NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 566: Beating Shit?! (Daily Chapter)

In the most crucial game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics returned to their home court and received the support of the entire city!

It’s not Boston’s fault that fans are overly enthusiastic. Looking back, the Celtics have been silent for too long. No one likes to “lose”, and this year the fans have great expectations.

Unlike the Knicks' home court which is filled with advertisements, singing and dancing, the Celtics' home court seems more "pure". The large number of indoor fireworks set off before the game even have a European basketball atmosphere.

When the TD Garden was still filled with white smoke, the game started soon.

As the broadcaster, ESPN was helpless to find that the stadium was filled with smoke and foul smells, which affected the viewing experience of fans in front of the TV.

The venue was packed tonight, with New York fans occupying nearly 18624 of the 3000 seats. And since it's Sunday and the venue isn't far away, those who like to watch the fun won't hesitate to buy screaming seats to act as the atmosphere creator.

The booing of nearly a thousand people affected the atmosphere at the Celtics' home court. Some fans wearing green jerseys started to "spray" at each other after the game started. They wanted to defend their home court.

When the game was nearly 4 minutes in, the smoke from the indoor fireworks completely dissipated. On the ESPN commentary booth, Mike Breen watched Marbury's offense miss again and subconsciously joked:

"Maybe the smoke has affected the Celtics players' condition. They must find their shooting touch as soon as possible!"

There were 8 minutes and 23 seconds left in the first quarter, and the Celtics hadn't scored a single point. Ray Allen and Pierce made two turnovers at the start.
The sports reporters at the scene were dumbfounded. The slow-warming Knicks managed to take a double-digit lead through transition offense. They didn't understand why the Celtics made such adjustments.

With nearly 24 seconds left, Marbury's quick stop jump shot near the left blocking area after a pick-and-roll was distorted by Li You's interference, and it only touched the basket a little after hitting the backboard.

As the basketball bounced back to Chandler, head coach Rivers on the sidelines shouted in frustration:

“Move!!”

Perhaps the pressure of this game was too great. The Celtics players on the field seemed confused and had problems when retreating. Pierce almost left Artest on the left wing open.

While moving, without waiting for the opponent to stop and complete the matchup, Li You, who was close to the center line, passed the ball early. Artest on the left wing received the ball, converted a three-point jump shot and missed, and the long rebound bounced out again.

The Celtics fans had no time to cheer, as Gasol, who had just rushed to the paint area, grabbed the frontcourt rebound behind Garnett. Garnett blew his beard and glared, and the basketball returned to Li You's hands at the top of the arc.

"Defense!."

The uniform defensive cheers drowned out the booing and cheering of some New York fans. The home team didn't score a single point, and many fans were still standing and watching the game, with anger revealed in their shouts.

Gasol, who passed the ball, didn't care about Garnett's pulling behind him, and pushed his opponent towards the lower left side of the basket. The Knicks also made tactical adjustments. Chandler participated more in pick-and-rolls and screens tonight.

Garnett, who has delivered excellent defensive data this season, now feels that he has no way to use his strength. His opponent clearly wants to pick on the weak, which he thinks is "unsportsmanlike."

"Shit! Why don't you participate in the offense? Are you scared? I haven't seen you take the initiative to ask for the ball."

Garnett, who was being pulled and dragged, kept chattering, shouting "You are in fear", but his eyes were always on the situation outside the three-point line, and he became more and more anxious.

Gasol, wearing a blue away jersey, was indeed not as active as he was at home after the opening. He seldom participated in pick-and-rolls and did not assist at the free throw line. He just kept pushing towards the basket and stopped near it.

"Man, do you know what it means to be down by 10?"

After leaning against Garnett, Gasol leaned against him and responded simply with a smile. The latter naturally understood and was so angry that he kept cursing, but he was unable to change the situation on the court.

As the game was halfway through, the Celtics' defense was no longer as resolute as at the beginning, and when Artest and Raja Bell walked toward the bottom corner, the double-team did not occur again.

