Chapter 1431 1430. Half-Time Rush (Fourth Update, Please Give Me a Monthly Ticket)

"I'm sorry, rookie, I lied to you. I think I can shoot in more places, not just in the low post."

Looking at Liu Mang's smiling face when he turned around and ran back to high-five Blake, Sefrosa thought in his heart: "Too bad!"

14 to 22, the Bulls were 8 points behind.

Originally, when the Hawks attacked for the second time after the timeout, Sefrosa defended Liu Mang, allowing him to regain the courage to defend Liu Mang.

But Liu Mang immediately teased him and PJ Brown together in the next attack.

This hit Sefrosa hard.

Compared to Garnett's verbal abuse, Liu Mang's psychological blow with actual actions made Sefrosa feel like he was going to collapse.

"Ding... Temporary feature: Serial killer has been triggered, the host's endless psychological attack on the opponent is ongoing..."

Hearing the system prompt, Liu Mang caught up with Mark Jackson when he returned to defense and said, "Mark, if I'm double-teamed in a while, you go to the basket!"

"Do you want to cooperate with me to pass to the inside? I'll try my best." Although his ability to eat cakes has been strengthened, his offense under the basket is basically only dunking, and he has a little mid-range but it's not stable and can only be used as a last resort. Mark Jackson also said that he would try his best.

"No, you just go to grab the rebound and make a tip-in. I will shoot at that time. If it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn't go in, you can make a tip-in and get an extra rebound. How great."

"Oh...ah?" Mark Jackson saw Liu Mang's back stopped at the three-point line and felt that his head was full of question marks.

Liu Mang didn't have any idea of ​​passing the ball anyway. Now he feels great. There are still 3 minutes in the first quarter. He has already scored 14 points in a single quarter. The opponent's double-team is better. He can pull the opponent's inside line out and directly assist.

Seeing Hinrich advancing, Liu Mang immediately pressed forward.

"Ding... Level 5 of the oppressive pressing defense is triggered, and the host's steal prediction is greatly improved..."

Liu Mang saw the opportunity and stretched out his hand quickly. Fortunately, Hinrich was ready in advance. He held the ball and passed it to Garnett, and then ran away with Liu Mang.

Garnett looked at the defensive position of the Hawks. With the vision of a defensive master like Garnett, he could see at a glance that the Hawks' defense was not as good as the starting lineup.

He judged that Liu Mang was out of control today!

It was a completely undefended posture, too fierce.

The Hawks did not need to run too much, just Liu Mang played singles and passed the ball.

Originally, the Bulls wanted to consume Liu Mang. Liu Mang's singles would not be able to withstand Jordan even if he returned to his peak. It would probably be difficult for another No. 24 on the West Coast to play like this.

But after playing for nine minutes, he shot 10 times in nine minutes, and made 6 of 10 shots, but Liu Mang didn't seem to feel tired at all. Garnett knew that wasting time might not work. Maybe there really is a physical monster in the world who can find three or five girls to shoot a few shots after running a marathon.

Because of Liu Mang's simple and rough singles, the Hawks rarely run outside. In this way, the Bulls' defensive strategy of increasing physical confrontation when defending the opponent's running position was weakened by half. The opponent's pitcher stood still and couldn't collide with the opponent. Even if the referee gave the home team face, he couldn't watch this kind of foul action.

On the other hand, although Liu Mang only had the basket in his eyes, he was attacked from the front and back, that is, there was a double attack from behind, or there was a double attack in front of his back to the basket. He would definitely jump up and pass the ball to his teammates in the open space outside. The Bulls didn't dare to use double attacks from the outside.

In the case of Liu Mang's extremely explosive performance today, Garnett made a decision to increase the offensive impact!

Although it is difficult to elaborate on his personality, Garnett's awareness on both offense and defense in basketball is top-notch. Since the last attack, he has been ready to make changes.

Garnett took the initiative to dig in, relying on Marion to turn around and jump shot at close range... and hit it again!

16 to 22, the score difference was narrowed to 6 points again.

Seeing Garnett's choice of attack this time, Liu Mang saw a problem. The Bulls, who could not defend, wanted to solve the problem by attacking!

Garnett's inside attack is not strong, but not weak, at least first-class level. He once averaged 24 points per game and averaged 20+ for many consecutive years.

But if he strengthens his inside attack, he will not be able to maintain such a high level on the defensive end. There are gains and losses, so he focuses on defense in most games, and the offense is enough. The Bulls are strong in defense and weak in offense this season. In addition to the player configuration, the team's needs are also very important. The team needs to have the most dominant aspect in the league. Defense is the easiest and most capable aspect of their lineup.

But now the team needs more offense, so Garnett shifted his focus to offense.

When the Hawks attacked, Liu Mang began to slowly adjust the receiving position to the outside, trying to bring out the opponent's center as much as possible to help his center create opportunities for rebounding and secondary offense.

Of course, Liu Mang's first goal is to score.

