Ace ...... Boss, what do you think I'm missing? Can I progress as fast as Ace? Wade sat on the sidelines, watching his teammates narrow the gap as much as possible, but there were only two minutes left, and they were still 12 points behind, and the Heat didn't want to tie up with the Hawks.

"......" Pat Riley sat behind the Heat bench and heard Wade's question, although his personality is to squeeze all the energy of the players, but people have feelings, this Jordan who is five centimeters shorter after a lot of effort to get back, he still cherishes the talent of this young man.

This year, Wade and Liu Mang have been abused every time, and this is the third time.

Since the main players of the Hawks basically didn't play in yesterday's game, even if they only played seven or eight percent of their strength because of the impact of the journey, it is not something that the Heat can compete with.

Compared with the strength gap of the Western playoff teams, the gap between the top four and the fifth to eighth in the East can be described as a chasm, the difference is too big, the top three in the East are running for 60 wins, and the fifth to eighth are still fighting for a 50% win rate.

"Dwyan, you'......re still young," Pat Riley comforted.

"Ace is younger than me!"

"But he played two years longer than you, two years is very important, the first few years are the fastest growth period for players, you have to be patient."

"I know, Ace told me the same ......"

"Oh? Does that guy have a good relationship with you? ”

"Well, we are a company, Ace takes good care of me, except for ......" Wade thought of Liu Mang's paranoid personality in the game, and couldn't help but have the muscles on his face trembling, just like a schizophrenic patient, usually quite normal, but when it comes to the game, he has a never-ending posture.

Pat Riley looked at Wade's cheeks, how did it seem to be getting bigger again, but ...... This kid has a good relationship with the champion show in Akron, or a relationship with the imps in Atlanta...... I think I have good communication skills......

……

……

95-82, the Hawks who came to Miami again easily defeated the Heat and avoided another losing streak, Liu Mang played 40 minutes and got 38 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, and bullied Wade again, Wade only got 11 points and 5 assists, but Wade was also tough, although he was almost looking in the mirror and feeling sorry for himself, but his strong heart did not waver in the slightest, and he deserved to be a guy who was ignored in college but has always maintained strong self-confidence.

With a record of 42 wins and 8 losses, it continues to be the first in the league!

After the light win over the Heat, the Hawks' difficult schedule is finally over, and there is one game left in addition to returning to their home court, and the first half of the season is coming to an end and entering the All-Star Weekend!

But this opponent ...... A real formidable enemy!

Liu Mang and the Eagles have now broadened their horizons, not limited to the East, but the entire league, and the top five in the West are difficult opponents.

On February 10, the last opponent before 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 could finally rest for two days.

In the past two days, the Eagles have not even arranged the team's regular training, and directly let the players rest all, and they will go to the team on the morning of the 9th, which is also a regular physical therapy thing.

"Hmm......" Liu Mang fell on the sofa and stretched, not wanting to move at all.

Liu Mang wants to fall on the sofa like this and never get up, he has been too tired recently!

The Eagles, who played seven games in 10 days, finally finished the toughest schedule of the two months.

"Huh? Hmmm......"

Liu Mang, who was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, felt that someone was sitting next to him, and then reached out to pinch his shoulder, which felt quite comfortable, although the technique was not professional at all......

"Don't move."

Levia's voice came into Liu Mang's ears, Liu Mang was very surprised, he didn't hear Levia's voice yet, he knew that it was Levia, Alexia and Dinah were still in school, he didn't expect Levia to come to massage him, and the technique was still like that......

But it didn't feel bad, so I lay on the couch and slowly fell asleep.

Although there is no problem with physical fitness, he has played an average of 43 minutes per game since playing the Nets, but there is no physical problem, mainly because he is mentally exhausted.

Now after 50 games, they have a 42-win record, five wins higher than the 37-12 Pacers, who are second in the league, and the gap has finally widened.

But for the whole Hawks team, they were tired, from the core to the main team to the bench, everything was fighting, and it was finally time to put the All-Star weekend vacation soon.

