Chapter 910 909.9 Consecutive Wins!
To dare to shoot a lot of shots from mid-range and long distances, you need to have confidence in two points. One is confidence in your own shooting, and the other is confidence in your teammates' rebounds and defense speed.
The foundation of the Supersonics this season is these two points. Three-pointers and rebounds are the advantages that the Supersonics had last season. They just lacked a passer. Francis is the key to activate the strength of the Supersonics.
After entering the rotation lineup, Liu Mang felt that it was time to speed up!
In this lineup of the Supersonics, except for Lewis, the others basically have no three-point ability. In this way, there is no need to worry about the opponent relying on counterattacks to use the threat of Francis to attract double-teaming and then catch the ball and shoot three-pointers. Ray Allen can't play, Antonio Daniels and Ridnour are not star-level shooters who can maintain efficiency for a long time. Without Ray Allen, Lewis can't complete the task of two people!
Make up your mind.
The Hawks chose to serve the ball in the frontcourt. Liu Mang received the ball and went to the top arc. Facing Francis, the Sonics' defense was fierce, but there was no method. They all relied on their height, which was shorter than that of the Hawks, to defend closely.
Liu Mang relied on Francis's close defense to let Jason Terry receive the ball. He helped Jason Terry block Murray who was defending him. After separating a little space for Jason Terry, Liu Mang immediately rushed to the inside.
Francis had just switched to Jason Terry, and Jason Terry shot directly!
"Watt?" Francis didn't have time to pounce on him. Jason Terry was one step away from the three-point line, that is, he had just used Liu Mang's pick-and-roll to get around the middle, and before he completely got around, he shot directly!
Liu Mang was already reckless enough, but Francis didn't expect Jason Terry to be even more reckless!
When Liu Mang rushed to the free throw line, he saw the ball fly over his head and dive into the basket.
Jason Terry's long three-pointer!
27 to 21, after entering the rotation lineup, the Hawks suddenly widened the gap to more than 5 points.
Attack and defense switch, the Sonics attacked, and the Sonics still played positional defense. Only when they were in a good position could their rebounding advantage be reflected. They are not a fast-break team.
At Liu Mang's signal, Jason Terry, Iguodala, and Josh Smith, except for those who met Lewis, all stepped back to the basket to defend.
Liu Mang pressed towards Francis, and Francis saw Liu Mang pressing again and immediately chose to break through.
Iguodala quickly made up for the defense, but the Hawks did not quickly rotate the defense. Liu Mang and Iguodala blocked Francis on the right side of the free throw line from left to right!
Francis immediately passed the ball to Danny Fortson. As soon as he passed the ball, Francis knew that he had passed it to the wrong person. Danny Fortson was on the court. He should have rushed into the inside and Danny Fortson followed up to attack the offensive rebound or directly receive the ball. Danny Fortson was about to follow up, but his feet were still on the three-point line. In this big gap, should he shoot? Or what?
Danny Fortson, who has only taken 40 three-pointers in 331 games and only made two three-pointers, has a career three-point shooting record of 0, and his mid-range shooting rate is always in the single digits!
With no one defending him, Danny Fortson still chose to gamble on his luck and took a step-back three-pointer...
Three misses!
Iguodala blocked Francis. Muhammad knew that Reggie Evans was good at rebounding, so he didn't grab the rebound at all. He just entangled with Reggie Evans. Liu Mang turned around and received the ball that fell directly from the air and counterattacked!
Jason Terry was ready, and the cavalry arrows began to charge.
Francis retreated immediately after being blocked. The Sonics had poor defensive ability and were very aggressive in defense. Liu Mang passed the ball to Jason Terry. When Jason Terry received the ball, Francis and Murray had already caught up.
Jason Terry received the ball in the frontcourt, and rushed directly into the basket with Murray and Francis who were chasing him, and passed the ball back to the top arc!
Liu Mang rushed to the frontcourt immediately after passing the ball. He rushed to the opponent's three-point line at a super fast speed, received the ball at the top arc, and took the opportunity to jump and shoot!
Liu Mang's counterattack and three-pointer missed. Iguodala rushed in and jumped to touch the ball before Francis. When he jumped, he looked behind him, touched the ball and flicked it back. Josh Smith followed up and flew up, caught the ball in the air and glided and dunked to score two points!
Francis and Murray could only dodge and watch Josh Smith's brutal alley-oop dunk and smash the ball into the basket.
Iguodala's selflessness and Josh Smith's explosive physical fitness kicked off the Hawks' counterattack.
29 to 21, 8 points difference!
Liu Mang's strategy is correct!
