Chapter 1055 1054. Wild Christmas Eve Is Coming!

Liu Mang knows more about the NBA than anyone else now.

Before the Celtics' Big Three started the group mode in 2008 in the original time and space, the NBA had been a mode of competition for a long time.

The Lakers' Big Four did not make grouping popular. A 41-year-old veteran and a 36-year-old veteran did not give people the feeling of grouping at the time. Liu Mang personally experienced the same thing. People regarded Payton and Malone joining the Lakers as two people "holding thighs".

So before 2008, more than a dozen consecutive wins were rare. In the original time and space, when the Rockets won 22 consecutive games, people thought that the Rockets' Yao-McGrady combination really rose at first, but who knew that there were injuries again.

However, after 2010, when superstars formed groups, many teams no longer had top stars, and some teams did not even have first-class stars. For super teams, winning streaks sometimes come very easily.

The Hawks won 73 games against the Warriors, and started with more than 20 consecutive wins, but the result was...

On December 24, after a night of rest in Phoenix, the Hawks prepared for tomorrow's Christmas game against the Suns in a rented university stadium.

A 24-game winning streak is definitely a good thing for Liu Mang. Why not take it? His teammates are now confident of winning three consecutive championships.

But Liu Mang obviously felt that his teammates were beginning to be complacent.

I felt it in the last game against the Bobcats. The shots were very casual. Fortunately, the team's defensive discipline was very good and they defeated the Bobcats without any danger.

But in fact, Liu Mang already felt that the team was proud.

Tomorrow, the Hawks will play against the Suns. The training here is still very serious, but the atmosphere is not as tense as when they played against the Heat at the beginning of the season. The mentality is very relaxed.

This makes Liu Mang feel very complicated. Everyone in the team has the right to shoot, and everyone has hope, which is good for the team's enthusiasm.

The relaxed atmosphere also allows them to prepare for the game with a better mentality, and they can boldly run tactics in the game. The second-year substitutes dare to take on the role of organizing the offense, and the role players dare to shoot, which can make their tactics better.

But it also makes Liu Mang feel that his teammates no longer take any opponents seriously.

After the tactical training, Liu Mang practiced mid-range and long-range shooting. McGrady, Korver, Barry, Horry, Jason Terry, Calderon, Korver and other outside players also practiced one or two groups of shooting.

This made Liu Mang feel more conflicted, and his teammates were seriously improving themselves.

After the extra training, the teammates went back to the hotel one after another.

Phoenix is ​​a famous city that loves face. The city is built more gorgeously than Los Angeles, but the economy is getting worse and worse. Phoenix, which is not a tourist city, not an agricultural city, and not an industrial city, was once the fourth largest city in the West. In the past year, Phoenix's GDP is not as good as Detroit. In the ranking of the 30 NBA teams in the city, the Suns are only ranked 19th, lower than Detroit and San Antonio. There are not many things for the Hawks players to play, and the players have brought their families. Tonight, Christmas Eve, they all went back to the hotel to accompany their families.

Liu Mang and McGrady left last, and said to McGrady with some uneasiness: "Tracy, don't you think we have been too relaxed recently!"

"Of course," McGrady asked strangely, "We have been winning! Of course it's easy, what's wrong, Ace?"

Liu Mang thought that he might be too worried, and his sense of crisis might be too strong.

Having seen the Heat, who had won 27 games in a row, almost get beaten by the Spurs, and the Warriors, who had won 73 games in the season but failed to win the championship after winning 24 games in a row, Liu Mang had a strong sense of crisis and paid attention to this aspect.

Liu Mang began to change his playing style because he had a strong sense of crisis at the beginning.

"It's okay, I just think we are too relaxed. Do you want to have dinner at my house? My mother made a big meal tonight." Liu Mang made an invitation.

"Cool! Although the dishes made by my aunt are strong, I like them very much. I will pick up my wife and come to your house later." The eldest cousin will not miss the opportunity to take advantage.

"Okay, I will go back first. See you in the evening."

...

...

Christmas Eve, Christmas, one of the most important holidays in the United States.

