The smoke of the 2003 All-Star Game finally dissipated, and under the deliberate arrangement of the league and the cooperation of almost everyone on the scene, Jordan finally lifted the All-Star MVP trophy engraved with his name in the history of the NBA All-Star Game at the Philip Center Arena. In Jordan's last All-Star Game, Jordan's All-Star total score surpassed Abdul-Jabbar, ranking first in history, and staged a whistle dunk at the end of the game, and at the same time, Jordan's "farewell game" was broadcast live to the world, 212 countries and regions around the world, more than 300 million viewers watched Jordan's last All-Star Game, no matter from what point of view, this year's All-Star Game, Jordan's curtain call performance is very perfect, from Moses Malone, to Abdul-Jabbar, to Magic Johnson, As for this year's Jordan, the tradition of the NBA All-Star Game has been continued from generation to generation, and may continue to be continued in the future.

After the All-Star break, the teams will compete for a playoff spot, and the top teams will start to adjust their players' game status while maintaining home court advantage. These dozen games after the All-Star break are definitely crucial for teams with ambitions. Although the All-Star Game has ended, the impact of the All-Star Game on the league has not dissipated, the first is the players who participate in the All-Star Game, at this time of year, they will be plagued by the "All-Star Syndrome", followed by those rookies who are new to the league, compared with the NCAA and other countries' leagues, the NBA schedule is longer, and the intensity of the game is higher, many rookies who have just entered the league will face a dilemma after the All-Star Game, that is, the physical reserves have bottomed out, The technical style of play is gradually becoming familiar to the opponent, which is the so-called "rookie wall". And the guys who were too relaxed and drank all over the place during this short vacation, and they couldn't find the game for a while after they got back to the game. Under these multiple influences, the league's record standings are likely to be reshuffled in these dozen games, but now is a great opportunity for teams that want to gain home-court advantage in the playoffs.

As the current No. 1 in the league, the Pacers are now in the trouble of All-Star Syndrome, the four players of the Pacers who participated in the All-Star Game, Mutombo, Jermaine O'Neal, Meng Xu, and Jamal Tinsley, were not in good shape in the next few games after the All-Star Game, and in addition to the continuous back-to-back schedule, the Pacers lost 3 of the 5 games after the All-Star Game, especially after losing the away game with the Mavericks, the Pacers directly lost the first place in the league, Overtaken by the Mavericks. The Mavericks, who were second in the West and third in the league before the All-Star break, relied on a wave of five consecutive wins after the All-Star break, especially after defeating the Kings and Pacers, the rivals who were ranked ahead of them, and the Mavericks directly entered the first place in the league.

On March 20, 2003, the Pacers lost to the Nets 91-98 away, the Nets had 6 double-doubles in this game, Jason Kidd contributed 32 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists A big triple-double, in the case of the Pacers' continued slump in the team, the Pacers ushered in the first 3-game losing streak of the season, and after losing to the Nets, the 39-13 Pacers were only one win ahead of the 38-14 Nets, considering that the Pacers' devil's schedule is not over, Therefore, after losing the first place in the league, the Pacers are likely to lose the first place in the East again.

After a wave of consecutive defeats, not only the Pacers' first position in the East is in jeopardy, Meng Xu's ranking on the scoring list has also been surpassed by Maddie and Iverson, in the 6 games after the All-Star Game, Meng Xu did not score more than 25 points in one game, and in the away game against the Rockets, he shot only 4 of 14 and scored only 11 points, and after 6 games, Meng Xu's average points per game dropped by 1.6 points, and he is currently ranked behind Maddie and Iverson with an average of 31.2 points per game.

"This is the end of the battle for the top scorer! The Pacers are not guaranteed to be first in the East! "On March 22, after the Pacers lost 85-93 to the Hawks on the road, the New York Times, which had been silent for a long time, jumped out again, in the game played on the same day, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers at home, the Pacers and the Nets have a record of 39-14, relying on the 2-1 advantage achieved against the Nets this season, the Pacers are barely in front of the Nets, and the next Pacers will play back-to-back away games against the Knicks, as long as the Pacers lose to the Knicks, then the Nets will overtake the Pacers, Climb to the top position in the East. At the same time, in the game with the Hawks, Meng Xu only scored 17 points, although he still had 15 rebounds and 9 assists, but in the eyes of the media, as the scoring champion last season, a super scorer with an average of 33 points per game, are you embarrassed not to score 30+ in a game? And Meng Xu has now scored no more than 25 points in 7 consecutive games, and his personal data and team record have both suffered setbacks, isn't this worth the big black? At the same time, Meng Xu's biggest opponents to defend the scoring title this season, Maddy and Iverson, both of them are now in a crazy scoring momentum, especially Maddy, after scoring 47 points against the Clippers in the last game, he scored a career-high 52 points against the Bulls yesterday, and has opened a gap of 2 points for Meng Xu in the scoring list.

Back-to-back games themselves are extremely physically demanding, not to mention two consecutive away games, so many teams will choose to give up one when facing back-to-back away games, in order to ensure that they win the key game, but the current Pacers are different, the Pacers, who have lost 3 in a row, can't lose anyway, so in the face of the Hawks, the Pacers team tried their best, but in the end they still lost to the Hawks, at the end of the game, several Pacers players, They all walked back to the locker room with the help of their teammates. Therefore, in this case, it is still very difficult for the Pacers to win the Knicks on the road the next day, which is also the confidence of the New York Times to dare to stand up at this time to hack the Pacers and Meng Xu, you can imagine how much the New York Times will jump if the Pacers lose to the Knicks in back-to-back games.

