Chapter 978 977. The Ugliest Layup in History

Unmovable as a mountain, this phrase well describes Tim Duncan.

Kwame Brown snatched the jump ball from his head again, Duncan had no reaction and quickly retreated.

Liu Mang received the jump ball and immediately dribbled towards the frontcourt.

Is this to speed up?

Ginobili originally wanted to retreat to the free throw line to defend, but coach Popovich said in the team meeting that the Hawks might speed up in the decisive battle, and they had already arranged a way to suppress the rhythm.

Ginobili stopped retreating and came to the center line to block Liu Mang's accelerated sprint.

Liu Mang met Ginobili, moved sideways to the left, and continued to advance from the middle of the center line.

After Ginobili was shaken off, he immediately chased McGrady who was running forward to the right of the center line, preventing Liu Mang from accelerating directly. Ginobili's task was completed, and the next step was to Parker.

When Ginobili went to block Liu Mang, Parker came to the top arc and guarded the second checkpoint. Liu Mang's direct acceleration had been destroyed by Ginobili. Now that he had lost such a long sprint distance, it was not so difficult for Parker to defend Liu Mang's breakthrough.

Liu Mang passed the center line from the middle and was two steps away from the three-point line. Seeing Parker stepping on the free throw line, Liu Mang did not take it slowly like in the previous two games. He took two steps across the three-point line and broke through directly!

"Ding... The strongest first step level 5 is triggered. The host's speed will increase by 5 within two seconds of this breakthrough..."

Liu Mang accelerated and broke through directly to the left!

Too fast!

After entering the NBA, Parker only felt desperate about the speed of three people. The first was Iverson in his rookie year, the second was TJ Ford of the Bucks, and Liu Mang in front of him was the third!

That burst speed was too scary!

Parker was also very fast, but he couldn't keep up with Liu Mang's accelerated breakthrough with a speed rating of 99 even though he was two steps away!

However, Robert Horry's first defense came in time, and Parker's switch was also very fast, rushing towards Prince, and the Spurs' defense rotated at a high speed!

Liu Mang did not pass to Prince, but continued to rush to the basket. Seeing Liu Mang rushing so fast, Horry protected his crotch with both hands and prepared for the collision.

Just as the two were about to collide, Liu Mang's speed seemed to be unstoppable. The referee put the whistle in his mouth and prepared to blow the whistle. Suddenly, Liu Mang grabbed the ball, kicked the ground with his left foot, and bounced to the right!

His own strength increased to 87, plus the explosive power bonus of Wade's star card, Liu Mang was not afraid of the pressure on his knees and ankles, and forced a change of direction at the free throw line to throw Horry aside!

After Liu Mang changed direction significantly, he came one step inside the free throw line. Duncan had already blocked him and blocked Liu Mang's space to pass to Kwame Brown under the basket!

The Spurs did a good job in defending breakthroughs and passing the ball. Horry and Duncan blocked Liu Mang one step inside the free throw line!

However, after Liu Mang's right foot landed, his left foot made an awkward movement, twisting his body towards the right front, and took another step. His steps were quite strange. When Horry saw Liu Mang lifting his left foot, he thought Liu Mang was going to jump up and shoot, but it turned out that Liu Mang was taking the European step!

Liu Mang used a slow three-step to change direction to the right side of the three-second zone. His movements were extremely ugly. His twisted body and the ball in his hand, he jumped directly when his left foot landed, and threw the ball into the basket with a big loop-like throw with his body sideways...

I closed my eyes while spinning and jumping...

Liu Mang's random change of direction breakthroughs and random throws hit the basket, bounced a little, and luckily fell into the basket!

This guy is so lucky!

Ginobili watched Liu Mang score this ball. He thought Liu Mang would look for McGrady, and he stuck to McGrady at the three-point line and didn't give McGrady a chance to catch the ball.

This ball went in. After landing, Liu Mang ran back while making a listening gesture.

The fans at the scene were originally amazed at Liu Mang's incredible soft touch. When they saw Liu Mang's action, they immediately responded to Liu Mang, and the whole audience booed Liu Mang.

The Spurs defended very well, but Liu Mang's posture, crossing his feet, making the action of separating Duncan with his left hand, and the ugly action of grabbing the ball on the left waist and swinging it to the right when his right hand changed direction from the right side, all made the ball go in. It was not a problem of defense at all, but a bad luck. The opponent made the shot.

This did not affect the confidence of the Spurs players, but made them more confident. The opponent would only shoot in this way because they had already forced the opponent into a desperate situation.

In the offense and defense transition, the Spurs pressed the rhythm, and Parker slowly advanced to the frontcourt.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Parker passed the ball to Duncan, and Liu Mang immediately doubled Duncan with Rasheed Wallace in the low post.