Liu Mang's tense nerves can also be relaxed, and there is a girl who massages and falls asleep quickly......

……

In the afternoon, Liu Mang slept for a long time, looking at the blanket covered by his body, he felt quite warm.

I took my phone out to see the time, and it turned out to be a barrage of text messages and missed calls.

After reading the text message, I realized that the list of all-star substitutes was released at noon today!

Liu Mang felt that the most important text message was sent by Rahim, a very simple sentence: Our All-Star Weekend is here.

Sure enough, as Liu Mang expected, in addition to the three All-Star starters, the Hawks must have another All-Star player, Rashid Wallace, Raheem, and Jason Terry, how can the three of them have to score one, otherwise the Hawks have such a good record this year, except for Liu Mang and Latliff are strength and popularity, there is no third powerful All-Star player, it really can't be said, Stockton is obviously emotional, and Jordan was selected as an All-Star in the last year, but Stockton does not have Jordan's historical status, If the fans don't choose him, his statistical performance is not as good as Malone, and Malone has not been selected as an All-Star, and the coaches will not give face to Jordan like they did to Jordan.

Most of the other text messages are other All-Star players that Liu Mang knows asking if Liu Mang is free, and get together during the All-Star Weekend, such as Maddie, Carter, Yao Ming, Reed and others, Liu Mang sent them the time of renting a cruise ship agreed by his teammates, and the others who are not so familiar will talk back when the time comes.

And James and Wade, who were not selected for the All-Star Game but were selected for the Rookie Game, Liu Mang also sent them the time to pretend to be forced.

After spending so much money, how can you not pretend to be a wave.

After replying to the text message, Liu Mang turned on his computer and looked at the specific list of this year's All-Star Weekend on the Internet.

All the names for this year's All-Star Weekend were announced at 12 noon today.

In terms of the All-Star Game, the Eastern All-Star starters are Stockton, Liu Mang, Carter, Maddy, and Ratliff, and the bench lineup is Raheem, O'Neal Jr., Artest, Ben Wallace, Kidd, Pierce, and Reed.

The Western Conference All-Star starters are Francis, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Yao Ming, and 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 is not as big as before, as the eastern forwards O'Neal Jr. and Artest grow up, the eastern frontcourt is not so much worse than the western frontcourt, and the eastern outside line is obviously superior, but unfortunately Iverson is confirmed, otherwise the eastern lineup this year is worthy of the west.

After watching the most important All-Star Game, Liu Mang took a look at another project related to himself - the three-point contest!

The three-point contest of the last All-Star Weekend is finally here!

There is no doubt that Liu Mang, as the defending champion, wants to participate in the three-point contest, and the league is desperate, and Liu Mang will not participate in the slam dunk contest and skill challenge, and the league is very disappointed, and many fans have called on Liu Mang to participate in all the 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 rob the master's three-point king! Liu Mang felt that it was time to practice this guy, but Liu Mang thought it was quite interesting.

The others are Lashad Lewis, the future billionaire fighter of the supersonic team, Catino Mobley, the old cat of the Rockets, and the most crucial opponent of this three-point contest - Peja Stojakovic!

Among the five opponents, these four opponents, although Ray Allen disdained to mix because it was a match between Liu Mang and Peja, and did not participate, but these four opponents are all the best three-point masters in the league, Liu Mang felt that they were all very powerful opponents, which made him feel pressured, but when he saw the name of the last opponent - Chauncey Billups......

Thinking that Billups has not yet reached the future three-point shooting rate when the three-point shooting rate of Sanders has greatly improved so far, Liu Mang feels that the league chose Billups to enter the three-point contest roster to help Jordan save face?

It feels like it's the same as Payton in the previous two years......

After watching the games related to himself, but also looking at the games that he wants to watch as a fan, Jason Richardson invited him to be a member of the supporting star group, this face still has to be given, and he is going to participate in the three-point contest, and he has to wait for the press conference after all the games.

In terms of the slam dunk contest, in addition to Jason Richardson, who persevered to win the second slam dunk contest championship, there are also Chris Anderson of the Nuggets, Fred Jones of the Pacers, and Ricky Davis of the Celtics.

