The All-Star Game provided everyone a chance to rest and adjust.
Star players gathered and performed in Golden State, while regular players and coaches could relax a bit.
The busiest were the management teams, the team managers, making adjustments based on the first half of the season before the trade deadline.
The forces rising in the Western Conference formed quite a complex situation. The Los Angeles Lakers were at the top of the standings, but the Trail Blazers, Jazz, King, Supersonics, and other teams were close behind.
The overall strength of the Western Conference teams was in an explosive period; everyone wanted to seize the Western Conference championship crown in the post-Gan Guoyang era, a throne long occupied by the Trail Blazers.
In contrast, the Eastern Conference was typically a dominant force with many strong teams, with the Boston Celtics standing out alone, and currently, there was no one threatening the Celtics' position.
