Chapter 1382 1381. The Socialite Starts Flirting with Her Rival Again (Happy New Year)

After playing the game against the Bulls, the Hawks flew to Orlando that night.

The next day is back to back.

4 consecutive games with 50+ points, tying Liu Mang’s own record for the second longest consecutive 50+ points in history.

But... let alone recalling the consecutive 50+ records, I didn’t even have time to think carefully about the reasons for losing to the Bulls. I started sleeping on the plane and continued sleeping in the hotel. On the morning of the 20th, I woke up and was Called to the hotel conference room for a meeting.

A record of 26 wins and 15 losses is not unacceptable, but it is still much better than the Raptors' 24 wins and 19 losses.

The outside media did not attack the Eagles players because the Eagles lost to the Bulls. The Eagles played well overall, and Liu Mang also scored 50 points. The media's argument was that the Bulls with Garnett were really strong!

It's true that there are no offensive players. The best offensive players are Luol Deng and Duhong. Neither are first-rate attackers, but they have strong overall strength.

Liu Mang scored 50 points for the Eagles, which proved that the Bulls are not without weaknesses. They just want to defeat their weaknesses. It is not enough for one person to score 50 points. They need more help from their teammates.

Liu Mang also felt the team's shortcomings in this game. The feeling that he couldn't win even though he tried his best gave him the desire to become stronger!

The Eagles had only 26 wins and 15 losses in half the schedule. The fans were a little uncomfortable with it, but from their perspective... this is normal!

The Eagles' previous three seasons, mainly the second and third seasons, were so abnormal. Which team could win 68 games after 70 wins and then win 73 games the next year?

The Eagles' struggling record after winning consecutive championships makes people think this is reasonable.

McGrady's defensive seriousness has decreased, defensive Kwame Brown's offensive performance has declined, Jason Terry is tired and often in poor condition, rookies and second-year players have bright spots but also obvious shortcomings. There is one superstar among them. Superstar Liu Mang carries the team forward...

This is what a defending team should have after consecutive championships.

Moreover, the record of 26 wins and 15 losses has not left behind. It is still the first-tier record this season. This is not easy.

Now for Liu Mang, the trouble is the characteristic of wolf fear.

This season, it is almost certain that they will face the Bulls in the playoffs, either in the second round or the Eastern Conference Finals.

Compared to the Cavaliers, the Bulls are more difficult to deal with, and the team has a feeling that they just can't beat the Bulls...

There was a voice in Liu Mang's heart telling him: The Bulls are scary!

Liu Mang believes that other players on his team also have such thoughts. Obviously, this is the negative psychological impact brought about by the characteristic of "wolf fear".

Liu Mang himself has the characteristic of being "cold-blooded", so it won't have any impact, but his teammates are different.

You have to find a way to beat the Bulls once.

And there is the mission I just got - building up grudges!

"Grudge: The host and the Chicago Bulls have become mortal enemies. Every time they play against the Bulls, the players of the host's team and the Bulls players will enter a state of excitement and try their best. Mission goal: Defeat the Bulls in the playoffs, no time Restrictions. Mission reward: Kevin Garnett 2006-07 star card. Failure penalty: To be determined.

If this task were in previous seasons, Liu Mang would have been willing to have "grievances" with all teams, a task similar to BUFF, but now, it has become a constraint for Liu Mang to defeat the Bulls!

Garnett + the Bulls' super role player group, just like the Big Three combination in 2008 in the original time and space, became a super power in the Eastern Conference.

Although they don't have a strong offensive player like Pierce, their group of role players is several levels better than the original Big Three of the Green Army! Even the Eagles from previous years can't compare to them.

Regarding the Bulls, Liu Mang had a different view: "Perhaps there is a new way to build a team, to randomly select a group of role players to enter the playoffs and attract a superstar to reach the top?"

This Liu Mang feels very feasible! Liu Mang believes that the Bulls may also become a template for other teams to build teams.

The "Thank You to Chicago" mission has been terminated.

This mission... Before the Bulls disintegrated, they welcomed a superstar and became a more stable team. Therefore, Liu Mang's winning streak against the Bulls ended, and the mission was ended.

"It is said that the birth of a dynasty means that everything has to start over. Although my situation is not as miserable as starting over, it is almost the same..."