The star-studded slam dunk contest, when Liu Mang and Carter announced that they would never participate in the dunk contest, and the young new generation of players did not want to be compared with Carter, Liu Mang and others, the participants in this year's dunk contest were too famous, except for Jason Richardson who was the starter, and Ricky Davis's famous choice of James was famous for his words, and the other two were all NBA fringe people.

The Skill Challenge has more to watch than the slam dunk contest, the Nuggets' Boykins, the Hornets' Baron Davis, the Knicks' Marbury, and the Lakers' Payton, if it weren't for Payton being too old and Boykins being too small to catch the ball, this lineup would have attracted more attention than those few to participate in the slam dunk contest.

In terms of the rookie challenge, the Eagles' Prince and Boozer were selected again, and it was quite surprising that Barnes was selected for the rookie game.

It is a pity that Liu Mang regrets that Korver and Calderon are both late bloomers, and neither of them has much strength yet.

In this year's rookie challenge, Liu Mang felt that it was very interesting, and it was completely evenly matched!

In terms of first-year years, James, Bosh, Anthony, Milicic, and Wade were selected without suspense, and Kaman, Hinrich, Josh Howard, and the Heat's undrafted Haslem nine, this lineup, if they finish their rookie contracts to form a team, is invincible!

In the second year, in addition to Boozer, Prince, and Barnes, there are also Yao Ming, Stoudemire, Ginobili, Nene and Caron Butler, and this lineup is also ridiculously strong!

This year's Eastern All-Star head coach is the turn of Coach Kruger of his own team, and the Western All-Star head coach is Coach Philip Saunders of the Timberwolves, and the two are also the favorites for the best coach this season, in addition to these two, there are Carlisle of the Pacers and Hubi Brown of the Grizzlies, and the four coaches have become the favorites for the best coach this season.

Comparatively speaking, Coach Kruger, who has just won the best coach for two years, has the lowest odds, and this award is easy to win the first time, but difficult to win 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 Jan. 10, the Hawks had their final game before All-Star Weekend.

The NBA as a whole has entered the atmosphere of All-Star Weekend, especially after the All-Star Weekend roster was announced, fans are discussing who is the All-Star pearl.

The enthusiasm of the fans is all back!

Every year, the All-Star Weekend is a huge turning point, before the All-Star Weekend, the NBA teams have just gone through the middle of the long season, and they are all tired, but by the time of the All-Star Weekend, they have almost eased up, the strong teams have begun to exert their strength, the weak teams have grasped the rotten, and after the All-Star Weekend, it is time to fight for the rankings.

The Hawks and Timberwolves, the teams that finished first in the East and West, were honored to be the teams that played the final game of the season at the halfway point, and the Spurs and Nets, the two teams that played in the Finals last season, were in the limelight.

Now the Hawks are preparing for the game against the Timberwolves in the evening, and the atmosphere is tense, unlike the tension of the previous difficult schedule, which was mainly a physical issue, and a tense atmosphere was needed to support the team, and now the Hawks are really nervous against the strongest possible opponent, the Timberwolves have performed better than the Lakers and Spurs this year, with a 36-14 record, second only to the Hawks at 42-8 and the Pacers at 39-12 in the league.

The most nervous on the Eagles' side is Rasheed Wallace.

Hearing Liu Mang's words, Rashid Wallace responded: "Well, that guy is the most difficult power forward in the league, Ace, you have to be careful, he may be our biggest enemy in the Finals, and your biggest enemy." ”

Garnett made it to the Finals?

Liu Mang feels very suspenseful, the Lakers team is indeed too strong, the Spurs' Bowen was abolished by himself, but he did the Lakers a big favor, even if Bowen returns from injury after the 8-week injury period, it is difficult to say how far he can recover, he can't be a little blacksmith, and now the Spurs are more difficult to compete with the Lakers.

As for the Timberwolves...... Liu Mang just looks down on them, although the Timberwolves are very strong this year, but strategically, Liu Mang still looks down on them, and it is unlikely to meet them in the finals anyway.

