The Warriors easily defeated the Supersonic on the road, and as the new year of January arrived and the main players regained their form, the Warriors unknowingly climbed to the top of the West in the standings.
This season, the Warriors' three main competitors in the West — the Mavericks, Lakers, and Supersonic — all chose to conserve their strength in the regular season.
This made the competition in the West this year far less intense than in the East.
Although it sounds incredible, this season's NBA indeed feels like the East is strong while the West is weak.
Furthermore, major powerhouses in the East are still actively seeking to strengthen their teams before the trade deadline.
After the painful lesson of the Christmas battle, the Knicks have fully realized their severe imbalance in offense and defense.
If they can't solve this problem before the playoffs, the Knicks, despite their trio and James dominating in the regular season, are doomed not to go far.