Garnett was rare and brave, and wanted to attack inside, so Liu Mang certainly accompanied him.

However, Mark Jackson's "receiving rebound" ability is really average, and it can't be compared with Kwame Brown and Marion...

At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks led 28 to 23 and entered the intermission with a 5-point lead.

Liu Mang scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 turnover in a single quarter, playing the best performance of this year's playoffs.

From the comparison between the first round and the second round, Liu Mang clearly understood what Jordan meant when he said, "I have no chance to score high against weak teams." When Liu Mang and Jordan, who have won the scoring title many times, want to score against weak teams, the opponent will definitely double-team them without limit, but against strong teams, they may want you to play alone, take away the data, and keep the victory.

In the first round against the Pistons, if Liu Mang didn't waste a little, he might not get 18 points in a game, but against the Bulls, he was in good shape and easily got high points.

After the Bulls made some adjustments in the second half of the first quarter, the offense was better. They scored 13 points in the last 5 minutes, which was better than the Hawks who only scored 10 points in the last 5 minutes.

...

Today's game was better than the fans expected!

Liu Mang scored 18 points with 7 of 12 in the first quarter, which made the fans at the scene hate him and made the fans in front of the TV feel too "wow".

The best thing about the Bulls' defense against Liu Mang is that Sefrosa or Luol Deng's height and agility can block the three-pointers from the outside, and Garnett and even Ben Wallace can defend the mid-range well. They were not afraid of Liu Mang in the interior.

But this time, Liu Mang penetrated the interior. In the first quarter, Liu Mang scored 5 low-post shots, and 5 of 8 low-post one-on-one jump shots or turn layups completely disrupted the Bulls' plan.

The key is that they still have to be wary of Liu Mang's three-point shooting, so Sefrosa always sticks to Liu Mang, giving Liu Mang the opportunity to freely position himself in the middle and short distances.

Although Liu Mang didn't shoot a three-pointer in the first quarter, the threat of three-pointers is the key to his ease in the middle and short distances!

Otherwise, with the Bulls' defense, even if the real Jordan came, it would probably be very tiring.

But Liu Mang can easily get the opportunities he wants in one-on-one and double-teaming.

The Bulls really didn't know how to defend Liu Mang, so they could only adjust as much as possible according to the situation on the spot, and at the same time, strengthen the firepower on the offensive end.

Of course, if the Bulls were given time to adjust, for example, in the next game, even if Liu Mang was still so brutal in the low post, with the Bulls' super defensive lineup of eight players with a defensive rating of more than 80 and four players with a defensive rating of more than 85, they could more or less think of some solutions.

But it is too difficult to temporarily change the structure of a team's defensive system.

The Bulls' initial preparation was that the Hawks did not have a top inside attacker. David Lee might have such ability but was severely restricted, and Grant Hill did not have Liu Mang's physical fitness. The Bulls did a good job in the last game.

And this was a long time ago, after the trade deadline passed, the time for players to participate in the playoffs after buyouts passed, and the Bulls and Hawks were sure to enter the playoffs in the second or third place in the East, the Bulls were preparing. In their eyes, the strongest opponent in the East is not the Cavaliers, but the Hawks.

However, the most desolate person may not be Sefrosa, Duhon, or Luol Deng who were defending Liu Mang, but the bald man in the No. 24 jersey eating ice cream in front of the TV.

The warm wind from the West Coast blew in through the window, and the bald man eating ice cream felt that the ice cream was too cold, which made his heart a little cold...

The opponent made the same moves as him, and liked to play tricks just the same, and... the opponent once said shamelessly that he learned the opponent's tricks...

With the personality of the No. 24 player, he would not argue, but was "hammered". It's okay to be hammered, and the fans will forget it after a long time.

But this time, it will definitely make the fans recall it again...

However, Liu Mang's performance is so good, but it is not all good. There are also some disadvantages, that is, his teammates are standing, and there is no tactical flexibility, so Liu Mang keeps playing.

In this way, teammates will always miss shots. Under Garnett's decision, the Bulls decisively increased their offensive impact. The Bulls also shot very accurately in the mid-range and long-range shots today. In the second quarter, Liu Mang scored 12 points, the other players of the Hawks scored 11 points, and the Hawks scored 23 points in a single quarter.

The Bulls scored 25 points in the second quarter.

At the end of the half, the Hawks led the Bulls by three points with 51 to 48!

Liu Mang scored 30 points in the first half and entered the halftime break.

When Liu Mang just scored 30 points, the system prompt came.

"Ding... Congratulations to the host for scoring 30 points in a single game. The iron-blooded tough guy mission goal 2 has been completed. The remaining unfinished goals: win at least one of the first two games in the series with the Bulls."

Leading by 3 points in the first half, and the whole team scored 51 points in the first half, is very good news for Liu Mang!

"At least the negative effect of the 'bullfighter' has been avoided. Next, just win the game!"