Chapter 1539 1538. Halfway Through the Battle, 26 Consecutive Wins! (Seeking Monthly Votes)
"Ace, you guys are so strong."
"How about coming to be my teammate in 2010? I'll help you win a few championships."
"No, I will never join a team that beats me in the playoffs."
With this firm attitude, Liu Mang looked at James, who was expressionless beside him. He didn't expect this guy to be so stubborn.
If he just said he wouldn't join, it wouldn't mean anything. Not wanting now doesn't mean he won't want it in the future.
But saying "Never-join-you" so firmly, even if you are thick-skinned, there will be no chance of cooperation.
There was a small accident in today's game against the Cavaliers. Two days ago, the Cavaliers and the Bulls had a conflict. The problem was not serious. Garnett, Billups, Chandler, and Luol Deng were entangled together and were all suspended for one game. The two Cavaliers' generals were suspended for the game against the Hawks.
Without Billups and Chandler, the Cavaliers' strength was greatly reduced. The Hawks rested Kwame Brown, and the Cavaliers were unable to struggle to make a name for themselves.
The Hawks' state continued until the last game before the All-Star Weekend. The score was now 83 to 59. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Rondo, Wade and Jason Terry were competing on the court to see who was stronger. Liu Mang and James leaned on the technical table to chat.
Although he was just teasing little James, Liu Mang didn't expect James to decisively cut off his retreat to become teammates with him.
"It seems to be right. If James went directly to the Spurs in 2014, the dynasty would probably be fine..."
Thinking of this, Liu Mang felt that it was normal. After the Spurs suffered losses at the beginning of the century, after 2010, they were the kind of team that was so weird that they had the space to sign a superstar in the summer after winning the championship. James did not go to directly succeed Duncan, but returned to Cleveland.
With James, who was 33 years old and could still perform in the finals, Popovich could have a lot of fun.
Today is the last home game of the Hawks before the All-Star Weekend. Liu Mang and James both clocked out after three quarters. Liu Mang scored 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in three quarters. James's data is quite good, with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in three quarters. The data is very stable, but the Cavaliers lost miserably.
In the end, relying on Gortat's career-high single-game 26 points, Liu Mang's 17 points, Rondo's 8 points and 6 rebounds, Wade's 9 points and 7 assists, Marion's 18 points and 10 rebounds, McGrady's 33 points... The Hawks defeated the Cavaliers at home with a score of 109 to 91, winning 26 consecutive victories to end the first half of the season!
After the All-Star Weekend warm-up games between the Hawks and the Cavaliers, the regular season was temporarily suspended, and each team entered the All-Star Weekend with a rest time of 7 to 8 days.
Each team played 53 to 54 games.
On the Hawks side, the record of 47 wins and 6 losses ranks first in the league! Of course, it is also the first in the East.
After playing against the Cavaliers, the Hawks' shooting percentage just exceeded 50%. This is the first team to have a shooting percentage of 50% since the Magic in the 1994-95 season!
After half of the season, the Hawks averaged 90.8 shots per game and hit 45.5 times, just over half. Among them, the average three-point shot was 27.3 times per game, and the average shot was 10.8 per game, both ranking second in the league.
The Magic ranked first in the league in the number of three-point shots, with an average of 28.9 shots per game and 11 shots.
But the Hawks' average shooting percentage is a little higher, purely relying on this wave of 26 consecutive wins.
Ranked second in the East is the Raptors with 39 wins and 15 losses, the Bulls ranked third in the East with 35 wins and 18 losses, and the Magic ranked fourth in the East with 35 wins and 19 losses.
The Cavaliers, who just lost to the Hawks, are currently ranked fifth in the East with 34 wins and 20 losses.
The Cavaliers' record this year is not satisfactory. It's not that the Cavaliers haven't improved, but that other teams have improved more than the Cavaliers!
In addition, James's data has increased, but his strength has not improved much compared to last season, and his ability evaluation is still 96.
Liu Mang saw that although James averaged 31 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game this season, his hit rate dropped to 47%. With his breakthrough scoring style, this hit rate is not good. It's just that James has increased his number of shots after having an organizer Billups who doesn't stick to the ball.
Liu Mang feels that if James wants to improve, it will be difficult to make significant progress unless his basic skills are solid. James has now reached the limit of his strength that can be achieved purely by relying on his body and the care of the league.
Three-pointers, James has a quasi-first-class three-point evaluation of 83, which is estimated to have reached its limit.
Mid-range shots... Liu Mang doesn't remember how good James' mid-range shots were throughout his career, and he has never practiced free throws.
He can maintain his current level by being more adaptable to four-step layups than others, but if his basic skills are not improved, Liu Mang feels that James' current strength is really at its limit.
In the East, there is another team that has a winning rate of more than 50%, the Bobcats, with 28 wins and 25 losses, firmly ranked sixth in the East, more stable than the Hawks' first place in the league.