Pierce and Ray Allen both made the same choice, defending their opponents and controlling their defensive positions, which made Marbury more nervous, but he failed to squeeze through the screen.

Chandler stood still outside the three-point line, not even thinking about going down, and firmly blocked Marbury who wanted to chase and defend.

Perkins, who was following the defense, saw Li You start to accelerate laterally while protecting the ball sideways. He gritted his teeth and delayed and slid continuously, but his feet could not keep up, so he could only move forward with his belly.

"Oh"

Seeing Li You crashing into the defender's arms and trying to "overtake" again, many fans in the stadium cheered, and then the referee immediately blew the whistle. Perkins looked helpless and raised his hand.

After receiving his first personal foul, Perkins subconsciously looked at Rivers on the sidelines. With the help of the coaching staff, the latter just gave a thumbs up to indicate that there would be no substitution.

In the commentary booth, Mark Jackson had a clear understanding of the Celtics' game strategy tonight, which was to slow down, commit fouls, and disrupt the offensive rhythm:

"Lee has found the best way to break through the help defense. Perkins can't retreat to defend. This foul will put them in a passive position again."

The Celtics' defensive system has been effective in the regular season, but when faced with Li You's pick-and-roll shot, they can only pray to God. The referee's whistle is a signal that they don't have many "home whistles" left.

The pace of the game was not fast. When the sideline ball was thrown, the Boston fans at the scene booed. Rivers on the sidelines was still giving loud commands, but the Knicks' tactics were extremely simple.

Marbury's efforts to interfere did not have much effect. Outside the sideline, Li You casually threw the ball to Chandler near the left wing, who took advantage of his height to catch the ball steadily.

Perkins behind him was still working hard on defense, but Li You quickly rushed into the court, swayed his body to the left front, then accelerated back and ran, and Chandler, who had gained a firm foothold, passed the ball to him tacitly.

Due to the wrong prediction, Marbury had no time to cut the ball, and Li You, who received a short pass from his teammate, moved sideways again.

"Shhh!!"

Amid the boos, Gasol also stood at the top of the arc. Marbury tried hard to defend him to the side, but when he squeezed through the screen, he stumbled and completely lost his defensive position.

Garnett, who was defending, just stopped, and Li You in front of him suddenly lowered his center of gravity, pushed the ball and changed direction, and easily broke through the gap between people.

Garnett, who was switched to defense, stopped and started suddenly, and slid to the right rear as hard as he could. However, Li You was too fast. He suddenly took the ball forward and jumped up. Garnett had no time to adjust his pace and subconsciously jumped as well.

Some fans began to cheer. Just as Garnett was about to block the shot, Li You, who was in mid-air, paused briefly, grabbed the ball with his left hand, and pulled his arm sideways. The moment he fell, he suddenly swung his arm and slammed the ball!
"boom!!"

The basket exploded, and Li You's clean dunk suddenly made the scene quiet. After landing, Garnett, who was struggling with garlic under his feet, bumped into the basketball stand. Seeing that the referee seemed to want to blow the whistle, he immediately shouted:

"Hey! Traveling violation!"

Perhaps thinking that the Celtics were trailing by too much and calling consecutive fouls was not very friendly, the referee finally just signaled the ball to be kicked off from the baseline, which made D'Antoni on the sidelines very dissatisfied.

The mustache man kept making fighting gestures and yelled at the nearest referee:
"Obvious foul!"

12:0, the cheers in the TD Garden fell silent, some Boston fans couldn't hold it anymore, what a shitty start!

Li You, who has rich experience in away games, was too lazy to worry about the home whistle. When he returned to half court, he noticed that Pierce suddenly bounced out and immediately called on Artest to switch defense.

The left defensive wing was far away from the three-point line, Marbury made a short lateral pass, then immediately stepped forward to cover, and Pierce, holding the ball in his right hand, successfully found the "mismatch".

