Chapter 869 868. The Beginning of the Terrifying Race (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival)

With the experience from the last time, the Hawks did a better job of defending James at this stage. James played for 12 minutes in the first quarter, 9 minutes in the second quarter, and 2 minutes in the third quarter, a total of 23 minutes, 10 points with 2 of 13 shots, and this was the score only after the whistle. In addition, he had 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and then he was replaced by Paul Silas and never replaced again.

The Hawks returned to their home court and relied on the momentum of the devil's home court. Except for James, the Cavaliers were completely withered. They couldn't make shots after receiving the ball, and James was defended even more strictly.

114 to 83, a difference of 31 points...

Liu Mang scored 41 points with 13 of 27 shots, the ninth time this season that he scored 40+, leading the team to an easy victory.

Last season, Liu Mang only scored 40+ 11 times in the whole season. This season, he has played only 31 games and has scored 40+ 9 times. This is inseparable from the help of McGrady. McGrady once again got a double-double, 17 points and 10 assists, 4 of which were directly passed to Liu Mang, which means McGrady helped Liu Mang get almost 10 points.

James was abused again. The commentators of ESPN, which rarely broadcast back-to-back games, said that James was too young and his teammates were not good, etc. As another player that ESPN strongly supports, ESPN's support is even greater than when it supported Liu Mang before, after all, he is an American player.

Compared with James, Liu Mang is much stronger now. Liu Mang is the kind of player who relies purely on the offensive end, that is, the kind of player who focuses on offense and not defense, and can get a 91 ability rating, while James only has an 89 ability rating with his versatility.

In terms of the ability to ensure the team's lower limit, Liu Mang may not have the talent of James, but in terms of raising the team's upper limit, Liu Mang is much stronger. When the team's lineup is already stronger than James, Liu Mang is a crushing opponent to James.

Seeing James sitting on the technical table and refusing to leave after the game, Liu Mang came to James before leaving the court.

James still forced a smile on his face when he saw Liu Mang coming.

"LeBron, I always forgot to tell you that it is great to use your body. You are much better than Josh. His physical fitness is the same as yours, but it is far from yours." Liu Mang said.

James didn't know why Liu Mang said this, but he still smiled and said, "Thank you."

Both games were played so badly. Even if the referee deliberately gave him more whistles, he couldn't do anything. James had nothing to say now. When he sat on the technical table, he actually didn't think about anything. His mind was in an empty state.

"But..."

Liu Mang said a but, which immediately attracted James' attention. James asked, "But?"

Liu Mang curled his lips and said, "But just using the body to break through and counterattack to score is not enough. I play differently from you, but I know that you are only as strong as you are now... It makes me feel that playing against you is so boring. It's better to play against Dwyane."

Communicating with James, Liu Mang felt that it might be the easiest among all NBA players. This guy has a great personality.

This guy is a good person, so let's help him...

Compared to Wade's early days with O'Neal's assistance, Liu Mang suddenly felt that it was boring to abuse James like this! To abuse the guy who was supposed to be the number one player in the future, of course he had to be stronger.

Liu Mang turned around and left after saying this, regardless of what James understood. He was not much older than James, and unlike Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, people from the same country would have extra emotional bonuses in a foreign country. Although the relationship was good, it was not to the point where they could "instruct" each other.

Liu Mang now knew why Stockton and Jordan had such a big difference when instructing him. Stockton really treated him as a disciple, so he was sincere and told him directly where he played badly.

Jordan, on the other hand, just treated him as a junior and said that Liu Mang was his disciple, but it might be due to his personality. Jordan, like Kobe, taught him things in a vague way, letting Liu Mang experience it himself.

Liu Mang felt that he was not yet at the level of being able to "give James guidance", so he just mentioned this matter. Specifically... Anyway, James will become the best player in the league one day. He has his own way of improvement, and it seems to be a correct way of improvement in the future, so Liu Mang did not interfere.

He just wanted to give James a motivation, otherwise the East would be too boring after O'Neal got old and before the Celtics formed the Big Three.

The main thing is that James is really a good person. Maybe James just wanted to create an image like this in people's eyes at the beginning, but slowly, he really became a person with a good personality.

Liu Mang rarely saw James arguing with the opponent with red eyes during the game, which made Liu Mang feel too boring. He was slapped to the ground by Kwame Brown, but he just got up and shot free throws...

Thinking of this, Liu Mang complained in his heart: He is so strong, he deserves to be beaten and bleeding in the future without a whistle.

…

……

Liu Mang was sleeping soundly when a little girl pushed his head: "Uncle! Get up! Dina is hungry!"

"Sleep a little longer... Dina, aren't you on vacation? Why don't you sleep a little longer..." Liu Mang turned over.

"Dina is hungry. If you wake up hungry, you won't grow taller!"

"..."

"Uncle!"

"Okay, okay, get up." Liu Mang got up helplessly and was pulled up by the little girl to wash up in his pajamas.

All the games in December were played, and the Eagles' record improved to 26 wins and 5 losses.

