no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 200 Fight and Retreat
At the beginning of the second quarter, the score was 22 to 20, with the Celtics leading.

On-court lineups for both teams, Bulls: Hinrich, Xu Yong, Artest, Battier, Yi Jianlian;

Celtics: Rondo, Bradley, Pietrus, Brandon Bass, Kwame Brown.

When the Bulls' offense came up, Xu Yong hit Bradley with the ball on his back. After being flanked by Pietrus, he passed the ball to Artest. Artest received the ball from outside the three-point line and passed it in. Watching After Pietrus moved in again, he directly chose to take a three-point shot.

Artest's choice of the ball was unexpectedly decisive. It was too late for Pietrus to pounce on it. He turned around and chose to grab the rebound.

"Shh!"

But there was no rebound, and Artest's three-pointer fell into the pocket.

22:23.

The Bulls took the lead.

While his defense has declined, Artest has shot the most accurate three-pointers in his career this season.

Rivers seemed very dissatisfied with the ball. He turned around and called out Pierce, who had been resting for less than 3 minutes.

To a certain extent, this goal once again explained why the rotation of both sides was so compressed.

In such a high-intensity game, every point is crucial, and the biggest difference between role players and main players is the ability to make instant judgments.

Rondo's breakthrough caused Hinrich to foul, and Pierce came on to replace Pietrus.

The sideline ball came out again. Pierce and Brown hit the ground after a pick-and-roll and handed the ball to Brown. As a result, Brown let go without catching the ball.

The ball was controlled by Artest and then passed to Xu Yong. Xu Yong broke through on a fast break, got rid of Bradley and directly performed a flying dunk.

The emotions of Chicago fans were instantly ignited.

The Bulls went on a 5-0 run in the second quarter and were about to break the deadlock!
Looking back, Pierce singled out Artest, and after a back-up attack, he stepped back and shot a fadeaway jumper.

"when!"

The basketball still missed the basket.

The rebound was picked off directly by Xu Yong.

Thanks to Rondo's quick eyesight and quick hands, he fouled early, otherwise this would have been another defensive counterattack.

Rivers made another substitution upon seeing this, and Garnett came on again to replace Brown.

Brown looked slightly frustrated when he came off the field.

His performance after moving from the Bulls to the Celtics was obviously not as good as before. The biggest reason was that like in the round just now, his teammates couldn't find his instruction manual.

If the ball had been thrown into the sky just now, he could have completed the alley-oop.

But this is a normal thing. What qualifications does a role player have to ask the team's senior boss to cooperate with you?
I'm afraid I can't find another person who can understand Brown as well as Xu Yong and will help Brown.

Thinking back to the scene before the game when he wanted to go to Xu Yong to reminisce but Rondo stopped him. At this moment, he somewhat regretted leaving Chicago for money.

"Shh!"

Just when Brown sat on the bench, Yi Jianlian received a pass from Xu Yong at the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer.

Regarding the role of a 3D inside line, no matter how strong Garnett's assist defense ability is, it is impossible for him to just help defend Xu Yong and then immediately expand to the three-point line.

22:28.

The Bulls stretched the score to a maximum score difference of 6 points.

This time they really broke the stalemate.

Whistles and cheers erupted throughout the United Center.

They found that besides Xu Yao, they also liked Yi Jianlian more and more.

Rivers looked up at the score and paced the sidelines, a little anxious.

All the people who should be replaced have been replaced, and the chicken soup that should be given was given during the break, but he did not expect such a collapse at the beginning of the second quarter.

You know, the Celtics haven't scored yet in the second quarter.

Garnett went to the high post on the right side of the frontcourt to support the ball.

However, the fans at the scene were in high spirits. With the loud shouts of "defense", the Bulls' defense was full of intensity. Pierce and Bradley's air cuts did not get a chance.

Garnett saw this and faked a shot, then directly broke through Yi Jianlian.

If it is a low-post confrontation, Yi Jianlian still has a certain chance of guarding Garnett, but when he moves to play, his speed obviously cannot keep up, and Garnett feels good tonight, so he cannot shrink his defense.

The result was that Garnett quickly broke through to the inside, then scored under the basket with Yi Jianlian's pursuit, and also caused Yi Jianlian's thug to foul.

