On January 20, U.S. time, only 5 days have passed since the announcement of the second round of NBA All-Star ballots.

On this day, the Rockets ushered in their third meeting of the season with the Suns at home.

The Suns had a good game in the game, and the two teams played anxiously from the start.

It wasn't until the last moment of the game that the Rockets narrowly defeated their opponents 111-108 with a 21 from Yao Ming's basket.

The Suns' Nash had a season-high 38 points and 12 assists, while Stoudemire also had 20 points and 16 boards.

On the Rockets' side, Yi Jianlian ushered in another outbreak, scoring 27 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks on 11-of-17 shooting.

A fierce regular season, but this game at this particular point in time, is more like an accelerant.

Because on this evening, shortly after the end of this game, the results of the voting for the third round of the NBA were announced.

It was at this moment that something happened that stunned all American fans.

In the position of Western Forward, Yi Jianlian received a total of 1,242,842 votes in three rounds, surpassing Duncan's 1.132,095 votes and coming to the first place in Western Forward!

In the past 5 days, Yi Jianlian has received a full 400,000 votes!

Terror! Thriller!

When American fans saw this, their first reaction was to wipe their eyes to see if they were dazzled.

But the data is right!

Under the unfair treatment of American fans and the league, knowing that the vote for the next All-Star Game will no longer be counted, this voting result made everyone realize one thing: in the matter of comparing numbers, offending no one can offend the Chinese!

Tang Tian was not surprised by such a result.

It seems that American fans are very lively, and their protests have also been responded to by the league, but Chinese fans are not stupid.

To paraphrase the vernacular, as long as there are more votes than you in the end, whatever you want.

As for the pressure that may be brought to Yi Jianlian at the All-Star Game, it is also non-existent.

Because he did not start the Western All-Star team last year, Tang Tian will most likely become the head coach of the Western All-Star team this year, and then add Yao Ming and Maddie, who have already been ironclad starters, in fact, the Western All-Stars are half of the Rockets.

Plus Kobe Bryant and Duncan, both of whom are historical superstars, they wouldn't care about that kind of thing.

After the shock, American fans once again protested to the league in an unprecedented outcry.

This time, though, the league didn't respond.

In fact, they can't respond anymore, and when the rules have already been made, it is impossible to change them this time.

American fans had no choice but to start calling on local fans to vote for Duncan.

There is no way to prevent Yi Jianlian from becoming the starter, at least not to fall behind in the number of votes.

At the same time, there were many 404 errors on the official website of the domestic voting, and I don't know if American hackers really started to do it.

On January 29, U.S. time, the fourth round of All-Star voting was released, and the final starting list was also settled.

On the Eastern side, Howard received more than 3.1 million votes, followed by James with 2.9 million votes, and the remaining three were Wade with 2.7 million, Garnett with 2 million and Carter with 1.6 million.

On the Western Army's side, Yao Ming was once again elected as the All-Star vote champion and set a new record with a total of 3.4 million votes, followed by Kobe Bryant with 2.8 million, followed by Maddie with 2.7 million, Duncan with 2.57 million and Yi Jianlian with 2.4 million.

The all-out output of American fans finally made Duncan rank first among the forwards, but Yi Jianlian still beat Stoudemire by 1.4 million with a crushing advantage and became the starting forward in the West.

When the final result came out, Chinese fans cheered, and American fans could only choose to admit it.

Just like Tang Tian said, within the rules, they can only choose to shut up.

And in this way, the three Rockets became Western All-Star starters, once again refreshing team history.

The All-Star Game votes are settled, but with game day and a half to go, the Rockets currently have a two-game lead over the Lakers behind them.

The players are very serious about the next game, because it is related to whether Tang Tian or Phil Jackson becomes the head coach of the All-Star West Force in the end.

Before the game against the Trail Blazers on this day, Tang Tian was studying tactics when an uninvited guest came to his office.

Petrus.

"Michael?" Seeing Petrus, Tang Tian was a little surprised.

"Coach." Petrus closed the door cautiously.

"What's the matter?" Tang Tian nodded, and then motioned for Petrus to sit.

When Petrus sat down, he put his hand on the table and held it back and forth, as if he was a little nervous.

Tang Tian looked at him puzzled.

"That's right." After hesitating for a while, Petrus finally spoke, "Coach, I want to be a starter. ”

"Huh?" Tang Tian looked at Petrus in surprise.

He didn't expect Petrus to suddenly make such a request.

"If I start, I'll be able to release TMAC, he'll be back to his familiar small forward position, and he'll be able to put all his energy into the offense, so I think I'm better suited to start than Sean." Petrus went on to explain.

Tang Tian slowly withdrew his gaze.

This reason is reasonable, in fact, Tang Tian also knows these benefits.

But let's be honest, in terms of defensive experience and personal ability, Petrus is still a little worse than Battier, otherwise he wouldn't have kept Petrus on the bench.

I just didn't expect it to be at this point in time.

Half a month later is the All-Star and then the trade deadline.

At this moment, a message suddenly flashed through his mind.

He glanced at Petrus again, and seemed to understand why the latter had made such a request at this time.

Petrus signed a two-year contract with the Rockets, and this is his contract year!

When it comes to the next contract, which is their future, players will always strive to maximize their benefits.

After Tang Tian understood, he said with a smile: "I will discuss this matter with the coaching staff and maintain a positive attitude." ”

Petrus nodded excitedly after hearing this, and after a few more pleasantries, he walked out of the office with a happy face.

After Petrus left, Tang Tian also added this matter to the memorandum of the meeting.

Petrus signed with the Rockets because of his salary cut, and even if the coaching staff finally discussed that Battier was suitable to start, he would have increased the latter's playing time somewhat.

The regular meeting of the coaching staff was held in the afternoon, and after discussing the game tactics with the Trail Blazers, Tang Tian then raised the question of who started Petrus and Battier.

"Tell me what you think." Tang Tian looked around at his teaching assistants and said.