There was no pick-and-roll. Facing Li You's sudden cut, Pierce stopped quickly, then immediately changed direction, and while Li You turned sideways, he decisively lowered his shoulders and accelerated.

Trying hard to block most of his body position, Pierce forced a breakthrough against Li You. When he reached the left elbow area, he suddenly stopped and exerted force with his right arm in an attempt to completely break through the defense.

The tried and tested move didn't work this time. When Pierce completed his step back and prepared to pass the ball for a shot, Li You, who was defending him, cut the ball again.

His right hand accurately hit the basketball. With a "pop", Pierce, who was still in a continuous motion, dropped the ball on the spot. He subconsciously waved his arms in the air and shouted:
"Ah" Marbury did not let the offense transition, but decisively chased and defended and committed a foul, which made thousands of New York fans at the scene boo loudly. Tonight's game was heading for another 3 hours.

After the second turnover in the first quarter, Pierce could hear some fans cursing and clapped his hands in frustration. The coaching staff's suggestions didn't seem to have much effect.

When the Knicks attacked again, seeing Perkins defending Gasol, Li You called for Chandler to set a pick-and-roll on the left wing, and after attracting the defense, he immediately passed the ball to his teammates.

He received the ball with his back to the basket, then suddenly turned around, passed the defense, squeezed to the lower left side of the basket with Perkins, and raised the ball for a fake shot. The latter could only raise his arms and watch the basketball bounce off the backboard and go into the basket.

"Hell!!"

Garnett, who had no time to return to defense, had a dark face and kept muttering to himself. Fortunately, head coach Rivers finally requested a timeout, and all the Celtics players quickly walked to the bench.

On the other side, the Knicks' atmosphere team cheered continuously. They scored 14 points in half a quarter and were in average form, but their opponents were even worse. It was simply like God was taking care of them.

Pierce returned to his seat and took several deep breaths. When he received the drink handed to him by the staff, he immediately raised his head and drank it down in one gulp.

Pierce thought the drink tasted a little different than usual, but after hearing the coach's call, he put it behind him and drank the "chicken soup" again:
"Pau! Go attack the basket, we need to get some points fast!!"

"Hey, this is our home court! This is our game! Everyone is cheering for us, don't lower your head, the game has just begun!"

Rivers waved the tactical board, his face turned red with excitement, and roared loudly at his players. The atmosphere group surrounding him also responded, completely breaking the dull atmosphere.

"Let's go!"

The timeout was over, and Rivers stood up and continued shouting, the score difference was too dangerous.

The tactical arrangement had limited effect, teammates failed to pass the ball in time, and ultimately Ray Allen's breakthrough on the right wing caused Raja Bell to commit a hand foul.

When both free throws were made, there was finally a huge cheer in the North Shore Garden Arena, and the fans who had been standing since the start of the game also took their seats.

Noticing that the Celtics' defensive strategy had once again turned to double-teaming, Mike Breen in the commentary booth began to praise the timeout adjustment:
"Coach Rivers has strengthened the players' confidence, and their defensive intensity has returned to the state at the beginning of the game. It can be seen that they intend to continue to slow down the opponent's offensive rhythm."

When double-teaming was introduced, Li You would always pass the ball to the wing. This time Artest received the ball on the left, and Garnett's perfect defensive position came into play.

Unable to seize the fleeting opportunity, as Pierce returned to defense, for safety reasons, Artest had to pass the ball to Gasol at the free throw line.

His teammate cut in without the ball, Li You ran back, and when he received the pass on the left wing, Garnett took the initiative to assist in defense again. Gasol, who got an open opportunity, missed a jump shot from the free throw line, and Rivers on the sidelines punched repeatedly.

When Garnett broke through the basket in the low post on the left side, attracted Chandler's help defense, and assisted Perkins to score under the basket, the NDRC was completely boiling!

14:4, Boston fans cheered loudly, they narrowed the gap.

