Check out my new fanfics.

Dragon Emperor in Pokemon World.

The return of Itachi

I am Sasuke. Why should I defect from Konoha.

Please give it a go 😊

***

For the first time making it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Celtics truly understood why Madison Square Garden was rated as the most unwelcoming away venue.

This season, the New York Knicks’ average ticket price continued to slowly rise after breaking through $90.

There’s a significant disparity in the market.

This year, the Detroit Pistons are performing well, but some ticket prices have already dropped below $30.

With four consecutive championships, a relatively flashy playing style, and star quality that’s not bad, fans naturally buy in, and tickets being hard to come by is a frequent occurrence.

Watching a game at Madison Square Garden is indeed not cheap.

Parking, snacks, beer, soda, team merchandise, and so on are all very expensive.

Therefore, if an ordinary family comes to Madison Square Garden to watch a game, after spending a lot of money, they will usually be extra invested to get their money’s worth.

After the game began, Antoine Walker transformed into a jump-shooting bricklayer, repeatedly clanking shots, and Madison Square Garden erupted again.

Because Kurt Thomas’s Defense was to allow jump shots and defend against drives, first testing the opponent’s touch, Antoine Walker showed no mercy, fulfilling his pre-game promise—to shoot!

At 6 minutes and 11 seconds into the first quarter, the aging All-Star guard Kenny Anderson, under Clay Lee’s tight Defense, was forced to protect the ball with his backside as he crossed half-court.

After the opening, the offense was constipated.

Ron Artest relentlessly hounded Pierce.

When the two reached the top of the arc, Kenny Anderson originally intended to pass the ball, but Ron Artest suddenly made an aggressive steal attempt, and the pass ultimately turned into a stop.

Seeing that the play hadn’t worked again, the bricklaying Antoine Walker quickly popped out from near the left baseline, came to the left wing, and immediately called for the ball.

From almost the same spot, he had already missed four shots.

Kenny Anderson, out of options, passed the ball again, then ran with Lee towards the right wing.

After receiving the ball, seeing Kurt Thomas lower his center of gravity with no intention of closing out, Antoine Walker executed a triple threat, then took a quick jab step with his right foot.

Seeing the defender shift backward, he powered up and shot directly.

“Bang!”

The big man inside, Tony Battie, was still boxing out Pau Gasol, preparing to crash the boards, but the basketball hit the front rim and immediately flew to the right restricted area.

Lee got in front of Erik Williams and quickly picked up the ball.

Cheers erupted again in the Madison Square Garden as several New York Knicks players accelerated towards the opposing half-court.

Coach Jim O’Brien kept shouting, reminding his players to retreat on Defense.

This offensive choice gave him a headache.

A missed shot meant a fast break.

Accelerating along the left sideline, Lee noticed that the opponents had quickly retreated to half-court.

After they completed their defensive matchups, he simply slowed down and stopped on the left wing.

Kenny Anderson didn’t dare to aggressively press either.

The two often faced each other in the regular season, and due to injuries, his lateral movement speed had decreased, so getting too close would likely result in being blown by with one step.

On the right wing, Pierce was also observing the New York Knicks’ positioning.

Noticing Ron Artest had run to the left corner, he immediately shifted towards the top of the arc, leaving his matchup, Grant Hill, and prepared to double-team.

Grant Hill detected the opponent’s movement and suddenly cut quickly towards the free-throw line.

Pierce stopped, hesitated, and then gave up on the double-team.

Kenny Anderson caught a glimpse of the movement behind him, and while his heart sank, he saw Lee, holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly accelerate.

Hurrying to slide left, Kenny Anderson tried to block the driving lane, but just as he shifted his feet, Lee lowered his center of gravity and smoothly completed a crossover.

Scooping the ball with his left hand while lowering his shoulder and accelerating, Lee ignored Kenny Anderson, who was again adjusting his body’s center of gravity, gained half a step, and after crossing the three-point line, suddenly powered up and took a large step back.

Returning to the left wing, Clay Lee drifted slightly to the left and quickly shot a three-pointer from beyond the arc!