After scoring the ball, Garnett excitedly roared and beat his chest in a set of iconic celebrations, and then turned to Yi Jianlian and spat out trash talk: "You weakling who can only shoot three-pointers, get out of here." Go back to your CBA."

Garnett is a standard trash talker, and his most famous comment to Anthony is "Your wife tastes like a donut."

Tonight, he was relatively quiet in the first quarter. That was because he was facing off against Yao Ming on the court and all his energy was focused on confronting Yao Ming.

But at this moment, he was obviously unhappy because of Yi Jianlian's three-pointer.

Yi Jianlian looked frustrated.

Although this was not the first time he faced off against Garnett, every time he faced off against Garnett it was a great physical and mental challenge for him.

Because he can't compare to Garnett in terms of skills and abilities, and Garnett's trash talk is heartbreaking.

In addition, because of his personality, he does not have the skill of trash talking.

This is like two people boxing in the ring. They can only get beaten one-sidedly, and it is easy to become autistic.

After seeing this, Xu Yong walked up to Yi Jianlian, then faced Garnett and covered his nose, then waved his hand and said, "Who farted? It smells so bad."

These sudden words confused Yi Jianlian and Garnett.

Yi Jianlian finally broke out and laughed, but he immediately received a vicious cold look from Garnett.

Xu Yong then pulled Yi Jianlian away, as if the place really stinked.

This made Garnett so angry that he almost punched him.

"Try your best to guard against him. If you can't guard against it, be more ruthless if you commit a foul." Xu Yong warned Yi Jianlian after he was far away.

It's normal for Yi Jianlian to be unable to defend Garnett, but Garnett consumed so much in the first quarter, how much physical strength does he have to keep playing like this?

Attrition is always the best way to defend. At least in terms of physical fitness, the substitute Yi Jianlian is far more than Garnett.

"when!"

I don’t know if it was affected by Xu Yong’s trash talk in response, but Garnett’s extra penalty failed to hit.

Yi Jianlian protected the defensive rebound, and the Bulls advanced to the frontcourt and played in the backcourt.

Xu Yong caught the ball outside the three-point line on the right side and directly reached out to ask Yi Jianlian to pull up to the high position to pick and roll.

Because Yi Jianlian just scored a three-pointer earlier, the Celtics did not dare to go around the pick-and-roll this time, nor did they dare to let Yi Jianlian play with Xu Yong, so they had to choose to change.

After Xu Yong saw the mismatch against Garnett, he then signaled to pull away for a singles.

The purpose of consuming Garnett is only a secondary purpose, and more importantly, he can't stand Garnett.

Not to mention that Yi Jianlian accepted his suggestion and switched to 3D, which has nothing to do with the term softie. It is Garnett's bullying style that makes people feel deeply shameful.

You like trash talking so much, why did you wait until you faced Yi Jianlian to start trashing?
After his teammates pulled away, Xu Yong started to fall and decisively broke through Garnett.

Garnett's defensive steps are excellent, using his sliding steps to shrink in advance to maintain his defensive position.

When he broke through to the free throw line, Xu Yong made a hard pivot-foot turnaround jumper.

Garnett struggled forward to save.

But I didn't expect that Xu Yong's move turned out to be a fake move. After he saved the ball, Xu Yong turned around and sent the ball steadily into the basket with a beautiful up and down step.

Garnett was teased!
The scene was instantly filled with cheers and whistles.

This technical move is also so cool.

Especially the steps, which are clearly explained and have a silky smoothness.

Garnett also pursed his lips at this time. Although Xu Yong is the MVP, it is always embarrassing to be teased like this by a third-year student.

Especially since Xu Yong deliberately said such things before.

But after all, he is a veteran who has experienced many battles. He quickly adjusted his mentality and prepared to serve from the baseline.

But before he even took a step forward, Xu Yong smiled faintly at him and said, "Nice. Try."

Directly translated, this sentence means "a good try", but don't think it is a word of encouragement. On the contrary, it is full of ridicule.

If I have to make an analogy, it would be what a girl says, "You're in?"

This is trash talk that Americans often use, and in the basketball world, the person who made this sentence a classic is the old guy from the Spurs who loves to rub his head.

And the background board, yes, is exactly the Garnett in front of you.

When Garnett talked about trash talk after retiring, he said that the last person he wanted to trash talk was Duncan.

