship easily with other defenders.
Faced with O'Neal's opening shark dunk, Staples Center also burst into applause.
It can be seen that these Lakers fans still have deep feelings for O'Neal.
After all, under his leadership, the Lakers won three consecutive championships, which is definitely a great achievement, and O'Neal's No. 34 jersey will definitely be retired here.
Naturally, Kobe was not to be outdone, and his fighting spirit was already in his chest.
He must prove himself in front of the home fans, especially in front of O'Neal's Heat, and try his best to win the game.
On the offensive end, Kobe asked for the ball from the high post on the right side, hit Wade with his back, and after a feint, he quickly turned around and jumped up smoothly.
The basketball flew past Wade's fingertips as he attempted to defend, hit the net hollowly, and splashed with water.
"Uh-huh!"
Heat (2): (2) Lakers.
Although Wade's defense is good, in front of Kobe, whose singles skills and experience are beginning to reach their peak, the second-year "Flash" can still only be regarded as a younger brother.
The ball is transferred and the Heat attack.
Although the media is hyping up tonight's game more about the grudges between the OK team, Kobe and Wade, as two generations of shooting guards, were also O'Neal's partners, so they were naturally compared together by the media. .
Especially in a previous public interview, O'Neal claimed in front of reporters that he thought Dwayne Wade was a better shooting guard than Kobe Bryant, which naturally angered Kobe's pride.
Saying that a second-year guard is better than himself is obviously unacceptable to Kobe.
Especially since the Heat have such a good record now, Wade won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in November, and even entered the discussion of the top five regular season MVPs.
This made Kobe feel even more angry and challenged.
Obviously, he had been O'Neal's little brother in the early days of the Lakers, and now the 32-year-old O'Neal has switched to the Heat and started to assist newcomer Wade. The treatment is naturally very different.
Wade is obviously influenced by O'Neal and Lin Fei, otherwise he would not be able to produce such outstanding statistics.
Nowadays, the mainstream of the league's defense line is the four shooting guards. Allen Iverson, who has won the MVP and scoring champion, is temporarily ranked first among the four shooting guards, and Kobe Bryant, who has three second place championships, ranks second.
The gap between McGrady and Carter is not big, but McGrady has two scoring champions and should be ranked third, and the "dunk king" Carter is fourth.
Therefore, in today's league, when it comes to shooting guards alone, the only one Kobe admits is temporarily ahead of him is Allen Iverson, and that's only temporarily.
As for the second-year Wade, he is not qualified to compare with his Black Mamba.
From Wade's point of view, he also needs an opportunity to prove himself against Kobe. The "Flash" is arrogant, and he does not think that he is worse than the Black Mamba.
Therefore, when he came to the top of the front arc, Wade also directly asked Jason Williams for the ball, facing Kobe directly, indicating to his teammates to open up space, and he wanted to play one in isolation.
With the joining of Jason Williams, a quasi-All-Star point guard, Wade's role in organizing and controlling the ball will inevitably gradually decrease. In Stan Van Gundy's view, Wade's talent is more inclined to offense and organization. I'm really not very good at it.
With Jason Williams, a passing master, and a relatively accurate three-pointer, the Heat's guard lineup has become more diverse.
Whether it's White Chocolate and Wade starting, Wade and Lin Fei's double shot in the backcourt, or White Chocolate and Lin Fei's partnership, more offensive tactics will evolve.
Kobe's defense has always been very active and focused, full of aura and intimidation, no matter whether it is Jordan or Van Jordan standing opposite him.
Kobe Bryant has also studied Wade, a rising star. Although he has a quick first step, explosive power, sharp breakthroughs, quick changes of direction, ghostly footsteps, and strong aerial confrontation,
But Wade's biggest offensive shortcoming compared to Kobe himself is that he has no mid-range and long-range, and his basket sight is too poor, especially in the early stages.
Faced with Kobe's distance defense, which was obviously more about shooting than sudden shots, Wade bravely changed his direction and forced forward. With the Black Mamba retreating and defending, he could not get past anyone, and even almost had the ball stolen.
