The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 192 Climbing to the top
On the 22nd, the Heat, with an 8-game winning streak and a 100% winning percentage, ascended to the top spot in the entire league.

In the Eastern Conference, the Bulls won on the road, bringing their record to 9 wins and 1 loss, placing them second in the East, behind the Heat.

On the 23rd, the Heat will host the Cavaliers, while the Rockets will play the Magic in a back-to-back game, and the Bulls will play the Nuggets on the road in a back-to-back game.

The three teams have very similar records and are all vying for the top spot in the league, making the competition extremely fierce.

The Cavaliers had a record of 5 wins and 4 losses. Their starting center, Williams, was a very tall and thin man weighing only 98 kilograms. He had almost no ability to compete with Tang Bei and avoided him throughout the game, not daring to get close on defense.

Tang Bei delivered 4 blocks in the first half, allowing the opponent only 2 points, while scoring 35 points, all of which were made under the basket, including 5 and-one plays, with a 100% shooting percentage.

In the second half, he played a symbolic 6 minutes, scoring 40 points in total, leading the Heat to a 35-point blowout victory over the Cavaliers and securing their 9th consecutive win to start the season.

CCTV broadcast the game, and Sun Zhenping exclaimed, "The Cavaliers aren't bad either. In previous seasons, they were considered a strong team in the East, but they were completely crushed by Tang Bei."

I don't think Tang Bei has even used half of his strength. If he plays at full power for 48 minutes, he might just do the same as Chamberlain and score over 100 points in a single game.

“Possibly, haha!” Su Qun laughed.

Han Qiaosheng said, "In today's NBA, without a good center, even the strongest player will be crushed by Tang Bei."

Su Qun said, "Tang Bei has dominated the NBA ever since, and O'Neal's strength is also getting stronger and stronger. The threat of these two giants is too great. Centers in the league are becoming more and more valuable, and meat prices have skyrocketed. It is said that this has already affected the NCAA's training of centers."

"is it?"

Sun Zhenping asked excitedly, "Can the NBA really influence the NCAA?"

Su Qun nodded and said, "The NCAA is the training ground for the NBA. Whatever type of player the NBA needs, the NCAA will provide."

The Heat won, extending their winning streak to nine games. With a 100% winning percentage, they continue to hold the top spot in the entire league and the Eastern Conference.

The Rockets suffered a back-to-back road loss, extending their losing streak to 94-117 against the Magic.

O'Neal scored 30 points with a field goal percentage of 68.4%, while Olajuwon scored 27 points but only had a field goal percentage of 45.5%, a significant drop in efficiency.

The Magic also had four players score in double figures, three of whom scored 20+ points. In addition to O'Neal, Hardaway and Anderson scored 29 and 25 points respectively.

The Bulls also won on the road that night, bringing their record to 10 wins and 1 loss, maintaining their second place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rockets are 9-2, still ranking first in the Western Conference and third in the entire league.

Other strong teams, such as the Jazz (6-5), Spurs (5-4), Suns (7-3), and Knicks (6-3), all had poor starts, falling a level below the Heat, Bulls, and Rockets.

Of the four teams recognized by the media as championship contenders, the Jazz fell behind from the start.

The next morning, Tang Bei made a point of finding out about the Bulls' game the previous night.

Last night, the Bulls defeated the Nuggets on the road in a back-to-back game, with six players scoring in double figures, including Jordan and Pippen with 20+ points, demonstrating a very strong performance.

Tang Bei felt that the Bulls' strength compared to the Heat layup was their bench strength; four of their five substitutes scored a total of 34 points, accounting for 30.6% of the total.

Currently, the Heat's bench players only account for 24% of the team's points per game, while the Bulls' bench players account for 29%.

He also learned from media reports that the Suns played very well last night. They rotated 10 players, and no one scored more than 20 points, but all of them scored in double figures. All 10 players on the court scored 10+ points.

There was no overtime; the score was 109-140 after four quarters. The Suns had an explosive game despite Barkley's absence.

The team made 53 of 82 shots, a shooting percentage of 64.6%, including 8 of 17 three-pointers, a shooting percentage of 47.1%, completely dominating the Clippers with their shooting.

"Tang, what's your opinion on the Suns' performance last night?" Not long after, a reporter called Tang Bei to interview him.

Tang Bei said, "Obviously, the result of this game shows that some people are not important, and the Suns can trade him away."

"Ha ha……"

The reporter on the other end of the phone couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"That bastard, I'm making a comeback, now, immediately!"

