: 661. MVP battle

"Ace ... Boss, do you see what I am missing? Can I progress as fast as Ace?" Wade sat on the sidelines and watched his teammates narrow the points as much as possible, but there were only two minutes left , Still 12 points behind, the Heat do not want to form a beam with the Hawks. After acknowledging their defeat in the second half of the fourth quarter, even if the opponent is lax and they are continuously chased by their side, the Heat haven't changed their main force to fight again.
"..." Pat Riley was sitting behind the Heat bench and heard Wade's question. Although his personality is to drain all the energy of the players, everyone has feelings, and it takes a lot of effort to get it. Jordan, who was five centimetres shorter, still cherishes the talent of this young man.
This year, Wade and Liu Mang played against each other, and they were abused every time. This is the third time.
Since the main team of the Eagles didn't play the game yesterday, even if they only showed 70% or 80% because of the impact of the journey, the Heat can't compete.
Compared with the strength gap of the Western Conference playoff teams, the gap between the top four and the fifth to eighth can be described by the gap on the east side. The difference is too great. The top three in the east are running for 60 wins. , Fifth to eighth are still struggling for a 50% winning rate.
"Dwyane, you are still young ..." Pat Riley comforted.
"Ace is younger than me!"
"But he played two more years than you. Two years is very important. The first few years were the fastest growth period for players. Be patient."
"I know, Ace also told me this way ..."
"Oh? Does that guy have a good relationship with you?"
"Well, one of our company, Ace takes care of me, except ..." Wade thought of Liu Mang's paranoid character in the game. He couldn't help shaking his face muscles, just like a schizophrenic patient. , Normally normal, when it comes to the game, there is an endless posture.
Pat Riley looked at Wade's cheeks, how did it seem to be bigger again, but ... this kid, the relationship with Akron's No. 1 pick show, or the Atlanta devil ... seems to have good communication skills what……
95 to 82, the Hawks who came to Miami again easily defeated the Heat, avoiding a second straight defeat, Liu Mang played 38 minutes, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in 40 minutes, and bullied Wade again. Wade only got 11 points and 5 assists, but Wade is also stingy. Although he has self-pity in the mirror, but his strong heart is not shaken at all. It is a guy who has been neglected in college but has maintained a strong self-confidence.
42 wins and 8 losses record, continue to occupy the league first!
After scoring the Heat, the Hawks' hard schedule is finally over. In addition to returning to home, there is only one game remaining. The first half of the season is about to end, entering the All-Star Weekend!
But this opponent ... is a real strong enemy!
Liu Mang and the Hawks now have a broader vision, not confined to the east, but the entire league. The top five in the west are tough opponents.
On February 10, the last opponent of the Hawks All-Star Weekend was the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the top five in the West!
On the morning of the 8th, the Hawks returned to Atlanta and were finally able to rest for two days.
In the past two days, the Hawks haven't even arranged for the team's regular training. They directly let the players rest. It is also a matter of regular physical therapy to go to the team on the morning of the 9th.
"Hmm ..." Liu Mang stretched out on the sofa and didn't want to move at all.
Liu Mang wanted to fall on the sofa like this and never get up again. Recently he was too tired!
The Eagles, who played seven games in 10 days, finally finished the toughest schedule in the past two months.
"Huh? Hmm ..."
Liu Mang, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, feels that someone is sitting next to himself, and then stretches his hand to pinch his shoulder, which feels quite comfortable, although the technique is not professional at all ...
"do not move."
Levia's voice came into Liu Mang's ears. Liu Mang was very surprised. When he hadn't heard Levia's voice, he knew it was Levia, and Alexia and Dina were still in class at school. He didn't expect Levia to come to massage him, so often ...
But it feels pretty good, thinking about lying on the couch and slowly falling asleep.
Although he has no physical problems, he has played 43 minutes per game since playing the Nets, but his physical problems are not serious, mainly because he is mentally exhausted. Whether his teammates play well or poorly, he must be a pioneer Rushed to the front to withstand.
Now 50 games have been completed, and he has a record of 42 wins, which is 5 wins higher than the 37-12 player in the league's second place. The gap is finally widened.
