From today on is the king

Chapter 353 351. Playoff debut!

The inside and outside of the Phillips Arena were already crowded with people after lunch. The Hawks' playoff opener started at 03:30 pm New York time. Fans arrived early. An hour before the start of the game, the stadium had already started a warm-up performance.

There is no shortage of tickets for the playoffs, so the box office statistics are based on the regular season, and the teams that make it to the playoffs are all strong teams. When the weather has started to dry up in the playoffs, the fans have already gotten dry!

Seeing most of the fans wearing special Eagles T-shirts, Liu Mang expressed his composure.

For the [-]% portrait fee, he endured it!

The Eagles have already signed agreements with the scattered manufacturers of "Rogue League" T-shirts. A month ago, the Eagles' version of the "Rogue League" T-shirts had been produced. Liu Mang was the last one to know about it. The boss gave him a [-]% portrait fee, which was a very moral way to buy Liu Mang's sense of belonging.

After all, this thing was made by the fan alliance formed by fans. Liu Mang can't win the lawsuit. The team does business with the "rogue alliance", and it can bypass Liu Mang. The [-]% is not given by the team, but the team "fighted" for Liu Mang.

It can be regarded as Liu Mang's endorsement. He has already registered the trademark. If he does not provide the endorsement fee, he can still sue him for using his fame to sell jerseys. But if the endorsement fee is paid, there is nothing to sue.

Didn’t you see that Jordan sued Jordan Sports and lost the lawsuit? Jordan Sports is still selling well in the mid-to-low-end sneakers and sports equipment markets around the world.

Seeing that the T-shirts are selling so well, today it is estimated that [-] to [-] T-shirts are sold a day, Liu Mang said that he does not recognize these fans!
So angry!
Play a cartoon dragon to calm down!
……

Before the start of the game, the vice president sent by the NBA and the CEO Adam Silva, who still has a long invoice, came to present two banners to the Eagles, the division champion and the division champion. After two hours on the west side, the Spurs will also usher in the division championship, division championship, and one more regular season championship banner. It is another vice president Tatum who presents the award to the Spurs.

If you win the division championship in the playoffs, there are also flags and trophies...

Liu Mang remembers watching a documentary called Dynasty Memories, in which the regular season flags of the Spurs, Celtics, and Lakers were already hung all over the court, and some flags were still hanging on the entire wall of the president's office.

The division champion flag and division champion flag were hoisted. Amidst the roar and tsunami, the pre-match activities were over, and the game was about to begin!

As the leader of the locker room, Muhammad is mobilizing before the game.

"We can't be careless! The opponent has lost a superstar, we can't be careless because of this, we have to work harder and solve them as soon as possible! Beat them with the strongest strength! Our goal is the championship! We can't waste time here!"

Very domineering and contagious pre-match mobilization.

With the urging of the referee, the starting players of the two teams came to the field.

The Hawks' starting lineup remains unchanged.

The Raptors sent Alvin Williams, Dell Curry, Maurice Peterson, Antonio Davis, and Hakeem Olajuwon to the starting lineup.

Antonio Davis and Olajuwon form the twin towers, and two insiders with strong defenses or once strong and still have some strength to form the twin towers.

Obviously, the Raptors did not choose to surrender because of Carter's reimbursement!

After the start of the game, the Raptors chose to defend the game. Olajuwon sat on the basket and focused on guarding the basket. Antonio Davis concentrated on doing his work as a coolie power forward.

The Raptors are stuck on defense, and the offense revolves around Dell Curry.

There are no superstars and no great organizers, so Lenny Wilkens, the famous coach, used the Pacers' classic tactics, using Dell Curry's precise running three-pointer, and the team gave him a pick-and-roll.

This style of play is similar to the future Cavaliers' offensive tactics around Korver. Korver doesn't necessarily need to score many points. His running position and other people's pick-and-rolls for him are good ways to create misplaced defenses and air cut opportunities.

But there is still a difference. James is passing the ball next to Korver. James breaks through and points the ball when Korver has attracted most of the defensive attention. The effect is not comparable to that of Alvin Williams after luck.

