Because of Batum and Barnes, and Brewer can also play as a small forward, Nick Young has basically lost his position in the team, and Zubac has rarely played in the Pelicans. The purpose of this small deal is actually to gather an inside player. After all, Bynum's knee is not that safe, and it will not be messed up when he really gets injured again.

Of course, this is actually just a small fight. Just as the team was about to attract the first game of the New Year, Walton announced an important news.

The Lakers will continue to use a small lineup in the next game.

It was a little different from the last time, and Walton's decision seemed to be much more natural.

Gasol is absent, and the player's current state can only be Landry's top, but Landry is relatively short, so it's better to let Barnes directly top the fourth position when he is on the side. This seems to be a choice without any choice.

When Walton announced the news, Tang Shuai even seemed helpless.

The Lakers' first opponent in the New Year is the Knicks. The two teams had a fight in the previous preseason, and both teams had just formed.

Compared with that time, the two teams have changed a lot now.

Of course, the Lakers are ranked fourth in the West with 17 wins and 7 losses. This is a pretty good result that even makes people fall into the eye.

However, compared with the Lakers, the Knicks' record is not bad at all.

Because they are in the East, and in the league rules, the number of times they fight in the same division is 3 to 4 times, and the number of times they fight in different divisions is 2 times, which makes it more common for the Knicks and the Eastern Conference team to compete, and makes it easier for them to achieve results.

So far, they have achieved a record of 16 wins and 9 losses, ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference, not much worse than the Lakers.

At the beginning, the Lakers played well under the leadership of Tang Shuai, and even led the score 16-8 for a while. However, with Barnes' two assisted defense losses, the Knicks made an 8-0 offensive wave, which immediately filled the gap.

This is a microcosm of the whole game. The Lakers can play with an advantage, but they cannot defend their advantage, and the game is particularly anxious.

And it is precisely because of this anxiety that Tang Shuai basically didn't get off the court.

At the last moment of the game, Tang Shuai took over the game alone and led the team to finally win the game 128 to 122.

Tang Shuai played for the season-high 45 minutes, scoring luxurious data of 46 points and 11 assists, but he was almost exhausted. After the game, he sat on the bench for several minutes before Stephenson helped him to the locker room.

After winning the Knicks, the Lakers ushered in a six-game winning streak, further consolidating their fourth-place position in the Western Conference, but the players who just won the game had no time to rest. After blocking the plane to Memphis, they won their second back-to-back game.

Tang Shuai felt a sore body. He was forced to leave the court for 5 minutes in the first quarter. The Grizzlies and Bears were begged in the inside, and Noel was taken in the turn of the two. He had 4 fouls in the third quarter, and the entire Lakers' defense also collapsed.

Tang Shuai finally played for less than 25 minutes. His shooting percentage of 7 of 19 shots shows that he had a big problem with his health. In the end, he only scored 20 points and 9 assists, he failed to lead the team to continue winning streak.

This is actually just the beginning. After Gasol was absent, the Lakers' opponents began to frantically oppress Tang Shuai. Some of them directly targeted the players who played against Tang Shuai on the offensive end to consume his physical strength.

After Gasol fell, it seemed as if the entire league knew that as long as Tang Shuai was dealt with, the Lakers would be done.

What is even more heartbreaking is that Barnes was entrusted with an important task, but his performance was mediocre, completely losing the sharpness he had when the Warriors were.

In the following games in January, the Lakers faced strong teams such as the Hawks, Spurs, Bulls, and Timberwolves, and they only won one of them. Since January, the Lakers have 2 wins and 6 losses, and their ranking in the West has also fallen from fourth-first to eighth, which is completely different from their previous performance.

Just as victory can cover up some contradictions, failure can also bring the concealed contradictions back to the surface.

Barnes averaged 126 points and 55 rebounds in the game in January. The data looked just fine, but the shooting percentage was outrageous 29.

Such performance also aroused the dissatisfaction of other players. Although Walton's small lineup was helpless this time, due to the relationship between Barnes and Walton, the players privately complained about Walton.

Once this sound appears, the tacit understanding established by the entire team will collapse.

There has never been a hurdle that can be overcome. Barnes's problem is like that hurdle, covering it up, just delaying the time of its outbreak.

Tang Shuai is still far ahead in the All-Star vote, but due to the team's record, it has brought a lot of negative pressure.