Duncan no longer passed to Parker who was in an open position. He turned around, carried Liu Mang on his back, and forced a close-range shot against Rasheed Wallace's block...

Missed!

Kwame Brown overpowered Nesterovic to grab the defensive rebound!

If you can't score, then you can't score. The Spurs quickly retreated.

Liu Mang received the ball from Kwame Brown and continued to advance quickly. The rhythm of the Hawks was driven faster by Liu Mang.

However, the Spurs' defense was very good. The Hawks quickly came to the front court and did not get a chance to play a fast break.

Liu Mang took two steps outside the three-point line, looked at Ginobili, and continued to accelerate the breakthrough!

Ginobili couldn't keep up with Liu Mang's breakthrough, but the Spurs had experience in defending Liu Mang's breakthrough. Although Liu Mang's explosive power increased, they still blocked Liu Mang in the mid-range. Liu Mang faced Horry's mid-range jump shot...

This time he failed to make the shot.

The Spurs defended the rebounds well. When it was the Spurs' turn to attack, the stars played one-on-one. Ginobili broke through to the right side of the free throw line and threw a shot against Liu Mang's defense but it didn't go in.

Just like the previous two games, the two teams continued to rely on their stars, with strong defense, slow rhythm, and inaccurate shooting... The whole game was quite dull.

In the first four attacks, except for Liu Mang's amazing and ugly big loop, the two teams didn't score any other goals for nearly two minutes.

The Spurs fans at the scene have long been accustomed to this ugly style of play. The uglier the game, the more beneficial it is for them, and the fans in front of the TV have already despaired.

David Stern, who was watching the game, hated the Spurs and Popovich. Even the finals with the Hawks could be played like this!

Based on the situation in the first two games, the fans seemed to see another ugly defensive battle coming.

At this moment, an accident occurred!

After Liu Mang advanced to the front court, he continued to use his strongest first step to accelerate past Ginobili. After breaking through to one step inside the free throw line, Horry and Duncan's double-team came again. Liu Mang played sideways this time. When Horry pressed up, he suddenly bumped into him!

Horry originally had a strength advantage over Liu Mang, mainly because of his strong static strength. His explosive power declined with age, but the static strength brought by his height and weight became stronger. But this time Horry couldn't hold on to Liu Mang and was squeezed away by Liu Mang!

Liu Mang suddenly burst out and knocked away Horry. From the double-team of Horry and Duncan, he took a big step with his left foot to one step inside the left side of the three-second zone and bounced to the right. The explosive power bonus brought by Wade's star card allowed Liu Mang to be strong in this confrontation!

Lay the ball!

Just as the ball was thrown out, Duncan waved his body sideways and slapped Liu Mang's arm. Liu Mang had already thrown the ball out. Liu Mang was slapped down by Duncan. Duncan reacted quickly and hugged Liu Mang, preventing him from falling flat on the ground.

At this time, Liu Mang's layup fell into the basket!

The referee blew the whistle, the goal was valid, and Duncan fouled!

He actually broke through to the basket and scored!

And it was a 2+1!

The fans who had just cursed and said they would turn off the TV were suddenly excited. Happiness came too suddenly! I just thought that today's game was like this. It was the same as the previous two games. I could only see the performance of the stars on both sides. In addition, this is the Spurs' home court, the defense is large, and the Hawks didn't play that well.

But I didn't expect Liu Mang to break through to the basket and cause damage!

This was scored!

Duncan's eyes widened, but the strange expression was immediately retracted. No one noticed his emotional changes. He helped Liu Mang stand steadily on the ground, and then walked to the right side of the three-second zone to wait for free throws.

McGrady was dumbfounded watching from the side. He could rush in and cause damage? And it was a 2+1!

The threat under the basket that had not been seen in two games was played again!

The others were fine, but Parker, who had sensed from the beginning that Liu Mang was going to show off his power today, wanted to cry now... Although he was not defending Liu Mang, this feeling was too hurtful, as they were rookies of the same class! This feeling of being compared but not being able to compete was too painful.

Liu Mang walked to the free throw line, twisted his body, moved around, received the ball, and made the free throw!

5-0 at the start!

This was too sudden!

This was a natural attack!

When it was the Spurs' turn to attack, they had to be steady, and they had to be steady first. The Spurs still played the same way, and falling behind 0-5 did not affect them. Parker passed the ball to Duncan and ran to the mid-range but did not dare to enter the basket. Parker, who was double-teamed by Liu Mang and Rasheed Wallace, made a mid-range floater and was lucky enough to make the shot.

It was the Hawks' turn to attack again. Liu Mang continued to force his way through Ginobili with his first step, and then continued to use his explosive power to squeeze Horry. This time Duncan did not foul, but Nesterovic, who ran back to the basket with Rasheed Wallace who had excellent awareness and chose to cut, could not help but reach out to block Liu Mang. The ball was broken, but it hit Liu Mang's hand.