But for the entire Eagles team, they were very tired. From the core to the main force to the bench, they all struggled, and finally it was almost time to put the All-Star weekend holiday.
Liu Mang's tense nerves can also be relaxed, and there is a girl who massages, and soon falls asleep ...
In the afternoon, Liu Mang fell asleep for a long time, looked at the blanket covered on his body, and felt quite warm.
Take the phone out and want to see the time. As a result, there are a lot of text messages and missed calls.
After reading the text message, I realized that the list of all-star replacements at noon was released today!
Liu Mang felt that the most important text message was sent by Rahim. It was a simple sentence: Our All-Stars came over the weekend.
As expected, in addition to the three All-Stars, the Hawks must have another All-Star player. Rashid Wallace, Raheem, Jason Terry must get one, otherwise The Hawks have such a good record this year. Except that Liu Mang and Ratliff have strength and popularity, there is no third strength to send All-Star players. It ’s unreasonable. Stockton is obviously feeling, and Jordan was selected in the last year. Entering the All-Star game is almost the same, but Stockton does not have the historical status of Jordan. If the fans do not choose him, his data performance is not as good as Malone, Malone has not been selected for the All-Star, the coaches will not be like Jordan Face double shame as face.
Most of the other text messages are other All-Star players that Liu Mang knows about whether Liu Mang is free. When the All-Stars gather on the weekend, such as McGrady, Carter, Yao Ming, Reed and others, Liu Mang made an appointment with his teammate The time for renting a cruise ship was given to them, and others who were not so familiar with it would go back and talk.
And James and Wade, who were not selected for the All-Star game but were selected for the rookie game, Liu Mang also gave them the time to play.
After spending so much money, how could it not be so good.
After returning the text message, Liu Mang turned on the computer and read the specific list of this year's All-Star weekend.
All the names for this year ’s All-Star Weekend were announced at 12 noon today.
In the All-Star game, the Eastern All-Stars are Stockton, Liu Mang, Carter, McGrady, Ratliff, and the bench lineups are Rahim, O'Neal, Artest, Ben Wallace, Kidd, Pierce, Reed.
The Western Conference All-Stars are Francis, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Yao Ming, the bench lineup is O'Neal, Ray Allen, Kenyon Martin, Brad Miller, Nowitzki, Kassel, Peja.
Liu Mang looked at the lineup of the two sides, the gap was not as big as before. With the growth of O'Neal and Artest in the eastern forwards, the eastern frontcourt was not much worse than the western frontcourt, and the eastern outer line was obviously dominant. Unfortunately, although Iverson is determined, otherwise the Eastern Conference lineup this year is worth the West.
After watching the most important All-Star game, Liu Mang looked at another project related to him-the three-point contest!
The appointment of the three-point contest of the last All-Star Weekend is finally coming!
There is no doubt that Liu Mang, as the defending champion, wants to participate in the three-point contest, the league is eager, the dunk contest and the skill challenge Liu Mang do not participate, the league is very disappointed, many fans have called for Liu Mang to participate in all games again ...
Liu Mang looked at his opponents, and actually saw his teammates, Kyle Korver participated in the three-point contest!
This kid actually wants to grab the three-pointer of the master! Liu Mang thought it was time to drill this guy, but Liu Mang thought it was quite interesting.
The others are the supersonic future billion yuan fighter Rashad Lewis, the Rockets old cat Catino Mobley, and the most critical opponent of this three-point contest-Pejastojakovic!
These four opponents in the five pairs, although Lei Allen disdain to blend because they are Liu Mang and Peja, did not participate, but these four opponents are all three-point masters in the league, Liu Mang I feel that they are very powerful opponents, which makes him feel pressured, but when I see the name of the last opponent-Chauncey Billups ...
Thinking that Billups hasn't reached the future when Sanders coaches have greatly improved his three-pointer career so far, only 32% of the three-point shooting rate so far, Liu Mang feels that the league chose Billups to enter the three-pointer The big list of contests, is it to help Jordan save face?
Feel like a battle with Payton two years ago ...
