Chapter 888 887. The Demon Sword Is Unsheathed (Requesting Double Monthly Tickets)

As Liu Mang threw magnesium powder into the air, causing a round of boos, the last pre-game warm-up shot ended, and the referee signaled the starters of both teams to come on the court.

The Hawks sent out Liu Mang, McGrady, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown as the starting lineup.

The Spurs sent out Parker, Ginobili, Robert Horry, Duncan, and Nesterovic as the starting lineup.

Parker, ability rating 86, Ginobili, ability rating 90, Robert Horry, ability rating 70, Duncan ability rating 98, Nesterovic ability rating 74.

Parker, who has grown into a first-class point guard, Ginobili, who has entered his peak, and Duncan, who is at his peak. Parker is still half a year away from 25 years old, Ginobili is still half a year away from 28 years old, and Duncan is almost 29 years old. There are young future cores and two cores at their peak. The age structure of the troika is too good. Duncan is just about to start to decline, and Ginobili is at his peak. When Ginobili starts to decline, Parker will enter his peak again.

The key is that Duncan, whose ability has declined due to injuries, can rely on changing his playing style to maintain his form. It's terrible. This season, he has been suffering from plantar fasciitis, but he has fully developed his mid-range shooting and shot 45% of his mid-range shooting. Among the inside players, he is second only to Nowitzki and ranks fourth in the entire league, a little lower than Nowitzki, Kobe and McGrady.

The key is that coach Popovich seems to have begun to consider the future. Unlike before, he doesn't save money, but supplements the substitute lineup as much as possible. The Spurs' transition period has probably begun. Because of Bowen's injury, the Spurs can't fight for the starting lineup, and the stars are unwilling to come to San Antonio, so they can only start from the bench.

Liu Mang looked at the ability evaluation of the Spurs' starting lineup, glanced at Duncan who was unusually lively in the center circle, and then retracted his attention. It was time for a jump ball.

Kwame Brown looked at Duncan twisting and turning, and his head was full of black lines.

Why is this guy different from what he imagined? This was the first time in Kwame Brown's career that he jumped the ball with Duncan. He was originally very motivated, but after being messed around by Duncan, Kwame Brown felt that most of his energy was gone.

The referee picked the ball and came to the center circle. Suddenly, Duncan became serious and his face was expressionless.

"Ding... The level 5 of the natural king is triggered. Tim Duncan is the strongest inside player in the league."

"Ding... Buddha nature is triggered: an absolutely calm player, from Tim Duncan."

"Characteristics: Triggered by excessive calmness, the Spurs are unlikely to have emotional changes. If they encounter opponents with stronger teams than him, it is difficult for the weak to defeat the strong. From Tim Duncan."

"Ding... Characteristics: Level 5 of stubbornness is triggered. After becoming the strongest forward in history, his stubborn nature is released, his mentality is more peaceful, he is more receptive to changes in his playing style, and his natural instincts are more likely to influence his opponent's mentality. From Tim Duncan."

"Ding... Due to the influence of Tim Duncan's stubbornness, Kwame Brown's attention is distracted."

A series of reminders about Duncan's system data that let Liu Mang understand Duncan's current characteristics shocked Liu Mang. At this time, the referee threw the ball into the air. Tim Duncan took advantage of Kwame Brown's reaction to be affected and slowed down by half a beat, jumped up suddenly, and pushed the ball to the back.

Liu Mang saw the ball fly away, and then he reacted: What is little Kwame doing? Can't win a jump ball against a paralyzed guy who is almost crippled?

Kwame Brown rushed back to defense after losing the jump ball. He understood that Duncan's stupid look just now was affecting his concentration!

How despicable! When Kwame Brown turned around and ran back, he saw Liu Mang's vicious eyes and refocused his attention.

Liu Mang waited for Parker to advance. In this game, McGrady's defensive task was easy. He only needed to defend the shooter, while Liu Mang needed to defend Parker, who was as fast as him.

Liu Mang now understood why Duncan, the sultry man, became so second-rate now. This weird uncle who studied psychology, whose ability began to decline due to injuries, started to play psychological warfare!

