The duel between Liu Mang and Francis!

It stands to reason that a rookie bench and a guard who is already the second most popular guard in the West, a rookie who averages less than 16 points per game and a famous star who averages 22+7+6 per game, can't be compared.

But that's how the media advertised the game.

Originally, Liu Mang was very popular among rookies, but this time the news that he was going to participate in almost all the All-Star events came out, and it became popular all of a sudden!

After the All-Star first day voting results came out, the Western Conference guard received the most votes, with more than 73,000 votes on the first day, the league guard first, and the West second was Francis, with more than 33,000 votes.

The Internet is not developed, and the number of votes is not very high, and it is basically a paper vote for KFC, McDonald's, and other stores that have official cooperation with the NBA.

The Eastern defenders were dominated by Iverson and Jordan, with Jordan having more than 59,000 votes, Iverson having more than 57,000 votes, and Maddy having more than 39,000 votes.

Fourth, it's interesting.

People may really have a lot of people who counterattack Liu Mang as a second-round rookie, and there has never been a precedent in NBA history for a second-round pick to become the best rookie.

There may also be many people who think that Liu Mang wants to be popular and crazy, except for the All-Star Game that he can't control whether he can participate in or not, almost all the others have signed up to participate, so he simply wants to give him a ride, Liu Mang took advantage of the invitation of the All-Star events, and got more than 34,000 votes on the first day, which is higher than Francis!

After that, the number of votes will be announced in the first phase of voting in mid-January, that is to say, Liu Mang will be "free" on the NBA official website "headlines" for more than half a month!

The portraits of the top five players who received votes in the front and back of the division and the votes of the last vote are hanging there!

Francis is very unhappy, it is this rookie who made himself lose face in the first game of the new season! No one remembers his triple-double in the first game of the season, all remember that the rookie made three three-pointers on his head and made a three-point foul.

This makes Francis feel like he can't hold his head up among the top defenders!

Fortunately, Kobe Bryant and Iverson both suffered the same fate later, and Francis felt a little more comfortable.

But!

As soon as I arrived at the Toyota Center today, I was asked by a reporter how the opponent of today's game, Liu Mang, had more than 1,000 votes more all-star votes than him.

……

On the afternoon of December 30th, the Eagles who had traveled to Houston for a night of rest came to the Toyota Center, and the overall atmosphere of the Eagles was relaxed!

But Liu Mang is not so easy.

It's not so easy to shoot the ball into the basket against the Francis defense.

Dodging the defensive shot, Liu Mang doesn't think it's so difficult, it's okay to block and dismantle, retreat or something, but the problem is to yanshe, it's very difficult, and it's really bad to fight by yourself!

And Liu Mang felt a hot gaze as soon as he entered the field, he didn't need to look at it, Francis has never been a generous person, and he can't be retribution, but he was provoked by reporters about All-Star votes, coupled with the previous unhappiness, new hatred and old hatred are sandwiched together, and the importance that Francis attaches to Liu Mang today can be imagined!

Soon, the game began.

The starting lineup sent by the Rockets is Francis, the old cat Mobley, the veteran former Kings No. 7 pick in '92 Walter Williams, the Rockets' own home-trained 3rd year short power forward Kenny Thomas, and the Rockets' No. 7 pick this year, Eddie Griffin.

The starting lineup on the Hawks' side remains the same.

The two teams came to the center circle to jump the ball, Eddie Griffin slapped the ball into Francis's hand in the sky, Francis flew through the half, the Hawks were not able to fully form their own defense, Eddie Griffin grabbed a gap and appeared under the basket! Francis's pass, pinpointing through the Eagles' defense, to Eddie Griffin on the inside! The hoop roars, the game begins, and Eddie Griffin slams the dunk!

Eddie Griffin's physical fitness is really speechless, there is a feeling of a strengthened version of the half-orc Farid, the explosive dunk can be seen, and the talent can be seen with the naked eye.

