Chapter 1187 1186. Loss of Suspense
The Hawks players didn’t feel the so-called revenge after slaughtering the Pacers by 43 points. The Hawks didn’t feel excited because of the victory.
They should have won. They lost the last game. Although the players didn’t have much negative emotions, they were very upset. Today, they finally vented their anger.
For other championship teams, it’s not clear whether they are relieved or feel regretful.
The Pacers are finished. Judging from the confused expressions of the Pacers sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ mentality has exploded.
The Pacers players prepared much more seriously and more confidently than in the last game, but they had no power to fight back from the beginning of the game.
The strength gap between the 39-win team and the 73-win team is vividly reflected.
Originally, there was a tendency for the three stars to ease up, but now it has collapsed even more.
Winning can resolve many conflicts, but being slaughtered by 43 points... The three stars are dissatisfied with their teammates again.
Who would have thought that two years ago, in the 2003-04 season, with this core lineup, the Pacers had the second-best record in the league, but now they are facing a situation of disintegration...
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On the morning of April 24, Liu Mang woke up from a late sleep. He had been in the locker room for a long time last night, and he was not so tired after the game. On the contrary, he was more tired after the game.
However, as soon as he woke up, he felt something on the quilt. He looked and saw that it was a little girl who seemed to have grown up a little bit after a while, lying on his quilt and sleeping.
Liu Mang remembered that when he was half asleep, someone seemed to call him to get up and run, but after revenge on the Pacers, he relaxed. Last night, he accepted an interview, celebrated with his teammates, and played some band activities. The game ended at 10 o'clock, but he didn't get home until two in the morning, and he didn't get up in the morning.
"Dina, Dina..." Liu Mang pushed the little girl.
The little girl said "hmm", pushed Liu Mang's arm away, turned over and continued to sleep.
Liu Mang saw a bubble on the little girl's nose...
Liu Mang was speechless, and he carefully climbed out of the bed and covered the little girl with a blanket to prevent her from catching a cold.
Liu Mang looked at the time. It was past seven o'clock. Today was Saturday, and the little girl had no classes, so Liu Mang ignored her. He washed up, put on his coat, and went downstairs to have breakfast.
The afternoon flight went to Indianapolis.
When the first game of the series between the Hawks and the Pacers was over, this series with the largest record disparity in history became the most interesting game in the first round of this year's playoffs.
But after the second game, not many people paid attention to this round of the series.
The Pacers were too short-lived, and they withered as soon as they were said to wither.
Other teams no longer had unrealistic hopes for the Pacers and focused on their own games.
After the second game, the Hawks had two days of rest. The next two games were on the 26th and 28th, playing away, and the fifth game at home on May 1st.
After looking at the schedule, Liu Mang felt that the United States was not humane to NBA players. It was the United States and France that created the May Day International Labor Day, but Americans did not celebrate Labor Day on May Day, but had a Labor Day in September.
Labor Day in September... Liu Mang didn't know what this holiday had to do with him, because he was on vacation at that time.
Chatted with his mother, had breakfast, accompanied Alexia to play with her daughter in the morning, and was forced to change the diaper for Ritian's baby. The little girl didn't get up until ten o'clock, and was scolded by Levia, and then Liu Mang played games with the miserable little girl.
After lunch, Liu Mang took the luggage prepared by Levia and went to the airport to meet up with his teammates.
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After arriving in Indianapolis, the Hawks rented the stadium of Indiana University for training to prepare for the next two games.
The playoffs of the other 14 teams in the league are also in full swing.
The Lakers played the Nuggets very easily. In singles, the Nuggets could not beat them. In terms of team tactics, Anthony did not have the control masters like Billups and Kidd. Even if he had Iverson, he could only win 50 games in the regular season and could not even make it through the first round of the playoffs.
The Lakers easily won 2-0.
The Jazz were lucky to enter the playoffs, but they could only feel the playoffs.
In terms of crushing, although the Spurs did not have the vigorous momentum of the Hawks, they were stable!
The Hawks had Liu Mang's strong heart buff, and Liu Mang usually played for 24 minutes in the first half, so they could steadily bully the weak. However, the strong heart buff had a side effect. Liu Mang's teammates were easily proud and looked down on their opponents. They had a strong purpose in the regular season, for 73 wins, which was fine, but in the first round of the playoffs, there was no pressure, so they were a little arrogant.
But the Spurs will not be arrogant. They know that they are prone to upsets, so they play very hard. Unless they are like the Grizzlies in 2011, who had the strength to reach the conference finals but lost at the end of the season and fell to eighth in the Western Conference, the Spurs will be stable in the playoffs.
Boozer felt the feeling of the Western Conference playoffs, and then was abused again.