Because Duncan generally won't respond directly to your trash talk, but will say some simple words to disgust you after hitting the ball in response.

Yes, just some words, such as "Almost" and "nice.try".

These words are very concise, so concise that you can’t even think about listening to them.

Almost means almost, which can be understood as "you almost guarded me."

The same goes for nice.try.

This may be the difference in trash talk levels. Garnett is at the level of direct trolling.

But often compared to directly trolling people, what hurts people more is Duncan's arrogance and arrogance.

After trying it a few times, Garnett became extremely quiet when he met Duncan again.

So when Xu Yong said this again, Garnett directly broke through the defense.

He couldn't control his temper anymore, so he went up and pushed Xu Yong hard.

There was a reason why he dared to do this. Artest was standing on the outside and couldn't catch up for a while.

He just let the young Xu Yong know the consequences of spouting such trash talk to a tough guy on the court.

But as soon as he started, he encountered something embarrassing.

He pushed Xu Yong over, but Xu Yong didn't move much.

It's a joke, Xu Yong's current core strength is that he can be pushed in the air without falling. Garnett's move just shifted his center of gravity.

Then his pupils shrank in the next second, and his surprised eyes instantly turned into shock.

Because after Xu Yong was pushed by him, he punched him directly!
Xu Yong's defeat of Green in the NCAA semifinals was a sensation, but in fact it also depends on the scope of influence, which is more within the scope of the NCAA.

And that was already three years ago. In an era of rapid information changes, the news at that time may not be searchable.

As for Xu Yong, he has never had any conflicts with anyone since he entered the NBA. Although he is very tough in his playing style and has never been timid in front of the media, he has never made a move on the court after all.

This is another reason why Garnett dared to do this.

But he never expected Xu Yong's reaction to be so quick and decisive.

Isn't this guy considering being banned for throwing punches like this?

Fortunately, he had been in the league for many years and instinctively dodged away from Xu Yong's punch again.

But the next second he felt a burning pain in his jaw.

When he reached out and touched it, he grinned in pain.

Although he dodged quickly enough, his jaw was still scratched by Xu Yong's fist.

And before he could feel it again, Xu Yong had already waved his fist and bullied him again.

He was not only shocked now, but also a little scared.

He realized that he was not facing a third grader, he was clearly an incredible and unreasonable monster!

If he was given a chance to choose, he would rather the person he was conflicting with at this time was Artest.

He could only maintain his tough persona while waving his fists, and then retreated quickly.gif.

It was during this process that the players and referees on the field gathered together and forcibly separated the two people.

Xu Yong also put away his fists at this time, and then said lightly: "Boring."

Yes, it is boring.

Naturally, it was impossible for him to do things without considering the consequences. The moment Garnett came up to push him, he had already thought about switching with Garnett tonight.

Although Garnett is no longer as strong as him now, his importance to the Celtics is actually not much different from his importance to the Bulls.

Because Garnett not only creates space on the offensive end, but also serves as the foundation for supporting the Celtics' defensive system.

In addition, Rose and Yao Ming are both here tonight. Even if he and Garnett swap, the Bulls will still have a greater chance of winning.

So he was ready to have a big fight with Garnett, and let this guy who always bullied others suffer.

But I didn't expect Garnett, the old boy, to react so quickly, especially since he was already very good at fighting and retreating.

In this regard, James, a junior, is really far behind.

After all, compared to retreating instantly, fighting and retreating can perfectly preserve a tough image, instead of making people feel timid.

The game entered a technical timeout, and the players on both sides were persuaded to leave and return to the bench.

As soon as Xu Yong sat down, Thibodeau walked up to him.

"You take a rest for 2 minutes." Thibodeau did not blame Xu Yong. He even felt that Xu Yong did a good job as he had done to Anthony before, but as a head coach, he could not express it like this.

Moreover, Xu Yong's action of throwing a punch just now may be expelled based on the penalty treatment of the Bulls this season.

After a while, the referee made a penalty after watching the replay.

This penalty is very interesting. Garnett did not make a penalty and Xu Yong was awarded a technical foul.

This moment attracted cheers from the fans at the scene. Rivers was naturally dissatisfied and went to the technical stage to protest, but everyone knows that protesting is always useless in the NBA.

However, the referee came over to explain to Thibodeau after giving the penalty, and there were many warnings in his words.

Obviously, this is a downgraded penalty.