After learning of Tang Bei's words from the media, Barkley, who was enjoying his time at home with his one eye, was so angry that he wanted to take off his blindfold and make a comeback immediately.

His wife said irritably, "Charles, do you want to go blind?"

Barkley lowered his hand from removing the blindfold and muttered, "Damn it, what this kid said was infuriating."

"Pfft!"

His wife couldn't help but laugh.

"you?"

Barkley was so angry his face turned white.

Next, the Heat defeated the Pistons on the road and the Kings at home on the 29th, achieving an 11-game winning streak before flying to Charlotte overnight.

On the 30th, the Heat will face the Hornets on the road in a back-to-back game.

Since acquiring Mourning, the Hornets have a record of 6 wins and 6 losses, and their performance has not improved.

The main problem is that there is no chemistry between Mourning and Larry Johnson, and like Tang Bei and Larry Johnson, they have created vicious competition.

Because of their poor record, the Hornets' attendance was also low, and Larry Johnson's influence during his time in the NCAA gradually diminished. This led to operational problems for the Hornets and increased losses.

Tang Bei's reappearance at the Hornets' home arena was met with a warm welcome from many Charlotte fans, resulting in a rare packed house for the Hornets this season.

But Tang Bei didn't hold back. Facing his former team, he only needed 35 minutes to rack up a spectacular stat line of 44 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks, with a shooting percentage as high as 70%.

He not only dominated Mourning on offense, but also held Mourning to just 2-for-12 shooting on defense, blocking him four times.

Commentator Bill Russell said after the game: "O'Neal was unlucky to have encountered an opponent like Tang Bei who seemed invincible in the same era."

But Mourning was even more unlucky than O'Neal, as he encountered two virtually invincible opponents in the same era: Tang Bei and O'Neal.

Bill Walton said, "Well, Mourning's bad luck is doubled."

"Ha ha……"

Bill Russell laughed uncontrollably.

After this game, the Miami Heat went 12-0 in the first month, ranking first in the entire league.

唐北在11月的个人数据是38.1分14.5篮板3.8助攻1.8抢断4.1盖帽，投篮命中率66.7%。

In terms of rebounds, he is second in the league, behind Rodman.

In terms of blocks, they rank first in the league.

In terms of scoring, he far surpassed everyone else. Jordan, who came in second, only averaged 30.6 points per game, and Shaquille O'Neal, who came in third, averaged 29.6 points per game.

On December 1st, the league officially announced the Player of the Month for November, which was awarded to Tang Bei.

On the official MVP rankings, Tang Bei is firmly in first place.

Second is Jordan, whose Bulls had a record of 12 wins and 1 loss, second in the Eastern Conference and second in the entire league.

Third is Hakeem Olajuwon, with a record of 10 wins and 3 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference and third in the entire league.

The Magic have a 9-3 record, ranking third in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the entire league.

Based on the team's record and his individual performance, O'Neal climbed to fourth place in the MVP rankings.

On December 1, 94, there were no games that day. At 12 PM, Tang Bei arrived at the Miami Heat training base below the Miami Arena for training.

The team assigned him two big men as practice partners, and he has been training with Tornado since the new traveling rule was announced.

The Tornado is his strongest low-post back-to-the-basket offensive technique, but he rarely used it in the November games, ultimately due to the new traveling rule.

After practicing for more than a month, I've gained some insights.

When he turns, he usually uses a low stance, and with his exceptional wingspan, the ball is already very low off the ground, so the training difficulty is not high.

But it's not easy either, because you have to seize the opportunity to dribble, neither too late nor too early.

Being too late is a violation, but being too early is also not advisable, as it would compromise the concealment and make it easier for the opponent to accurately predict the direction of his breakthrough.

To complete the tornado attack on the basket without being too early or too late, and without violating any regulations, a little over a month is not enough time.

Fortunately, with his current ability, he doesn't need to use his "tornado" attack in the regular season. He'll definitely be ready before the playoffs begin.

At this time, the Heat coaching staff was also discussing roster issues.

The starting lineup's offense was too strong, while the bench lacked offensive firepower—a problem the coaches had noticed long ago. Assistant coach Alvin Gentry suggested moving Glen Rice off the bench and starting Kevin Jamber, a swingman who is also good at three-pointers, at the small forward position.

However, Kevin Longley rejected the suggestion, believing that Glen Rice would never be a substitute.

Tony Fiorentino suggested that Kevin Willis come off the bench to partner with Matt Geiger in the frontcourt, a perfect combination of offense and defense.