However, Rashid Wallace said that Liu Mang's biggest enemy, Liu Mang has not paid attention to this aspect of things, but he didn't expect that he would become an MVP favorite while fighting!

And the one competing for MVP with Liu Mang is the core figure of the Timberwolves three-headed monster - Kevin Garnett!

Unconsciously, Liu Mang has occupied the top two of the weekly ranking of this season's MVP for a long time, fluctuating back and forth between the first and second.

In addition to November, he won the two Eastern Conference Monthly Awards in December and January, and so far this season, he has won four Weekly Awards.

On the Western side, Garnett has been ranked in the top two of the MVP rankings since the beginning of the season, and he has dominated the monthly awards in the first three months, and there is a tendency to continue to dominate, and the weekly best is a terrifying 8 times!

In terms of Western Conference Weekly Awards, after the start of this season, it's basically Garnett, Garnett, Garnett...... An occasional Kobe Bryant is inserted in the middle, and an occasional Duncan is inserted, which looks quite discordant.

The main thing is that Garnett has two decent teammates, and he has played the feeling of a poor man's version of the future Green Army Big Three, and Garnett is not only the defensive core as he was during the Green Army Big Three, but he is also young and he is still the core on the offensive end, ranking fifth in the league with an average of 24 points per game, only lower than Liu Mang's 32.3 points per game, Maddy's 30.9 points per game, Peja's 24.6 points per game, and Kobe Bryant's 24.2 points per game.

On the defensive end, he has the second-highest defensive efficiency in history in addition to Ben Wallace's 9.1 defensive efficiency last season, and Garnett's 8.0 defensive efficiency this season is also the only two players in NBA history to break 8 in defensive efficiency in three seasons.

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 two candidates for this season's regular season MVP!

Garnett's efficiency so far this season is 29.2 and Liu Mang's 27.9, ranking first and fourth in the league respectively, with Duncan and Maddy in between, but the two have poor records.

As long as the Hawks and Timberwolves continue to maintain such a record, it is almost certain that the MVP will be produced between the two!

Therefore, this game is not only the last game of the halfway of the regular season, what makes fans and the media care the most is that this game is a direct confrontation between two MVP favorites!

The Hawks and Timberwolves will play each other twice this year, which may directly affect the final ownership of the MVP!

Although the regular season record of the Hawks is far better than that of the Timberwolves, they are the first in the division, so this has little impact, although Liu Mang thinks that he may be able to get the scoring title and must get it, but Garnett's side in addition to averaging 24 points per game, there are 14 rebounds and 5 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.2 blocks! Almighty is excessive!

Liu Mang originally just wanted to compete for the scoring title, but he didn't expect that he had become one of the biggest favorites for MVP unconsciously.

The atmosphere on the Eagles' side was tense, after all, it was a game against a possible Finals opponent.

Yesterday, when the Hawks did physiotherapy, the atmosphere was still very relaxed and happy, and the four stars of the team were selected as All-Stars, except for Jason Terry's broken thoughts, and Rasheed Wallace secretly lamented why he was so handsome why he didn't make the All-Star, the others were very harmonious, but today, everyone was nervous.

For Liu Mang, he also attaches great importance to this game, and attaches great importance to it.

If you can win the MVP, why don't you take it?

Someone always has to take the MVP, and it's right in front of you, so why not?

However, how could Liu Mang deal with Garnett by himself!

Liu Mang stared at Rashid Wallace's eyes and said solemnly: "I understand, Rashid, but I am more optimistic about you, you are much better than Garnett!" Kill him! ”

Even if it may be that this will make Rashid Wallace goat, it is true that Garnett is too strong this year, and he has played better than O'Neal, probably better than Duncan.

However, the dead friends do not die the poor way! This "truth" Liu Mang has always kept in mind, everyone is a teammate, that is, a brother! Such a difficult thing, of course, you have to ask your brother to do you a favor!

"I know, it's my job." Rashid Wallace nodded heavily when he saw Liu Mang trusting him so much.