“Swish!” The three-pointer went in cleanly!

The moment the basketball fell through the net, the New York fans in the arena were ecstatic.

Spike Lee, in the front row, pointed to where the shot had just gone in, waved the orange handkerchief in his hand, and shouted to Antoine Walker:

“Hey! Hey! That’s how you shoot a three-pointer!”

It was a cruel blow.

From almost the same spot, Antoine Walker had bricked three shots, while Clay Lee had made three three-pointers.

This mischievously timed shot made the atmosphere in the arena explode.

Clay Lee, who had just scored, raised his left hand and held up three fingers, and the fans followed suit, raising their hands.

Those who loved to see the fun didn’t forget to shout at Antoine Walker:

“Another one! Buddy!”

8:19.

Lee’s three-pointer pushed the lead to double digits.

After the opening, they had several good cuts and scored by driving to the basket, but with the core player taking wild three-pointers, the Celtics hadn’t scored in nearly three minutes.

Coach Jim O’Brien didn’t call a timeout, only repeatedly shouted for them to get the ball inside.

On this possession, Kenny Anderson didn’t even look at Antoine Walker calling for the ball.

After passing the ball to the big man Tony Battie, he immediately signaled Erik Williams to run a play.

Receiving the ball at the right elbow of the free-throw line, the big man Tony Battie took advantage of Erik Williams’s back cut and immediately made the pass.

Pau Gasol had already collapsed towards the basket when the opponent twisted to make the pass.

At the same time, Grant Hill, who failed to get the steal, continued to provide body contact by his side.

When he drove to the lower right of the basket, Erik Williams didn’t choose to pass but instead took a hop step against the Defense and went for a tough layup!

The basketball hit the backboard but didn’t even touch the rim.

Kurt Thomas, who had retreated, easily secured the rebound.

The Celtics, who could only desperately retreat on Defense again, were somewhat dejected.

Their main scorer suddenly went cold, and the game wasn’t proceeding as expected.

With a double-digit lead, Lee no longer ran wildly after receiving the ball.

Instead, he immediately passed the ball after crossing half-court, then cut through the middle and ran to the right corner.

Grant Hill, who received the ball at the top of the arc, didn’t call for a pick-and-roll but instead signaled with a tactical hand gesture for the big man to stand at the elbow.

After passing the ball to Pau Gasol, who came to the left elbow, Grant Hill immediately shifted horizontally, using Kurt Thomas’s screen to quickly cut to the basket.

Without a good opportunity, Grant Hill immediately ran to the left corner.

On the right wing, Ron Artest also moved quickly, running to the right corner to try and set an off-ball screen for Lee.

Pierce watched Lee’s body feint upwards and subconsciously shouted to his teammates:

“Mine! Mine!”

Just after shouting twice, Lee suddenly cut quickly along the baseline.

Pierce and Kenny Anderson both followed Lee.

Ron Artest, who had come to the right corner, was left open.

Pau Gasol easily swung the ball.

Ron Artest received the ball with no one in front of him, aimed for a moment, and then shot a jump shot!

Kurt Thomas was already heading straight for the basket, boxing out Antoine Walker to grab the rebound, and as soon as he reached the paint, the basketball swished through the net.

“Wow!”

Ron Artest, who had a subpar performance in the previous round, suddenly caught fire, sinking a three-pointer that sent New York fans into excited shouts.

Kurt Thomas, retreating on Defense, also didn’t expect his teammate to suddenly become accurate.

It seemed the more physical the confrontation, the more Ron Artest found his offensive rhythm.

The Celtics called a timeout, and Head Coach Jim O’Brien showed a helpless expression.

Convincing Antoine Walker not to shoot anymore?

That was simply impossible.

The Celtics had relied on their two players’ frenzied shooting to complete their comeback in the previous game.

After the timeout, the Celtics made early substitutions, with Tony Delk replacing Kenny Anderson and Rodney Rogers replacing Eric Williams.