It's just talent, and there is no shortage of rookies with good physical fitness in the class of 2001, but there are not many who can play, at least now.

Francis came up and high-fived Eddie Griffin, and the dunk on the first ball felt cool! It's also cool to pass the ball!

After Francis sent this accurate long pass, he looked at Liu Mang on the sidelines defiantly.

Liu Mang is speechless, you are a first-class star, an All-Star level player, what are you angry with our little rookie!

Generous points, no!

Don't just stare at us alone!

Where did this young master get the opportunity to yanshe?

When Liu Mang fought with Francis last time, he didn't particularly look at his ability value, mainly because he was panicked at the time, and when he was replaced, he was pulled to the locker room for inspection.

"Ding...... Steve Francis, Ability 86, Offense 90, Defense 73, Power 86, Speed 90, Three-Point 67, Mid-Range 72, Layup 90, Passing 85......"

The layup is the dunk included, which is the combined value of finishing ability near the three-second zone.

Francis was a little bit off defensively, a little bit off on shooting, but really strong in other areas! Being able to get 7+6 rebounds and assists is not something that is given casually.

But the atmosphere of the scene is very strange, a beautiful exquisite pass through the half court to send an assist, or a dunk, but only the sparse Rockets fans wearing team T-shirts and jerseys applauded, most of them are so cold!

Not to mention the Rockets players, even Liu Mang, who came to play away, felt so bad and had no atmosphere.

The Hawks started to serve, the Rockets started to set up, and the Eagles looked for an opportunity quickly.

Jason Terry didn't find any opportunities to launch a quick attack, and not everyone was like a rookie who could find a quick break in the cracks of the rocks.

However, the Eagles in the positional battle are quite combative, the defense of the Rockets' lineup is really not good, and the Eagles' positional battle is not bad, and there will be loopholes in the opponent's defense if they play well.

Jason Terry started to break down with the ball, breaking down the right and Francis went to block Jason Terry's offensive lane.

Muhammad came out to block Jason Terry, Jason Terry went inside, Eddie Griffin focused on Jason Terry and Muhammad's passing line, and Walter Williams, who defended Rahim, came up to make up for it.

One step outside the free throw line, this position is also okay for Jason Terry to shoot defensively, but this time he didn't choose to shoot, throwing the ball to Raheem who was vacant on the bottom line, Eddie Griffin saw Rahim receive a pass, and immediately went to defend Rahim, Rahim forced a breakthrough, Eddie Griffin is only a big forward no matter how good his physical fitness is, and the physical confrontation is not as good as Rahim, who has entered his peak at the age of 25, Rahim resisted the opponent and jumped high under the basket, Eddie Griffin's catches up with Raheem from behind and wants to get a big hat in the back of his head! Raheem continues to fly towards the basket!

Eddie Griffin's big outstretched hand behind him doesn't take Rahim to heart! Raheem catches the ball and shakes off the defense's violent dunk!

Eddie Griffin's arm hit Raheem on the shoulder, Rahim was beaten to the point of pain, and when he landed, he turned around and yelled at Eddie Griffin!

The referee's decision arrived, awarding Eddie Griffin a foul and Raheem's dunk goal validated!

Rahim was unhappy!

The reason is the all-star vote, of course, Rahim's ruthless character will not blame Liu Mang, and there is nothing wrong with the vote that people pull themselves!

That's your own fault! You have to play better!

Raheem had almost exhausted his heart with the Grizzlies and came to the Hawks, a team that occasionally makes the playoffs but struggles to win, and the end result is a chaotic career.

But now the appearance of Liu Mang has made Rahim feel very different.

Rahim really admired Liu Mang, and he was stunned to hold on in this harsh congenital environment!

A rookie who is so talented that he can't even touch his own tail can work so hard to become a balloon star! Why can't you do it yourself!

Rahim's roar represents his transformation!