Without Ray Allen, the Supersonics cannot be unaffected. In the starting stage, they can still rely on Ridnour, but although Ridnour is an excellent player, he is only a second-year role player. When it comes to the rotation lineup, the Supersonics should have three stars playing almost the entire game against strong teams, but now Ray Allen is missing. The second-year Ridnour is not enough to take on the responsibility. He can only be substituted after playing for 9 minutes, but the substitute of the substitute, that is, Murray, does not have the kind of active response and running awareness. The key is that the running is useless!
Ray Allen's injury broke the original rotation of the Supersonics. When they played against weak teams a while ago, they could still rely on the starting lineup to gain a leading advantage, but when playing against the Hawks, the starting lineup did not gain an advantage!
The Eagles are different. Although they may be in bad shape, have poor touch, etc., when the Eagles play against strong teams, their lineup is always complete!
Liu Mang and Jason Terry's cavalry company started charging!
…
Liu Mang and Jason Terry started to shoot back one by one. If they made a shot, they would continue. If they didn't make a shot, they would change players. Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith and Muhammad quickly followed up.
In the third minute of the second quarter, when the Sonics were forced to replace all the starters, the Hawks were already leading by 16 points, 43 to 27. From the point difference of 10 points, the Hawks began to force speed up, and they also played fast breaks when the opponent made a shot!
During the official timeout in the second quarter, the Hawks replaced Iguodala with McGrady. At this time, the score was 52 to 37, and the Hawks maintained the point difference at 15 points.
After the Hawks had a clear advantage, they played more recklessly. They didn't dare to play at the beginning and forced speed up, but now they are running.
Liu Mang and Jason Terry played until the end of the first half. After McGrady came up, he mainly played long passes and followed up. With McGrady, Liu Mang and Jason Terry could play together. Although the Sonics scored 32 points in the second quarter, plus 24 points in the first quarter, they scored 56 points in the first half, but the Eagles played so recklessly that the defense could not stop the Sonics' offense from the third minute of the second quarter. However, the Eagles scored 33 points in the first quarter, 41 points in the second quarter, and 74 points in the first half!
Liu Mang, who scored 15 points in the first quarter, scored 16 points in the second quarter, 31 points and 3 assists in the first half, helping the Eagles lead by 18 points in the first half!
Taking advantage of the fact that the opponent was missing one of the best shooters in the league, the Eagles started a counterattack fast break in the rotation lineup, and played a completely different second quarter performance from the last time they played. They did not let the opponent's rotation lineup play out its rebounding advantage, but played out their own fast break.
The Sonics fell into a vicious cycle after the Hawks sped up the game and they couldn't make shots in the last three minutes of the first quarter, widening the gap. The Hawks relied on their lead to fight back more fiercely and with more confidence, and the Sonics were always a little short of catching up.
…
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After the halftime break, after returning to the locker room, Coach Kruger and Mike Woodson made more perfect supplements to the team's advantage in the second quarter. The Hawks entered the second half with an 18-point lead.
In the third quarter, the Hawks replaced Liu Mang, McGrady, and Prince on the outside, but replaced the high school students Josh Smith and Kwame Brown on the inside.
Liu Mang saw that the teammates who followed him to the court were probably the lowest-educated lineup in the NBA.
The Sonics continued to send out the starting lineup, and the starting lineup was still able to compete. In fact, when the starting lineup was on the court in the second quarter, the Sonics played with the Hawks 29 to 31 in the last nine minutes of the second quarter. In fact, they were evenly matched. It was the Hawks who opened up the score in those six minutes and played the best counterattack rhythm of the Hawks.
Veteran Mourning wanted to find a cigarette to light up and sigh about life. Being a substitute has no human rights. He came to the away game in advance to prepare, but he didn't get a minute of playing time in the half-time game, and he had to show his active locker room leader side.
Then Mourning stood on the sidelines and shouted loudly to speed up his steps when defending to stimulate the vitality of his teammates.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Francis broke through desperately. Under Mourning's urging, the Hawks players played more actively in defense, using high-speed rotation defense to let the Sonics shoot quickly.
Leading by 18 points, the Hawks were no longer afraid of the opponent's accuracy. As long as they counterattacked and ran, they could also make shots!
Liu Mang didn't want to beat the opponent in a few moves, and in fact, he couldn't beat the opponent. This is the second team in the West, and he wants a high score! A score difference of more than ten points like this is perfect!
No one knows Liu Mang's little thoughts. The Hawks don't know, and the Sonics don't know even more. The Sonics still think that there is a chance to catch up with more than ten points, so they play harder and try to catch up.
Liu Mang scored and helped his teammates score. He shot when he should shoot, and he restrained the defense for his teammates when he should restrain the defense. In addition, McGrady started to break through and pass the ball again. Liu Mang, Prince, and Rasheed Wallace all got mid-range and long-range shooting opportunities, and Kwame Brown also dunked three times under the basket.
In the third quarter, the Hawks scored 36 points and the Sonics scored 35 points. Although Lewis had scored 38 points in three quarters, Liu Mang scored 45 points in three quarters! 14 points in the third quarter alone!
