Fifth in the East belongs to the New Orleans Hornets.

Sixth in the East is the Milwaukee Bucks, who have righted Michael Reed and selected TJ Ford with passing playmaking skills, and the team has also quickly returned to the right track this season and entered the playoffs.

The more important reason, of course, is that they are in the east.

A 41-41 record puts them in sixth place in the East.

If it were in the west, it would only be in tenth place in the west.

Seventh in the East belongs to the New York Knicks.

In the first season of the "Smiling Assassin" in New York, there was a big wave, changing three head coaches in a year, but it still allowed the New York Knicks to enter the playoffs.

And they will also be opponents in the first round of the Heat's playoffs.

Eighth place in the East belongs to the Celtics, who hold on to the last playoff spot in the East.

The Cavaliers, who have been "exploding" since March, were also in good form in April, losing two of their seven games, but they were still three wins behind and finished in ninth place in the East.

It can't be helped, the difference between the wins from behind at the beginning is too big!

10 wins.

The Cavaliers are only 33-49 this season.

It can be seen how badly the Cavaliers lost in the first half of this season!

With the end of the regular season, the data of Woody's rookie season was officially frozen, and in the 03~04 season, he played a total of 76 games, averaging 33.8 minutes per game, and could get 18.75 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.75 assists, 3.2 blocks and 1.25 steals. He shot 54.8 percent from the field, 0 percent from three-point range and 74.5 percent from the free throw line.

It can be said that from data to efficiency to performance, Woody has delivered a very good report card.

Anyway, when the Miami media talks about the Heat's choice last summer, they are all kinds of praise.

Judging from the results, the draft year of 03 deserves to be called the "golden generation".

In addition to Woody, who was the fifth pick in the first round, contributed such a statistic, the rookie season performance of other high-pick players was very good:

LeBron James, the first pick in the first round, averaged 40.3 minutes per game, 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals, shooting 41.7% from the field and 29% from three-point range. He shot 75.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Carmelo Anthony, the third pick in the first round, averaged 36.5 minutes per game, 21.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting 42.6% from the field, 32.3% from three-point range, and 77.7% from the free throw line.

Chris Bosh, the fourth pick in the first round, averaged 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game, shooting 45.9% from the field, 35.7% from three-point range, and 70.5% from the free throw line.

Dwyane Wade, the sixth pick in the first round, averaged 16.8 points, 3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 46.5% from the field, 30.2% from three-point range and 74.5% from the free throw line.

……

If this is placed in the past two years, it will be a statistical performance that can get the "best rookie".

But this year, they've all become Woody's companions......

On April 16, just after the end of the regular season, league officials announced the winner of this season's "Best Rookie".

No surprises, this award belongs to Woody!

When the awards were announced, the Miami media were relieved.

In the past two days, public opinion has been very loud, and LeBron James was once inclined to win the "Best Rookie" with Woody and Carmelo Anthony.

If this is the result, although Woody did not lose the election, the Miami media is really difficult to accept, because in their opinion, Woody's popularity is still shown, obviously higher than LeBron James and Anthony.

It's like putting Shaq O'Neal and Michael Jordan together and saying that both are "basketball gods."

O'Neal was undoubtedly the most dominant player in the league at his peak, but he was still a little bit of a difficult distance to cross from Jordan.

LeBron James and Anthony did have the ability to win the "Best Rookie" in previous years, but this year, in the face of such Woody, it just can't.

Fortunately, the final result proves that these voices are completely "groundless" and nonsense.

There is only one "Rookie of the Year" of the season in the end, and that is Woody!

And judging from the percentage of votes, Woody is still quite convinced.

A whopping 47.5% of the vote.

With LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in the mix, that's more than enough votes.

If you read the votes of LeBron and Anthony......

LeBron got 22.1 percent of the vote and Anthony got 21.4 percent......

You can see Woody's advantage in "Best Rookie"!

The Denver press was a little unhappy with the result.

It's not that he is dissatisfied with Woody becoming the "best rookie", but Anthony's vote rate is actually lower than LeBron's.

This......

A guy who didn't lead the team to the playoffs can be ahead of Anthony?

Don't you know how hard it is to make the playoffs in the West?

The Nuggets re-answered the playoffs after Anthony joined!

They felt that the rest of the media did not give Anthony enough respect......

The Miami media made headlines celebrating Woody as the first player in the Heat's history to win Rookie of the Year.

Some media outlets have begun to refer to Woody as the man who "rewrote Miami history"!

Woody posted the "Best Rookie" trophy on social software, and many domestic fans came to leave him messages over the wall. He became the first Chinese player in NBA history to win the "Best Rookie". For domestic fans, it is also a big face-raising thing.

Especially when Yao Ming unfortunately lost to Xiao Si with about 6% of the votes last year and missed the "Best Rookie", it made them feel stuffy in their hearts and expressed it.

Really......

Refreshing!

Woody wasn't overly enthusiastic.

Because it was about to be announced for the Olympic Games, he didn't know how the domestic fans would react when they knew he refused to participate in the Olympics......

In addition, he really doesn't have much time to surf the Internet, the regular season is over, and there are still 3 days left before the playoffs begin.

His high school jersey retirement ceremony was held over the course of three days.

So, after winning the "Best Rookie" trophy, he immediately returned to Akron.

For this matter, the Heat, including Stan Van Gundy, have expressed understanding.

On the way back, Woody felt a faint excitement in his heart, and he couldn't control it. This is the first time he has retired his shirt.

St. Mary's High School takes the retirement of Woody's jerseys very seriously.

The response from the students at the school was also enthusiastic, and his phrase "St. Mary, this is for you" was made into a banner and hung everywhere in the school.

Woody felt like home.