Brad Roth will start at power forward. The 30-year-old Roth also has a mid-range shot, which can create space for Tang Bei.

However, Kevin Longley also rejected the suggestion because Rogers was just a fringe player with poor skills and only weighed 104 kilograms. He couldn't do any hard or dirty work. Putting him in the starting power forward position would exhaust Tang Bei, the absolute core player.

After some discussion, Kevin Longley decided to keep the current starting lineup, but some positions could be rotated out earlier.

For example, Kevin Willis would play for a few minutes and then be substituted, serving as a pseudo-starting power forward.

Let Tang Bei team up with Matt Geiger; Geiger can do everything. Let Kevin Willis team up with the bench players to play more minutes.

On the 2nd, the Heat defeated the Nets at home. They had no games for the next four days. On the 7th, they defeated the 76ers at home. On the 9th, they defeated the Magic again, achieving a 15-game winning streak.

On the 10th, the Heat faced the Pacers in a back-to-back away game, but their offense went cold. Even Tang Bei's 35 points couldn't defeat the Pacers, who were in amazing form, resulting in their first loss of the new season.

At this time, the Bulls had a record of 17 wins and 1 loss, while the Heat had a record of 15 wins and 1 loss. The Bulls, with a higher winning percentage, topped the league.

The Rockets, who once led the league with a record of 12 wins and 6 losses, have seen their record decline and fallen behind the Bulls and Heat.

On December 12, the Heat challenged the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York.

At this time, the Knicks had a record of 11 wins and 6 losses, far behind the Heat.

In this game, the Heat played very well, with five players scoring in double figures, three of whom scored 20+ points. Tang Bei scored 39 points and 18 rebounds, along with 6 blocks and 3 steals, while committing only 1 turnover and 2 fouls.

Under his leadership, the Heat defeated the Knicks on the road, achieving a record of 16 wins and 1 loss.

Just as the Bulls lost, bringing their record to 17 wins and 2 losses, the Heat regained the top spot.

However, the Heat immediately lost to the struggling 76ers in a back-to-back away game the following day, suffering their second loss of the season.

On December 23, before Christmas, the Heat won five straight games, bringing their record to 21 wins and 2 losses, ranking first in the entire league.

The Bulls have a record of 21 wins and 3 losses, ranking second in the Eastern Conference and second in the entire league.

The Rockets, once a championship-caliber team, continued to decline, with a record of 14 wins and 9 losses, dropping to sixth place in the Western Conference.

The other championship-caliber team, the Jazz, has an 18-8 record, better than the Rockets, but still far behind the Bulls and Heat.

Of all the teams in the league, only the Heat and the Bulls are considered to be in the top tier, and are regarded by the media as the only two championship-caliber teams.

Teams like the Rockets and Jazz have long been abandoned by the media, who don't believe they have championship-caliber talent.

Neither of the two teams that played in the Finals last time participated in this Christmas Day game. Instead, the Knicks will challenge the Bulls, and the SuperSonics will challenge the Nuggets.

The Nemurs returned to the United States from China the day before yesterday to spend Christmas, and Tang Bei and Jia Ding also stayed at the villa.

On the morning of the 24th, Tang Bei accompanied his father-in-law, Leo Nemur, to the supermarket to buy a Christmas tree.

He was put in charge of decorating the Christmas tree. No ladder was needed; Garbo and Mrs. Leslie directed the decorations, with a large group of servants helping out.

After lunch, the Leo Nemurs, Tang Bei, and Jia Bao sat together and chatted, mainly about domestic investments.

After intensive preparations for the opening of eleven Walmart stores, the first store in Tianjing is expected to open on June 1, 1995, and the remaining ten stores are also expected to be fully operational by 1995.

The introduction of Tangjia Electronics' production line is also progressing smoothly, and a large number of researchers have been recruited both domestically and internationally. Four research centers have been established in Tianjing, Zhuhai, Seattle, and Silicon Valley, San Francisco.

However, there are no plans to build a factory in the United States because the labor costs in China are too advantageous. Even with tariffs and shipping costs, the costs in China are still lower.

Establishing factories in major product sales locations also has advantages.

For example, setting up a factory in the United States can be exempt from tariffs, has very low land costs, offers significant technological advantages, and benefits from low energy prices, especially industrial electricity prices.

However, Tangjia Electronics can introduce the world's most advanced production lines. As long as it continues to invest in technological research and development, the cost in China is relatively lower, and there is no need to build factories abroad.