"Meng, what are you thinking?" On the charter flight from Atlanta to New York, Meng Xu was looking intently at the clouds flying outside the window, looking preoccupied, at this moment, Larry Bird sat next to Meng Xu, patted Meng Xu, who was stunned, and said with a smile.

"Larry, I don't want to lose again, especially not to the Knicks!" The Pacers got off to the best start in franchise history with a 14-2 record and made a mid-season streak to sit first in the league, leading the second-placed Kings by four games at most. But since the All-Star Game, the Pacers have been in a predicament, losing, losing game after game, after losing to the Hawks on the road, the Pacers have lost four games in a row, and for the first time in Meng Xu's career, they have lost four games in a row, so Meng Xu doesn't want this embarrassing record to continue, and in Meng Xu's heart, the Pacers can lose to anyone, but they can't lose to the Knicks.

"Okay, this game, just play according to your ideas, and I will make the whole team cooperate with you." After Meng Xu finished speaking, Larry Bird was stunned for a moment, and then nodded towards Meng Xu.

Although the Pacers lost 5 of 7 games after the All-Star break, Larry Bird didn't take it to heart, and if there is one sentence to describe it, it is that everything is under control. The Pacers' opponents this season are unprecedentedly strong, so Larry Bird has to take precautions, take advantage of the period after the All-Star break, adjust the state of the players in advance, and also take the opportunity to experiment with some new tactics, but Larry Bird seems to be a little out of control now, and the state of the Pacers team is a little out of Larry Bird's control under the "All-Star Syndrome" and Larry Bird's artificial adjustment. But Larry Bird doesn't care at all, after all, there are still more than two months before the end of the regular season, and he still has enough time to adjust, and in the East, there is no team that can threaten the Pacers, even if the Pacers do not have home court advantage, Larry Bird is confident that he will bring the Pacers to the Finals, but after the team's boss made a special request, Larry Bird had to change his original plan and make some adjustments in advance.

"This is the first time I've used a potion in the regular season." Looking at 1 bottle of 1000 points of magic potion, Meng Xu suddenly felt a little distressed, it was just a regular season, would this be too extravagant, but when he thought of the New York Times and the face of Knicks boss Xiao Daolan, Meng Xu still gritted his teeth and exchanged for a bottle of magic potion.

If it was in the past, as long as the Pacers played normally, winning the Knicks would be a matter of hand, but now the whole Pacers team, except for Reggie Miller and Mutombo, the two old guys, are not in the state, and even Meng Xu himself seems to have been infected by them now, and he has been playing several games in a row, just like the Iron God possession, how to shoot and how not to shoot.

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At 8 o'clock in the evening on March 21, Madison Garden Plaza was already full at the moment, although the Knicks' results this season were average, the schedule was just over halfway, and they basically missed the playoffs, but for most of the fans on the scene, the reason why they came to Madison to watch the game was not out of loyalty and love for the Knicks, the purpose of their coming was purely to relax, so in the eyes of many people on the scene, whether it was the Knicks or any other team, it didn't matter who won or lost, as long as the scene was beautiful, It's just a matter of enjoying it yourself, and only a small percentage of the audience watching the game at Madison Square Square are die-hard Knicks loyalists, and even fewer fans like Spike Lee, who are already almost extreme. As one of the Knicks' sworn enemies, the Pacers, with the addition of Meng Xu, the first person in the league, so today's Pacers vs. Knicks game has attracted the attention of almost the entire New York basketball fans. How could the wealthy Dowland family miss this great opportunity, the ticket price of Madison Garden Plaza today has directly increased to 5 times the usual price, and the seats in the first two rows are as high as 20,000 US dollars, even so, it can't stop many local tycoons in New York.

"Mon, Madison today will be your grave! This is where you and your walkers will be buried! When the visiting Pacers players began to walk out of the player tunnel, the entire Madison Garden Plaza immediately became noisy, with boos and cheers, and when Meng Xu finally walked out of the players' tunnel, this atmosphere reached its peak, with boos in the sky, mixed with bursts of cheers, and even MVP shouts. As a diehard Knicks loyalist, Spike Lee naturally couldn't sit idly by, and let Meng Xu swagger into the court amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, so Spike Lee, who was sitting in the first row on the sidelines, immediately jumped up and pointed to Meng Xu, who was about to walk into the court, and scolded him.

"Spike, it looks like I haven't taught you enough lessons." After seeing Spike Lee's provocation, Meng Xu, who was originally going to walk directly into the court, came straight to Spike Lee, just like that, Meng Xu and Spike Lee were across the sideline of the court, looking at each other, perhaps because of Meng Xu's momentum, Spike Lee, who was very fierce just now, didn't say anything after Meng Xu spoke, it seemed that he finally remembered Meng Xu's past in Matti's Garden Square.

"Hmph, what's the hell, you, and your Pacers are finished, you will not only lose the first place in the East, you will also lose the battle for the scoring title, you are going to be finished, sooner or later you will be trampled under the feet of the great Knicks." When the broadcast camera of the scene was aimed at Meng Xu and Spike Lee, the two people who were confronting each other on the side of the court appeared on the big screen above Madison Garden Plaza, Spike Lee, who was already riding a tiger, his face was flushed, and finally in the cheers of the surrounding audience, Spike Lee, who was a little indelible, still mustered up the courage and challenged Meng Xu again.

"Spike, as long as I am for a day, the Knicks will never be able to win against the Pacers, and as long as I am for a day, the Knicks will never want to win a championship!" After Spike Lee's provocation, Meng Xu immediately replied, and then turned around and walked directly into the court.

"Bastard, you're dreaming!" Looking at Meng Xu's back as he turned to leave, for some reason, Spike Lee suddenly felt a little weak after saying this.