Because normally, if Xu Yong punches, it must be a first-level malicious act, and if Garnett pushes someone, he should be guaranteed a technical foul.

But one thing that needs to be noted is that it is true that the Bulls are being taken care of, but Xu Yong is now the new MVP.

Apart from anything else, your news media reported after the game that the MVP was called for a flagrant foul on the night when the trophy was handed out?
This will do great damage to the image of the NBA.

Therefore, the referees will definitely take this into consideration when whistleblowing, and then adopt flexible downgrade treatment.

In fact, this did work. Rivers went back after protesting for a while. After all, Garnett pushed people first, but was not called for a technical foul.

Thibodeau also agreed with the referee's warning, and then went back to remind Xu Yong to pay attention in the next game.

Everyone accepted it, except one who expressed hurt at this time.

Garnett had just had his jaw sprayed with medicine.

This time, he was trash-talked and then beaten. In the end, the opponent was only called for a technical foul. He couldn't help shouting: "Is there any more justice, is there any more law of the king!"

But that obviously wouldn't be of any use, and he could only suffer this secret loss silently.

Then, like Xu Yong, rest for 2 minutes off the court.

The score did not change much in these 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, the two sides gradually replaced their main players, and Garnett and Xu Yong were also replaced.

When the camera showed Xu Yong, the fans at the scene responded with overwhelming cheers.

Where is this?Chicago!
Who among these fans with a bit of a gangster element doesn't love Xu Yong's reaction just now?
This is like pulling down the underwear of Garnett, who is known for his iron-bloodedness and toughness.

Well, Garnett has indeed become very honest when he comes back.

There is no other way. Let's not talk about whether he dares to fight Xu Yong. With the way the referee handled it tonight, he will only fight Xu Yong if he can't think about it.

The impact of this is that the Bulls will obviously outdo the Celtics in the rest of the quarter.

This is just like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms TV series. The generals on both sides come out to duel. Although the winning side cannot actually determine the outcome of the war, it has a high probability of winning, because the winner is not just a duel, but also a duel. momentum.

At halftime, the score on the field was 36 to 47, and the Bulls led by 11 points to end the first half.In a game of this intensity, 11 points can be said to be a big difference, and the Bulls can be said to have one foot in the victory.

But in the third quarter, the Celtics showed their adjustment and resilience.

The first is the momentum. Maybe this time we have to admit the ability of Rivers, the master of chicken soup. The Celtics came back in the second half and played more patiently and actively.

Second is the offense. Rondo made a few mid-range shots and forced Yao Ming to pull out from the inside. The Celtics scored a lot of points through air cuts.

The Bulls' defense was not good, and their offense was also affected. By the end of the third quarter, the Celtics had narrowed the point difference to 5 points.

It can be said that the performance of the Celtics in this quarter is that of Ke Jie from the Asian Games. He made a strong comeback from a poor start and is expected to win.

But in the last quarter, the Celtics were obviously weak.

As Thibodeau analyzed before the game, age and physical fitness are the Celtics' biggest disadvantages.

Although a few old guys can stay on the court relying on their spirit, their quality on both offense and defense is obviously declining.

It can be said that the entire game tonight was within Thibodeau's plan.

As long as there is a stalemate with the Celtics in the first three quarters, the hope of winning is high.

This is indeed the case. Facing the backcourt attacks of two young MVPs, Xu Yong and Rose, the Celtics' defense collapsed first in the last quarter.

91 to 79, the Bulls finally successfully won the series.

In terms of statistics, Garnett scored the most points on the Celtics, with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, including 6 mid-range hits. Just like Boozer back then, he was able to pull The outside shooting style is still very strong against Yao Ming.

皮尔斯打的一般，17中5中拿到了15分；雷·阿伦机会不多，但9中5拿了13分；隆多有14分12助攻的两双表现，巴斯11分。

For the Bulls, Xu Yong scored a game-high 26 points, 10 points in the last quarter, Yao Ming had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Rose also scored 20 points, Artest had 11 points, and Yi Jianlian had 6 points and 3 rebounds.

After the game, the two sides shook hands, with the head coaches of both teams taking the lead in shaking hands.

Thibodeau had a smile on his face, and Rivers had a constipation look on his face.

In fact, if you want to talk about the coaching level of the two, Thibodeau may not be much better than Rivers.