Kobe's defense was precise, tough and oppressive, which allowed Wade to truly feel the DPOY level of perimeter defense.
Seeing O'Neal getting stuck under the basket and asking for the ball, Wade lost his temper and gave the ball directly to the basket in a high-profile manner.
But Odom, who was stabbing at an angle, let go of Haslem, went around first, and jumped up with his long arm to steal the ball.
"Snapped!"
The Lakers quickly counterattacked with a fast break. Kobe tried to get rid of Wade on the wing, but the "Flash" was obviously faster than himself.
"Whoosh!"
There was a sudden stop and change of direction in the middle of the game. Kobe received a pass from Odom and passed Wade directly. He stabbed diagonally into the basket and jumped up for a one-arm dunk.
"Boom!"
Kobe came up and scored 4 points in a row, quickly beating Wade on both offense and defense.
In front of the courtside commentary desk, TNT's Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith are still commentating on this game tonight.
"In front of Kobe, Dwayne does seem a bit weak. Judging from the comprehensive strength on both offense and defense, Kobe is undoubtedly the number one defender among active defenders!"
"Yes, Kobe has developed very comprehensive offensive skills, basically covering the basket to the three-point line, but Wade relies more on breakthroughs, and his mid- and long-range sights need to be improved!"
On the court, Kobe was also in a hot state after completing a fast break dunk. When he returned to defense, he spread his hands to Wade and said provocatively:
"Dwayne, at your level, you can win the best of the month? It seems that you should really thank Shaquille and Lin!"
Wade puffed up his cheeks angrily, and the fighting spirit in his eyes became even stronger.
On the offensive end, Wade once again took the ball and challenged Kobe Bryant. This time, the breakthrough was very complete. The "Flash" was almost flying close to the ground, forcibly throwing away the Black Mamba and going straight to the basket.
Facing center Chris Mihm who came up to defend under the basket, Wade showed no timidity. He jumped up directly against the opponent, twirled in the air, tilted his body almost parallel to the ground, and shot the ball abruptly.
Kobe, who was catching up with him in a diagonal stab, couldn't help but admire, this guy was simply more desperate than him!
The basketball bounced on the basket a few times, and finally fell into the net obediently.
"Uh-huh!"
This was a very difficult breakthrough goal. Lin Fei and others on the Heat bench jumped up excitedly and waved towels for Wade.
However, the next moment, Lin Fei, the Heat players, and coach Stan Van Gundy all frowned.
After Wade fell to the ground on the court, he suddenly curled up with a painful expression and covered his left knee with both hands.
The situation is not good. Did Wade hurt his knee?
The referee immediately suspended the game, and the team doctor trotted onto the court to check Wade's knee injury.
There are simply no serious injuries, but to be on the safe side, he probably won't be able to play tonight's game.
Seeing Wade limping toward the tunnel with the support of two team doctors, Stan Van Gundy also felt uneasy.
After the timeout, Lin Fei could only replace Wade and play in advance, partnering with "White Chocolate" in the backcourt.
Seeing Lin Fei stepping on Anta's brand new red, white and blue "Lin Fei Generation" boots, stepping onto the court with high morale,
The Lakers fans at home quickly followed suit and booed the marksman who defeated them in G6 of the Western Conference Finals last season.
"Is Dwayne not going to be able to play tonight? If the Heat lets a Flash play, then we still have a chance of winning!"
"Dwayne can't guard Corvo, let alone Lin. He's notoriously bad at defending!"
"Lin's defense was terrible last season, but he has made great progress this season! His average steals per game seems to have increased by 2.4, ranking among the top three in steals!"
Through the winning streak of more than 10 games in the past, coupled with unremitting training, Lin Fei has now officially improved his comprehensive defensive attributes to 92 points, which has reached the top level among NBA defenders.
Facing Wade's injury and leaving the game tonight, Lin Fei knew that the task of defending Kobe Bryant would inevitably fall on him.
(End of chapter)
