Chapter 1354 1353. The Most Difficult Year (Asking for Monthly Votes)

O’Neal, who was played badly by Liu Mang, became the object of ridicule. O’Neal endured this, at least it made the headlines of major media this time.

But the Suns are now being valued again, and O’Neal is not so happy.

The Suns played so badly at the beginning that they dropped to the tenth place in the West at the end of the first month. Many fans lost interest in the Suns.

Although it was not good for the Suns in terms of ratings, it gave the Suns time to slowly adjust. It took almost a month for them to adjust their offense. The two rhythms brought them a wave of consecutive victories and returned to the sixth place in the West.

What they need to do now is the defense.

But Liu Mang’s analysis will inevitably make other teams discover their current changes and target them.

For the Suns, this is a big trouble.

The competition in the Western Conference playoffs is fierce. The Suns are now 17-13, while the Rockets, who are ranked ninth in the Western Conference, are 15-15. The gap is only two wins. The Suns have to adjust their team tactics and strive for the playoffs...

On the night of December 22, when O'Neal was both in love and hate with Liu Mang, Liu Mang and his teammates had already started the second match of the season with the Mavericks.

The two Mavericks have performed very well this season, and it is difficult for people related to the NBA not to pay attention to them.

Liu Mang has also been paying attention to them. The Mavericks played their 30th game of the season on the 20th, and are still performing at their best. They are ranked first in the league with 26 wins and 4 losses, which is the fourth best start since the new century after the Hawks in the 03-04 and 05-06 seasons and the Lakers in the 99-00 season. It is better than the start of the Hawks, Pistons and Suns in the 04-05 season.

Not only that, it is an excellent performance that ranks among the best in NBA history. Those who can achieve such a start basically have a record of 65+ wins at the end of the season.

Nowitzki's performance made Liu Mang feel a little bit awesome, averaging 24.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. The data has declined to a certain extent compared with the beginning of the season, but the corresponding efficiency is extremely high!

Such data was obtained in an average of 32 minutes per game...

Sometimes, after the first half, the Mavericks have already locked the victory. They mainly play singles and average 102 points per game, which is not high. After all, the league's average score is close to 99 points, but they limit their opponents to an average of only 92 points per game...

10 points of net win!

The most terrifying thing is that the Mavericks only had Nowitzki and Jamal Crawford playing for more than 30 minutes, one for 32 minutes and the other for 33 minutes. There were 11 players playing for more than 10 minutes, 10 of which for more than 15 minutes...

Although the Hawks also had 10 players playing for more than 10 minutes, and 9 players playing for more than 15 minutes, the difference in results is obvious.

The Mavericks have been polishing their multi-player rotation singles tactics plus high-speed rotation defense system for many years. From the perspective of this season's regular season, they have reached their peak. In comparison, the Hawks, who also have multi-player rotation, have a much more mediocre record.

The Hawks, who just defeated the Suns to win three consecutive games, met the Mavericks and their winning streak was ended.

Liu Mang scored 19 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, McGrady scored 28 points, and Marion also scored 11 points and 13 rebounds. Whenever the Hawks were about to turn the tide, Liu Mang's mid-range shots and McGrady's cut-in scoring and open three-pointers were all done well. Other teammates also performed well after receiving Liu Mang's passes, but Nowitzki stood up and hit singles. He scored 38 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the whole game, playing the sense of a big back forward. With Nowitzki's lead, the Mavericks, who were determined to kill the defending champion, defended their home court.

101 to 109, the Hawks lost to the Mavericks again, and were swept by a team in the regular season for the first time in four seasons.

The Hawks maintained a record of not being swept in the regular season for three seasons, which was fixed in three consecutive seasons.

Sweeping the Hawks made the Silver Horn King a big hit.

Several strong teams in the West, including the Spurs, Suns, and Supersonics, have been defeated by the Hawks this season. Only the Mavericks have won both games against the Hawks!

Because the target of the sweep was the Hawks, who still maintained good strength after three consecutive championships, Nowitzki received much more attention than in the original time and space!

…

After playing against the Mavericks, Liu Mang and his teammates came to the City of Angels.

Liu Mang and his teammates were uncomfortable with being swept by the Mavericks, but they could only accept it. The Mavericks in this season's regular season were too strong. Nowitzki even developed back-to-back play, which was stronger than in the original time and space, and the Mavericks became stronger as a result.

Liu Mang looked at the Warriors, who were competing fiercely with the Rockets for the eighth place in the Western Conference in the Western Conference standings, and thought it was better not to remind the Mavericks. Although Liu Mang had no intention of reminding the Mavericks to pay attention to the Warriors, now with the hatred of being swept in the regular season, Liu Mang would not remind them.

If the Warriors enter the playoffs as the eighth in the Western Conference... Liu Mang thinks this is very interesting...

Whether the Warriors can create a miracle or not, it is very interesting for old Nelson to face his old club.

After arriving in Los Angeles, Liu Mang came to his holiday villa. On the night after playing against the Suns, after celebrating the little girl's birthday with a victory, the three girls and two kids came to Los Angeles with bodyguards and nannies to wait and prepare things for Christmas.

On the day he arrived in Los Angeles on the 23rd, the Eagles coaching staff had a day off to let the players take a rest. Liu Mang returned to the villa and stayed for one night.

On the 24th, Christmas Eve, the Hawks still had to prepare for the game against the Lakers.

On the morning of the 24th, Liu Mang came to the arena rented by the team early, and McGrady, Rondo, and Battier also arrived early.

Judging from the Mavericks' frenzied desire to win, the Lakers will definitely not let them win easily.

Liu Mang felt that the names of the Lakers' new Big Four were a bit exaggerated. They were not yet the Big Four, but the combination of adding a pill... was even more exaggerated than the ordinary Big Four.

After losing to the Mavericks, the Eagles' record became 18-10, which is only half a game away from the 19-12 Heat!

The Raptors, relying on their weakness in the division, secured fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 17 wins and 14 losses. After the Eagles lost another game and became 18 wins and 11 losses, their record was tied with the Heat again, because this year they only had 18 wins and 11 losses. In the Christmas Day battle between the Eagles and the Lakers, the Heat's next opponent is the Eagles, who have played three consecutive games in the Eastern Conference after three consecutive games in the Eastern Conference. It happens that the two teams are playing against each other. Liu Mang, his teammates and the coaching staff all want to win. Before playing against the Heat, at least maintain a slight winning advantage.

After the team meeting, Liu Mang, his teammates, and the coaching staff all felt good about Alexander.

During the warm-up, Liu Mang saw McGrady frowning because he was about to face Kobe. Liu Mang smiled and said: "I haven't worked so hard for a regular season ranking in many years. It feels a bit weird."

McGrady was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and couldn't help but laugh, and said: "Yeah... I have played with you for so long that I have forgotten that there is such a thing as regular season ranking. You have always been No. 1." one."

McGrady has almost forgotten the feeling of fighting for a playoff spot before. Now fighting for rankings, the feeling is very similar.

"Yes, this season is more difficult than before, even more difficult than my rookie season. The 23-7 Lakers... they played two more games than us and lost less. It's so difficult to deal with... "

Maddie watched Liu Mang say this with a smile on his face.

Seeing Liu Mang's excited look, Maddie also smiled and didn't continue, saying nothing.