Chapter 1068 1067. Better than Excellent
After the intermission, the Hawks sent out Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Korver, Josh Smith, and Kwame Brown.
The Supersonics sent out Francis, Ray Allen, Lewis, Reggie Evans, and Nick Collison.
The Supersonics attacked first.
Liu Mang went up and continued to run with Ray Allen.
Jason Terry wanted to curse, why was he defending Francis!
Although the height difference was not much, the strength difference was too big!
Jason Terry went up and was crushed by Francis to the basket.
However, Josh Smith immediately let go of Reggie Evans and sandwiched Francis at the bottom line.
The Supersonics had to ensure rebounds, and the offense under the basket was bound to be hit hard. Liu Mang took advantage of this shortcoming of the Supersonics lineup and let Jason Terry defend Francis, and Josh Smith quickly blocked it.
Francis was stopped by the fierce double team under the basket!
Ray Allen rushed to the baseline to respond, Liu Mang followed Ray Allen who received the ball, Ray Allen withdrew from the three-point line, came to the bottom corner, and shot against Liu Mang's defense...
Hit!
Ray Allen hit the second three-pointer of the game!
33-33 tie!
The Supersonics continued to close the score.
All singles scored!
Liu Mang was helpless, the opponent had a three-point ability that was not inferior to his.
Attack and defense transition, the Hawks attacked.
Liu Mang received the serve and quickly advanced, the Hawks team pressed forward, and after rushing to the outside of the three-point line, Josh Smith came up to block Ray Allen.
Liu Mang triggered the pick-and-roll master level 5, the speed soared to over 100, and broke through from the right!
At the same time, Josh Smith immediately broke through from the left after blocking the opponent.
The two cut in very quickly, and Ray Allen, Reggie Evans, and Francis, who was flanking on the side, were all attracted. Liu Mang passed the ball to Korver in the right corner, and Korver took the ball and shot a three-pointer... and it also hit!
36 to 33, the Hawks led by three points again.
The Hawks attacked very quickly, speeding up as much as possible, but when it was the turn of the Supersonics, the rhythm slowed down again. The Supersonics still fell into positional warfare, which was their style of play. If they ran, they would definitely be run to death by the Hawks. They were very sure of this.
When it was the turn of the Supersonics, Liu Mang defended Ray Allen more fiercely this time, and frantically went around to block Ray Allen from receiving the ball.
Ray Allen encountered Liu Mang's extremely aggressive defense and chose to open up the space. Francis passed the ball to Nick Collison who was pulled out, and Nick Collison passed the ball to Lewis.
Lewis received the ball one step outside the free throw line. There was not much time left. He directly shot a long two-pointer against Korver's defense!
Lewis's ball handling is average, and he has no breakthrough ability. His height is not much different from Korver.
But his shooting is really accurate!
Lewis's long two-point shot is also successful!
It was the Hawks' turn to attack again. Jason Terry wanted the ball to play alone. Facing Francis' defense, Jason Terry got the space easily, but the opponent's defense was too poor. Jason Terry broke through to the open mid-range shot but missed...
Fortunately, Josh Smith shot the ball out, Liu Mang grabbed the ball, and made a layup one step inside the free throw line.
Still leading by 3 points!
The Hawks are too stable!
The main reason is that the Sonics are too bad at defensive rebounding. Their two inside players are good at rushing, but their positioning ability is very poor. They all rely on their speed. Compared with a big center like Kwame Brown who weighs about 120 kilograms, they are too disadvantaged in positioning to grab rebounds.
Finally, the Sonics missed their first shot in the second quarter. Lewis missed the three-pointer after Francis broke through and passed the ball!
Josh Smith and Kwame Brown's goal this time was not to grab rebounds, but to block positions madly!
Kwame Brown and Nick Collison fought each other, and Josh Smith and Reggie Evans fought each other. Both of them were fighting each other with the mentality that no one could grab rebounds. The movements were so big that the referee wanted to call a foul, but the two inside players of the Supersonics also made big moves, so it was a tie.
Liu Mang had already rushed back to the basket when Lewis shot. The first was to quickly receive the serve and advance, and the second was to prevent the opponent from scoring and grabbing rebounds!
Liu Mang arrived before Francis, took the rebound, and counterattacked again!
The cavalry company was dispatched!
Francis came up to stop Liu Mang, and Liu Mang shot the ball to the left front, leaving Francis behind, and triggered the single rider level 5!
Liu Mang ran faster and faster, and his speed became faster every time he passed an opponent. Ray Allen and Lewis, who were the first to retreat quickly, were attracted by Liu Mang. They both went to the basket, and Francis, who followed him, also went inside to chase the block.
Liu Mang went deep into the basket, and after confirming that he was double-teamed by three people, he passed the ball back to the top arc. Jason Terry, who followed up, caught the ball and shot a three-pointer...
Got it!
41 to 35! The score difference was 6 points!
It was so wasteful!
