Chapter 942 941. First Place in the Regular Season!

Tim Duncan stole the wine from the team president's suitcase before the afternoon training and performed poorly in the training. He was discovered and the team president Popovich imposed a two-game paid suspension on Duncan as a punishment.

Ginobili and Parker had a conflict in the afternoon training because of the debate over whether left-handed shooting is more accurate or right-handed shooting is more accurate. They were "hidden" and asked to wear suits to calm down.

Popovich even deceived his own players by taking a rest. When he was interviewed before the afternoon training, he said that this game was a preview of their finals and they must win.

Then when the 12-man roster was submitted in the afternoon, Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker were not on the activation list!

Liu Mang saw the three horses in suits after entering the court and felt that he was tricked!

The fans at the Hawks scene didn't care. They loved to watch their own stars. The Hawks were unable to start and the lineup was complete again after two months. The fans were very satisfied, and the Hawks fans who watched the live broadcast were also very satisfied.

But those neutral fans who wanted to watch the fierce game, and the fans of the opposing teams who wanted to watch the two teams fight to the death, saw that the three core players of the Spurs were all wearing suits, and they were already cursing! The Internet was going crazy!

The first person to get the news was David Stern.

The Spurs submitted an activation list without the three-horse team, and the league officials contacted him immediately.

And Popovich offended not only David Stern, but also a large number of fans!

The fans of the Spurs are almost all concentrated in San Antonio, which means that Popovich offended all basketball fans except the fans of the Hawks.

Even fans who didn't watch this game joined in the fun and cursed Popovich.

Although the Hawks also rested, the Hawks notified the media in advance when they wanted to rest, and even the fans could judge for themselves which of the Hawks' four starters and the sixth man would rest in which game.

And even if the Hawks rested, they kept their conscience. Liu Mang played all the first 80 games. He didn't encounter any fights this season, and he wasn't suspended. After locking in the first place in the regular season, he didn't mean to rest.

Popovich is so insidious. He even threw smoke bombs during the afternoon training to make the Hawks fully prepare for the game with them. When the game came, he said that they would rest today, making the Hawks waste their efforts, just to make the Hawks unhappy.

And the last time the two teams played against each other was a few months ago. Popovich didn't want the Hawks to further understand their current playing style.

The Hawks worked hard for two days to prepare for the game, and it felt like a punch on cotton!

They couldn't even use their strength!

The Hawks made the biggest tragedy in history in the last game, and Popovich was taking revenge!

And Popovich is very confident in the team's stable strength. If Liu Mang and McGrady hadn't exploded in the last game, they would have the best substitute lineup in the league and the strongest and most compatible inside and outside trio. Popovich believes that the Hawks are not their opponents.

On the Hawks side, seeing the pure rotation lineup of Benno Udrih, Brent Barry, Glenn Robinson, Robert Horry, and Sean Marx sent by the Spurs as the starting lineup, they were all furious!

The Hawks have a record of 66 wins and 14 losses, while the Spurs have a record of 57 wins and 23 losses.

They can no longer win 60 games, and Popovich made such a decision for a reason. Anyway, if they can't win 60 games, it doesn't make much difference whether they are second or third in the West, and they can also make the Hawks unhappy.

Popovich's actions angered the Hawks players. After the game started, the Hawks started a fierce attack.

But surprisingly, the Spurs' pure substitute lineup played really well!

Udrih is a very capable substitute point guard with very accurate three-pointers. Barry was the organizing core of the Supersonics last season and the organizing core of the Spurs' bench this season. Moreover, both of them have a 40% three-point shooting rate, and they are the two cores of the Spurs bench bandits.

If Glenn Robinson really wants to be given the ball, although he is 32 years old, he is still quite powerful. The key is that he plays with hatred for the Hawks. This season, he has only played 29 games, averaging 18 minutes per game, scoring 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. It's just that he is a bit unlucky. He lost most of the games he played because his playing style and core playing style are exactly the same as the pain period after the Mavericks got Crawford.

But the Spurs played a pure substitute lineup in this game. Although Bonzi Wells and Nesterovic were on the activation list, they did not play. Glenn Robinson and Barry served as the core, bringing out Glenn Robinson's singles ability and Barry's passing and three-point ability. The Spurs did not fall behind too much in the first quarter!

After the first quarter, the Hawks and Spurs played 33 to 31, and the Hawks only led by two points!

This shocked the fans in front of the TV who cursed and said they would not watch the game!

The Spurs scored 31 points in a single quarter with pure substitutes!

Liu Mang was also shocked. This feels a bit like the future "Spurs system"!