The Spurs beat the Jazz 86-71 and made the score 2-0.
The Mavericks played against the Supersonics, and there was not much suspense. The Mavericks restrained the Supersonics too much. The score was 109-101. Although the Supersonics shot very accurately, they were not accurate for a while and were blown up by the Mavericks.
Nowitzki's performance in the playoffs this year was explosive. He scored 38 points in the first game and 29 points and 20 rebounds in the second game. Nowitzki never averaged double figures in rebounds per game in the regular season, but in the playoffs, Nowitzki Key's rebounding is better than Duncan's.
But in the series between the Suns and the Clippers, unexpectedly, the Clippers actually defeated the previous team, 98 to 88, evening the score to 1 to 1!
The captain at his peak scored 40 points in the second game. Elton Brand, who was playing in the playoffs for the first time, went berserk. He scored a total of 69 points and 30 rebounds in the two games, destroying the Suns inside.
In the East, in the series between the 76ers and the Cavaliers, Iverson went wild in the second game, scoring 51 points, 7 assists and 5 steals, leading the 76ers to win on the road, tying the score 1-1.
Iverson's performance was so amazing, but when Liu Mang saw the news, he wasn't too surprised. In the original time and space, Iverson in the 2007-08 season, at the age of 33, was still averaging 10 points per game. The data of 26.4 points, 7.1 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals are not as long as the peak periods of Kobe and James, but compared to Wade, Carter, and McGrady, Iverson's ability to maintain form is much better.
Regular season MVPs are still a little different from ordinary superstars.
The Heat did not relax after winning the first game. They were eliminated by the Bulls last year. The lack of depth in the Heat's lineup is a problem. Arrogance and looking down on the Bulls is also a very important reason. The head coach is also a big factor, but this year The Heat played with an attitude of revenge, and in the second game they also won two consecutive games with a clean score of 93 to 81, with a score difference of 12 points.
On the other hand, the Nets, ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference, once again defeated the Pistons in two consecutive games, 91-77.
Billups was coached by Kidd again. In the second game, Billups made 1 of 10 shots and only scored 5 points and 5 assists. The Pistons entered the playoffs this year and their offense completely collapsed. They were scored 9 points. Kidd, who scored 11 rebounds and 10 assists, was killed.
Kidd is the first star in NBA history who has insufficient scoring ability when he gets a triple-double...
The players' condition is like that, even coach Flip Saunders can't do anything about it. This group of players worked hard last year to win 63 games. After being abused in the playoffs, their hearts have been broken...
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On April 26, the Hawks, who had been preparing for more than a day in Indianapolis, challenged the Pacers away.
Every time he came here this year, Liu Mang felt strange.
At 6:10 p.m., players from both teams entered the playoffs, which was not broadcast live.
After Liu Mang entered the stadium, he didn't hear many boos because one-third of the fans at the scene were Eagles fans who had grabbed tickets.
Generally speaking, in the playoffs, there is usually no possibility of rival fans grabbing more than 10% of the tickets. The only possible situation is when the Lakers and Clippers meet in the playoffs, even if the Knicks In Sri Lanka's playoffs, fans switched sides only after being abused by their opponents.
But this time, many Eagles fans don’t have to fight, because the Pacers and even the playoff tickets have not been sold out in advance!
Liu Mang also saw some fans wearing Pacers No. 31 Reggie Miller, holding a sign that read "Without a terminator, you can't do anything."
One year after Reggie Miller retired, Pacers fans are still so obsessed with Reggie Miller. This surprised Liu Mang. Reggie Miller is hated as much in New York as he was in Indianapolis. It’s directly proportional to its popularity!
One man, one city for 18 years has made Reggie Miller's reputation in Indianapolis almost the same as Stockton's reputation in Salt Lake City for 19 years!
Liu Mang regretted that Reggie Miller rejected his invitation in the summer. He sent Korver to try to get Reggie Miller to join him, which was indeed a pity.
Corresponding to the atmosphere at the scene, the Pacers' team's atmosphere was like a pool of stagnant water.
According to intelligence and some news received by the Hawks, the Pacers had an intra-squad conflict during the preparation days back in Indianapolis. The Pacers did not announce the specific circumstances, but it is obvious that reaching the playoffs and winning The stability brought to the Pacers in the first game collapsed again. It is not a collapse. It should be said that they have returned to their original normal state.
The Pacers' regular season was like this. None of the three major stars disliked the other. They just made it to the playoffs. They decided to play well and won the first game, suppressing the contradictions.
But after being beaten by 43 points in the second game, the conflict arose again.
This time, the Eagles didn't look like they were underestimating their opponent. After the game started, McGrady was the first to get angry!