In addition to continuing to increase investment in Tangjia Electronics, after discussing with Garbo, Leo Nemur decided to invest in a second project: mobile phone manufacturing.

There are currently almost no domestic mobile phone brands in China. Panda Mobile, a joint venture with Japan, sold more than 20,000 emulators this year.

Although the market is not large now, with the strengthening of the domestic economy, the mobile phone market will definitely grow at an amazing rate, and this industry is worth investing in.

Leo Nemo originally planned to invest in computers, as the domestic industry was almost entirely composed of assembly brands with weak self-development capabilities, making it a worthwhile investment.

But in the end, I chose mobile phones. This industry is currently completely untapped. Once I invest a lot of money and introduce advanced technology, I can definitely create a local brand.

The second is venture capital, which mainly invests in high-tech industries such as the internet, both domestically and internationally.

However, since it's all their own money, the venture capital scale is very small, focusing on participation and primarily investing in the manufacturing industry.

这天晚上，NBA官方宣布了全明星投票将于圣诞节12月25号周日凌晨0点开始，于95年1月21号晚12点结束。

The next day was Christmas.

We had Chinese food for Christmas dinner, a decision made by the whole family after discussion. We gave up turkey, because even the dog wouldn't eat it.

In the following Christmas Day games, both the Bulls and the Nuggets won at home.

The next day, the Heat faced the Rockets at home and suffered a defeat.

The Rockets' shooters had a breakout performance, making 12 of 28 three-point attempts for a remarkable 42.9% success rate.

In contrast, the Heat only made 3 of 12 three-point attempts, missing even open shots and getting blown out.

Both the Heat and the Bulls have a record of 21 wins and 3 losses, but the Bulls surpassed the Heat with their division record, taking the top spot in the entire league.

On the 27th, Rodman was absent due to injury, and the Bulls were defeated at home by the worst team in the league, finishing with a record of 21 wins and 4 losses.

Meanwhile, the Heat lost three consecutive away games to the Magic, bringing their record to 22 wins and 3 losses, and regaining the top spot in the league, surpassing the Bulls.

On the 28th, the Bulls defeated the Celtics on the road, bringing their record to 22 wins and 4 losses.

On the 29th, the Heat defeated the Clippers at home, improving their record to 23 wins and 3 losses. They then flew to Chicago overnight for a back-to-back away game against the Bulls the following day.

On the evening of December 30th, at the new Chicago stadium.

The old stadium has been razed to make way for a parking lot, and next to the parking lot stands the brand-new Chicago Stadium.

United Airlines sponsored the new stadium, so the new stadium is called the United Center Stadium.

The United Center is the home arena for the Chicago Bulls and the Blackhawks of the hockey league, and basketball games can accommodate up to 2.17 spectators.

At 7:30, both sides announced their starting lineups.

Miami Heat: Tang Bei, Kevin Willis, Glen Rice, Kendall Gill, Avery Johnson

Chicago Bulls: Will Perdo, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, BJ Armstrong

This was the Heat's first regular season game against the Bulls, attracting a huge amount of attention, with hundreds of television stations worldwide broadcasting the game live.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if the Bulls win this game, then the two teams will be tied with a record of 23 wins and 4 losses."

"According to the relevant rules, the Bulls will surpass the Heat and reclaim the top spot in the league. Moreover, the Bulls are playing at home, so they will definitely go all out in this game."

"But the Heat will definitely not give up, especially Tang Bei. This is his third season and he has not yet won the regular season MVP. He is currently number one in the MVP rankings and hopes to win the MVP this season. He will definitely go all out in this game."

"Regarding the roster, the Bulls' home center Luke Longley, who was injured last season, will be a substitute this season and has already missed 10 games this season."

"The Bulls' starting center this season is the tanky Will Perdo, who currently weighs 140 kilograms, even heavier than Tang Bei."

"But compared to Tang Bei, his mobility is like a chair. Tang Bei will find it very easy to beat him. His only role is to help Rodman get more help defense time."

"I don't think the Bulls will double-team Tang Bei early. They didn't use it much last season. Now that the Heat have Kevin Willis, their ability to spread out is stronger. If the Bulls double-team Tang Bei early, Willis's open shot will be fatal."

When Tang Bei appeared, endless boos rang out in the United Center, and the deafening noise engulfed him like an ocean.

Unfortunately, this pressure feels like a gentle spring breeze to him right now.

"Hello!"

CCTV's camera focused on Tang Bei, who noticed it and waved to the Chinese fans watching on TV.

(End of this chapter)