But the key thing here is that Thibodeau was Rivers' former assistant coach and the first assistant coach.

To put it in a very vivid way, he may know this Celtics team better than Rivers.

After the game, the league did not escalate the conflict in the second quarter and directly adopted a cold approach.

This can be said to be expected. Of course, the cold treatment method cannot prevent fans from talking about this matter. On social media, fans are discussing it heatedly.

But what many people didn't expect was that this discussion somehow turned into a criticism meeting against Garnett.

"KG is the foul-mouthed guy in the league, and his trash talk has no limits. He even spat out 'Happy Mother's Day' trash talk to Duncan on Mother's Day. It is well known that TD's mother passed away at an early age."

"Yes, that guy is really bad. Villanueva once said in an interview that KG once directly complained that he was a cancer patient. Man, this was a personal attack. Villanueva just had a disease. It’s just a hairless disease.”

"What's worse is that KG not only criticized his opponents, but also his teammates. Glenn Davis's nickname of 'Big Baby' was sprayed by him during the team's training session."

"And if you observe carefully, you will find that KG spends most of his time bullying the rookies who have just entered the league. When he encounters a really tough guy, he will consciously shut up. This is a guy who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

"As a Minnesota fan, let me share something that you may not know. In 2003, a rookie named Rick Ricketts, a 6-foot-11 forward, KG sprayed Ricketts during a training game. Trash talk, but unfortunately he lost the game, Richter trash-talked him back, and then he got into a fight that sent him to the hospital."

"Haha, he is that kind of guy. Just because he is an American, he is called a tough guy, while Nowitzki is called a softie. In fact, Garnett was beaten violently by Nowitzki every time they played against each other. , even more so than his performance in leading the team, he was far behind Nowitzki. His toughness is his iron-blooded jump shot, and he fights but retreats."

"I have long wanted to see this guy get beaten on the court. Thanks to Xu, it seems to have cured my constipation for many years. I feel comfortable now."

"Honestly, I didn't expect Xu to be such a tough guy before. Then I checked it out and was shocked. Xu flew a knee to a guy named Draymond Green in the NCAA semifinals because that was The guy stepped on him before. If someone had told KG this before the game, KG would definitely be better behaved than ever." A comment from "KBforever".

"Really? I'll go check it out."

"Really, that guy named Green will enter the draft this year, and you can ask Xu's teammates in the NCAA, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Jeff Ayers, they are all in the NBA now. Play ball." Comment from "KBforever".

……

When Garnett woke up the next day, he originally wanted to see the fans' doubts about the penalty on social media, but he almost shut himself down.

Because in addition to the criticism from fans, there was also Harden's interview in front of reporters, which confirmed the original incident of Xu Yongfei kneeling on Green, and also vividly described Green's tragic situation at the time.

While he was speechless, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

I don’t know if I’m feeling helpless at the fans’ reaction, or I’m glad that I didn’t really get into trouble with Xu Yongqian.

Let’s talk about the real-time battle status of the other three groups in the division semifinals.

The Heat's first game against the Pacers went very smoothly, and it was a bit one-sided.

This is a bit different from the battles between the two teams in history.

This is mainly due to two reasons. First, although Boozer is better offensively than West, his defense has become stretched as he gets older.

James was also very excited to play against this "anti-bone boy" and scored 30+ in the first game.

The other one is Odom. Odom's improvement to the Heat's bench is indeed obvious, but the Pacers did not get George Hill like they did in history. Collison was brought up to start, and the strength of the bench has also declined significantly.

The Lakers and Spurs fought fiercely, and the Lakers narrowly won G1 in the end.

Then the Thunder and Mavericks were more surprising. The Thunder defeated the Mavericks in the first game.

Ibaka and Gasol, two players who were defeated by Nowitzki last year, have worked very hard on the defensive end this year, and the results are very good.

Ibaka, in particular, has made significant progress.

In fact, many people have forgotten that Ibaka last year was only in his second year. This kind of talented insider has improved very quickly.

Then there was the fact that Leonard, who had high hopes from Dallas fans, was still too immature in front of the evolved Durant, and was basically blown away.

Of course, it's not just Leonard, Marion can't guard him at all.

Durant this year feels a bit like Nowitzki last year. It doesn't matter who comes.

……

After two days of rest, the G2 series between the Bulls and Celtics continued in Chicago.

