NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 256 rose to 4th in the East

On December 9th, the Hawks played the Pacers in a back-to-back away game.

Since Paul George suffered a fracture and will be sidelined indefinitely, the Pacers' record has been in a slump. Compared to last season, this team is not only missing Paul George, but also George Hill is injured, Stephenson has left the team, and Gao Yuanyuan's performance is not as good as last season.

In this game, the Hawks dominated the Pacers throughout and easily defeated them, achieving a new season-high six-game winning streak!

Since the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, the Hawks have become a major nemesis for the Pacers, winning five straight games against them (playoffs + regular season).

On December 11, the Hawks easily defeated the 76ers at home, achieving their sixth consecutive victory.

After a six-game winning streak, their record stands at 14 wins and 7 losses, putting them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference!

During this six-game winning streak, Jia Fei performed exceptionally well, demonstrating leadership on both offense and defense, and his advanced statistics were also impressive.

On the 11th, the "2015 NBA All-Star Voting Campaign" officially launched in New York, the host city of this year's All-Star Game, at 2 p.m. New York time.

2015年NBA全明星赛于北京时间2015年2月14日至16日在纽约举行，本届全明星赛是由尼克斯和篮网两队主场联手承办。其中第64届全明星正赛在尼克斯队主场麦迪逊广场花园进行。而其他全明星活动项目，如三分球大赛与扣篮大赛等，在篮网队主场巴克莱中心举办。

Fans around the world can vote daily for their favorite players in the All-Star Game voting, determining who will be the starters for the Eastern and Western Conferences. The 2014 voting was the first to be open to all active players in the league, allowing fans to choose two guards and three forwards from among current players for the All-Star Game starting lineups.

Fans can vote through the NBA website or social media platforms. Chinese fans can also vote via Weibo using their mobile phones.

Even before the voting announcement, Jia Fei's fans were already urging everyone to vote for their idol online. Last season, he was selected as an All-Star starter for the first time in his career thanks to fan votes.

If Jia Fei's first selection to the starting lineup last season was quite controversial, now that he has been selected to the All-NBA Team at the end of the season and led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, such controversy has long since disappeared.

Since last season, his popularity has increased further, and he has fans all over the world. He has become known as the "most handsome man in the NBA" by netizens.

On December 13, the Hawks narrowly defeated the Pistons, but the following day they were defeated by a last-second shot in a back-to-back game, ending their eight-game winning streak.

The Hawks' winning streak ended at 7 games!

After this game, their record improved to 15 wins and 8 losses, maintaining their fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

On December 16, the Hawks will host the Bulls.

The two teams met in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, with the Hawks sweeping them 4-1. However, the Bulls were missing their backcourt engine, Derrick Rose, in that series, while the Hawks were also missing their core center, Al Horford.

The Bulls currently have a record of 15 wins and 8 losses, tied for 4th place in the Eastern Conference with the Hawks. This game is essentially a "seeding competition" between the two teams; the winner will leave the other behind.

Since his return, Rose's performance has certainly not been as good as during his MVP season, but with him on the team, the Bulls' offense has found a new engine, making them significantly better than last season. This season, acquiring the Lakers' championship-winning center, Selena Gomez, has further strengthened the team's interior offense, enhancing their overall strength.

On the evening of the 16th, at the Philips Arena.

Jia Fei and Art Mayork arrived at the arena early for acclimatization training. They first went to the gym to lift weights, and then went to the court for shooting practice. This training method of the two has been going on for a long time and is a model for the team's training.

"Jia, All-Star voting has started! Have you seen it? Your fans are campaigning for you!" Art Mayork said excitedly.

"Really! I didn't notice, I didn't pay attention to any of this. Time flies, the All-Star Game is about to start again!" Jia Fei also felt that time had passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, he had been in the league for almost four seasons.

"Don't you want to try your luck with the All-Star MVP?" Art Mayork asked.

"Uh...you know I don't really like taking a lot of shots in these kinds of games!" Jia Fei shrugged. He genuinely didn't like taking a lot of shots, especially in the All-Star game. Everyone's not really on guard, and if you just go on a shooting spree, it's practically like you're wearing your MVP ambitions on your sleeve. Is that really fun? But the regular season MVP or the Finals MVP is different. Winning those isn't just about one game, and everyone's vying for them. You can't win them if you don't have the skill.

“Hmm, you have a point. I think you should focus on winning the regular season MVP first!” Art Mayork said.

"Hmm, that makes sense!" Jia Fei smiled. He thought his best friend was really cute. How easy is it to win the regular season MVP? Even someone as strong as Little Blacksmith only has one. People like 58 Short Finn and Big Cheeks, there isn't one of them.

The attendance at Philips Arena that night was still quite good. Since the Hawks acquired Jabeur, their performance has improved significantly, and the market for their games has remained strong. While Atlanta can't compare to Los Angeles or New York, it's not a small city either; it hosted the Olympics and has great potential for a large basketball market.

This game was broadcast live on ESPN, with commentators Mike Breen and former Warriors head coach and former NBA star Mark Jackson providing commentary.

After stepping down as head coach of the Warriors, Mark Jackson did not go on to coach another team, but instead officially entered the world of commentary, often working with Mike Brin, Jeff Van Gundy and others as commentators.

"Jeff, the Hawks were almost defeated by the Magic in their last game. Do you expect them to shake off their slump and make a strong comeback tonight?" Mike Breen asked.

Mark Jackson laughed and said, "Their winning streak was just ended. I'm not worried about their form at all. This team's system works well. They have defense and stars. As long as they don't have core player injuries like they did last season, you don't need to worry about their regular season record."

"Jia Fei will face Jimmy Butler's defense again in this game. How much do you think Jimmy can limit him?" Mike Breen continued to ask.

Mark Jackson shook his head: "Jimmy is a great defender, but I don't think anyone in this league can really contain him one-on-one. He's too fast, he's like a sports car."

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Hawks' starting lineup, playing at home, remained unchanged: Jafi, Teague, Korver, Middleton, and Horford.

The starting lineup for the Bulls, playing away, consisted of Rose, Jimmy Butler, Dunleavy Jr., Gibson, and Selena Gomez.