Although the process is different, the result is the same.

Liu Mang adopted Kidd's original method of dealing with Billups in the Eastern Conference Finals, stimulating Billups to fight with him, using his stronger scoring ability and the opponent's bad habit of wandering to shoot, and trying to win a match.

Kill Billups in the first shot, Billups collapsed, and this year's Pistons' system almost collapsed.

But unexpectedly, Billups' mentality exploded early because of an accident at the beginning about whether a foul was established.

Originally, Billups was very stressed about playing the Hawks, but he just didn't show it on his face.

The pressure before the game, faced with Liu Mang's difficult past of winning, at the beginning of the game he thought he had committed a foul, but the referee didn't blow the whistle because the star player... All factors combined, Billups was worse than Liu Mang imagined.

Collapse early!

Originally, Billups just became the core this year. For the first time, he lacked experience.

In the minds of most teams, the Hawks, who reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season, are no different from the Nets. At least Billups thinks so, so there is already a lot of pressure.

Then he was ignited by Liu Mang's sentence "Weak people are not qualified to shoot free throws". It is reasonable for his mentality to explode.

Kidd was originally like a monster in the Eastern Conference Finals. While he averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists per game, he also defended Billups and his shooting percentage was only 27%.

Liu Mang doesn't have Kidd's exaggerated defensive dominance and rebounding. Billups still has a 33% field goal percentage, and even though he only played 25 minutes and committed six fouls, he scored in every quarter.

After reaching at least 5 points, he scored 23 points and 4 assists.

But Billups' 6-for-18 shooting percentage, coupled with a rare four turnovers and six fouls, caused the Pistons to collapse on both offense and defense.

Mainly rebounding!

This is the key. Although Ben Wallace scored 7 points and 20 rebounds in this game, the Pistons only had 33 rebounds, while the Eagles got 49 rebounds!

Before the formation of the double-Wallace combination, the Pistons were still bullied in rebounding, ranking last in the league, despite having the rebounding leader. When they encountered the Hawks' frontcourt trio, they were outgunned again.

Liu Mang suppressed Billups and ensured rebounding inside. When Jason Terry came up to catch the ball and throw it, Liu Mang mainly passed the ball, and the Hawks began to widen the point difference.

In the end, the Hawks didn't put in much effort and defeated the Pistons 91-77 in an away game, easily winning their first playoff victory. The Pistons collapsed from the beginning of the game, and the Hawks held them down throughout the game.

Liu Mang made a total of 16 free throws, 13 of which were made by Billups. He made 14 of 16 free throws and scored 25 points in 8 shots! In other words, Liu Mang basically scored all his points with Billups.

Si got it when Si was on the court, in addition to 10 assists! Liu Mang got 25 points, 10 assists and 2 rebounds.

When Billups was replaced for a foul, Liu Mang chose to keep the ball in his hands when faced with Chucky Atkins, who couldn't guard him at all, and mainly broke through and distributed the ball.

He also defeated Billups, who was the core for the first time, and the sensation caused by Liu Mang was greater than the original impact caused by Kidd's torture of Billups even more miserably!

The main reason is that Kidd doesn't seem to be much fun to watch regardless of offense or defense. Defense relies on anticipation, there are not many moves, few fouls, and he doesn't hold the ball much in offense. His main scoring method is to make mid-range shots around the pick-and-roll, which can't be seen in the game.

When he came out, he did something to his opponent, but the opponent just kept hitting.

And Liu Mang looks even more coquettish! He has all kinds of weird ideas on both offense and defense. The key is that he is very entertaining! He is so coquettish! He makes all kinds of cries when he commits a foul. It’s ecstatic.

There's a hint of anger in it.

The most important thing is that he scored 25 points by relying on free throws while making 5 of 8 shots and 1 of 2 three-pointers!

During the regular season, some people said that Billups was as obscene as Liu Mang in drawing fouls. Only in the playoffs did people know who the king of fouls was!

…

…

After the game, Liu Mang's feat of scoring 25 points in 8 shots triggered a heated discussion. If the Lakers were not upset at home later, the Timberwolves slaughtered the Lakers 119 to 91 and took away the home court advantage of the series. All the attention would have been

Once the attraction is over, Liu Mang will probably trigger a lot of wars of words.

After playing the first game against the Pistons, Liu Mang decisively chose to keep a low profile for the time being. In an interview, he said that he was lucky today. Billups just missed a lot of shots and the team rebounded well.

Give the opponent a second chance to attack, give yourself more second attacks, etc., attribute the credit to the team, and actively downplay the impact of this game.

The time to show off is not yet ripe, so Liu Mang chooses to keep a low profile...

The Hawks and Timberwolves both defeated the team with a better record and gained home court advantage. All opening games in the first round of the playoffs have been played.

Except for the Timberwolves, which was considered a big upset, the other series started much as people expected.

The Lakers' road to the championship has been cast a shadow. Although most fans still think that the Lakers can still defeat the Timberwolves, they are not so optimistic about the Lakers' road to the championship.

At the beginning of the playoffs, the Lakers, who were only ranked fifth in the Western Conference, were ranked first in winning probability out of respect for the defending champion. After the first game, the new winning probability ranking was updated immediately.

, the Lakers dropped from first to fifth, and were surpassed by the Nets. The Hawks are still ranked sixth, unbeatable.

…

After the first game, the Hawks thought that the Pistons fans would be furious after losing and do something outrageous. For example, in the 1980s, when they lost to the Bulls, they blocked the entrance to the parking lot.

, the police didn’t leave even when they came, they just dragged the Bulls players for an hour or two. In those days, there weren’t as many interviews and activities as there are now, and the physical therapy after the game was not that professional. They usually called at 8 or 9 o’clock.