In this game, both sides continued to show their ability to adjust.

On the Celtics' side, the defensive intensity has dropped significantly compared to the first game, and the rotation has also been expanded, with a ninth man.

On the Bulls side, Thibodeau observed the video and adjusted his defensive strategy against Garnett, using Rondo to cover Garnett as a positional battle defensive strategy.

The adjustments on both sides can be said to be very targeted and are the hallmarks of two fully mature teams.

It's just that the final result of the game completely exceeded everyone's expectations.

Because Rondo broke out directly, and in an incredible way.

24投16中，三分球2投全中，44分8板10助攻。【注18】

It's hard to imagine that this is a statistic that can be produced by a player who is called "Long Bushoot" by fans, who averages less than 12 points per game, and his career high is only 14 points.

Even Xu Yong never expected it.

But he did it, and not without signs.

Because in G1, Rondo was let go in the third quarter, but made consecutive shots.

In other words, this may not be a simple matter of eating dumplings, but a state.

If you have to analyze it, the management's handling of Ray Allen is actually changing the direction to support Rondo. His current number of shots is second only to Garnett, averaging 15.8 per game, which shows that the coaching staff is also supportive. He, these are giving Rondo confidence.

And Rondo is a guy who may have more tough genes than Garnett. He can really do seemingly impossible things in certain games.

"We will give them a warm welcome back to Boston and it will be a game they will never forget."

After winning the game, Garnett continued to show his tough side in front of reporters.

Yes, the next two games will be played in Boston, and the Celtics took home-court advantage after winning G2.

The weather in Boston is a bit cold.

This port city in the northeastern United States will not officially get warmer until June, when the highest average temperature is only about 6°C.

Regarding this point, when the Bulls came here two years ago, Xu Yong had already felt it because there was no hot water at the time.

And the temperature this year seems to be even colder than two years ago.

But I don’t know if the Celtics’ conscience has discovered this year that there is hot water in the visiting team’s locker room in such a cold weather.

Of course, Xu Yong is still very cautious.

On the game day, after the floor was laid, he took Butler to the game venue as soon as possible, and then went in for training in advance.

The purpose, of course, is to try the floor tactics Hinrich mentioned before.

After a lap of testing, they found that there was really no problem with the floor.

This made him feel a little uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Is it possible that the Celtics really had a conscience this year?

"Maybe winning the second game made them feel like they could beat us head-on." Butler gave his inference.

This inference is quite reasonable. Methods and other tricks are only used when they can't win you.

If you can defeat you head-on, there is really no need to use those, because it will make you seem weak.

However, when Xu Yong and his teammates entered the arena during the evening game, he found that Butler was still young.

Because this arena is so cold.

It was also one hour before the start of the game that the Bulls received official notification.

Because the arena is old, the air conditioner in the North Shore Garden Arena tonight is broken.

This bad thing cannot be said to be a coincidence, it can only be said to be blatant.

And you can't say anything, because at this point in time, it is impossible to delay the game.

"It's really hard to guard against." Butler said with a wry smile. He has gained a lot of knowledge at such a young age.

"At least everyone is the same." Xu Yong didn't think anything about this.

He had heard about the broken air conditioner before, saying that when the Heat played the Spurs in 2014, the Spurs' air conditioner also broke.

At that time, James suffered leg cramps for this reason, and was carried off the court by his teammates on all fours, becoming a world-famous painting.

But Xu Yong knew that it actually had nothing to do with the air conditioner. As he said, everyone is the same, so why are you cramping?

That's more of a personal problem for James. Cramps, like groin, have been with James throughout his career.

Others in the locker room heard Xu Yong's words and nodded in agreement one after another.

Compared with the targeted damage to the water heater in the visiting team's locker room and floor tactics, this air-conditioning tactic is indeed the same for everyone.

Half an hour later, players from both sides entered the arena one after another to warm up.

Xu Yong looked up and saw that everything around him was green.

Green is the main color of the Celtics, and everyone at the venue was equipped with a green blanket on their seats, and some people even put it on their heads to keep warm.

Seeing the meticulous preparations of the arena, if there was any doubt before that the air conditioner was really broken, now the doubts are completely gone.

As a historically powerful (old hooligan) team, the Green Army is really shameless in terms of shamelessness.