Two more free throws!

Liu Mang went to the free throw line, and after the first free throw was made, Popovich called a timeout!

6 to 2, another free throw, another 5-point difference.

The Spurs made personnel adjustments and replaced Nesterovic with Bonzi Wells in advance to enhance defensive mobility.

The Hawks also made substitutions, replacing Kwame Brown with Josh Smith.

Both teams have one big and four small.

After the timeout, Liu Mang also made the second free throw, scoring 7 points in a row at the beginning, helping the team to score 7 to 2 in the first 3 minutes!

No matter how unreasonable it is, it's okay to score!

Liu Mang scored consecutively, giving the Hawks a 5-point lead at the start.

The Spurs have a characteristic that whenever Popovich calls a timeout, the players will keep their emotions stable. Although they are sometimes too stable after the timeout and are beaten by the opponent, this stability is more likely to help the Spurs win the game.

When the Spurs attacked, Ginobili advanced to the frontcourt. Facing Liu Mang's defense, it was really painful. The Hawks' defense was really targeted. Whoever dribbled the ball, Liu Mang defended him. He defended the first offensive point, and then Parker was released for double-teaming.

Ginobili's operation was very fierce. The left-handed breakthrough made people feel awkward but sharp. However, Liu Mang, who can also be regarded as a left-handed player, was not thrown off. Ginobili was not at the time to get angry, and he failed to throw Liu Mang off. He was squeezed to a close distance. Seeing that his teammates had no chance, he pulled up and made a strong shot...

Missed!

Rasheed Wallace squeezed Duncan with all his strength, Liu Mang jumped high to grab the defensive rebound, turned around and quickly advanced...

"Beep..."

The referee whistled!

Who committed a foul? Or who pushed someone when grabbing a rebound?

Liu Mang looked at the referee and found that the referee raised his elbow and pointed at him!

The referee called a foul on Liu Mang's elbow!

Liu Mang looked down and saw Ginobili falling to the ground!

Based on Liu Mang's understanding of Ginobili, there was no need to think too much, this guy was faking a fall!

Liu Mang was sure and certain that this guy was faking a fall!

There was no replay at the scene, but there was a replay on the live TV. Ginobili took advantage of the referee's attention to the push after grabbing a rebound under the basket, and the referee noticed that McGrady was taking Parker and there was only a blind spot for the referee on the other sideline. When Liu Mang grabbed the defensive rebound and raised his arm, Ginobili made a gesture of being hit on the head and fell backwards.

This is the Spurs' home court, and the referee blew the whistle!

Seeing Ginobili covering his head and climbing up, looking like he was hurt, Liu Mang really wanted to go up and really elbow him!

Liu Mang went up to explain to the referee that he did not swing his elbow, but the referee ignored him. Even if the referee reacted at this time, it was useless because the foul could not be changed.

The referee pointed to the frontcourt and the Spurs still had the ball.

The clock was reset to 24 seconds, and the Spurs got another 24-second offensive opportunity.

Liu Mang was very angry, but fortunately his cold-blooded characteristic worked, and he did not explode in his mentality. He gritted his teeth and continued to defend.

Horry served the sideline ball, and Parker continued to Dio Duncan after receiving the serve. Duncan received the ball and Liu Mang double-teamed Duncan.

Parker came one step inside the free throw line, and Duncan passed the ball to him. Liu Mang returned to Parker immediately. Parker did not dare to shoot. At this time, Horry pulled up from the bottom corner, and Duncan went up to block McGrady who was chasing Horry. Horry went around to the left side of the free throw line, and Parker quickly passed the ball to him. Horry made a mid-range shot to help the Spurs stop the bleeding.

Liu Mang received the ball from Rasheed Wallace and advanced to the frontcourt. After reaching the frontcourt, he observed the Spurs' defense and saw that they were obviously shrinking. Liu Mang did not continue to break through. He passed the ball to McGrady who came up to receive the ball, and then went to the left side of the free throw line and leaned on Ginobili to get a position.

It's time to play a high-post singles game!

The mid-range attack has to start to rely on the touch.

Ginobili tried hard to get around and didn't give Liu Mang a chance to receive the ball. He actively squeezed into the passing route of Liu Mang and McGrady, trying to stop Liu Mang behind him.

Ginobili, who usually couldn't squeeze Liu Mang, suddenly found that he used his hands to pull Liu Mang behind him, and he squeezed past him!

He pushed Liu Mang behind him all of a sudden...

"Beep..."

The referee's whistle sounded again!

This time it was Ginobili's turn to be stunned. The referee pointed at him!

What did he do?

Ginobili looked back and saw Liu Mang lying on the floor with his hands on his waist!