The easy December schedule makes the Hawks rank first in the league now!

The second-ranked Suns played 33 games, 26 wins and 7 losses, and the Pistons played 32 games, 26 wins and 6 losses. The Hawks are temporarily ahead of the two teams.

In addition to the Hawks, Suns, and Pistons, among the remaining 27 teams, only the second-ranked Supersonics in the West lost within 10 games, 24 wins and 9 losses, and the Spurs and Heat both lost 10 games, 23 wins and 10 losses.

The top eight teams in the West are now the Suns, Supersonics, Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, Kings, Grizzlies, and Lakers from high to low.

The Lakers are gradually falling behind as the old coach Tomjanovich's physical condition is getting worse and worse and he begins to miss games. Of course, it also has a lot to do with Kobe's inability to maintain his unlimited physical strength. The Lakers are about to be overtaken by the Nuggets.

In the East, the top eight teams are the Hawks, Pistons, Heat, Bulls, Nets, 76ers, Wizards, and Pacers. The Nets are ranked third in the East because they are the first in the division.

After playing back-to-back with the Cavaliers, the Hawks got two days of rest.

Liu Mang had a good sleep after playing back-to-back. It was almost nine o'clock before he got up under the torture of the little girl.

He simply fried two eggs, toasted a few slices of bread, took some lettuce and ham, and ate simply.

After breakfast, Dina asked Christine Wagner to drive her out to find Rasheed Wallace's daughter to practice guitar. I don't know when the little girl started to like musical instruments, but she lost her enthusiasm after a few days and changed to another one.

Liu Mang didn't care. He always found his favorite hobby.

…

After Liu Mang finished his breakfast, he prepared to take a break to digest his food before going to the open-air court in the backyard for training. The team did not train today, and the coaching staff was preparing for 15 games this month.

While Liu Mang was resting, he looked at the general scouting report for January that the coaching staff had placed in the players' closets after the game last night.

Before each game or each back-to-back, there was a scout report given by the scout at the time, but before each game started every month, there was a general scout report.

Liu Mang looked at the schedule and felt very disappointed.

There were only 15 games in January, and only two back-to-backs, but the opponents of the 15 games, except for the Bobcats and the Knicks, were all playoff teams!

Even the Knicks were originally considered as a playoff opponent, but the Suns, who were originally considered as an opponent that slowed down the Hawks, became the second in the league...

The Hawks are not only the most popular team in China and need to be used to increase ratings in February and March, but also the most popular team in the United States. Liu Mang himself, McGrady's popularity, plus the Hawks' record and very good playing style, are now the most popular duo in the league.

In the past, the Lakers used to increase popularity in January, but now the Lakers have collapsed, and this matter has fallen on the Hawks.

This month, 8 of the 15 games were broadcast nationwide, which is a good example of this.

Three games against the Celtics, two games against the Magic, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Nets, Supersonics, Wizards, Heat, Kings...

Except for the Knicks and Bobcats, no game is easy to play!

And the Bobcats have beaten the Hawks once, this team is poisonous!

Just like the Lakers to the Warriors...

The first opponent in January is the Knicks. The Hawks will face the Knicks at home on the 3rd. They are not threatening opponents, so the Hawks coaching staff has time to plan the game strategy for the next 14 opponents. At that time, they will do targeted pre-game response training based on the latest scout reports of the scouts at that time.

...

The two-day rest time passed quickly. On January 3, the Hawks welcomed the game against the Knicks at home.

By the middle of the season, some teams have completely entered the numb stage, especially the more teams lose, the more numb they are, and the Knicks are like this.

Now Larry Brown is useless for scolding people. He signed a 5-year, 50 million contract with the Knicks. He thought he would show his skills, but now he has the highest salary among all coaches, with a record of 9 wins and 24 losses, and is competing with the Raptors for the third from the bottom in the East. If the Bobcats and Bucks were not aiming for 10 wins this season, the Knicks would dare to compete with them for the second-to-last place.

In the game against the Knicks, the Hawks played very relaxed throughout the game. They didn't catch the Knicks and beat them. They played very relaxed, and the score difference was always just over 10 points.

Marbury has no fighting spirit now, because Larry Brown arrived a year earlier, and he entered the situation of constant conflict with the coaching staff a year earlier.

After Crawford was completely rotten in the Knicks, he became more and more "accustomed" to playing, because he had been like this in the first four years in the Bulls...

Liu Mang played 38 minutes and scored 36 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, McGrady scored 21 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists, Kwame Brown scored 12 points and 11 rebounds, Jason Terry scored 22 points, and the Hawks easily defeated the Knicks 108-95.

It was easy to play against the Knicks, but this was just an appetizer in January. The day after playing against the Knicks, the Hawks flew to the South Coast, and the fat man was already thirsty.

A honey flew over and said to the leaf: You are so ugly, how can you marry such a beautiful wife? The leaf replied: I have money! I have been feeding her through photosynthesis. The bee inserted the embroidery needle into the flower... In the sunlight, the leaf seemed to be greener...