Liu Mang felt that he could no longer hold on to the complacency of "I am dead and the second best in the world". After being killed by the Bulls and the Lakers this time, the deterrence of his team will be greatly reduced, and he will have to Re-establish team deterrence...

…

By 5 pm on the 20th, the Eagles were about to start their second consecutive game of back-to-back games.

The Eagles had two back-to-back games in six days, and they just had a defensive battle with the Bulls yesterday. Liu Mang played the full 48 minutes and scored 50 points. This made the Magic players very excited!

Especially Howard, what he wants to win most is the Eagles!

He didn’t know why the Hawks had targeted him since he entered the NBA. Liu Mang even triggered a trend of super dunkers wanting to dunk him. Liu Mang, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Carter, James White, Ginobi Leigh, Wade, James... a group of people have dunked on him.

Unlike Duncan's "passive skill" of not wanting to avoid accidental dunks, the super dunkers followed suit and dunked on Howard after Liu Mang dunked over him, making Howard hate the Hawks.

In addition, Kwame Brown, the top center of the Mesozoic generation, competes with Howard for the position of the strongest center of the younger generation. Kwame Brown, Howard, Chandler, and Milicic, the four centers are hostile to each other. The double motivation makes Howard want to beat the Hawks crazy.

Liu Mang just played the whole game yesterday, and Howard is very motivated today!

Before the game started, Liu Mang looked at the opponent's ability evaluation.

The Magic has two old friends of Liu Mang, one is Rahim, and the other is Ariza. Ariza was sent to the Magic in the trade at the end of December. He plays the fourth and fifth forwards and is still struggling at the bottom of the league.

Rahim, with an ability rating of 91, just turned 30. Rahim's ability rating has slightly declined compared to last year. Although he is in good shape, his physical fitness style of play has also begun to decline at the age of 30.

Howard, with an ability rating of 88, is stronger than Kwame Brown on the offensive end. He has a certain ability to play one-on-one due to his explosive power. His main offensive means is still the second offense. He is not as good as Kwame Brown in single defense, but he is much stronger in assist defense. Howard is slightly better in rebounding.

What surprised Liu Mang the most was that Grant Hill has maintained good health this season and has not been injured again. He has maintained an average of 11 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per game. He is an important organizer of the Magic. His ability rating of 84 is also excellent, mainly because of his strong comprehensiveness!

From the game videos of the Magic that Liu Mang studied, it can be seen that Grant Hill plays more conservatively and is still afraid of injury. The ability rating he showed is not as good as Grant Hill, who is older and will play in the Suns in the future, as Liu Mang remembers.

However, Turkoglu is still miserable. Without Van Gundy, he still cannot be reused and is placed on the bench to replace Hill and Rahim.

The Magic's frontcourt consists of Rahim, Howard, Grant Hill, and Turkoglu, which is extremely strong!

Their substitute centers include Tony Battie, Pat Garrity, Bo Otero and others.

"With such a frontcourt, I can win four consecutive championships... No, you can't think like that. Mama McMahon, Kwame, and Gibbon are actually not bad..."

After the game started, the Magic players wanted to launch a fierce offensive from the beginning. If we use martial arts to describe the Magic's strategy today, we can use big opening and closing.

The Magic wanted to play fast and use the fierce impact of the frontcourt trio to defeat the Hawks. The Magic wanted to take advantage of the Hawks' physical weakness.

In the fourth quarter of yesterday's game between the Hawks and the Bulls, except for Rondo who came off the bench to help Liu Mang break through and attract the opponent's attention, Liu Mang scored 17 points in the final quarter, and the others could hardly score!

Liu Mang played the whole game yesterday, and today he played back-to-back after less than 24 hours of rest, and the Magic wanted to take advantage of the Hawks' physical problems.

But...

After playing faster, Liu Mang found the feeling of playing against the Suns' starting lineup, the Nuggets, and the Supersonics...

The Magic's defense is also good, with Rahim and Howard, two favorites for the best defensive lineup, and Grant Hill's defense is also okay. Although he is afraid of injury, he is not a drag. Nelson's defense is okay, but it is far worse than the Bulls!

Both teams rely on defense to gain a foothold. After defeating the Hawks, the Bulls are temporarily ranked first in the East, and the Magic are barely ranked sixth in the East. Their record is not much better than that of the Wizards and the Nets, which can reflect the strength gap between the Magic and the Bulls.