Liu Mang, Jason Terry, and Korver, the three best three-point shooters of the Hawks, came to fight against Ray Allen and Lewis, the two three-point shooters, and gained the upper hand!
Slowly, the score difference was widened by the Hawks little by little.
The Sonics played quite well on offense, with a three-point shooting rate of over 40%. However, in the second quarter, the offensive rebounding became worse. Liu Mang specifically targeted the two inside players of the other team to grab offensive rebounds, allowing Kwame Brown and Josh Smith to concentrate on the opponent's position, and he grabbed rebounds himself.
Liu Mang was once the second best rebounder of the Hawks. Last season, Liu Mang averaged more rebounds than Francis, who ranked third in rebounding for the Sonics. He was not as good as Francis in grabbing offensive rebounds, but he was better at protecting defensive rebounds.
The Sonics lost the guarantee of offensive rebounds. Although the shooting efficiency did not decline much, the number of shots decreased!
This is fatal for the Sonics!
The Hawks started to play with great momentum. Jason Terry and Korver shot as soon as they received the ball. Liu Mang scored whenever he had the chance to break through. The opponent would not give him a good three-pointer opportunity. He chose to play it safe and break through to attract double-teaming. If the double-teaming was tight, he would pass the ball. If the double-teaming was slow, he would break through to the basket and score with his footwork.
The Sonics played very well, but the Hawks slowly pulled away from them.
After the first half, the Hawks led by 8 points, 65 to 57, and entered the halftime break!
…
The Sonics' offensive efficiency in the second quarter was still very high, with a total of 11 of 21 shots, 3 of 7 three-pointers, and 27 points, but there was a big gap compared to the first quarter because they were more efficient in the second quarter.
The main reason was that there was no second-chance attack. The Sonics had 5 offensive rebounds in the first quarter, but only 1 in the second quarter!
Jason Terry scored 13 points with 5 of 9 shots in the second quarter, and Korver scored 9 points with 3 of 7 shots in the second quarter. They played the entire quarter. Although they failed to defend the opponent, they followed closely and did not allow the opponent to have a direct and easy shot. At least they interfered a little.
Liu Mang scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in the second quarter, and his single-quarter data exploded!
After the halftime, Liu Mang had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists!
The strategy of the Hawks team gradually worked. The Hawks continued to score more than 30 points per quarter. When the efficiency did not improve significantly, the score difference was gradually widened.
When making tactical arrangements during the halftime break, Coach Kruger chose to continue the tactics of the second quarter.
However, he also strengthened the defensive strategy that Liu Mang thought of.
After the halftime break, Coach Kruger replaced Liu Mang, McGrady, Iguodala, Josh Smith and Rasheed Wallace.
The Sonics continued to send out the outside trio of Francis, Ray Allen, and Lewis, and Reggie Evans and Nick Collison continued to play.
The Sonics fought hard!
The Sonics attacked first, and after Francis advanced to the frontcourt, he found that the person defending him was the sophomore No. 6 pick.
Iguodala was the best candidate to defend Francis, and Francis did not choose to force a breakthrough, because the opponent's outside athletic ability was too strong.
Francis looked for a pick-and-roll, and McGrady and Iguodala quickly switched defenses. Francis just finished the pick-and-roll and found McGrady in front of him...
Francis looked at Ray Allen and was tightly guarded by Liu Mang, so Francis could only head to the inside!
Francis rushed to the inside line under McGrady's close defense, and forced himself to hit McGrady and Rasheed Wallace who was helping him defend. He risked his life to get a foul and was knocked to the ground by Rasheed Wallace.
The referee blew the whistle, a shooting foul, and Francis got two free throws.
Francis went to the free throw line and made one of two free throws. He was hit too hard and his free throws were affected.
Originally, Liu Mang thought that Rasheed Wallace would be on the court, so he could have more counterattack tactics, but the opponent made the second free throw and fell into a positional battle again.
After Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, Ray Allen came up fiercely.
Liu Mang held up his iron elbow and easily carried Ray Allen. He observed the opponent's defense and found that the opponent's tendency to shrink was reduced!
In the second quarter of the Hawks, Liu Mang made a three-pointer, Jason Terry made a three-pointer, and Korver made three three-pointers, which made the Supersonics dare not let go of the Hawks' outside line.
Liu Mang looked for a pick-and-roll, Rasheed Wallace came out to help Liu Mang block Ray Allen. Liu Mang just got up to speed, and Reggie Evans' defense came up. Following Rasheed Wallace's defense, Reggie Evans wanted to press forward to defend Liu Mang, but!
Liu Mang wanted more than one pick-and-roll!
Liu Mang changed direction again, and Reggie Evans was blocked by Iguodala!
Liu Mang rushed into the inside, Nick Collison pressed up, Liu Mang lobbed the ball to the basket, Josh Smith jumped on the spot, Liu Mang passed the ball very high, Josh Smith also jumped very high, touched the ball in the air, swung the ball and smashed it into the basket!
70 to 60!
The score difference reached 10 points!
The first 10-point difference in this game!