In previous years, when there were four to six Christmas games every year, half of the eight to twelve teams would complain about why they had to travel thousands of miles to play the Christmas games.

But now, the league let them rest, and those stars still feel weird.

However, only four teams will participate in the Christmas game this year, which was determined as early as when the schedule was announced in September.

At 5pm, the Christmas game between the Hawks and the Suns started first. At 8pm, the Christmas game between the Heat and the Lakers continued after a half-hour break for TV ads and some basketball programs.

Both games are highly anticipated.

The Hawks have not lost a single game so far this season, with 24 wins and 0 losses. The Suns are not as wild as last season. They have played 29 games, 20 wins and 9 losses, and are ranked third in the West.

In the East, in addition to the Hawks, which are ranked first and undefeated, the Heat have the best record, with 21 wins and 7 losses, the Pistons are third, with 18 wins and 10 losses, the 76ers are fourth, with 15 wins and 14 losses, the Cavaliers are fifth, with 16 wins and 12 losses, the Bulls are sixth, with 15 wins and 13 losses, the Wizards are seventh, with 15 wins and 14 losses, and the Pacers are eighth, with 16 wins and 16 losses.

The Bucks, ranked ninth, got Joe Johnson, and they have improved. Although Bogut is not excellent, he is not bad either. He is the passing line for the No. 1 pick. Together with Joe Johnson and Reed, they have a record of 14 wins and 16 losses, and still have a chance to enter the playoffs.

But the remaining teams are almost collectively playing badly. After two months of playing in the East, the top eight barely achieved a 50% winning rate, and teams such as the Magic and Celtics completely collapsed.

The Knicks, ranked last, only won 5 games, with 5 wins and 24 losses, ranking last in the league.

In fact, being last is not terrible. This year's draft has an Italian version of Nowitzki that many teams are eagerly looking forward to. But the key is that the Knicks have traded the 2006 draft pick in the deal to get Marbury, and it is still unprotected!

The Bulls provided space to eat the Knicks' garbage contract in that deal and got this first-round draft pick. There was no expectation at first, and it was expected to be in the middle of the first round. After all, the Knicks were still a strong playoff team in the 2003-04 season. Unexpectedly, it has become a hot favorite for the No. 1 pick!

The current argument for the 2006 draft is that it is a super draft year.

The 2003 draft squeezed out the five most promising rookies, the 2004 draft squeezed out the immediate combat power, and the 2005 draft squeezed out the last four point guards and the last group of high school rookies, leaving no talent for this season's NCAA.

The labor negotiations in the offseason just passed were as smooth as they could be. The league is now starting to make money, and the players are taking 53% of the total revenue. The five-year agreement was passed with almost no debate. It will take effect from the summer of 2006 and there is no need to worry about a lockout until 2011.

But when the labor agreement was negotiated in the summer, the NBA officially introduced a new rule that high school students are not allowed to participate in the NBA draft. They must study in college for at least one year or graduate from high school for one year before they can participate in the NBA draft.

Therefore, Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, who were originally preparing to participate in the draft in 2006, and OJ Mayo, who is only a senior in the new season but is already the top high school student in the United States, all have no chance of entering the NBA in advance, resulting in almost no highlights in the 2006 draft.

Originally, the summer of 2006 was a year full of talented high school players. With Garnett, Kobe, O'Neal, McGrady, Kwame Brown, James, Howard, Josh Smith and other high school students entering the NBA and becoming famous as pioneers, many talented high school students vowed to join the NBA in 2006. However, the NCAA made a suggestion and the NBA introduced a rule, which suddenly turned the originally highly anticipated 2006 draft into a draft with exhausted talent.

Of course, from people's current views on the players in the NCAA in the new season, Liu Mang knows that there are many outstanding stars this year.

But a super weak year does not mean that no team will play badly. On the contrary, because it is a super weak year, playing badly has become more crazy!

At this stage of the season, the management of some teams has clearly understood the strength of their own teams. For example, Boss Joe has determined that the team will continue to play badly and bet on the Italian Nowitzki.

As early as 2003, when the 18-year-old Andrea Bargnani led the Twisso Bena team to defeat the Nets, who were absent from Kidd at the time, in the European preseason of the NBA, Andrea Bargnani had already become famous in the United States.