Parker received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt. If there was a person on the Spurs who would feel timid when facing the opponent with Duncan, it was Parker.

It's not that Duncan's influence on him was not big enough, but that he was afraid of Liu Mang!

The two entered the NBA in the same year. Liu Mang had been beating him for three years. How could Parker not be afraid? The one with the greatest psychological pressure was the strongest one in the same class. It would be fine if he had the strength to compete with him, but the key was... there was no way to compete with him at all!

The opponent was very strong in one-on-one offense and defense. Parker protected the ball and looked at Ginobili.

Ginobili had long known that Parker would be scared when he saw Liu Mang. Now the Spurs' playing style has changed a lot. The offensive focus has shifted from the inside to the outside. Parker saw that Liu Mang was playing with his hands and feet tied, so Ginobili ran to the top arc to respond.

After Parker passed the ball to Ginobili, he ran like a happy hare, cutting into the inside with Liu Mang.

Prince followed Ginobili closely. Ginobili received the ball and stood still, suddenly accelerated, and rushed into the inside from the right. Prince did not lose his mind. He was not as easily affected by the opponent as Kwame Brown. He followed Ginobili closely and suppressed Ginobili's forward route.

Ginobili seemed unaware that he was being pushed to the bottom line, away from the three-second zone. He broke through all the way to a position close to the baseline. When he was almost at the bottom line, Ginobili kicked his right leg forward and bounced back suddenly, escaping from the circle of Prince and Kwame Brown who were about to double-team him. Then he made a big change of direction, took a step into the three-second zone and threw the ball into the basket.

Strange steps, Kwame Brown and Prince were both confused by Ginobili's sudden change of direction!

Even Prince couldn't tell what Ginobili was going to do!

"Ding... Characteristics: Demon Sword Level 5 is triggered, offensive actions are difficult to predict, super god and super ghost in a thought, from Manu Ginobili."

When Liu Mang heard this prompt, he knew that Ginobili had gone all out from the beginning!

Liu Mang remembered that if he beat Ginobili in the finals, he would get this characteristic... Seeing the defensive choice behind that was easy to get excited, Liu Mang felt annoyed.

Ginobili relied on his style of play to make it difficult for the opponent to predict his attack, while Liu Mang got the skill, which affected the opponent's judgment. The principle is different, but this is not important. What is important is that Liu Mang remembered that Ginobili could go crazy in the decisive battle of the playoffs and score 8 points in a row in the final quarter to help the team tie the score, and dared to foul Nowitzki at a critical moment a few seconds later, causing the series to collapse...

But it was not just Liu Mang who had a winning mentality in this game, the opponent was the same!

Liu Mang received Kwame Brown's serve and passed it to McGrady, and ran to the front court.

After Liu Mang arrived at the front court, he cut inside and found that the opponent's defense rotated very quickly. Even if the lineup was actually taken out individually, except for Duncan, the defense of others was not good, but relying on Duncan as the defensive core, the defense of others relied on the team's rotation and Popovich's defensive prediction to make defensive arrangements, the Spurs' defense was still so good!

Liu Mang went around from the inside, and Horry followed him and did not give him a chance to receive the ball and shoot a three-pointer. He did not get a chance or help his teammates open up space with his offensive threats! The Spurs' defensive system is so good that even Larry Brown needs a large group of players with explosive defensive talents to form a defensive system. But Popovich, if you give him Duncan, anyone else will do!

It seems that the team offense is not effective against the Spurs, and the Hawks dare not attack recklessly like they did against the Suns in the last game. The opponent's defensive moves are big, and the referee did not call a foul.

McGrady saw that Liu Mang had no chance to run out of the open space, and did not give Liu Mang a single play. Facing Ginobili, he was ready to do it himself.

First play his own threat, and then pass the ball. McGrady listened to Stockton's words and changed his playing style a little bit.

Ginobili defended very seriously, and then McGrady broke through to the mid-range and jumped to score two points.

