At this time, it highlighted just how lucky the Lakers are! At the same time, it showcased the Lakers’ excellent control in trades. After the Magician returned, the Logo Man decisively swapped Sibaros for Doug Christie and Donyell Marshall. Despite Doug Christie’s unexpectedly outstanding defensive performance, the offensive characteristics of the two players happened to help the Lakers improve their overall offense, enabling the Lakers to better play their most notable feature after acquiring Zhang Hao, leading to a mid-season finish of 20 wins and 1 loss, ranking among the top-performing teams.

Numerous coincidences, or lucky situations, allowed the Lakers to achieve a record this season that exceeded everyone’s expectations, even more thrilling than the Bulls achieving 70 wins!

Tonight, the Lakers once again proved how lucky they are. With several core players resting on both sides, the offense from both teams was... indescribable.

But the Lakers just had good luck. With a minute and a half left, the Lakers were trailing the Blazers by 86 to 88. In the final 90 seconds, the Blazers didn’t score a single point, either due to passing errors or missed shots, while on the Lakers’ side, Campbell, who hadn’t made a single three-pointer in his career, made a crucial three-pointer!

Then, the Supersonics committed two tactical fouls, with the Lakers going 4 for 3 on free throws. The Supersonics created two tactical opportunities, resulting in one missed shot and one turnover.

The Lakers defeated the Supersonics 92 to 88, taking the final match and ending the season on a six-game winning streak with a record of 65 wins and 17 losses!

...

Luck!

It’s just luck!

The Magician felt incredibly lucky, planning to make a comeback to relive the feeling of being a player, and then unexpectedly equaling the highest win record of his career in a single season!

He didn’t mind the media and experts talking about their luck, because they were indeed lucky!

In the regular season, whatever they wanted to do, they did. Despite minor setbacks, who eventually could have better luck than them?

Except for that gloomy summer of 1991, the Magician felt like he was the synonym for luck!

There was just one thing he felt conflicted about—back in his prime, he gave it his all to achieve 65 wins, and now, it was achieved by a bunch of youngsters just like that!

Van Exel was cheering for his teammates throughout the game. After the final whistle, he was the first to rush from the bench to hug and celebrate with Campbell, who hit the crucial three-pointer tonight.

Another resting player—Zhang Hao—was silent throughout the game tonight.

He was in a daze... is the regular season of his rookie year over just like that?

Looking at the advanced reward he received last night after clinching the first seed in the West—"Super Giant Star Experience Card"... is it really the first seed in the West already?

Is it really time for the playoffs?

A year flew by so quickly! Reflecting on when he was applying for college seems like it was just yesterday...

Despite Mr. Zhang having a much stronger mindset than other rookies, when recalling this past year, he still felt overwhelmed and a bit dazed.

Reflecting on his memories of the future from a year ago, still lying on a hospital bed, and the memories of this era worrying daily about not being offered a full basketball scholarship by any college...

When he came to, he had already completed a season in the NBA!

As he reminisced, the details of this past year became increasingly vivid, and listening to the cheers of the fans on site, Zhang Hao’s eyes grew brighter.

"Yes, I am already a professional player, having played an entire regular season, participated in 79 games, and won my first regular-season division championship of my career!"

Zhang Hao’s sense of unreality quickly faded away, and now, he had more goals and pursuits!

...

...

After the final game on April 21, the regular season of the first year in the Iron Age ended.

The Bulls, with a record of 70 wins and 12 losses, became the first team in NBA history to achieve 70 wins, and Jordan thereby became the front-runner for the regular-season MVP in his first complete season after returning.

This was enough to surprise everyone. Initially, after the Celtics failed to reach 70 wins in the 1980s, everyone thought the Lakers’ 69 wins were an unbreakable myth, but this year, the Bulls did it.

But there was also a more unbelievable performance, as the Lakers somehow strung together a 20-1 run, achieving a 65-17 record after starting the season at 18-8 and going 27-8 after the All-Star break.

If not for that explosive 20-1 stretch, by calculating the win rate outside that period, the Lakers should actually have ended with 58 wins.

Yet their achievement was undeniable; luck is also a part of strength. During that stretch, role players seemed to hit everything they threw up, and core players were in exceptional form.

In the East, the Bulls’ 70 wins, the Magic’s 64 wins, the Pacers’ 51 wins, the Cavaliers’ and New York Knicks’ 47 wins, the Pistons’ 46 wins, the Hawks’ 44 wins, and the Heat’s 41 wins made up the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

In the West, the Lakers’ 65 wins, the Supersonics’ 64 wins, the Spurs’ 60 wins, the Utah Jazz’s 52 wins, the Rockets’ 47 wins, the Blazers’ 44 wins, the Phoenix Suns’ 41 wins, and the Kings’ 39 wins formed the top eight in the Western Conference.

That evening, the first-round playoff schedule was already announced.

On April 24, the Bulls and the Heat will kick off the playoff proceedings.

After the regular season, the Lakers will get three days of rest before facing the Kings, another California playoff team, on April 25 to start their playoff journey.

From the results, besides the highly suspenseful series between the Utah Jazz and the defending champion Rockets, there wasn’t much suspense in the other seven matchups, with a quite exaggerated gap in win totals, as the difference between the top and bottom playoff teams could be up to 29 wins.

So, after the regular season, the hottest topic wasn’t the prediction of the first-round victory or defeat but award predictions!

On April 22, the day after the regular season ended and the April schedule concluded, the league gave the biggest favorite for this year’s MVP a surprise!