But that's the best the Raptors can do.

With this style of play and constant pick-and-roll, the Raptors not only give a tough posture on the defensive end, but also full of physical confrontation on the offensive end!
The Eagles really didn't expect it at the beginning. They felt that they were already focused enough, but they didn't expect that the opponent would become more active after losing their star!
Even... because of the absence of Carter, who has an average defensive attitude, the defensive end has become more dynamic!The offensive end lacks a long-term ball-holding player, and the offensive end plays very selflessly. Although it does not have Carter's shooting and breakthrough ability that is beyond the level of others, it does seem to play smoothly.

Unexpected!

The on-site commentary and the fans didn't feel that the Raptors had a slight chance to beat the Eagles, but after a few minutes of playing, the Eagles called a timeout first.

4 to 7!The Eagles played for 4 minutes and only scored 4 points!
Not too far behind, but only scored 4 points in 4 minutes, which is unacceptable for the Eagles, which ranks third in the league in scoring during the regular season!
Obviously, although the Eagles valued this game, they didn't expect the Raptors' defense to be so... strong?Or so ferocious!
Lenny Wilkens, a famous coach of the older generation in the NBA, is almost 70 years old. He won the NBA championship as early as the 93s. In the 94-[-] season, the Eagles won the best coach in the last peak period of the Eagles.

He knows that the Raptors have to fight for strength, even if Carter is not the opponent of the Eagles.

But he, who coached the Eagles to the playoffs last season and was almost swept in the first round, knows a huge weakness of the Eagles.

I haven't played much in the playoffs, and I'm not used to further confrontation in the playoffs!

So he seized the weakness of the Eagles, and sent Olajuwon, who still has a certain deterrence at the basket, and Reggie Miller's bodyguard thug Antonio Davis, two twin towers who are good at giving a lot of physical confrontation to guard the inside. Alvin Williams and Morris Peterson are on the outside, infinitely magnifying the Eagles' inability to adapt to the playoffs against this weakness!The Eagles were caught off guard at the start.

In fact, if the Raptors hadn't been swept by the Eagles in the regular season, they might have been seventh in the Eastern Conference. The original historical trajectory was like this. In the first round of the playoffs, they played against the Pistons, which should have been second.

The strategy is the same. The Pistons only reached the playoffs four times in the past ten years when Grant Hill was still around, each time in the first round, and a large number of trades resulted in most of the players having no playoff experience.

And the Raptors only lost three points in the fifth tie. If it weren't for Pistons veteran Clifford Robinson's key block and steal layup at the last moment, the Pistons would have been blacked out.

……

"Sharif, you did a good job. You are tough on the defensive end, but you have to be tougher! Jason, you did a good job, keep following that pitcher..." Coach Kruger kept encouraging the players, and suddenly heard the cheers from the scene.

Why are you cheering?
Is it!

Coach Kruger turned his head and saw that Liu Mang had already gone up to practice shooting.

this kid!
Coach Kruger didn't intend to replace him so early. There are only two days between the playoffs and the regular season, but the level of confrontation in the playoffs from today's start seems to be completely different from the regular season!Even if the opponent is the eighth, it can't be underestimated. Although the black eight is a miracle, it will be bad if the boat capsizes in the gutter. He wants the main force to survive the opponent's main force first, and let Liu Mang play against the opponent's substitute lineup.

But... thinking of Liu Mang's unscrupulous style of play, Coach Kruger looked at Liu Mang who was excitedly practicing shooting, and changed his mind again.

"Jason, you don't have to guard the opponent's pitcher anymore, you have to find a way to increase the pressure on the opponent's point guard and prevent him from passing the ball so easily..."

……

After the timeout, the Eagles replaced Dean Grove with Liu Mang, and replaced all five main players in advance.

It's not time for the Raptors to make substitutions yet. In the playoffs, the main players will play a lot more than they did in the regular season.

Liu Mang ran back and forth in the frontcourt excitedly, leading Alvin Williams around.

The playoffs are here!
Playoffs!
Playoffs debut!

How can you not be excited!

(End of this chapter)