After watching what he has to do, he has to look at the games he wants to watch as a fan. Jason Richardson invited him to be a member of the supporting star team. This face is still to be given, and he has to participate in the three-point contest. It is necessary to wait for the press conference after all the games.
In the slam dunk contest, in addition to Jason Richardson who wants to win the second slam dunk contest, there are Chris Anderson of the Nuggets, Fred Jones of the Pacers, and Ricky Day of the Celtics. Vis.
Starlight's bleak slam dunk contest, when Liu Mang and Carter announced that they would never participate in the slam dunk contest, and the young new generation players were reluctant to be compared with Carter, Liu Mang, etc., the participants in this year's slam dunk contest were too small. In addition, except for Jason Richardson, Ricky Davis famously chose James to help him famously, the other two are NBA marginalists.
The skill challenge is more important than the dunk contest. The Nuggets ’Boykins, the Hornets’ Baron Davis, the Knicks ’Marbury, and the Lakers’ Payton are all too old. Boykins is too small to catch the ball with his hands. This lineup goes to the dunk contest, and the attention is higher than those.
In the rookie challenge, Prince and Boozer of the Hawks were re-selected. Barnes was surprised to be selected in the rookie game.
Liu Mang regrets that Korver and Calderon are both late players, and they haven't had much strength yet.
This year's rookie challenge, Liu Mang felt very promising and completely evenly matched!
In the first grade, James, Bosh, Anthony, Milicic, and Wade were selected without any suspense. Kaman, Hinrich, Josh Howard and the Heat's nine-person draft Haslem, this lineup, If they complete a rookie contract and form a team, they are invincible!
In the second grade, in addition to Boozer, Prince, Barnes, Yao Ming, Stoudemire, Ginobili, Nene, Caron Butler, this lineup is also outrageously strong!
This year's Eastern All-Star coach has again turned to his own team's coach Kruger. The Western All-Star coach is the Timberwolves' Philip Sanders. The two are also the best coaches of the season. In addition to these two, there are also The Pacers Carlisle, Grizzlies Hubby Brown, and four coaches have become the best coaches of the season.
Relatively speaking, coach Kruger, who just got the best coach for two years, has the lowest chance. It is easy to get this award for the first time, but it is difficult to get it for the second time.
"Wow, Rashid, it's rare to see you so serious." Liu Mang looked at Rashid Wallace's rare serious expression in private and quipped.
After a two-day break, on January 10, the Hawks ushered in the final game before the All-Star break.
The NBA as a whole has entered the atmosphere of the All-Star Weekend, especially after the announcement of the All-Star Weekend roster, fans are discussing who is the All-Star Bead.
The enthusiasm of the fans is back!
This is the case every year. The All-Star Weekend is a huge turning point. Before the All-Star Weekend, the NBA teams have just passed the long mid-season and played very tired, but by the time of the All-Star Weekend, they have almost alleviated. The strong teams are starting to exert their strength, and the weak teams are squeezing away. After the All-Star Weekend, it is time to struggle for the rankings.
The Hawks and Timberwolves, as the first team in the East and West, are honoured to be the fighting team of the last game of the half-season. The Spurs and the Nets last season. The limelight of the finals team game is overwhelming.
Now the Hawks are preparing for the game against the Timberwolves at night. The atmosphere is tense. It is different from the tension of the previous difficult schedule. At that time, it was mainly a matter of physical fitness. It needs a tense atmosphere to support the team. Now the Hawks are Really facing the tension of the strongest possible opponent, the Timberwolves performed better this year than the Lakers and Spurs, with 36 wins and 14 losses, second only to the Eagles with 42 wins and 8 losses and 39 with the Pacers. Win 12 losses.
The most nervous thing on the Hawks side is Rashid Wallace.
Hearing Liu Mang ’s words, Rashid Wallace responded: "Well, that guy is the most difficult power forward in the league. You need to be careful. Ace, he may be our biggest enemy in the finals, but also yours. The biggest enemy. "
Garnett reached the finals?
Liu Mang felt very suspended. The Lakers did have a sturdy lineup. Bowen of the Spurs was scrapped by himself. Instead, he helped the Lakers. Bowen returned even after the eight-week injury period ended. It is not easy to say how much it has recovered. It was originally a blacksmith, but it is now more difficult for the Spurs to compete with the Lakers.