Popovich has begun to consider the problem of Duncan's aging. Duncan will be 29 at the end of this month, and will be 30 in April next year. Popovich has begun to consider shifting the inside-centered play to the outside. The reinforcements made last summer were mostly outside. Ginobili's outbreak this season is inseparable from Popovich's tactical adjustments.

Although it is not as perfect as the future Spurs system, it has begun to take shape.

Liu Mang scored 9 points in the first quarter, McGrady scored 11 points, and the two core players scored 20 points in a single quarter, but they were only two points ahead of the pure substitute Spurs. Not to mention the two players, Coach Kruger was very unhappy. Who would be happy to be tricked by the opponent? The key is that the pure substitutes on the opposite side were so embarrassed!

In the second quarter, Coach Kruger sent Liu Mang, Jason Terry, McGrady, Josh Smith, and Kwame Brown to the starting lineup. He didn't want to reveal too much about the tactics, so he let the three waves go crazy and beat the opponent to death!

So, the Hawks' double waves on the outside started a crazy attack with McGrady's pass, and scored 41 points in a single quarter!

The Spurs can rely on tactics to let this group of substitutes with excellent three-point shooting also play offensive firepower, but the strength of role players has an upper limit. Being able to score 31 points in a single quarter is already the limit. It is difficult to replicate in the second quarter. The Spurs worked hard in the second quarter, but Liu Mang and McGrady were frantically defending the outside line. Jason Terry's defense was average, but he worked hard and was very active in chasing and defending the three-pointer. The Spurs only scored 22 points in the second quarter and were led by the Hawks by 19 points in a single quarter!

53 points in the first half, the Spurs played really well, but Duncan was not there, the rhythm could not be suppressed, and the Hawks threw 27 times in a single quarter, 17 of 27 shots!

The Hawks led the Spurs by 21 points 74 to 53 at halftime!

Liu Mang scored 26 points in the first half and 17 points in the second quarter!

In the second half, Coach Kruger saw that even if Liu Mang scored 26 points, it would not affect his average score higher than Jordan, and McGrady's 8 assists in the first half would not affect McGrady's assist king, so he replaced all the main players and let Jason Terry, who was still angry or always passionate, play with Persson, Korver, Josh Smith, and Varejao.

Simple and rough singles, three-pointers and rebounds.

In the end, Jason Terry made 17 of 29 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 5 of 7 free throws, and scored 42 points and 6 assists. He got 40+ for the third time in his career, helping the Hawks beat the Spurs 133 to 101 by 32 points!

But it was not fun to slaughter!

The opponent was a pure substitute!

Popovich saw the unhappy look on the Hawks side and knew that he would be scolded now, but his goal was achieved. He gave the Hawks a bad taste, which was great!

As for the post-match press conference being attacked by the media, Popovich has had a bad relationship with the media since he won the championship in the season after the lockout, and he doesn't care at all...

...

...

After defeating the Spurs, the Hawks rested for a day and faced the Pacers.

Before the game with the Pacers, the league issued a penalty notice, and the Spurs were fined $30,000 for "unethical" behavior due to "basketball reasons".

David Stern now regrets setting the upper limit of the fine too low!

The Hawks also think it's too low, and they can't get rid of the anger in their stomachs!

In the last game against the Pacers, the Pacers have been actively losing in the last few games. Since the fourth to last game, they have completely lost hope of advancing to the playoffs. With 36 wins and 45 losses, the Pacers are trying to lose as much as possible for a draft pick that may be one higher.

In the last game of the Hawks, except for Liu Mang, all the four starters took a rest. Liu Mang played three quarters with Iguodala, Korver, Muhammad, and Mourning, and scored 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. He clocked out after three quarters. After three quarters, the Pacers were already leading by nearly 30 points, 81 to 52. There was no sign of struggle.

Looking at Reggie Miller in a suit with despair in his eyes, Liu Mang also felt miserable. Although this guy has a bad mouth, he has fought for his beloved career for so many years, but in the end he lost his last chance to win the championship because of a fight. It is really miserable.

And although Reggie Miller is about to turn 40, he played very well this season, averaging 15 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. He is a perfect pure three-point shooter and has the best season in three years. It’s a pity that his teammates pitted him.

I don't know if Reggie Miller still wants to play for another year. The addition of Persson made Liu Mang feel the role of veterans again. However, Persson wants to retire after this season regardless of whether he wins the championship or not. He has to find a veteran again next season, but Miller doesn't think he has much hope.

111 to 79, the Hawks slaughtered two consecutive games and ended the regular season journey this season.

The Hawks have played all the regular season games, and the record of 68 wins and 14 losses ranks first in the league!

Next, we will wait for the remaining 9 games on the 16th to be played, and the top eight rankings in the East and West will be completely locked. On April 18, the playoffs will officially kick off!