News conference over, Tang Tian and Davis hummed tunes as they headed back to the locker room.

Winning such a high-profile game had put them both in great spirits.

What Tang Tian didn't expect was that Davis and the other teammates had teamed up to trick him.

He walked to the door and pushed it open, only to have his teammates douse him with champagne, just like they had with Stevens back then.

"Ad, Elizabeth specifically chose these lucky shoes for me!"

Tang Tian wiped his wet face and pulled Davis close, loudly protesting while also messing up the latter's mohawk.

But his face was full of smiles.

"Your sister-in-law won't be angry."

Davis knew Tang Tian wasn't really mad, and after a burst of laughter, he slipped away.

The Pelicans' players erupted in screams and cheers in the locker room, and after a while, they all started singing Christmas songs.

Today was Christmas Day, and a Christmas battle!

This year, Tang Tian had only prepared some simple gifts for his teammates, worth only tens of thousands of dollars.

After all, he was married now, and household expenses were high.

But this time, his teammates had prepared a gift for him, an extra-large cardboard box.

Amidst the cheering of his teammates, he opened the box and saw what was inside.

After seeing it, he instantly felt a little doubtful about life.

Divine oil formulated by a famous Indian Buddhist monk…

Pure, wild maca from the Andes Mountains of South America…

Who knows where they got it, but there was even a kidney-tonifying pill with Chinese characters on it…

This box was full of all kinds of dazzling and messy things.

But one thing was very clear, it was all about tonifying the kidneys, enhancing combat power, and lasting endurance…

What.the.fxck!

What the hell is all this!

Who told you guys to give me this stuff?!

I don't need it, damn it!

"Tang, we know you expend too much energy and get very tired every game, so at Ad's suggestion, we prepared all of this together."

Bojan's words let Tang Tian find the culprit.

But Davis had already disappeared in the laughter.

That guy, after his resistance to Tang Tian's head-patting proved ineffective, had started a roundabout revenge!

Tang Tian looked at Davis, who he couldn't catch, and then looked at the box of stuff, shaking his head helplessly.

It was a wonder these guys could find so many varieties; it seemed they had put a lot of thought into it.

But speaking of which, his physical fitness was indeed a big problem.

He couldn't rely on willpower to fight every night, and he couldn't afford to fail on defense like he did at the end.

The road of krsytech was urgent.

The Christmas battle between the Pelicans and the Warriors was a lively affair, but it wasn't the only Christmas battle.

At the same time, the three Texas teams, the Rockets, Spurs, and Mavericks, all ushered in grand battles, with the Rockets and Spurs game also being a focal point.

It was this game that allowed fans to once again see the impact of the changed refereeing standards on the game, or rather, on the superstars.

The two teams fought until the very end, with Leonard's offense and defense against Harden sealing the victory.

Leonard scored a team-high 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals, and like Tang Tian, he showed his usual consistency.

Aldridge had 14 points and 10 rebounds, his field goals all coming from his signature fadeaway jumper; close combat kept him completely out of the paint.

Gasol had 9 points and 3 rebounds; his defensive problems became more obvious after the increased physicality, and he didn't get much playing time.

Cousins ​​had a game-high 30 points and 16 rebounds, dominating the paint; Gasol, Aldridge, and Bogut were all helpless against him.

Paul had 19 points, 13 assists, and 3 steals, playing with ease in such a high-intensity but slow-paced game.

Harden only had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers; under the new standards of physicality, he, who was good at using the rules, lost the protection of the rules and struggled a bit.

This Christmas battle was just a microcosm.

After the refereeing standards changed and the tide receded, the league's superstars performed differently.

Some performed even better than before, represented by players like Paul, Jimmy Butler, and Cousins;

Some performed as consistently as ever, represented by players like Tang Tian, ​​James, Leonard, and Durant;

Some had their performances affected, but not by much, represented by players like Lillard, George, and Westbrook;

Some had their performances severely affected, represented by players like Harden, Love, and Curry;

For those superstars who were affected, the change in refereeing standards was obviously not good news for them.

But the good news was that the season had only just begun, and they still had plenty of time to adjust before the playoffs.

Of course, how well they could adjust, and whether they would fall from superstar status, depended on their adjustment ability.

Time unknowingly came to mid-January, and within this period, the league successively announced the results of the second round of All-Star voting.

This voting result was also affected as a result.

In the East, James became the East's vote leader with 1.06 million votes.

In the frontcourt, Antetokounmpo followed closely with 960,000 votes.

But Anthony in third and George in fourth only had votes in the 400,000 range.

Love was only ranked 9th with 120,000 votes.

In the backcourt, Irving was unique with 960,000 votes, followed by veteran Wade, rising star DeRozan, and Lowry, all with votes in the 400,000 range.

In addition to the impact of the refereeing standards, as more and more stars began their westward journey, the starlight in the East became increasingly dim.

However, with no one to choose from in the East, this situation was expected.

What was truly unexpected was the West.

In the backcourt, Westbrook and Paul received 950,000 votes and 800,000 votes respectively, ranking first and second in the Western backcourt.

Curry and Harden, who were previously very popular, only received votes in the 700,000 range, ranking third and fourth!

Just like their performance on the court, their recognition among fans also began to decline!

The competition in the frontcourt was relatively more intense.

The votes from first to sixth all exceeded 500,000, namely Tang Tian, ​​Durant, Leonard, Davis, Jimmy Butler, and Cousins.

Durant, who ranked second, also had more than one million votes, but what was truly shocking was Tang Tian.

He received more than 2 million votes in the second round!

What kind of concept was this? This was the sum of James's and Durant's votes!

This was even more than his votes during the same period last season!

This was completely unreasonable in the eyes of many people!

Because Tang Tian had just tripped up a league president, making the nBA's reputation worse, he should have caused many fans to turn against him!

But the reality was that as the league returned to early 21st-century basketball, and after many fans regained the joy of watching games, they attributed this credit to Tang Tian!

It was Tang Tian who publicly dissed Xiao Hua, opening the door to a series of subsequent changes!