Next, in the two games in which Richard was suspended, the Trail Blazers had a one-win and one-loss record.

Judging from the lineup laid out by the Trailblazers in these two games, the absence of Big Ben and Kobe Bryant did have an impact, but the impact was not fatal.

Under Richard's arrangement, Ranbier used Jackson to play point guard and Bowen to play point guard in these two games.

As for Big Ben's big forward position, it was Rashid who temporarily pushed it up, and Robinson who pushed it to the small forward position.

With such a lineup, the defense is still extremely strong, although it is not as good as when Big Ben was there, but it is enough to deal with most teams in the league......

……

When Richard returned, he played his first game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Trailblazers won this game quite neatly, and the young wolf king did not bargain for anything in front of Rashid, and was even slightly at a disadvantage.

When the game ended, Rashid cut 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, while Garnett only scored 18 points.

Now the Trail Blazers' record is only one win away from the supersonics, and it is not difficult to catch up.

The Jazz are definitely finished, and they may not even be able to win 50% of the games in the next month!

……

In the blink of an eye, the time has entered late January!

The NBA schedule is really more than halfway through, and after Kobe Bryant and Big Ben returned, the Trail Blazers were even more powerful, and after winning the Atlanta Hawks on the night of January 27, they completely sat on the top of the Western Conference record list!

Richard himself couldn't believe that he could lead the team to the best record in the West in his second year of entering the NBA!

In 52 games, the Trail Blazers won a total of 39 of them, overtaking the supersonic with a 75% win rate, and successfully sat on the throne of the West!

In just one month, the Trail Blazers showed quite terrifying combat power, or rather hard work on the court.

The wind and waves have already come through, and their team, which has gone through hardships, is now aiming for the playoffs and the championship!

As for the Jazz, it was originally a good game, because in this month, the Utah duo were completely absent, resulting in them only playing a 5-9 record in the entire January schedule......

Originally, the ranking of the first place in the west was also dominated by latecomers.

It's a good idea to use a rollercoaster ride to describe the Jazz's drop in the rankings......

Originally, this season, the competition in the West was quite fierce, although there was one less Rocket, but there were two more powerhouses, the Suns and the Spurs.

By the end of the January schedule, the Jazz had fallen to sixth place in the West, behind the Spurs!

What makes Sloan even more desperate is that although Malone will return in the near future, Stockton's comeback is far away, and it will be at least March to return, so in this case, they will still be quite uncomfortable in the next two months......

If you want to rush back to the first place in the west, it is already a luxury, and it is completely impossible.

Even rushing back to the top half of the Western Conference playoffs is difficult for the Jazz!

……

Richard got his wish and led the team to the top, yes, it did reach the top!

Their Trail Blazers are now not only at the top of the Western Conference record, but also the top of the league record!

The Chicago Bulls are currently two games away from the Trail Blazers in terms of wins due to Pippen's ongoing injury......

With the strong strength that the Trailblazers are showing right now, unless the Bulls sprint with all their might, regardless of the cost, it will be difficult to catch up!

For a team like the Bulls, the regular season record doesn't mean much anymore!

72 wins they have already won, what could be more proof of their strength than this!

……

After the previous Jazz incident was settled, fans around the world found that this Trail Blazers team could no longer be described as a new army.

Although the average age of the players in their team is still the youngest in the league, and although most of their main starters are newcomers in the second and third grades, their mature performance on the court can be compared to an old strong team!

If someone says that the Trail Blazers can sit at the top of the league's record list before the start of this season, I'm afraid no one will believe it!

Even Richard wouldn't believe it......

But now they have really done it, after going through so many tribulations, this devilish team seems to have not been affected at all, and the record has not only not declined, but has soared!

Others don't know why, but Richard knows it very well.

Now these players in the team have really been matured by Richard, and they have seen so many big scenes, and almost everyone has been cultivated with a big heart......

Cultivated the character of perseverance and refusal to admit defeat!

……

At the end of January, the results of the NBA All-Star voting have been released!

What shocked everyone was that Jermaine O'Neal, a 19-year-old interior player of the Trail Blazers, actually squeezed out Kevin Garnett, a young star of the Timberwolves, and was successfully elected as the starting power forward of this year's All-Star!

The starting center is O'Neal, and the starting power forward is O'Neal Jr.!

Such a voting result directly shook the entire league, if O'Neal Jr. is a Lakers player, then this is quite acceptable, after all, in a giant team like the Lakers, he is born with the attention of a large number of fans, and with the data and performance of Xiao O'Neal, it is not difficult to get an All-Star starter......

After all, Kobe Bryant only played one starter in the whole season at that time, and his average data per game was completely inferior to Xiao Ao, so he was elected an All-Star starter.

And the key problem now is that Xiao Ao is not a player of a giant team like the Lakers at all, he is just a Trail Blazers player!

The Trail Blazers player, who is not yet the star of the house, has become an All-Star starter when he has no advantage in statistics?!

If you think about the current record of the Trail Blazers, as well as the actions that have always won the hearts of the people, it is not difficult to explain that Xiao Ao was selected as the starter.

In terms of personal data, although Xiao Ao is not as good as Garnett, the player with the third most votes in the forward position, there is basically no difference.

The key is that the Trail Blazers record of Xiao Ao beat the Timberwolves......

Not to mention that Xiao Ao is younger than the Wolf King!

For various reasons, Xiao Ao was successfully elected as the starting forward of this season's Western All-Stars!

Although Kobe Bryant was banned, this did not affect his popularity, and there were not too many fans in the league who did not like Stockton......

Kobe Bryant was angry for them, and naturally they would not skimp on the votes in their hands!

As a result, Kobe Bryant was also selected as an All-Star, although only as a bench......

Last season, the Trail Blazers didn't score anything in the All-Star Game, and no player qualified for the All-Star Game, but this season is in a good situation, with at least two selected!

As for Big Ben and Rashid, these two were tragically defeated......

Big Ben is because of the style of play and the competition is too fierce, you must know that Duncan is just a substitute All-Star.

And Rashid, in fact, must have the strength, after all, in the head-to-head conversation with Garnett, he can get a good advantage......

As for why not too many fans voted for him, only God knows.

It may be because of his looks, or his style of play, or even his temper......

……

The loss of Big Ben and Rashid undoubtedly made Richard regretful, but the young Xiao Ao and Kobe Bryant were selected as All-Stars, which made up for Richard's regrets.

Richard naturally wanted his players to be as many All-Stars as possible......

Because of this year's All-Star, Richard will appear as the coach of the Western Conference!

The Trail Blazers currently have the first record in the West, and Richard has naturally become the leading coach of the Western All-Stars!