After three quarters, the Hawks led by 19 points, 110 to 91, and entered the fourth quarter.
…
After the fourth quarter, the Hawks replaced their full starting lineup. Only Ridnour, Antonio Daniels, and Jerome James rested for 6 minutes in the Supersonics' starting lineup. The others played all three quarters, but they still had to play.
Liu Mang, who was already high on shooting, came up to the frontcourt and received a pass from McGrady and threw a three-pointer directly. The ball hit the square above the backboard and bounced into the basket. This was his seventh three-pointer of the game, and his personal score increased to 48 points. The Hawks also led the Supersonics by 22 points with 113 to 91.
Francis was about to come up with his teammates to try to struggle, but he was discouraged by Liu Mang's three-pointer!
Liu Mang can't be allowed to score! This guy is going to get 50 points!
The first quarter was okay, and the second quarter was okay, but after three quarters, Liu Mang scored 45 points in three quarters and led the team by 19 points. The confidence of the Sonics was on the verge of collapse, and they even relied on winning the last game. The psychological advantage established by the Hawks is about to collapse. Now they only have one thought, that is, they will lose to the Hawks without Ray Allen.
But now Liu Mang came up with another three-pointer in the fourth quarter.
No movement, no fake moves, just a hard shot and a three-pointer went in!
When the Sonics attacked, Lewis made a three-pointer against Rasheed Wallace's defense.
When it was the Eagles' turn to attack, Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt. As soon as he reached the three-point line, Francis came up and blocked the three-pointer to break through. When Liu Mang broke into the free throw line, Ridnour let go. Lin Si attacked from a double flank.
The SuperSonics began to double-team Liu Mang like crazy. How could Liu Mang give up when he saw that he was about to score 50 points?
Liu Mang sullenly moved towards Ridnour. After contacting Ridnour, he stopped the ball and fired a shot. Ridnour and Francis both jumped up. Liu Mang rubbed against Ridnour. , grabbing the ball with his right hand and hitting Ridnour's arm...
"Beep..."
The referee's whistle blows and the thug commits a foul!
Originally, the Sonics would not give Liu Mang such great physical contact, especially during a double attack, but now they can't care so much and just don't let Liu Mang take a good shot.
In the next few rounds, as long as Tracy McGrady gave the ball to Liu Mang, Liu Mang would take the ball and rush inside. If there was no chance for the outside line, he would rush inside. Those who were double-teamed would stick to the opponent and actively wave his arms towards the opponent. Hit him, rub him, hit him.
In the fifth minute of the fourth quarter, Liu Mang finally got three fouls and made 5 of 6 free throws, raising his personal score to 53 points!
The Eagles also scored 14 points in these five minutes, 124 to 104, leading the SuperSonics with a 20-point difference.
With 53 points left and 7 minutes left, SuperSonics head coach Nate McMillan called a timeout, replaced the main players and announced surrender.
He didn't want to see Liu Mang score 60 points! There was no way to catch up with the 20-point difference. Seeing Liu Mang's data-brushing behavior, Nate McMillan knew what Liu Mang wanted to do.
The SuperSonics replaced the main players. Coach Kruger saw a group of substitutes on the other side's bench taking off their training uniforms, so he also replaced the main players.
Liu Mang was so happy with the foul he committed, and he also wanted to take as many free throws as he did against the Bulls. He only had 12 free throws now...and he had 53 points...but he still wanted to be proud. When he saw the camera facing him, he suddenly The deputy walked to the sidelines and put on his training clothes with a cool expression that didn't care about the score at all.
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In the end, the Hawks defeated the SuperSonics 132-118, a 14-point difference.
The Eagles tied the team's winning streak this season, and their record became 43 wins and 7 losses, continuing to maintain the league's first record.
Francis had 26 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds, and Lewis had 41 points and 4 rebounds. The two tried their best, but they couldn't stand up to Liu Mang's 50+ in a single game and McGrady's double 15+ performance!
McGrady relied on the rhythm set by Liu Mang and Jason Terry to score 16 points and 17 assists, raising his average assists per game to 11.7, which is only 0.4 points away from Nash's average of 12.1 assists per game.
Liu Mang scored 53 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, raising his scoring average to 36.7 points per game again!
This is not the most critical thing. The most critical thing is that Liu Mang got 40+ points for the 20th time this season and the 50+ for the 5th time this season! Continue to break the record of 40+ and 50+ times for active players in a single season.
The moment he remembered the final whistle, Liu Mang couldn't help but laugh out loud when he listened to the system prompts.
Ray Allen star card is here!
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Please give me a monthly pass. There is still one chapter left. Before ten o'clock, let's have something to eat and finish the plot in the second half of the season to speed up the pace and enter the playoffs.