Chapter 889 888. A Slap in the Face

Liu Mang broke into the inside, and Jason Terry ran out of space with Iguodala's pick-and-roll. After Liu Mang attracted Bowen's double-teaming who was defending Iguodala, he passed the ball to Jason Terry. Jason Terry took a step to the middle distance to avoid Parker's defense and scored two points.

Ginobili passed the ball to Bonzi Wells, who carried Josh Smith and squeezed Josh Smith away, cut one step to the basket, and took two points with Duncan blocking Mourning's jump shot.

The score difference remained at 5 points, and the Spurs firmly maintained an advantage of 3 to 6 points.

In the second quarter, the Spurs sent out Parker, Ginobili, Bowen, Bonzi Wells, and Duncan.

The Hawks sent out Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Iguodala, Josh Smith, and Mourning.

Originally, the Hawks wanted to play with one big and four small players, but in the second quarter, they relied on the impact of Liu Mang and Jason Terry to overtake the score.

Unexpectedly, Popovich put Bonzi Wells at the power forward position!

This is the first time this season that the Spurs put Bonzi Wells at the power forward position. The Hawks coaching staff has studied all the games that the Spurs played against strong teams this season, and they have never made such a substitution.

In the past, Bonzi Wells played as a small forward in the Trail Blazers and a shooting guard in the Grizzlies.

Putting a 1.96-meter player at the power forward position, Popovich played a more extravagant game against the most extravagant head coach in the arena.

And it also produced amazing results!

Bonzi Wells played against Josh Smith and got one on one, and he also grabbed rebounds.

The Hawks sent out such a lineup to play fast and try to speed up the fast break, but the Spurs could keep up with the defense after changing to this lineup!

The main reason is that the Spurs took the lead in the first quarter, and the Hawks were very passive. The new players of the Spurs have played for half a season. Popovich will not allow unstable factors to stay for so long. For example, the big dog two years ago was still arrogant, so he was directly DNPed, very decisive, so the Spurs' lineup has been well-coordinated.

In addition, the Spurs have a stable style of play, with three cores, one of whom can take turns to be the tactical core for 16 minutes, and the other two will not be dissatisfied because they don't have the ball. Whoever is in good condition will control the ball more.

This is the most terrifying point of the Spurs, the selflessness on the court!

Ginobili is in good condition today, so Ginobili holds the ball more, and he is not stingy with the ball. When the role players play well, he will give it to the role players.

When the Hawks attacked, the Spurs quickly returned to defense and tried to defend as much as possible. In this lineup, Duncan was playing blue-collar for Bonzi Wells, cleaning up Bonzi Wells' defensive loopholes in the interior, and he covered the threats of Josh Smith and Mourning under the basket by himself.

The Spurs mainly require stability on the offensive end. No matter how the Hawks speed up on the offensive end, when it comes to their offense, they will play steadily and steadily to increase their success rate.

Originally, this style of play was not a good strategy for the Spurs when they met the Hawks, but Popovich did not expect Ginobili to go crazy so early today. Although Ginobili's data is average this season, he often goes crazy. Every time he goes crazy, he is an MVP-level performance, but it does not last long, which is obviously different from a real superstar. He is like a super nervous knife, the big brother among nervous knives.

But the start laid some advantages, so Popovich, who believes that winning one point is enough, changed the lineup to ensure the rhythm.

However, there is an interesting point when the Spurs met the Hawks this time, that is, Bowen was only responsible for the bottom corner three-pointer on the offensive end, and he did not defend the two scorers of the Hawks on defense, but did the job of helping defense in the interior.

Liu Mang is also famous for being "evil" in the NBA. Whoever wants to harm him or commit a foul on him will suffer.

Although Bowen can still play now, he only plays a "deterrent" role on the court. Of course, his defensive awareness and enthusiasm make him do a good job in helping defense and double-teaming.

Seeing Wells score the ball again, Liu Mang took a deep breath and called a timeout.

Too stable!

Mourning and Kwame Brown are good at dealing with O'Neal, but there is really no way to deal with Duncan. This guy is too stable.

Just like Duncan adjusts his playing style every year to maintain the stability of his strength as his own abilities change, Popovich feels assured that the Spurs have a star like Duncan, so he can strengthen the three pillars according to the current team situation and play a stable performance as always.

There are 3 minutes and 17 seconds left in the second quarter, 46 to 51, and the Hawks are still 5 points behind.

…

The Hawks began to adjust the lineup. Coach Kruger replaced Alonso with Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown was not replaced.

Mourning has never gotten an advantage in his career against Duncan. In his rookie season, Duncan played against Alonso.

In the late 1990s, both of them were superstars, but there is still a big difference between superstars and superstars. Some people get 100 points because they have the ability, and some people get 100 points because they only get 100 points on the test paper...

After the first six years of Duncan's career, he was almost unshakable as the No. 1 power forward in history, and there is a big gap between Alonso and Duncan.

Kwame Brown was also defeated when he met Duncan. Duncan was too good. At the age of 37, he could beat Howard badly. Playing against Kwame Brown, who had similar offensive methods, Duncan completely suppressed Kwame Brown.

