"Boss, it's out, it's out!" On April 21, 2003, after the Pacers' 82-season regular season games were all over, the Simon brothers, the owners of the Pacers, chartered the second-floor ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Indianapolis, and invited all the famous names in the history of the Pacers, and all the members of the Pacers this season, as well as some of the team's administrators, to celebrate the Pacers' best 62-win record in team history, and the first regular season first in the history of the Pacers. Just as Meng Xu was talking to Mel Daniels, the greatest star in the history of the Pacers, Jamal Tinsley ran over in a panic and pulled Meng Xu's arm excitedly.

"Jamal, what's coming out, look at what excites you." Looking at Jamal Tinsley's excited appearance, Meng Xu was also a little confused for a while, could it be the selection of the regular season MVP? But it's probably not that early.

"It's a game between the Spurs and the Magic, the Magic lost to the Spurs by more than 20 points at home, Tracy only scored 18 points in this game, so you're the scoring champion again!"

"Meng, congratulations!" After Mel Daniels on the side heard Jamal Tinsley's words, he immediately raised the wine glass in his hand and greeted Meng Xu like Meng Xu.

"Thank you, thank you!" After clinking glasses with Mel Daniels, after learning that Meng Xu surpassed Maddie to win the scoring title this season in the final round of the game, more and more people on the scene surrounded Meng Xu with wine glasses, among all the honors in the regular season, the scoring champion is second only to the regular season MVP, so no matter when, it is a thing worth celebrating, let alone in the case of such fierce competition this season.

In fact, after the Pacers' last game yesterday, Meng Xu was not hopeful about the competition for the scoring title, the Pacers' regular season finale, in the face of the Pistons' crazy encirclement, Meng Xu handed over 26 shots and 8 of the data, and finally ranked second on the scoring list with an average of 34.2 points per game, less than 0.1 points away from Maddie at the top of the list. Although the Magic still have a game against the Spurs, as long as Maddy does not play, or as long as Maddy scores more than 27 points, then Maddy's scoring title is firmly in his hands.

However, in order to gain home-court advantage over the Pistons in the playoffs, the Magic, who were half a win behind the Pistons, not only could not relax in the final round of the game against the Spurs, but also had to go all out. The same is true for the Spurs, who cannot give up this final game in order to gain home-court advantage over the Lakers in the playoffs.

In the end, under the boos of the fans, Tim Duncan scored 34 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks to help the Spurs beat the Magic 106-83 on the road, and Maddy, the star of the Magic, under the care of Ginobili and Bowen, only scored 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting in the game.

After the game between the Magic and the Spurs, all the games in the final round of the NBA regular season in the 02-03 season were all over, and the Pacers finally ranked first in the East with a record of 62-20, and it is also the best record in the league. After all the games in the regular season, the Nets ranked second in the East with a record of 54 wins and 28 losses, except for the Pacers and the Nets, the other six teams in the East that entered the playoffs did not even have a team with 50 wins, on the other hand, the Timberwolves, who were sixth in the West, all had a 50-32 record, which can also be seen how far the overall strength gap between the East and West teams is.

After the Nets, the Celtics ranked third in the East with a 49-33 record, and after the Cardinals returned to take over the team, the Celtics quickly came out of the trough, from a fish belly that couldn't even touch the door of the playoffs, and re-entered the ranks of the Eastern giants, and has been in the top four in the East for two consecutive seasons. The Pistons, who reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, had a rough start to the season, not only did the offseason recruitment work achieve nothing, but also fell into various trade turmoil after the start of the regular season, and there are often Detroit media breaking the news that the Pistons want to send away the team's outside core Jerry Starkhouse, so in the first half of the regular season, the Pistons' record has been unstable, but after the All-Star break, the Pistons gradually regained stability, winning at home in the final round, and after the Magic lost to the Spurs, The Pistons are 48-34 and locked up fourth place in the East.

After the Pistons, the Magic are in fifth place in the East with a 47-35 record, and the other three teams that make the playoffs are the 76ers with a 44-38 record, the Hornets with a 42-40 record, and the Bucks with a 41-41 record. The 76ers and the Bucks are also a pair of difficult brothers, the 76ers and the Raptors, who once won the top two in the East and will meet the Finals, may have exhausted the good luck accumulated for many years that season, and since that season, the two teams have been in trouble at the same time, infighting, backstabbing, and rumors of discord have filled these two teams, accompanied by trades and injuries, and the drama of betrayal, the two teams that are considered to dominate the Eastern Conference for several years have fallen apart.

Compared with the East, the record of the teams in the West is obviously much stronger, and the competition for the top few places in the West is also more intense, the Kings, Spurs, and Mavericks, alternately leading in the regular season, and finally the Mavericks have the last laugh, although they lost the first place in the league, but the Mavericks still rank first in the West with a record of 60-22. The most beautiful team in the West this season is undoubtedly the Mavericks, who ranked fourth in the West last season, are getting braver and braver this season, and have won more than seven consecutive games three times in a single season, although they are still 2 wins away from the Pacers, who are the first in the league, but they can stand out in the competition with the Spurs, Lakers, Kings, and these giants, and this season's Mavericks are good enough.

After the Mavericks, there is the 59-23 Spurs, the Spurs' record this season can be said to be somewhat unexpected, after David Robinson is a year older, Reeve Lafrentz was robbed by the Mavericks, the Spurs' record has risen instead of falling, and almost got a 60-win record, stable and efficient Duncan is certainly one of the reasons, and there is also a very important reason, that is, Parker's progress, and Ginobili's joining, Tony Parker, who averaged only 9 points and 4 assists per game last season, This season, he played 15.5 points and 5.3 assists of efficient data, and Ginobili, who first entered the league, also showed a very strong adaptability, in less than 20 minutes of playing time, he was able to contribute an average of 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and at the end of the regular season, he scored more than 15+ points in 10 consecutive games, 20+ in 5 consecutive games, Duncan, who was still at his peak, now has a good helper, it can be said that this season's playoffs, the Spurs are still very exciting.

