At the end of the first quarter, at 22:13, the Heat had a nine-point lead.

After halftime, at 50:35, the Heat led by 15 points.

At the end of the third quarter, 76:55, the Heat led by 21 points.

The Cavaliers simply waived the fourth quarter.

James sat on the sidelines, looking at Wade and Li Lei, who were talking and laughing across from each other...... Mixed feelings.

Everyone is a rookie in the same year, and James has obtained unimaginable shooting rights and autonomy from Li Lei and Wade.

At the same time, James kept coming to a loss.

And the two people on the other side, although the statistics are much worse than James, but they have always won, and their team is the second strongest team in the East.

In the end, 101-78, the Heat defeated the Cavaliers.

In this game, James made 5 of 13 shots and got a quasi-triple-double of 15 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks by making free throws.

The Heat's side.

Wade had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.

Li Lei had 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Jones had 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Odom had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.

Butler off the bench had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Alston had 11 points and four assists.

In addition, Wang Zhizhi, who played in garbage time in the fourth quarter, also had 6 points and 1 rebound.

The Heat's overall record came to 32-14.

......

There are two last games left in January.

On January 30, the Heat played the Clippers at home.

On January 31, the Heat played the Hornets away.

In both games, the Heat clocked out in the third quarter and won by 19 and 22 points respectively.

The Clippers are consistently underwhelming.

The Hornets started the season second in the East and are now on the verge of dropping out of the top eight.

Byron Davis "The Bearded" is said to be at odds with the team's management.

By the end of January, the Heat had a 34-14 record.

Ranked second in the East and second in the league.

The first is the Pacers in the East, with 35 wins and 13 losses.

The second is the Heat, with 34 wins and 14 losses.

Third is the Kings in the West with 33 wins and 12 losses.

Fourth, the Timberwolves, 32-13.

Fifth Pistons, 32-16.

Sixth Spurs, 31-18.

Seventy, eight, ninety are the Mavericks, Nuggets, Lakers, and Bucks.

......

In the selection of the Player of the Month.

Garnett averaged 23.8 points, 14.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game in the West, with a team record of 12 wins and 3 losses, and won the Western Conference Player of the Month for two consecutive months.

Michael Reed of the East averaged 22.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and the Bucks went 11-5 and won the Player of the Month for the first time in his career.

Then came Rookie of the Month.

Carmelo Anthony is still in the West, the Nuggets are 9-8, and Anthony is averaging 18.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

In the east, however, there was a dispute.

James averaged 21.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks per game in 11 games.

Li Lei averaged 18.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game in 14 games.

It's hard to say who is good and who is bad in the data of the two, James is better on the offensive end, but Li Lei's defensive end is more eye-catching.

Compared with the data, the two are almost indistinguishable.

As a result, two voices emerged.

One is to compare the record.

The Cavaliers are 5-6, the Heat are 12-2, and Li Lei crushes James.

The other is to compare the tactical position of the team.

James is the only core of the Cavaliers, but Li Lei is only one of the main forces of the Heat, and James crushes Li Lei.

The two voices quarreled.

Miami fans and Cleveland fans are once again in a big fight.

"What's wrong with James being the heart of the team? It only leads the team to lose, does it make sense? ”

"The Heat have a good record, does it have anything to do with you Stone? Not by Odom, Jones, Wade, Butler! ”

"You said that you can rely on Odom, Jones, and Butler, and what do you mean by bringing Wade? How many games has Wade played this month? ”

"Anyway, your Stone is the record of hugging your thighs."

"James led the team to win the top pick!"

......

Just when the fans were arguing and hurting each other, the league made a decision.

Rookie of the Month in January 2004: Li Lei!

Miami fans rejoice.

The Cleveland people were not convinced.

The bickering continued, but cooled down as time went on until no one spoke of it again.

Domestic fans are of course rejoicing.

Yao Ming was robbed of the best rookie by Stoudemire last year, and Li Lei snatched food from James, although it was only the rookie of the month, but it was enough to make the fans excited.

CCTV also took this opportunity to canvass for Li Lei, to help Li Lei become an All-Star, meet with Yao Ming, and stage a Chinese derby on All-Star Weekend.

In the last 10 days, Li Lei's votes rose wildly.

Overnight past Pippen, Artest, Kenyon Martin.

Within a week, O'Neill Jr. was already close.

American fans looked at the data from the ballot website and were stunned.

"There's a bug in the ballot system!"

This was the first reaction of American fans.

Subsequently, many people believed this argument and demanded that the coalition check the system and review the voting results.

The NBA headquarters immediately checked and the final conclusion was: no problem.

At this time, a fan said: "Have you forgotten what happened to Yao Ming last year? It's not a problem with the system, it's just that there are a lot of fans in China. ”

American fans suddenly realized.

Then, there was a flood of voices calling for the NBA to close overseas voting channels.

David Stern is feeling the pressure.

Promoting NBA globalization is a lifelong dream of Stern, and he can't easily give in.

Stern took a word trick: drag!

If you can drag it out for a day, it's a day, and if you can't put it off, let's talk about it.

......

February 2nd.

The Heat faced a tough rival, the Pistons.

Li Lei didn't feel good today, under Prince's full-court marking, he only scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 2 of 9 shots.

The Heat also lost 78-91 to the Pistons.

After the game, Li Lei was bombarded by a large number of fans, media people, and players.

"Are we going to make an All-Star a guy who scores five points from the game? It's just a joke. ”

"This is the darkest moment in the history of American basketball."

"When did the NBA become a league for Chinese, just because there were more Chinese? Will there be another player in China in the future, averaging 2 points and 3 rebounds per game, because there are more Chinese fans who can be selected as an All-Star? ”

"Stone doesn't deserve it!"

......

And the loudest one in this is Kenyon Martin.

The Eastern Conference Forward All-Star vote was originally third, but now fourth, and the big forward who was thrown far away by Li Lei, the 2000 champion Kenyon Martin.

"I'm questioning the existing All-Star voting rules, can anyone make it to the All-Star Game?"

"If I end up being an All-Star with that Chinese rookie, I'll refuse to compete! With me without him, with him without me! ”

Kenyon Martin spoke to the media in a high-profile manner.

Later, his teammate Jason Kidd also expressed his opinion: "If a player as good as Kenyon can't be selected as an All-Star, it will be the biggest joke in NBA history to make a rookie who can only shoot three-pointers." ”

With Martin and Kidd making statements, a whole bunch of stars including Pierce, Ray Allen, Garnett, ...... all questioned Li Lei.

Suddenly, Li Lei was pushed to the forefront.