The outside world put a lot of pressure on public opinion and the internal atmosphere was messy. Tang Shuai experienced the helplessness of being the core and the ever-changing situation.

He and Gasol took the lead and held a player meeting.

At the meeting, Tang Shuai promised to pass more balls and called on the players to regain the momentum of the game.

The players' meeting played a role. In the next tough battle against the Thunder, the Lakers played an absolute momentum, but losing Gasol, the inside strength was too great. After Nol was sent off, Westbrook continued to attack the inside to cause damage, and he could even ignore the rebounds, because for that period alone, the two insiders of the Thunder grabbed 3 offensive rebounds.

No matter how capable Tang Shuai was at a critical moment, it would be useless if he didn't have the ball. The Lakers tried their best in the end, but they still lost 111-115.

This result of trying all his best but losing has a devastating blow to the team's morale.

In the second half of January, the Lakers' schedule was much better than before, but the team's performance was not satisfactory, with 4 wins and 3 losses in 7 games, and the winning rate was barely half.

By the end of the month, their record was 17 wins and 7 losses at the beginning, and it turned into 16 losses, ranking eighth in the West and barely fell out of the playoffs.

Compared with last season, this has actually improved a lot, but the fans' expectations will change with the team's performance. With the record in December, the team's performance in January is obviously not satisfactory.

Not to mention the fans, even the team's president Buss Jr. and general manager Kupchek were a little unable to sit still and began to try to explore some potential trading plans with other teams.

In this turmoil, the 2016 2017 All-Star Voting finally came to an end.

Due to the team relationship, Tang Shuai's data has dropped a bit compared to before, but he was still elected as the All-Star vote king without any suspense.

Also included are the East and West as the vote results are released.

In the West, in addition to Tang Shuai, who is the voter leader, Curry became his backcourt partner. In the frontcourt, Westbrook, Towns and Durant became the first choice for fans.

It is worth mentioning that Tang Shuai and Towns also appeared in the same division for the first time since they began selecting All-Stars in 1952, with two second-year players becoming All-Stars at the same time.

In addition to players such as Harden, Thompson, Green, Paul, Griffin, and Leonard, who performed well in the new season, they also successfully entered the Western Conference All-Star roster through coach screening. In addition, Anthony Davis also successfully squeezed out his old opponent Lillard by relying on the advantage of the venue and was shortlisted for the All-Star substitute.

The Warriors have also become the team with four players selected for the All-Star in one season after the Hawks last season. However, compared with the East, which lacks stars, completing this feat in the West is unprecedented.

In the East, James once again became the voter in the East. In addition to him, Irving, George, Anthony and Wade were all successfully selected.

In terms of substitutes, Horford, Lowry, DeRozan, Butler, Howard, Wall, Drummond and other All-Star regulars were also selected into the substitute lineup through coach selection.

In addition to the main competition, the All-Star organizing committee also issued invitations to the appropriate players in other competitions.

Tang Shuai became the busiest person in the All-Star. Because of the comprehensive skills shown in the competition, he also received 4 invitations from the organizing committee.

Rookie Challenge, Slam Dunk Contest, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and all events except Celebrity Contests were invited.

After discussing with Duffy, Tang Shuai finally refused the invitation to the rookie match and agreed to the invitation to the other three events. In addition to the All-Star match he was about to participate in, he became the second player to participate in at least four All-Star events after Lillard in the 1415 season.

However, after this result, those originally negative public opinion suddenly reached its peak, and some celebrities who had not liked Tang Shuai very much were even more blunt.

Old Barry: Tang hit the rookie wall? Forgive my mistakes. I forgot that he is no longer a rookie, but the facts still prove that the Lakers can achieve their current results. It is entirely because of Gasol's existence. He is the soul and core of this team. Tang is just a player with good data.

"Big" Oscar Robertson: Don's performance is very similar to Kobe's previous performance. This is not a compliment. They are all players who lead the team with beautiful data, but cannot bring victory to the team. I heard that when playing against the Bulls, he actually drifted past his teammates in the fast break and passed the ball off the court? This is really like his seemingly flashy passes. He is also a flashy player.

Ron Hubble: A player whose All-Star votes exceed Curry and James, but cannot bring victory to the team. Why did he get so many votes? Stop your hands, Chinese! Wake up, league! It's time to make rules change!
Chapter completed!