The Trail Blazers ended their Southeast road trip with a loss.
Losing to the Heat was disappointing, but somewhat acceptable.
The fatigue of back-to-back away games, combined with the opponent’s meticulous preparation, gave them a reason for the loss.
In the post-game locker room, Bobby Berman wanted to say something but found there was nothing to say.
If it were in the past, when they were confident and full of morale, he would have angrily scolded everyone on the team for losing such a game.
He would point out each player’s problems during the game and make them watch the carefully edited video clips repeatedly.
He would casually open his swear word dictionary, extracting a few passages to shame the players into working hard and delivering a great performance in the next game.
Not anymore, the years of victories and the various unexpected twists this season have been tormenting the Trail Blazers.
Even their undefeated Ah Gan could sense a hint of fatigue today.
The whole team, from spirit to body, had prematurely entered a fatigue period.
For continuous away games, losing only one could be considered not bad.
Even Berman himself felt quite weary.
After the game, he had only one thought in his mind, to leave Miami as soon as possible.
He wanted to return to Portland, to his home, where someone was waiting for him.
There’s good news for the Trail Blazers, the All-Star Game is coming.
At mid-season, when the whole team is exhausted, an All-Star Game allows the players to recharge a little.
This time, Gan Guoyang once again effortlessly secured the Western Conference starting center position and was the All-Star vote leader.
The two three-peats and six championships have given Gan Guoyang an unparalleled bonus.
No matter how weak the entire Trail Blazers team is currently, in the eyes of the fans, they are an invincible force.
Besides Gan Guoyang, Petrović and Reggie Lewis were both selected for the All-Star reserve roster.
This year’s Western Conference All-Star head coach is the new Suns coach, Paul Westphal.
This former Suns player is coaching the team for the first time.
Previously, he had been an assistant coach for the Suns.
When Fitzsimmons could no longer lead the Suns further, Westphal replaced him.
He is an enthusiastic and incredibly smart person.
During his playing days, his crowning moment was the 1976 Finals.
At that time, he represented the Suns in the Finals against his old team, the Boston Celtics.
In the crucial Game 5, the two teams were tied 2-2 in the first four games.
They battled into the second overtime, and John Havlicek hit a go-ahead shot at the final moment.
The Celtics led 111-110.
The Boston Garden Arena’s timer ran out, and the buzzer sounded.
The Celtics fans rushed into the court, declaring the game over.
The Suns protested, and the referees ruled there were two seconds left in the game.
So the game continued, and the Celtics fans were getting impatient.
Because with only two seconds, there wasn’t enough time to advance the ball from the backcourt.
The Suns also had no timeouts left, and the game was likely to end early.
Unless someone on their team could cross the court and hit a shot like Jerry West.
The Suns were originally going to do just that, as a last throw of the dice.
But Paul Westphal exploited a loophole in the rules.
He forcefully called a timeout, resulting in a technical foul for the Suns.
The Celtics got one free throw, and the ball possession still went to the Suns.
The Suns were able to inbound from midcourt, and two seconds was enough to complete an attack.
As a result, Garfield Hyde received the ball, turned, and made a jump shot.
The Suns tied the game, bringing it into a third overtime.
Although the Suns eventually lost the third overtime and subsequently the Finals.
The Suns’ tactic of exploiting the nonexistent timeout to save the game is still etched in NBA history.
After this game, the NBA changed the rules.
Calling a timeout without having one would result in not only a technical foul but also losing possession of the ball.
Paul Westphal’s tactic became a unique moment in NBA history.
This season, after becoming the Phoenix Suns’ head coach, Westphal immediately brought a new look to the Suns.
The Suns became the most vibrant and passionate team in the entire league.
Charles Barkley, under Westphal’s "release," also reached his maximum potential.
In the MVP rankings, Barkley was second, only behind Olajuwon.
For the first time in years, Ah Gan and Jordan were not in the top two.
Of course, their popularity remained incomparable.
In the fan voting for the All-Star Game, their votes were extremely close.
Gan Guoyang narrowly defeated Jordan to become the vote leader.
Another feature of the 1993 All-Star Game:
This was the first time in NBA history that no players from the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics participated in the All-Star Game.
The two traditional giants, in the new era, are inevitably heading towards decline.
The old team-building system of the previous era has already decayed.
The logic of the new era’s management has already become mainstream.
David Stern, through ten years of effort, has shaped the NBA into the league he envisioned.
A colorful, star-studded, and diverse league.
On February 19th, Gan Guoyang, Petrović, and Lewis headed to the All-Star Game’s destination in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City was hosting the All-Star Game for the first time.
This place, perceived by Americans as desolate, remote, and closed, welcomed perhaps the most illustrious star lineup in NBA history.