This ranking avoids having a super team fall to fourth place or having teams with 60 wins meet too early.
The second reform is increasing the number of games in the first round of the playoffs from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.
On one hand, the league wants more playoff games to sell more tickets and make more money, as the league takes the largest share of playoff ticket revenues.
Secondly, this is influenced by last season when the Lakers were upset by Glory in the first round; the league wants to reduce the unpredictability and randomness of the first round so that strong teams are less likely to be eliminated.
Being the eighth seed is legendary and brings a huge surprise, but from a viewership perspective, it is not very beneficial to the league.
If the eighth seed is a popular team like Glory, that’s fine, but if some underdog team eliminates a star-studded top team, it’s something that the owners and the president don’t want to see.
Extending the first-round series to a best-of-seven, theoretically, reduces the chances of a strong team capsizing.
Of course, for Shaquille O’Neal, it’s just an increase in the number of games where he gets tortured by Ah Gan, which is truly headache-inducing.
Originally, he thought he could fish at home after three games, but now, he has to play at least four games!
From O’Neal’s thoughts, it’s clear the Heat aren’t motivated; they are just going through the motions.
Making the playoffs has already completed their season’s task; their real strategic goals are in the next few years.
In such circumstances, O’Neal actually performed well in games because there was no pressure, he simply played freely.
As a result, in the first game in Las Vegas, O’Neal scored a high 38 points against the defense of Yao Ming and Gan Guoyang.
Of course, the Heat still lost to Glory without suspense with a score of 91-104, which was a 13-point deficit.
Glory had a full team performance, with three players scoring over 20 points: Gan Guoyang, Jordan, and Andre Miller.
In Yao Ming’s playoff debut, he scored 6 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and made 1 block, showing his youth against the Shark in the playoffs.
Having rested for most of the season, Ewing finally got started, threw away the metaphorical oil paper covering him, and scored 14 points with 6 rebounds, entering playoff mode.
In the second game, both teams continued the battle in Las Vegas, with O’Neal scoring 35 points again.
Glory did not double-team O’Neal in any form; they let him play inside, convinced he couldn’t single-handedly beat them.
Indeed, relying solely on O’Neal, the Heat were no match for the well-rounded, strong lineup of Glory.
89-103, another 14-point advantage, Glory easily defeated the Heat, securing a 2-0 lead in the series.
From the score, it’s clear that Glory is controlling the margin; they could win by more than 14 points but choose not to, because that’s enough to take the victory.
Wining by too much isn’t worth the effort, while winning by too little might give the opponents unrealistic hopes; winning by 10-15 points is just right.
The team is led by two cunning veterans who are so slick that the Heat practically have no sense of resistance, just going through the motions will do.
On April 23rd in Miami, Glory once again defeated the Heat 104-90 by 14 points; O’Neal scored 37 points, leading some people to protest, claiming the two teams were fixing the games.
How can they control the score like this? O’Neal racks up personal stats and Glory takes the win—is this making a fool of the fans and spectators?
David Stern personally called Gan Guoyang, saying: "What’s going on with your game? This is the playoffs; can you take it seriously?"
"We are very serious; the ones not serious are the Heat! Go talk to Riley, don’t come to me."
"I have other business with you, it’s about the name, the name!"
"Oh, I sent you a letter; his information is in there."
Two days later, a referee named Tim Donaghy was secretly expelled from the league and disappeared from the list of playoff referees.
The media received no information about this, and the referee committee claimed that due to Donaghy’s personal reasons, he is no longer serving in this role.
On the same day, Glory defeated the Heat again 109-98; O’Neal scored 40 points, happily padding his stats, and then ended the season, entering a leisurely summer.
Pat Riley was in a non-resistant state throughout the series; after the playoffs ended, he announced his resignation from the head coach position of the Heat to focus on the management department, handling trades and drafts for the Heat.
About a month later, at the 2003 draft, Pat Riley picked Dwyane Wade, finding an outside help for O’Neal.
Two months later, in the free market, Pat Riley signed Lamar Odom, strengthening the team’s forward line, bringing in more talent, and the Heat started to rise again.
Shortly after the series between Glory and the Heat ended, the Western Conference saw the Utah Jazz finish their season as well, losing 1-4 in the first-round series to the Sacramento Kings.
What ended along with the Jazz season was John Stockton’s 20-year NBA career; the stubborn white guard fulfilled his promise by officially announcing his retirement after the series ended.
After losing the fifth game to the Kings, Stockton called Gan Guoyang, saying: "Sonny, I can finally rest."
Gan Guoyang felt a bit sad but was also happy for Stockton; he carried out his values and principles, serving one team until the end.
As for the championship, Stockton said: "We won an NCAA championship together, and I have an Olympic gold medal; I am already satisfied."
Another player who joined the NBA in 1984 has left.
With Stockton leaving, Karl Malone also decided not to renew his contract with the Jazz in the summer; he wants to join stronger teams in pursuit of a Championship Ring.
Two months later, Karl Malone announced he would join the Miami Heat, along with Gary Payton.
By then, the Heat will be back on the path to assembling a super team, aiming to compete for the championship again.