Yesterday, they played against the Bulls, who have the strongest defense, and today they played against the Magic... Liu Mang felt that the opponent had no defense!

It was so easy, fouling at the basket, mid-range jump shot, outside shooting...

Although the other players of the Hawks only scored 5 points in the first quarter, Liu Mang scored 22 points in the first quarter alone! Helping the Hawks beat the Magic 27-25 in the first quarter!

The Magic's defensive strategy was formulated based on the Hawks' physical crisis, mainly to prepare for the physical decline of Liu Mang, who played more than 40 minutes in each of the past four games and 48 minutes yesterday.

But the Magic players couldn't tell at all that Liu Mang played 48 minutes yesterday, and today's attack was even fiercer than yesterday!

Magic head coach Brian Hill took it for granted. He thought it was an opportunity, but it became an opportunity for Liu Mang!

Liu Mang scored 22 points in the first quarter, which helped his teammates get through the most tiring stage. After helping his teammates get through the weak period at the beginning of the second back-to-back game, the Hawks began to show their strength...

In the second quarter, McGrady had 6 assists in a single quarter. Granger and Battier, who came off the bench, each scored two three-pointers. Gortat and Kwame Brown scored successively. Although Liu Mang was strictly guarded and only scored 4 points in the second quarter, the Hawks scored a single quarter score of 33 to 22, which widened the gap to 13 points!

After the Hawks players recovered, they began to vent their resentment of losing to the Bulls yesterday on the Magic.

The Hawks played better and better, and the Magic's tactical arrangement of wanting to pick on the weak became an absolute failure!

After 22 points in the first quarter, 4 points in the second quarter, and 13 points in the third quarter, Liu Mang scored 15 points in the final quarter, 19 of 31 shots, 5 of 11 three-pointers, and 11 of 12 free throws, scoring 54 points!

The Bulls were unable to stop Liu Mang from scoring, let alone the Magic!

Compared to the Bulls, who were able to cut off Liu Mang's connection with his teammates and put pressure on Liu Mang with their overall defense, the Magic's defense suddenly became messy after the strategic mistake. Liu Mang scored like cutting melons and vegetables, and Rondo and McGrady's organization of offense was also very good at the beginning of the second quarter.

Although Howard scored 16 points and 11 rebounds, Kwame Brown also had 12 points and 15 rebounds, not falling behind!

In the end, with Liu Mang playing 44 minutes and scoring 54 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks, the Hawks defeated the Magic 118 to 99, a difference of 19 points!

…

Magic fans quickly left the court after the game.

Too miserable!

Just like after the Hawks lost to the Bulls, Liu Mang made it clear that his side had a gap with the Bulls, Magic fans knew the gap between their team and the top teams. This gap was too obvious. Their inside line had a certain advantage over the Hawks, but their outside line was completely blown up.

After the whistle sounded at the end of the game, Liu Mang took the initiative to find Grant Hill.

It can be seen that Grant Hill is in a much better mood in the past two years. He played 59 games last season and 47 games the season before last. He is in good health. Although he has not played a back-to-back game so far this year, he is still very healthy with half of the schedule passed.

When Liu Mang hugged Grant Hill, he said: "Grant, your contract will expire this year."

Liu Mang clearly felt Hill tremble, and heard a soft voice of doubt in his ear: "Ace, what do you mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything, it's just... I want to teach you to win the championship." Liu Mang's tone was firm.

"You can't even take care of yourself to win the championship, and you are still so confident?"

"Confidence? No, no, no, I was born to win the championship..."

After Liu Mang finished speaking, he let go of the hug and looked at Grant Hill.

What he just heard was incredible to Grant Hill: "What kind of confidence is this?"

The key is that he did it!

"It's unlikely that the Hawks will win the championship this year, but there is a great possibility next year! And it's unprecedented!" Grant Hill admired Liu Mang's strength and thought of this immediately.

"I'm still a player of the Magic." Grant Hill replied with a smile.

Liu Mang was a little confused, but he immediately reacted: "Yes, we are not teammates yet."

He didn't continue to talk, that's enough!

When walking towards the player tunnel to return to the locker room, Liu Mang thought: "Since I have a relationship with Hill, why not talk to Van Gundy? Woodson is leaving, and there is no defensive assistant coach! Should I ask Thibodeau?"