The mid-range is the pain of the Spurs. Duncan can't expand so much to help defense, so he can only rely on single defense, but let alone Ginobili, even Bowen can't defend against mid-range shooting experts!

McGrady made a mid-range shot easily.

However, Ginobili started to get angry! Without passing the ball to Parker, Ginobili pushed forward to the frontcourt, half a step across the three-point line, and before Prince jumped out, he shot a three-pointer directly... and it went in!

5 to 2, Ginobili scored 5 points in a row at the beginning!

It was Liu Mang's turn to attack. Since he couldn't break the opponent's team defense, he would play alone!

Liu Mang ran to the frontcourt immediately after Ginobili scored. The Spurs retreated quickly. McGrady received the pass and passed it to Liu Mang. Liu Mang received the ball and the opponent's defense formation was about to fall. Liu Mang rushed from the left side of the basket to the inside, attracting Parker and Horry's double-teaming.

At this time, Kwame Brown and McGrady rushed across half court to the three-point line, Rasheed Wallace stayed at the top arc, Liu Mang rushed to the mid-range and was double-teamed by Parker and Horry, leaned sideways against Parker, grabbed the ball and threw it out.

At this time, Kwame Brown was blocked by Duncan on the right side of the free throw line, but McGrady cut in from the middle, and Ginobili went to defend Prince outside the 45-degree three-point line on the right side. The Hawks' overall fast-down was too fast, and the Spurs' defense was not fully positioned!

Horry saw Liu Mang's pass and immediately rushed to defend McGrady, blocking the connection between McGrady and Liu Mang, and Nesterovic also blocked Rasheed Wallace.

However, the ball that Liu Mang threw out was not really passed. After Horry, a 2.06-meter-tall guy, left, Liu Mang took the ball back and turned over to shoot a mid-range jump shot!

Relying on fake moves to tease the two double-teamed opponents, Liu Mang easily shot a mid-range shot... Unfortunately, it didn't go in.

But McGrady, who cut in, took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the interior and grabbed the offensive rebound over Horry's head to tip in two points.

"Huh." Liu Mang glanced at Parker angrily. He didn't score. It was all because of this guy's poor defense. He stretched his hands so low that he couldn't interfere. He didn't give him a scope!

Parker looked at Liu Mang's unhappy eyes and felt bitter: If you don't shoot, it's because you don't have a good touch! I didn't affect your shot! Why are you so mean to me!

Parker will be glared at by Liu Mang if he is good, and he will be glared at by Liu Mang if he is not good. He has no way to face Liu Mang today, but Ginobili continued his touch and the magic sword was unsheathed!

Ginobili rushed into the inside and was double-teamed by Prince and Rasheed Wallace. Duncan retreated to the mid-range to receive the ball and hit it.

Looking back, McGrady broke through and attracted Horry to double-team him. Prince was unguarded to help Liu Mang block Parker who was chasing him. Liu Mang received McGrady's pass and hit a three-pointer.

But then Nesterovic received a pass from Ginobili and scored a 2+1 for McGrady who was defending...

Duncan started to exert his strength, Parker did not receive the ball and played one-on-one but was also threatening in the open cut. The three horses, led by the new leader of the Spurs Ginobili, played a super strong offensive firepower!

Liu Mang and McGrady's singles, plus Jason Terry who came off the bench, were not able to withstand the attack led by Ginobili when his magic sword was unsheathed and his head was not ironed!

In the entire first quarter, Ginobili either shot or passed, 5 of 5 shots, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 16 points and 3 assists. Not only did he attack well by himself, but he also passed the ball to his teammates to start the Spurs' offense.

Since the Spurs got the first offensive opportunity, Ginobili took the lead, and Liu Mang was always in a state of chasing points!

After the first quarter, the Spurs led the Hawks by 4 points with a score of 31 to 27!

Today, try to update 20,000 words as much as possible. The activity will start tomorrow. Let's try it today. It's a pity that I didn't finish it yesterday. I updated more than 17,000 words at 8 o'clock, but I didn't finish it. I started again today.