In the West, the Spurs may have lost their temper because they were overtaken by the Hawks in terms of record. They lost the last game before the All-Star Weekend. They have played the same number of games as the Hawks, and now their record is 45 wins and 8 losses.
Of course, the Spurs are still No. 1 in the West.
The Suns, No. 2 in the West, currently have 35 wins and 18 losses, the Nuggets, No. 3, have 35 wins and 19 losses, the Jazz, Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets, No. 4 to No. 7, are all 34 wins and 20 losses, the Trail Blazers, No. 8, have 33 wins and 20 losses, and the Mavericks, No. 9, have 32 wins and 22 losses.
Judging from the record, it seems that the top five teams in the East are stronger than the top five teams in the West.
However, the top five teams in the East only play against the top nine teams in the West 18 times a season, while in the West, the top nine teams play against the other eight teams almost 30 times a season...
James is very good at dealing with people. After losing the game, he also chatted with Liu Mang calmly...
Looking at James' back as he walked towards the player tunnel, Liu Mang really couldn't guess what James was thinking.
In the original time and space, in the summer of 2014, if James had said in advance that he was going back to the Cavaliers, Wade would not have opted out of the last two years of his $40 million contract. As a result, Wade was fooled by the fortune teller and signed a $15 million contract. If Wade had not gotten a two-year $50 million contract with the Bulls after his salary increased, a superstar like Wade who won the Finals MVP in his third year might not have been able to get an annual salary of $20 million in his career.
…
26 consecutive wins, busy for a long time after the game, interviews continued, the Hawks tied their own 26 consecutive wins!
From 9:30 after the game to more than 1:00 in the morning, I was interviewed. Even when I was doing physiotherapy and ice compresses, there were Taiwanese reporters who asked "Is this ice cold?"
Liu Mang thought the Taiwanese reporters were here to show off their tongue twisters.
When I got home, it was almost three o'clock, and my family had gone to bed early.
But at this time, Liu Mang really got over the sleepiness. After washing up, he lay on the bed and browsed the web with his laptop, and learned an unexpected news.
Before the All-Star Weekend, something unfortunate happened to Lakers fans.
In the game between the Lakers and the Nuggets, Ariza was injured when he fell to the ground during the confrontation with Nene!
At that time, it was just wrist pain, but Ariza insisted on finishing the game, helping the Lakers beat the Nuggets and keep the fifth place in the West, so as not to drop to the eighth place in the West all of a sudden.
However, after the game, the reporter's investigation learned that Ariza went to the hospital for a formal examination after the game, and Ariza's wrist fracture was reimbursed for the season!
Liu Mang sighed that there are so many people injured this season!
The Cavaliers have a pitcher Damon Jones who broke his finger and just returned. Anthony of the Nuggets is injured. Kidd of the Mavericks has been injured this season. He only played 33 games in more than 50 games in the first half of the season.
Kidd's injuries increase with age, which is also one of the important factors for the slow running-in of the Mavericks from single star to a team.
In fact, the Hawks often have injuries, but they are all minor injuries such as sprains and strains. Of course, this is thanks to Liu Mang, because he usually protects well, so there has never been any injuries that look terrible. Therefore, before the formal examination, Liu Mang usually uses injury medicine to help his teammates treat injuries to the point where they are injured but have little impact, which will neither arouse suspicion nor affect the team's strength.
Similarly, minor injuries are treated quickly and the body is well protected, which largely avoids the major injuries that accumulate in certain situations. This is a virtuous cycle.
Mid-season rest is also very important. The Hawks have restored the situation of sufficient manpower during the three consecutive championships this season.
In addition to the Hawks, almost all teams have suffered major injuries. Even the Spurs, a team with only three players averaging 30 minutes per game, their starting center Francisco Elson tore his meniscus in mid-January, but the meniscus... was cut off, and he was able to play again after a period of rest...
This, Elson returned in mid-February, and it is not clear that there is much impact for the time being.
After lamenting that injuries are the biggest nightmare for athletes, Liu Mang went to look at the posts praising the Eagles...
Liu Mang was quite satisfied, so proud. At this stage, Eagles fans are 60E!
...
I slept until ten o'clock in the morning. When Liu Mang woke up, Alexia, who was sleeping next to him, was gone. Instead, there were two two-year-old children and a 13-year-old American little loli.
Liu Mang got up carefully without waking up the two children and the little loli. He went out to see that Alexia and Levia were helping the servants pack their luggage.
After asking, I found out that Alexia knew that Liu Mang would not come until the early morning when she was half asleep and half awake last night. She must be tired, so when the little loli brought the two children who could already walk to call him in the morning, she asked them not to wake Liu Mang up.
The little loli simply took the two children to take a nap next to Liu Mang.