But now that it has been confirmed that it is a traditional skill of the Celtics, the Bulls players are more motivated.

After all, what players dislike the most is this kind of despicable means.

At the other end of the court, Celtics players were also warming up before the game.

Their positions are also very interesting at this time. Ray Allen is alone on one side, while Pierce, Garnett and Rondo are on the other side.

It seems that the relationship within the Celtics is more tense than Xu Yong imagined, and Ray Allen is isolated.

But this is actually normal, just like the classic line in the movie "Green Book": I am not black enough for black people, and I am not white enough for white people, so am I black or white?
In America, black and white are, as its physical definition goes, polar opposites.

It is normal for black people such as Hill and Ray Allen to be isolated (Bartier is white, but he looks darker).

As for people like Garnett, Pierce and Rondo, you can tell by their playing styles that they are pure blacks.

"Paul, what's wrong with you?" Garnett couldn't help but stop training and asked after seeing Pierce sit down on the sidelines early.

Pierce looked up. His face was too dark to see any color, but his expression looked uncomfortable.

"It's okay." Pierce shook his head and didn't explain much.

Upon seeing this, Garnett stopped asking questions. It was not because he was not curious, but because he believed that if there was a problem with Pierce's character, he could handle it himself.

When Garnett walked away, Pierce let out a long breath.

The weather has turned cold in the past two days. He didn't know if he caught a cold or something, but his stomach didn't feel particularly comfortable.

For this reason, he has eaten less than usual in the past two days, choosing more oatmeal foods to replenish energy.

NBA players have different physiques than ordinary people, which is really not a big problem for him.

However, because the air conditioner in the arena was broken, the temperature in the arena was relatively low, which made him feel a little uncomfortable in his stomach.

Fortunately, before the warm-up was about to end, he suddenly sat upright. After the staff in the second row frowned and covered their noses, Pierce stood up from his seat.

Well, I feel better now.

Garnett looked back and saw Pierce readjusting himself, and then stepped forward and punched Pierce in the chest.

He knew Pierce could figure it out.

And in his opinion, Pierce just had more of a psychological problem.

In the two games of the semifinals, Pierce averaged only 16 points per game and shot only 38% from the field. This performance was very average, and even according to the requirements of the core of the team, it can be said that it was a bit of a stretch.

But fortunately, he and Rondo are both in good condition, so as long as Pierce adjusts his condition, it is not impossible for them to defeat the Bulls.

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony.

Boston fans are very passionate.

The Celtics are on the same level as the Lakers and are the only veteran team in the league. Their fan base is very deep.

Especially since they defeated the Bulls in G2 to gain home court advantage, the series was in great shape and the fans' emotions became even higher.

You can even see many people holding signs with slogans such as "Let's beat Xu again" and "Xu is the second best MVP".

Obviously, Boston fans couldn't stand Xu Yong after someone brought out his remarks two years ago.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.

The starters on both sides are the same as in the previous two games.

Thibodeau's bold strategy in the first round still worked. Even though the game was fierce, neither Rose nor Yao Ming suffered injuries.

Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, Yao Ming moved the ball back to half court, which kicked off the game.

Yao Ming's first hook attempt at the basket missed the basket.

Looking back, Garnett's iron-blooded jump shot from the free throw line also missed.

And this is not a coincidence. The two teams played for almost 5 minutes, and the total score on the field did not exceed ten points.

I don’t know if it’s because of the low temperature in the arena, but the feel on both sides is very average.

At this time in the stands, Celtics general manager Angie smiled slightly, hiding his merit and fame.

As a veteran of the Green Army among players and a general manager who also served as an NBA head coach, he has a thorough understanding of the game.

Rondo's outbreak in G2 was just an accident and cannot be replicated. The result of a normal game between the two sides is most likely to be the same as G1. Even if the Celtics can drag the series to a later stage, there is a high probability that they will still lose.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for him to have this naive idea that he can beat the Bulls just because G2 won.

Returning to the home court to show off traditional skills is an inevitable choice.

To be honest, even if the Celtics' offense has improved this season, there is still a big gap between them and the Bulls.

If you want to win, you can only rely on defense.

To improve the advantages brought by defense, it is natural to bring the Bulls' offense to the same level as the Celtics.

So to achieve this, is there any more effective way than low-temperature cooling of the hand?
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(End of this chapter)