His playing style is similar to Nowitzki's, with a soft touch and excellent shooting ability. Although he is weak in strength and lacks explosive power, he has the speed and flexibility to play outside, just like a replica of Nowitzki.

Liu Mang remembered that in the original time and space, the Bulls got the Knicks' unprotected draft pick in 2006 and got the second pick, but sold them to the Trail Blazers at a low price, just because they looked down on anyone who participated in the 2006 draft except Bargnani.

Sometimes it is not that only in the year of the draft that teams will play badly. In this extremely small year of the draft, there is such a player who seems to be full of talent and has a promising future, which makes some teams more active in playing badly.

Because apart from getting the No. 1 pick, the other draft picks seem useless. Since they can't make the playoffs, they might as well try to get Bargnani, and they have to lose completely to have a chance.

Boss Joe saw that the inside player Okafor didn't make much progress in his second year, and his defense was good but his offense was not good enough, so he wanted to choose another inside player with strong scoring ability, and Bargnani was naturally the best choice.

However, the Bobcats are bad and their market value is low, which is a good thing for Boss Joe now. He has a greater chance of buying the Bobcats completely, and it is cheaper.

In the West, the Spurs have 24 wins and 5 losses, far ahead in the West, and the second Mavericks have 20 wins and 8 losses, and are competing fiercely with the Suns for the second place in the West.

The Supersonics ranked fourth in the West with 18 wins and 10 losses, relying on the first place in the Northwest Division, the Lakers ranked fifth in the West with 19 wins and 9 losses, and the Clippers continued to perform well, ranking sixth in the West with 17 wins and 13 losses.

The top five are very stable, from the sixth-placed Clippers to the eleventh-placed Hornets, the winning rate has reached 50%. For three playoff spots, the competition has now entered a white-hot battle.

Except for the Spurs and Supersonics, who are stable in the first and fourth places, nine of the top eleven teams in the West are in fierce competition.

The wild West... The key is that because of Liu Mang, the stars of the Pistons and Wizards also want to go to the West...

The Hawks, who have won 24 consecutive games, have always dominated the headlines. Some fans hope to see them continue their winning streak, and some fans hope that a team can end their winning streak.

But the Hawks' schedule in the first two months was too easy. The Hawks gave people the feeling of being invincible!

Even more invincible than the previous two years!

Averaging 116.5 points per game, averaging 102.5 points per game, and a net score of 14 points, it's too exaggerated!

Liu Mang's average of 32 points, 5.5 rebounds and 10 assists per game is also exaggerated. If it weren't for Kobe's average of 35.5 points and James' average of 32.4 points per game, Liu Mang would be the second in both the scoring and assists list.

But since he has scored 90 points, people don't feel strange about any data Liu Mang gets.

The Hawks have four players averaging 15+ points per game this season, McGrady averages 21.5 points, 4 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, Jason Terry averages 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and Kwame Brown averages 16.5 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. The scorers are so strong!

Finally, it's Christmas time, and there is a team that can fight the Hawks.

The Suns, who average 111 points per game and are second in the league, give hope to those fans who want to see the Hawks lose.

On Christmas morning, Liu Mang arrived at the hotel early to meet up with the team. There was a team meeting and tactical training. At noon, the team held a luncheon and invited all the team members' families to have a Christmas party together.

Of course, the players just ate simply, and played mainly with their girlfriends or wives, and did not bring their children.

When Liu Mang rested in the afternoon, he was always studying the Suns.

Losing to make teammates cheer up and not be so relaxed? Liu Mang would not do such a thing. If he can win, of course he must fight for victory with all his strength!

Who doesn't want to win 33 games in a row!

Instead of actively seeking defeat, it is better to go all out in every game, and wait until you really can't beat the opponent and lose, then talk about it.

Now Liu Mang's goal is to win 33 games in a row.

Liu Mang didn't pay much attention to the Suns before, the main point is that he knows that they have no playoff threat. Last year's Suns were already their peak in the regular season, and this season has declined a lot.