Facing the Celtics' frantic help defense, the Knicks did not force an attack. Garnett became the Celtics' most dazzling star, making big delays, helping defense in the paint, and continuous double-teaming.

In some rounds, Li You's passes penetrated the defense, and if Perkins failed to switch defense in time, there would be easy scoring opportunities under the basket.

But in the remaining few minutes, the Knicks' offense was mostly focused on other people. Garnett defended more and more vigorously, and Pierce went to the free throw line again and again.

After Prince came on the court, Pierce's free throw shooting ability remained unabated and the whistle sounded frequently, which made the New York fans in the rear very dissatisfied, but the Boston fans became happier.

At the end of the first quarter, Pierce seized an opportunity for transition offense, and with the help of Prince, he miraculously threw the ball into the basket.

"what!!"

Pierce stood up and roared loudly near the baseline, and soon there were shouts in the NDRC:

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

Thanks to this free throw, the final score of the first quarter was 28:17, and the Celtics successfully narrowed the gap to 11 points.

Back on the bench, Pierce high-fived his teammates, took another drink to rehydrate after sitting down, and seemed very excited. He took the initiative to say to the coaching staff:

"I don't need a rest! We have to close the gap as soon as possible!"

He made 6 of 1 shots and 7 of 7 free throws. He made an effort in the second half of the quarter and scored half of the points. Head coach Rivers was quite satisfied with this.

Garnett only took two shots and scored 2 points from free throws. Just as they planned before the game, Pierce got more shooting opportunities:
"Keep going, Pau! I'll cover you."

Garnett was sweating profusely as he took deep breaths. He kept gesturing on the tactical board and explaining the details to his teammates. Everyone listened attentively.

The 11-point difference also excited the Celtics fans at the scene. After the start of the second quarter, they saw that the home team only replaced Perkins, and the cheers became louder for a while.

In the first offensive round, Ray Allen received the ball and shook off JR Smith, then made a quick stop and jump shot in the left blocking zone, and the stadium instantly boiled.

After Rondo's breakthrough layup was blocked by Garnett, the shouting became louder and louder. In the transition offense, Marbury forced his way to the basket, causing the rookie to foul and getting a free throw.

With anger in his eyes, Marbury clenched his fists as he stood on the free throw line, and he was also going to punch hard.

28:21, the score difference was narrowed again.

Facing the aggressive opponent, JR Smith missed a three-pointer from the right wing, and the long rebound was picked up by Davis, which made D'Antoni on the sidelines frown.

In the crucial round, Garnett quickly broke away after the pick-and-roll, and as Marbury made a ground pass, the latter faced Gasol's long arms near the right blocking area and made a long two-point jump shot!

"what!!"

Garnett, who was retreating, beat his chest repeatedly and shouted with his head raised. Led by him, the cheers almost broke through the stadium. The counterattack was coming!

The Knicks were not stingy with the timeout. D'Antoni shook his head slightly. In fact, he was very conservative and never trusted role players when playing against the wind.

An excited Pierce bumped chests with his teammates as he walked to the bench. When he returned to his seat, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach, but was quickly attracted by the chicken soup of the head coach.

"Defense!."

In the first round after the timeout, defensive cheers rang out again. Li You's early return left Rondo with only his chin on the bench to watch the ball. The Knicks did not make too many adjustments.

When Prince received the ball at the top of the arc and quickly completed a hand-to-hand pass, the excited Pierce decisively switched defense, faced Li You on the left wing, rolled up his shorts and clapped his hands repeatedly.

The referee was at the sideline. After Li You dribbled the ball between his legs continuously, he suddenly raised his center of gravity, then stepped back with the ball, and made a decisive jump shot facing Pierce's defense!

The latter lost his balance when he jumped into the air. The moment he landed, Pierce lost his balance and fell in front of Li You:

"puff"

A burst of water made Pierce on the floor look stunned. He subconsciously touched his shorts, then turned over and hugged his legs and screamed in pain:
"Ah! My legs!"

(End of this chapter)