Stephen Curry also mingled with the students, holding up his poster and shouting feverishly at him.

The atmosphere was very good, but at the scene, the reporters found that there was one person missing......

Woody's "best friend" LeBron James did not return to St. Mary's to participate in this moment, which was a bit important for Woody.

"I'm sure he has his reasons, but it won't affect our relationship!" Woody showed his free-spirited side.

A reporter said: "Do you think LeBron chose to avoid such an occasion because he lost to you in the competition for the best rookie?" ”

Woody said, "Probably not......

In fact, he still has a sentence, otherwise, wouldn't he never see me in the future?

But think about it, on a good day, he is a victor, there is no need to be so mean.

Didn't he come to the retirement ceremony of his jersey?

"I think he's going to be a little frustrated, that's understandable......"

There is a way, the more you think about it, the more angry you are!

Woody, who didn't intend to be "mean", finally complained about LeBron a little.

The reporter continued: "Have you comforted him?" ”

"Of course, our relationship ......," Woody said, looking back tactically.

This made some reporters sigh in their hearts, the relationship between the "St. Mary's Twin Stars" is really ......

It's so ferromagnetic!

Woody's No. 9 jersey was successfully retired at St. Mary's High School and hung above the arena. After the retirement ceremony, Woody was about to leave, but he still had a meal with Stephen Curry.

The two of them agreed to meet in Miami when Stephen Curry finished his semester.

"Hopefully I can catch your race!" There was some anticipation in Curry's eyes.

"I'll do my best!"

You must know that Curry's exam this semester is over, and it will be late May, and according to the schedule, the Heat will at least survive to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Although the Heat's regular season record ranks second in the East, they should have entered the Eastern Conference Finals with this result.

But as we all know, the playoffs are not the same as the regular season.

Both the intensity and the pace of the game are much higher than the intensity of the regular season.

There are many strong newcomers who have overturned in the playoffs, and there are many new forces who have entered the playoffs for the first time.

And a cutting-edge force like the Heat, with strong newcomers as the core, can be regarded as a "typical rollover".

Plus, there's another reason:

The Heat's first-round opponent was the New York Knicks.

Like the Heat, they are back in the playoffs after a two-year hiatus.

Moreover, things are not people, and they already belong to another set of teams.

But every city has its own heritage.

The New York Knicks, as the "mecca of basketball", also have their heritage.

In the 99 playoffs, the NBA gave birth to the second "Black Eight Miracle" in history, and it was none other than the New York Knicks who created the miracle. And it was none other than the Heat who was reversed by them.

At that time, the Heat ranked first in the East, and they were full of ambition to create a big scene.

But as a result, he lost to the New York Knicks by 20 points in the first game.

In the fourth game of the series, Alan Houston, the "king of mid-range shots", helped the team beat the Heat with his usual throwing, eliminating the Heat 3-1, creating the second "Black Eight Miracle" in NBA history.

That's why, when the New York Knicks were stable in seventh place in the East, the entire New York media thought they were stable.

The New York Times was even more direct: "NBA historical scenes will be repeated this season." ”

As the league's best fan of champagne in advance, New York fans are even more excited to start researching their opponents for the next round. At the same time, fantasizing about a brighter future:

You must know that the New York Knicks, who completed the "Black Eight Miracle" that year, passed all the way to the finals!

I did it against the Heat that year, and I faced the Heat again this year......

God has missed the topic for them, how can they not celebrate in advance?

Woody was originally going to stay in Akron for two more days, which is why he returned to Miami overnight to prepare for the playoffs.

That night, LeBron James suddenly took to his social media to Aite a car dealer who sold cars: Man, this car is really amazing!

In less than 5 minutes, he deleted this post at the speed of light, but it was still screenshotted by the media reporter at the speed of light.

Early the next morning, reports similar to LeBron's absence from Woody's jersey retirement and buying a new car appeared in various large and small media news.

Of course, this is just a small episode, and as the playoffs approach, most of the media is still looking forward to the upcoming first round of the playoffs with eight matchups.

The New York media and New Yorkers are very optimistic that the Knicks can complete the "following grams".

In the outside media, many people are also more optimistic about the New York Knicks.

Because the strength of this team's squad is really not weak:

Marbury, Alan Houston, Van Horne......

That's the foundation of this lineup on the offensive end.

These two pitchers alone, combined with Marbury's playmaking tandem, are enough to give defenders a headache.

Although Van Horn has not grown to the level of the "second generation of Bird" as the "Cardinals" said, he still averages sixteen or seven points per game and is definitely a stable contribution.

It's on the offensive end, and on the defensive end they got Mutombo in the summer.

Midway through the season, Mutombo returned from injury to finish with 6.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. Pretty well propped up the New York Knicks' defense.

One more point:

Don't forget!

The NBA's first "Black Eight Miracle" was created by Mutombo's Hawks.

This team and this person all have the genes of "making mistakes", they know how to do things in such a game, and the Heat are just a "rookie gang" full of recruit eggs.

How can the media not be bullish on the New York Knicks?

Woody was interviewed the day before the game, and a reporter wanted to stir up trouble: "The playoffs are coming, and you are still facing the New York Knicks who have a grudge against the Heat, do you think that in such a situation, participating in the high school jersey retirement ceremony is not an unprofessional approach, is it an irresponsible approach to the team, and if you end up losing to the Knicks, what kind of responsibility should you bear for such a consequence?" ”

Menacing!

Woody said: "Everything I do is in line with the process I should follow, in this regard, I don't need to give you an explanation, as for the game against the New York Knicks, I don't have the ability to predict the future, but I think, we can climb to such a position, not for nothing, the playoffs are a challenge, I also accept the challenge, if I lose to the Knicks, of course I am as a core player, bear the main responsibility!" ”

(End of chapter)