Coach Kruger discussed with Liu Mang and Mike Woodson and decided to use Rasheed Wallace as the center, while Josh Smith stayed on the court.

On the outside, Liu Mang, Jason Terry, McGrady, Josh Smith, and Rasheed Wallace played together.

The Spurs replaced Udrih, Ginobili, Barry, Bonzi Wells, and Duncan.

With two big pitchers, Ginobili and Duncan, and the big stick Bonzi Wells, the Spurs maintained strong offensive vitality and defensive mobility.

After the timeout, the Hawks attacked.

Liu Mang received McGrady's serve and advanced to the frontcourt. Jason Terry and McGrady took turns to play singles for more than a quarter and a half. Facing the Spurs' active defense, their physical fitness began to decline. Now they came up mainly to help Liu Mang take away the defense. The two were the biggest threats to the Hawks besides Liu Mang.

Liu Mang played for 21 minutes and scored 18 points. This time he was still responsible for the offense.

After Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, he observed the Spurs' defense and couldn't help but sigh that a team has too much influence on a player's defense, just like Jason Terry's defense became more and more active after Liu Mang joined the Hawks. Although the defensive effect is average, he is active and can at least help his teammates to give him a chance to make up for his weakness of poor defense.

The Spurs are like this. Barry is okay. He is not good at single defense, but he is similar to Korver. He is very active and has excellent assisting ability. But Bonzi Wells came to the Spurs. Although his defensive ability is not good, he is very active in switching defense. Udrih did not play like a rookie at all, and he was still directing the outside defense.

This is the so-called team culture. The Hawks have been building this culture so that new players can be affected immediately.

Liu Mang's strong mid-range feel is average today. Duncan is at the basket. If he shoots three-pointers from the outside, his hit rate is okay, but the chance of being interfered is still very high. Ginobili's height is there, and the inside rebounds have no advantage when Kwame Brown is not there.

Liu Mang chose to set a pick-and-roll, and waved to Josh Smith to block Ginobili.

Just as Liu Mang caught Josh Smith's pick-and-roll and was about to go inside, Bonzi Wells appeared in front of Liu Mang.

Josh Smith saw the opponent switch defense and immediately cut inside to take Ginobili away.

Liu Mang faced Bonzi Wells, and there was a question in his mind that he had to ask: "Hey, you are so good, your salary must be at least 10 million, right? I get more than 12 million this year."

"10 million?" Big Stick's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Liu Mang saw Bonzi Wells lose his mind, and saw Bonzi Wells' body slightly tilted to the left front to prevent his right side from breaking through. Liu Mang kicked his right foot, rushed from the left, and rushed into the middle from Bonzi Wells' right side!

Rasheed Wallace saw Liu Mang break through and immediately pulled out to the outside, trying to take Duncan away, but the Spurs' defense was very organized. Duncan stayed at the basket. Bonzi Wells came to his senses and made a move towards Rasheed Wallace to block Rasheed Wallace's mid-range shot. Ginobili saw Duncan go to block Josh Smith and immediately turned back to defend Liu Mang.

A nearly perfect defensive rotation! Mike Woodson on the bench of the Hawks was so shocked that he drew on the board with a pen.

Liu Mang couldn't pass the ball to Josh Smith, so he could only speed up to the inside and enter the basket. Ginobili and Duncan double-teamed him. He had no chance to pass the ball from the outside and couldn't get into the inside. His footsteps didn't work when he was double-teamed by two people. Liu Mang got angry and dived into Duncan's arms, leaning on his left shoulder and waiting. He grabbed the ball with his right hand, turned sideways to face the basket, and jumped with his left foot as hard as he could...

"Ding... Level 4 of Golden Rooster Stand is triggered. This time, the host's single-leg jump reduces the interference, and the single-leg jump height increases by 20%..."

Liu Mang didn't expect that the effect of Golden Rooster Stand, which was digitized by the system, could be used at this time!

This jump feels so good, just like the feeling when Kwame Brown didn't dare to give too much physical contact during training. Liu Mang swung the ball from bottom to top with his right hand and threw it into the basket.

Little sky hook!

Liu Mang learned a little inside trick from Magic's star card in the summer!

Just as Liu Mang felt very good about throwing the ball, and the ball hit the basket and fell into the basket, a crisp slap sounded...

The fans at the scene were booing Liu Mang. Seeing this scene, a group of people seemed to have a gun stuffed into their mouths, and the scene suddenly became quiet.

Liu Mang looked at the blood spurting out of Duncan's nose, who was expressionless and seemed not to feel any pain, and the blood on Ginobili's left palm...

The master of catching bats is also good at slapping in the face!

...

Just now, Duncan and Ginobili were ready for defense. Duncan didn't dare to take action, so he used his body to hold Liu Mang, and let Ginobili, who had super physical fitness, block the shot. Ginobili also jumped up, but the hand he slapped hit Duncan's face from top to bottom, right in the bridge of his nose!

At this moment, Liu Mang looked at Duncan, whose nose was bleeding, but there was no expression on his face, as if he was not the one being hit.

Is this still a human?

A stone monster!