And this season's Lakers are undoubtedly the most disappointing team, after trading Payton and Malone in the offseason, the Lakers, who formed an unprecedented luxury Big Four, not only did not sweep the entire league and break the Bulls' winning streak as expected before the start of the season, but finally did not even get a 60-win record. The Lakers, who are third in the West with a 58-24 record, have disappointed all fans who are expecting the Lakers, but the Lakers obviously don't care about the regular season standings, and the team's star O'Neal even said in an interview that even if we enter the playoffs in eighth place in the West, we can win this season's championship. Maybe it's true that as O'Neal said, no matter how many championships they rank, it will be the Lakers, so in the final stage of the regular season, when the rest of the teams began to make the final sprint for the playoff rankings and home-court advantage, the Lakers actually played a rotation break, and every game, the Big Four had to rest at least two, otherwise, the Lakers' record this season would definitely be better.

The fourth place in the West after the Lakers is the Kings with the same record as the Lakers, because the record with the Lakers this season is in a slight advantage, so the Kings can only be below the Lakers, ranking fourth in the West. The Trail Blazers, who were once one of the top three in the West, have also improved their record after changing their head coach this season, relying on a wave of 6 consecutive wins in the final stage of the regular season, successfully overtaking the Timberwolves, ranking fifth in the West with a record of 52 wins and 30 losses. As for the Timberwolves, who once rose to third place in the West after the All-Star break, they slipped from third in the West to sixth place in the West after an inexplicable losing streak in the closing stages of the regular season. The remaining two playoff spots in the West are the 46-36 Warriors and the 44-38 Grizzlies, the Grizzlies quickly rebuilt successfully after trading to Gasol and Harrington, Pau Gasol averaged 21 points and 10.3 rebounds per game this season, becoming the only few in the entire league that can contribute 20+10 interior line, and Al Harrington was established as the core by the Grizzlies. This season, he averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, and after the Grizzlies gave the Pacers a first-round pick to become the No. 4 pick, many people questioned that the Grizzlies lost the deal, but when Harrington played All-Star level data this season, the Grizzlies' loss immediately disappeared, and it turned into a loss for the Pacers.

After all the games in the regular season were over and the final standings were determined, the official website of the NBA League then announced the playoff schedule and schedule for this season, which were the Pacers who were first in the East against the Bucks who were eighth in the East, the Nets who were second in the East against the Hornets who were seventh in the East, the Celtics who were third in the East against the 76ers who were sixth in the East, and the Pistons who were fourth in the East against the Magic who were fifth in the East. The Mavericks, who are first in the West, are against the Grizzlies, who are eighth in the West, the Spurs, who are second in the West, are against the Warriors, who are seventh in the West, and the master-apprentice matchup between Popovich and Mike Budenholzer has also become the biggest attraction of this series, and then the Lakers, who are third in the West, are against the Timberwolves, who are sixth in the West, the Kings who are fourth in the West, and the Trail Blazers, who are fifth in the West. Of all the eight matchups, except for the Pistons and Magic, which seems to be a close matchup, the rest are all very different, although the Black N miracle has always been the most exciting drama in the first round of the playoffs, but in this situation this season, I am afraid it is becoming more and more difficult to see.

Unlike the playoffs in previous years, the NBA league has adjusted the playoff format this season, the biggest change is that the first round of the playoffs has been increased from 5 games to 7 games, after the number of games increases, whether it is for the league or for the teams that enter the playoffs, this will be a lot of income, and with the increase in the number of games, it also relatively reduces the probability of upsets for weak teams. There are many strong teams in the league, after the ranking is basically determined, before the start of the playoffs, adjust the state of the team, arrange some players to reduce the playing time, or even take turns off, so there will be a lot of teams to get off, after the start of the playoffs, the team's state has not been adjusted, and the result is black seven or black eight, with the increase in the number of games, even if there will be a situation where they accidentally play off, but after the number of games increases, they will have more adjustments, and a chance to get back into shape. After the new format was announced, most of the teams in the league expressed their support for Mr. Stern's wise decision, after all, one more game will earn more tickets, and the league's broadcast fees will be more, who will not be able to get along with money? However, there will be those who are in favor and those who are against, after the league announced the new format, some NBA celebrities sarcastically said that the playoffs will simply be changed to a 9-game 5-win system, and the 82-game regular season schedule itself is dense enough, and the playoffs will increase the number of games, and the income of the league and the team has increased, but those players are more tired, and the chance of injury has also greatly increased.

Just when everyone's eyes were focused on the new format, on April 22, 2003, John Stockton, who played for the Utah Jazz for 19 seasons, officially announced his retirement after the game between the Jazz and the Trail Blazers. Stockton will continue to play for the Jazz.

For a while, even the playoff limelight was overshadowed by the news of John Stockton's retirement, and after Stockton announced his retirement, Malone, who played side by side with Stockton for 17 seasons, also issued a brief statement in Los Angeles: "I used to have a coach who always taught me that a great NBA player should be able to make his teammates All-Star players, and Stockton is such a person. I don't want to comment on the news of his imminent retirement, but the news really surprised me. ”

But what embarrassed Malone was that when the reporter relayed this passage to John Stockton, John Stockton said without replying: "Who is Malone?" Do I know him? ”