Chapter 1573 1572. Before the Finals

The stage of the finals, the Phillips Arena... Josh Smith felt that everything was so familiar, but this time, he returned to this arena as an opponent.

Just like Rahim received cheers and applause in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the fans who had just sent harsh boos to O'Neal stood up and applauded for Josh Smith.

Josh Smith can become an All-Star, be selected for the All-NBA Team, and play so well in the Western Conference Finals, and lead the team to the finals with Nash, O'Neal and others. The fans of the Hawks are very happy for Josh Smith.

When Josh Smith was traded, the fans of the Hawks were very reluctant. Josh Smith's talent is too outstanding. If you only look at the physical conditions, he is not inferior to LeBron James, and he specializes in pick-and-roll attacks on the basket. When he partnered with Liu Mang, he was very good.

But because of this, the Hawks could not keep him and could not give him the team role he wanted.

If Josh Smith only wanted money and could play like Marion, Price would definitely keep him, but obviously not.

Of course, if Josh Smith and his team lost in this finals, the fans would be happier.

O'Neal and Josh Smith have long been accustomed to this stage, and they feel that they should be on this stage.

But the best player of the Suns, even if he had tried to adjust his mood before, still felt a little floating when he entered the court...

Since defeating Kobe Bryant, the "King of the Western Conference Finals" in the "Details Special Program: King of the Western Conference Finals" after Liu Mang's first round of the playoffs this year, Nash has always felt like living in a dream. After 12 years, he finally stood on this stage.

"Is this the finals?"

This is the first time that Nash, as an opponent, has seen the Hawks' home court wearing the Hawks' team T-shirts or Hawks jerseys with the Chinese characters "rogue" written on the chest.

In the early 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons, the Hawks fans did not have such a strong sense of belonging. Except for the members of the "Rogue League", few fans wore Hawks T-shirts or jerseys to watch the game in the regular season. In the 2003-2004 season, the Hawks won 70 games... At this time, Hawks fans were "disdained" to wear team T-shirts in the regular season for their regular season opponents.

During the short transition period in the first half of the 2003-2004 season, the Hawks and the Suns did not play again...

This was Nash's first time to reach the finals, and it was really the first time he saw Hawks fans so passionate.

Nash felt so excited when he heard the boos from the fans!

However...

When the opposing players came out, Nash felt suffocated when he saw the familiar faces on the opposite side.

The substitutes standing in two rows were Grant Hill, Jermaine O'Neal, Brad Miller, Michael Finley, Dwyane Wade and Jason Terry!

The five starters are even more amazing, McGrady, Kwame Brown, Marion... Even Rondo, who came out second to last, is now a hot new generation point guard, and has squeezed Liu Mang to the shooting guard position.

After Rondo came out, the scene rang with the call of "MVP". Nash looked carefully and saw that the strongest man in the world had come out!

Liu Mang has been accustomed to being watched in such occasions and has long stopped caring. He is also observing the players on the Suns side.

"Steve Nash, ability rating 95; Raja Bell, ability rating 80; Jason Richardson, ability rating 87; Josh Smith-ability rating 90; Shaquille O'Neal, ability rating 90; Jose Calderon, ability rating 82; Leonard Barbosa, ability rating 79, Boris Dio, ability rating 81..."

After looking at the ability ratings of the Suns' stars again, Liu Mang believes that the Suns deserve to make it to the finals!

Their head coach Gentry is much better than D'Antoni!

What impressed Liu Mang the most was Josh Smith. After four years, he went from a dunker who could only dunk when he entered the NBA to a top-level superstar after laying a solid foundation in the Hawks.

"Ability rating 90, offense 88, defense 92, three-pointer 79, mid-range shot 68, layup 94, speed 90, strength 91..."

When he was with Liu Mang, Josh Smith was laying the foundation and learned the determination to work hard and specialize in one aspect; when he was with Nash, Josh Smith learned the mind. After he had developed the layup rating of 94 in the interior, he began to develop three-pointers. Step by step, he made faster progress!

After a year, Josh Smith's three-pointer rating has risen to 79!

Many players from the two teams are teammates. After the entrance ceremony, the players from the two teams came to the court to say hello. Wade and O'Neal lamented that they did not make it to the finals when they were teammates, but now they are opponents in the finals.

Nash was greeting his old teammates Finley and Marion. There were also many old teammates of the Hawks and the Suns.

Liu Mang and Josh Smith were chatting in front of the technical desk.

"Josh, what should I do? I'm so excited to see you're so good now!"

"You don't have to be so happy for me, really, Boss Ace, don't be like this!"

"Since you still call me Boss, I will definitely go all out to show you my progress in the past two years!"

"..."

...

After greeting and taking photos with the stars, celebrities and veterans on the sidelines, there was not much time left before the finals began.

After the complicated pre-match process of nearly half an hour in the first game, the game was about to begin. Liu Mang sprinkled magnesium powder in the air and went on the court with his starting teammates.

On the Hawks side, Rondo, Liu Mang, McGrady, Marion and Kwame Brown were replaced in the starting lineup.

On the Suns side, Nash, Raja Bell, Jason Richardson, Josh Smith and O'Neal appeared in the starting lineup.

Rondo came to the free throw line waiting for his teammates to win the jump ball. He returned to the starting lineup, which meant that the Hawks were ready to play defense in the finals.

It's not that Wade won't play defense when he starts, but when Wade starts, the defense of the rotation lineup will decline a lot. When playing against the Magic, Rondo was at a disadvantage against Howard. Although Nelson on the outside was not particularly good at defense, he was still okay, but Nash + O'Neal compared with Nelson + Howard...

It's mainly because the Suns have two lineups.

Liu Mang and Raja Bell stood on both sides of the center line. They were old rivals. They had played the game of choking. Kwame Brown came to the center circle. O'Neal and Kwame Brown stood facing each other. It was the third time they met in the playoffs. Although Josh Smith might be better at jumping the ball, O'Neal couldn't say he was not good enough...

It was exactly eight o'clock, and the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air!