The referee blew the whistle, not a foul or a timeout, but a new league rule since Magic Johnson became ill. In the event of an open wound, vomiting blood, or nosebleed, the game needs to be stopped for treatment and to clean up the blood.

The team doctors came up and took Duncan to the side to stop the bleeding. The bridge of his nose was not broken, but the capillaries were broken, and it stopped quickly.

On Ginobili's side, after wiping the blood off his hands and disinfecting them with a cloth soaked in alcohol, he could continue the game.

Duncan had to change his jersey, and Ginobili went to the technical table again to apply magnesium powder.

Liu Mang quietly ran to Ginobili and asked, "Manu, you have been annoyed with that poker face for a long time, right? Beat him, beat him to death!"

Ginobili glanced at Liu Mang with resentment. He was still joking at this time!

When he hit Duncan in the face and saw Duncan's nose bleeding, Ginobili was about to cry. It was not easy to get a place in the NBA! It was not easy to get a 3-year, 20 million contract, and in the first year of execution, he beat the boss!

"It feels great to beat Duncan, right!" Liu Mang continued to say sinisterly.

Don't mention it, although Ginobili was dissatisfied with Liu Mang's sarcastic remarks at this time, the feeling was really good!

Ginobili rolled his eyes at Liu Mang, and after applying magnesium powder, he turned around coolly to prepare for the attack. Duncan was already ready.

Liu Mang found that it was useless to say anything to the Spurs players. At the beginning of the game, Liu Mang thought about using Rasheed Wallace to provoke Duncan, and exchanged for the opponent's strongest player, but it didn't work. Now he is psychologically attacking Ginobili, but it's useless.

The Spurs guys are stubborn... But not all of them. Liu Mang looked at Parker, who was replaced by Popovich and sat on the bench because of his average performance, and he really hoped that this guy would come up!

Parker felt Liu Mang's fiery eyes, felt a coolness on his back, and subconsciously tightened his muscles...

A small episode, the Spurs were originally prepared to play steadily in the first half, but after Duncan was beaten, he seemed to be crazy. Duncan, with two pieces of hemostatic cotton in his nose, turned into a stuffy nose. He had long been annoyed by Rasheed Wallace's various small actions and occasional roars, but he didn't say anything and had no expression on his face. After the game resumed, Duncan was the first to explode on the Spurs side.

On the Hawks side, Liu Mang continued to fight hard with the Spurs. With Jason Terry and McGrady opening up space, it was relatively easy for him to score and pass.

At the end of the half, the Hawks were 56 to 60, 4 points behind the Spurs. Duncan scored 7 points in the last three minutes, and Bonzi Wells also made a layup.

Although Liu Mang scored 10 points in the last 3 minutes and 28 points in the first half, he was still 4 points behind the Spurs.

…

…

Stable, this word runs through the Spurs' style in this game. No matter how Liu Mang and McGrady tried to speed up, the rhythm slowed down when the Spurs attacked.

Even if the Spurs could not defend against the offense led by Liu Mang and McGrady, even if the Spurs were exhausted on the defensive end, they would still slow down on the offensive end!

Duncan, the core player, was beaten by his teammates, but he was still so stable. His teammates were affected by his stability, and the whole team played very steadily.

After three quarters, Liu Mang had scored 39 points, the Hawks also scored 82 points, but the Spurs also scored 88 points. The score difference was widened to 6 points after the third quarter!

The Hawks have been chasing points, but they can't catch up. The Spurs are too stable!

Ginobili and Duncan were always accurate when they were not double-teamed. Bonzi Wells played for 22 minutes, which just made up for the time when Duncan and Ginobili were "resting" on the court. Although the four pitchers Barry, Bowen, Udrih, and Horry failed to defend the Hawks, they made a total of 8 three-pointers, which also played the role they should have on the offensive end.

The game was kept steady by the Spurs until the fourth quarter.

In the middle and late stages of the fourth quarter, the Hawks' coach Kruger had already started the three-point tactic, letting Liu Mang, McGrady, and Jason Terry take turns to shoot, but in the middle and late stages of the fourth quarter, the Spurs were still so stable, just like Duncan's characteristics, absolutely calm, and the whole team was so stable because of Duncan. When there were 37 seconds left, the Hawks were still behind 102 to 111.

There were 37 seconds left, and they were 9 points behind. It was so desperate! Liu Mang felt desperate!

"I don't want to give up!"

Liu Mang looked at the big screen without fighting spirit, and suddenly heard a voice with a very unwilling tone.

Liu Mang turned around and saw that it was McGrady!

Looking at McGrady's unwilling expression, Liu Mang's unwillingness was also activated.

"Ah... yes," Liu Mang gritted his teeth and said, "We haven't lost two consecutive games against strong teams for many years! I want to win!"

"Ding... Temporary task: God's coming is triggered."

It's a bit late, bear with me. I just saw a private chat from a friend, saying that we don't need to update so much today, and we can save some until after 12 o'clock in the morning. Then it will be counted as today's update and can be counted into tomorrow's activity word count. Xiaofeng thinks this suggestion is quite constructive! The next chapter will be updated after 12 o'clock and before 1 o'clock!