As for the Timberwolves ... Liu Mang just looked down on them. Although the Timberwolves were very strong this year, Liu Mang still looked down on them strategically. It is unlikely to be encountered in the finals anyway.
However, Rashid Wallace said that Liu Mang's biggest enemy, Liu Mang has not paid attention to this matter, but did not expect that he was playing MVP and became a MVP hot topic!
And the competition for MVP with Liu Mang is the core character of the Timberwolves-Kevin Garnett!
Unconsciously, Liu Mang has occupied the top two of the MVP's weekly leaderboard this season for a long time, fluctuating in the first and second rounds.
Except for November, December and January, he won the two Eastern Monthly Bests. He has won four weekly bests so far this season.
On the western side, Garnett has been ranked in the top two of the MVP rankings since the beginning of the season, and it has dominated the best for the first three months, and there is a trend to continue to dominate. 8 times horrible!
The best aspect of Western Week, after the start of this season, is basically Garnett, Garnett, Garnett ... Occasionally inserting Kobe in the middle, and occasionally inserting Duncan, it seems quite dissonant.
The main reason is that after Garnett has two decent teammates, he plays the feeling of the poor version of the future Green Army Big Three. Not only does Garnett act as the defensive core like the Green Army Big Three, but he is still young on the offensive end. It is the core, ranking fifth in the league with 24 points per game, only 32.3 points per game with Liu Mang, 30.9 points per game with McGrady, 24.6 points per game with Peja and 24.2 points per game with Kobe.
On the defensive end, it played the second defensive efficiency in history in addition to the 9.1 defensive efficiency created by Ben Wallace last season. Garnett's defensive efficiency value of 8.0 this season is also the only two three in NBA history. A player with a defensive efficiency of 8 in the season.
Liu Mang and Garnett, the two guys who dominated the East and West in the regular season this year, have been regarded as the only candidates for MVP this season!
Garnett's efficiency value so far this season is 29.2, Liu Mang is 27.9, ranking first and fourth in the league, with Duncan and McGrady in the middle, but the two are not good.
As long as the Eagles and the Timberwolves continue to maintain such a record, it is basically certain that the MVP will be produced between the two!
Therefore, this game is not just the last game of the half-time of the regular season. The most important thing for fans and the media is that this game is a direct match between two MVP hotspots!
The Eagles and the Timberwolves will play twice this year, which may directly affect the final ownership of MVP!
Although the Hawks are far better than the Timberwolves in the regular season, they are the first in the division, so this effect is not big. Although Liu Mang feels that he may be able to get the scoring king and must get it, Garnett In addition to averaging 24 points per game, there are 14 rebounds and 5 assists as well as 1.6 steals and 2.2 blocks! Almighty is too much!
Liu Mang originally wanted to compete for the scoring champion. Unexpectedly, he unexpectedly became one of the MVP's biggest favorites.
The atmosphere on the Eagles side is very tense, after all, it is a game against possible opponents in the finals.
When the Eagles team did physical therapy yesterday, the atmosphere was still very relaxed and very happy. The four stars of the team were selected to the All-Stars. Except for the All-Stars, the others are harmonious, but today, everyone is nervous.
For Liu Mang, he also attached great importance to this game, and he attached great importance to it.
Why not take MVP?
MVP always needs someone to get it, and it's in front of you, why not?
But how can Liu Mang deal with Garnett against him?
Liu Mang stared at Rashid Wallace's eyes and said solemnly: "I understand, Rashid, but I am more optimistic about you. You are much stronger than Garnett! Prevent him!"
Even if this may make Rashid Wallace sheep into the tiger's mouth, it is true that Garnett is too strong this year, playing better than O'Neal, maybe better than Duncan.
However, dead friends do not die poor! This "truth" Liu Mang has always kept in mind that everyone is a teammate, that is, a brother! This kind of difficult thing, of course, let the brothers do a favor!
"I know, this is my task." Rashid Wallace nodded heavily when he saw Liu Mang trusting him so much.