There are many reasons for the decline in the Suns' record. The most important reason, Liu Mang feels, is that Stoudemire was reimbursed for the season and Joe Johnson left.

Although Dio and Raja Bell made up for the lack of Stoudemire and Joe Johnson, this also made Stoudemire seem "dispensable" in the Suns. Fans' prejudice against Stoudemire's strength began at this time. It felt like Nash could lead the team to 60 wins if he was given a few people.

However, it is not wrong to say that Nash could get 50 wins or 60 wins if he was given a few people. Nash's average score per game this season has increased to 19 points, a career high, and he also averaged 11 assists per game, which is really amazing.

After resting well, Liu Mang went to the hall where his teammates were, preparing to go to the American West Arena to warm up. It was almost two o'clock, and he could practice shooting if he went early.

When he arrived at the hall, he found that his teammates were gathered in front of the computer again.

This is...

Before Liu Mang asked, Kwame Brown excitedly said to Liu Mang: "Boss Ace, I got more votes on the first day than O'Neal again!"

Liu Mang remembered that there was no NBA game yesterday, and the All-Star voting began, but he didn't care too much. He was sure to be selected for the All-Stars, but he didn't expect Kwame Brown to get more votes than O'Neal again!

Liu Mang seemed to see O'Neal going crazy against the Lakers tonight...

"Brother Yao! Come on!" Liu Mang sent his blessings to Yao Ming, and then he also came over to look at the first day's ballots.

The first day's vote king was Yao Ming, who got 190,000 votes on the first day.

The second was Liu Mang, who got 170,000 votes on the first day, ranking first in the East and West on the first day.

The second in the West was Kobe, with 150,000 votes, and the second in the East was McGrady, with 140,000 votes.

But Kwame Brown beat O'Neal's 70,000 votes with 130,000 votes!

Kwame Brown really played out his popularity!

McGrady and James were both placed in the forward position this time, fearing that it would affect James and Iverson's selection into the All-Star starting lineup. The temporary All-Star starting lineups in the East are Liu Mang, Iverson, McGrady, James, and Kwame Brown.

The temporary starting lineups in the West are Kobe, Nash, Duncan, Garnett, and Yao Ming.

The three nail households in the East and the four nail households in the West continue to occupy the starting positions of the All-Stars.

After playing together for a while, the Hawks players got on the bus and went to the American West Arena together to prepare for the evening game.

Liu Mang looked out the window at the very busy streets and the red things everywhere on the Christmas road. Liu Mang was thinking about the opponent, his own team, and various future memories. Finally, the task prompt that Liu Mang had been waiting for for a long time came!

"Ding... The third stage of the King's Landing series of tasks is triggered, the first task: Wild Christmas Eve."

"Wild Christmas Eve: Mission Objective 1: In the match with Steve Nash, the number of assists is higher than Steve Nash. Mission Objective 2: Get 25 consecutive wins. Mission Reward: 10,000 Superstar Points, start the next mission..."

Liu Mang woke up from his confusion instantly!

Here it comes!

It's finally here!

The mission reward... is a little less!

But at least the mission is started!

Although the first mission reward is a little less, it is only the superstar points for playing three games, but Liu Mang wants to draw another 1 million superstar points!

It would be better to have a training card or something to help him break through the bottleneck of 94 three-pointers!

Liu Mang seems to be shooting like Curry and Thompson.

Now Liu Mang's superstar value has reached 573,961 points. It was 600,000 superstar points before playing against the Bobcats, but he spent 30,000 superstar points to replenish the standing potion.

The Hawks won too easily this year. Liu Mang did not encounter any obstacles and had very few tasks. Except for the 90-point game, which caused a surge of more than 100,000 superstar points, there were no tasks in the following games. Liu Mang was anxious.

The main reason was that the superstar points increased by more than 100,000 in one game. Seeing that the superstar points increased by about 3,000 every day, there was a big psychological gap. In fact, compared with the previous two years, Liu Mang's superstar points increased much faster this season.

Finally!

Before the game with Nash, the task came!

The match with the assist king... Liu Mang seemed to feel the excitement of McGrady's match with the assist master last year!

There is one more chapter~ Let's have dinner and continue~