Chapter 1575 1574. The Duel Between Two Fat Centers

After the first quarter, the Hawks and the Suns were tied at 36-32. Wade, who came off the bench, broke through and created two three-point opportunities for Liu Mang. Liu Mang scored two three-pointers in a row, overtaking the score from two points behind to four points ahead.

Scores like this in a single quarter of the finals... It's rare to see it once in several years.

Liu Mang felt that the Suns were unexpectedly difficult to deal with!

Liu Mang did not underestimate the Suns and had been preparing carefully. The Hawks would not underestimate any of their teammates in the finals. The Suns fought hard in the West to reach the finals, and it was much more difficult to enter the finals than the Hawks in the East.

But the Suns' fierceness of the offense was even more terrifying than the Hawks imagined!

After half a quarter of the first quarter, the Hawks called a timeout and substituted Wade in. Together with Liu Mang, McGrady, Marion, and Kwame Brown, they wanted to use defense to curb the opponent's fast break, but found it difficult.

Pressure defense is not very useful for Nash, but often used by Nash to play sharp cooperation.

The Suns did not care about the stability of the offensive end when they replaced the big lineup with O'Neal and Kwame Brown in the interior.

The Suns are now in the first away game. They are not afraid of those wearing shoes. They just want to start a fast break.

The two big shooters Raja Bell and Barbosa of the Suns have already started to shoot in the Western Conference playoffs. They are in good shape now. This season is basically the peak of these two players. The two of them can make 4 three-pointers in the regular season.

At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks replaced Jason Terry, Liu Mang and Wade's outside combination. Wade used Jason Terry and his own defense to pass two three-point opportunities to Liu Mang, allowing Liu Mang to throw the ball out before Raja Bell, who was chasing him, was close to him.

The Suns were arrogant, and the Hawks could only use superstars to solve the problem.

The Hawks felt a lot of pressure, and the Suns were even more frustrated.

Gentry saw that his team had such a good touch, and he made 5 of 8 three-pointers in a single quarter. He finally led by two points with 41 seconds left in the first quarter, but was "easily" overtaken by Liu Mang's two three-pointers.

Running and gunning seemed to be impossible, and Gentry was ready to replace the lineup with Calderon, Gordon Kiricek, Jason Richardson, Josh Smith, and O'Neal during the intermission.

On the Hawks side, Coach Kruger learned about the Suns' thoughts in the first quarter. The opponent was determined to have a hard game. The Suns were not afraid of losing an away game, but Coach Kruger was afraid of losing a home game!

But no matter what, Coach Kruger was not in a hurry and replaced the lineup with Liu Mang, Jason Terry, McGrady, Scola, and Gasol. Coach Kruger estimated that the opponent would definitely replace O'Neal at this time. Even if O'Neal didn't play, Gasol would be replaced later.

After the intermission, Liu Mang saw that the opponent had indeed replaced O'Neal. His coach's prediction was correct.

The Suns attacked, and Liu Mang stayed at the top arc, waiting for Calderon to advance.

O'Neal did not go out to screen for Calderon. When he screened for Calderon in the regular season, Gasol ignored him completely and stood outside the three-second zone without moving. O'Neal was so embarrassed.

This time, O'Neal came to the right side of the three-second zone and asked for the ball.

Calderon immediately lobbed the ball over.

This position?

Gasol still stayed in the three-second zone and ignored O'Neal.

O'Neal did not choose to shoot from this position close to the mid-range, but broke through the inside!

"Watt?"

Gasol saw that O'Neal's big body could dribble in flexibly!

I never expected O'Neal to play like this. Gasol could only take one step and stand in front of O'Neal. If he was really rushed... then...

But after Gasol took one step and stood up, O'Neal turned right flexibly before he came into contact with Gasol, and shot a small hook shot with his left hand...

It hit the backboard!

Yao Ming was in tears when he saw this ball...

I worked so hard to practice the dream footwork for so long, but in the end, it was not as good as others who relied on their innate talent!

After all, it has been a season, and the Suns have thought of many ways to deal with Gasol, but after all, Gasol has the top defensive awareness, which can make up for many shortcomings in footwork. It is difficult for a running and jumping center without shooting ability to beat him, just like Howard and Kwame Brown were beaten by Yao Ming.

And Gasol has a lot of weight, so O'Neal can hardly bump him.

The Suns coaching staff didn't come up with a good way to solve this problem, but O'Neal himself came up with a solution.

When playing against the Lakers, O'Neal also tried Yao Ming as Gasol, and this trick worked!

If the opponent doesn't defend, O'Neal will have space to speed up, and if the opponent defends... that's more in line with the Suns' wishes. If O'Neal can open up space in the mid-range, the Suns' offense will play better. In the Western Conference Finals, O'Neal averaged 3.2 assists per game, the highest in the past four playoff series, relying on Yao Ming.

But not many people noticed this, and the Hawks didn't notice it either.

Who would have thought that the 36-year-old O'Neal could still break through with the ball like this?

Because O'Neal didn't play well offensively in the Western Conference Finals, scoring only 10 points in the first three games, and in the fourth game, Yao Ming's physical strength declined and he scored 18+10.

Seeing O'Neal shaking his big butt to retreat, looking very proud, Gasol, who has grown a beard, felt very unhappy!

Picking up the ball and passing it to Liu Mang, Gasol ran forward with his head down.

Liu Mang felt that he had to help Gasol regain his position. After advancing to the frontcourt, he directed Gasol to the high post.

Gasol didn't expect that he would also play a role on the offensive end! Immediately outside the free throw line, Liu Mang immediately broke through from the right when Gasol ran out. Calderon had no time to step back. O'Neal, who wanted to defend him, quickly retracted to prevent Liu Mang from hitting the basket. .

Liu Mang passed back to Gasol at the free throw line, and Gasol stood at the free throw line and shot...

The action of straightening his arms and puffing out his cheeks when shooting was the same as his brother's, and he went in!

After the shot, Gasol clapped his hands hard twice and ran back hard.

O'Neill feels that this kid's brain is not working well! Why are you so excited about taking an open mid-range shot? He looked even more proud than when the center broke through and turned for a layup just now!

Don't tell me, O'Neal was really irritated.

After Calderon advanced to the frontcourt, O'Neal continued to ask for the ball towards Calderon!

As long as O'Neal can get into the basket and lift the ball, there is basically no solution. Now that move is also effective against the Hawks. Calderon immediately passes the ball to O'Neal.