After the game, you can take a shower and a massage, and you can leave around ten o'clock. But the Pistons fans didn't let the Bulls players leave until close to the early morning. Sometimes when they won, they had to go and block a block. Anyway, if nothing happened, they would leave to the away team.

Add to the blockage.

The Pistons were hated by people back then. It wasn't just the Bad Boys. Their fans were also like bandits. Some teams were like this. In addition to relying on strength, there were many factors off the court as well.

But this time Pistons fans were surprisingly calm.

Mainly because I lose my temper!

Although the Pistons still have some old fans who had no lower limit back then, this is the 21st century, and the fans have long been replaced. Although they still have the iron blood of the Steel City, they are far from the chaotic energy of the past, and there are

This is already the second year that I have been beaten by the Eagles at home, and I am even more out of temper.

Originally, before the start of the first game, Pistons fans were still confident and expected the team to withstand the pressure and defeat the Hawks at home. In order to increase the team's morale, Pistons fans were very enthusiastic and energetic before the game.

But as soon as the game started, the Pistons were brutally beaten by the Hawks. Liu Mang got mad when Billups was there. Billups was beaten, and the Pistons could only go back to last year's team of Atkins and Clifford-

Robinson's offensive style of play was something the Hawks had seen last year. It wasn't great at all. The regular season was okay, but in the playoffs it was so hard that it made Pistons fans despair.

Pistons fans who used to support the team with unparalleled enthusiasm now no longer have the temper to cause trouble for the Hawks off the court.

However, after the Eagles returned to the hotel, they continued to be banned. On the next day off, the players still had to travel between the hotel and the training facility.

Although after the first game, the Pistons fans seemed to have died down and no longer had the desire to compete with the Hawks off the court, but the Hawks did not dare to be careless.

…

…

The playoffs did not stop because of the two astonishing performances of the eighth-place Hawks, who dominated the first place, and the three-consecutive defending champion Lakers, who were beaten by the Timberwolves by 28 points. The playoffs continued in full swing.

On the third game day of the playoffs, the Spurs and Rockets faced off in the second game.

Do you need to watch the Spurs vs. Rockets game? With Duncan here and the Spurs playing at home, how could there be an accident? When I woke up, it was another big win... and the accident did happen!

Francis and Old Cat Mobley both went berserk. Francis scored 35 points, Old Cat Mobley scored 29 points, and the two of them scored 64 points together, beating the little sports car and the still young Boxing Saint!

Although Bowen was there, Francis and Mobley couldn't hold back and both broke out. Although Duncan still scored a stable 27 points and 15 rebounds, James Posey, the Rockets' strongest defensive player, caused a critical moment

Stephen Jackson committed an offensive foul, and the Rockets narrowly defeated the Spurs 96-95 in an away game, tying the score at 1-1.

During the interview after the game between the Rockets and the Spurs, Duncan acted as if nothing had happened, his face expressionless, while Popovich praised the Rockets to death, especially Yao Ming, which probably meant Yao Ming.

It is the key for the Rockets to win. However, when rookie Yao Ming met Duncan in the playoffs, except for getting 3 blocks in both games, which was pretty good, he only scored 15 points in the two games combined, and only 6 points in this game.

7 rebounds and 3 blocks, totally beaten by Duncan...

The following game the Pacers faced the Bucks at home and struggled to hold on to a home court 99-95.

There were only three games on the second match day. In the last game, the Mavericks experienced another defensive battle, and finally relied on their home court advantage to defeat the Trail Blazers 93-89 with difficulty.

If it weren't for Nash scoring 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting with a field goal percentage of 71.4%, plus 8 assists with only 1 turnover, the Mavericks' home court advantage would have been lost.

…

Soon April 24th came, and the day of the Eagles' second game arrived. There were five games today. The Eagles once again challenged the Pistons away from home at the Palace of Auburn Hills at 8 p.m.

After losing the first game, the Pistons no longer believed they could beat the Hawks. Their confidence was gone. They were not yet the tough team under Larry Brown in the future.

Clifford Robinson hasn't left the Pistons yet, and his defensive performance is similar to that of future Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed Wallace's offensive scoring and defensive rebounding are a little better. Rasheed Wallace probably

There are performances of 14 8 or 15 7, but Clifford Robinson averages about 4 assists per game.

Billups, Hamilton, and Ben Wallace's core structure of organization, scoring, and defense are already in place. Although Prince is missing, the Pistons' iron-blooded skeleton is almost complete.

But it has a skeleton, but it doesn’t have the iron-blooded soul brought by Larry Brown!

They were swept in the second round last year and were knocked down in the first game this year. The Pistons were at a loss in the second game. They kept fighting and refused to give up, but they had no confidence at all. They had no idea how to win, because

There is no way!

After Billups came, Coach Carlisle could no longer control this team, and the players did not believe that their defense could defeat the Hawks. Without that energy, they were not even confident in their strongest abilities. The results were obvious.

, the Pistons lasted for half this time before collapsing.

16 5 7, Liu Mang still performed well in this game. Billups continued to be defended and scored 15 points on 6 of 21 shots. He continued to pay the tuition for his first core role, but he only paid the "teacher"

Just changed from Kidd to Liu Mang.

Together with Rahim, Muhammad, Ratliff, and Boozer, they got 40 rebounds together. The four of them got 3 more rebounds than the entire Pistons team. Ben Wallace continued to get 17 rebounds.

The ball, but unable to compete with so many rebounding experts in the Hawks.

96 to 79, the Eagles easily won two consecutive away games!

As the saying goes, rebounders win the world. Relying on their dominance in rebounding, the Hawks counterattacked and won two consecutive games, 2-0, without home court advantage in the first two games of the series, ranking first in the Eastern Conference.
To be continued...