It was still one guard and three forwards, with corresponding tactical adjustments, determined to double-team Lee.

From the start of the regular season, Lee had faced frequent double-teams from the Celtics’ frontline players.

When the playoffs began, and opponents adjusted their defensive strategies, there was no need for special instructions.

The Knicks started to make more off-ball cuts.

Pierce, taking over the offensive possession, hit a pull-up fadeaway jumper from the right elbow of the free-throw line over Ron Artest’s Defense!

On the return possession, the Knicks again used a “V” formation, running the same play.

Lee cut off-ball from left to right along the baseline, received a pass from Pau Gasol, drove to the basket, used a hop-step to clear the defender, and easily laid the ball in!

Antoine Walker’s pull-up jumper from the left elbow after a probe step clanked off the rim again, and on the return, the retreating Celtics made a defensive mistake.

In transition, Grant Hill accelerated into a cut after a quick stop on the right wing.

Before he even approached the three-point line, Lee flung the ball to the basket, where Grant Hill caught it and scored with a reverse layup!

Realizing that the subbed-in Rodney Rogers couldn’t keep up with the game’s pace, Coach O’Brien grew more anxious, shouting constantly from the sidelines.

Fortunately, in the final few minutes, Pierce and the constantly misfiring Antoine Walker found their shooting touch again, helping the team score consecutively, and the deficit was ultimately not further extended.

At 20:34, as the Celtics players walked towards their bench, their ears were filled with the cheers and jeers of New York fans.

3-for-10 shooting, Antoine Walker certainly got many opportunities, but 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, and all his misses were converted into points by the Knicks.

Mike Fratello, who had been hyping up the Celtics before the game, felt a little awkward.

The increased number of forwards failed to contain Lee.

Instead, in many possessions, they were unclear on Defense when guarding off-ball, running around aimlessly:

“Aside from a few passing turnovers, the Knicks’ performance in the first quarter was simply perfect.”

“Lee is too good at dealing with smaller guards. One-on-one Defense simply can’t contain him.”

Mike Fratello turned to praise the Knicks’ performance, becoming a turncoat after just one quarter of play.

Marv Albert listened with pleasure.

He never believed that Eastern Conference teams would cause the Knicks too much trouble:

“This is the pace of game the Knicks like, relying on individual ability to initiate transition offense, and the Celtics seem unprepared for it.”

Playing the entire first quarter, Clay Lee was 5-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range, scoring 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists.

On the Knicks’ bench, Coach Tom Thibodeau had mixed feelings.

He had prepared for the game for nearly a week, but in the opening possessions, the opponent chose to play single coverage.

“Very good! Maintain this state, be careful to control turnovers, and don’t relax even with the lead!”

Thibodeau, holding his tactical board, reminded the players.

Knight, the smaller guard who was about to enter the game, nodded, confident in handling an easy game.

The Knicks’ rotation lineup generally had average shooting.

Brevin Knight, the short guard in the backcourt, was excellent at controlling turnovers.

His partner, Trenton Hassell, was basically a defensive specialist, and Wright, the big man, had the ability to finish at the basket and would have some low-post isolations.

Combined with Grant Hill and Kurt Thomas, who led the team early, this lineup had decent scoring ability, with 3 minutes of success considered a win.

Stephen Jackson, the team’s hype man, couldn’t play but wore his practice uniform and headband every game, vigorously waving towels and shouting loudly.

As for Luc Longley, he fell out of the rotation in the playoffs.

His main role was to hand out towels and water bottles, and after a score, he would raise both hands to liven up the atmosphere.

The Celtics also knew that in the latter half of the second quarter, the Knicks would switch to a twin-tower lineup, and Lee would attack more aggressively.

Therefore, when the game resumed, they not only didn’t slow down their offensive pace but continued to shoot, trying to score as many points as possible.

Kenny Anderson, coming in at a different time, finally regained some vitality when facing Knight, who was even shorter than him.

However, facing the Knicks’ zone Defense, Rodney Rogers, who had open looks, couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities.

Three minutes into the second quarter, the deficit not only hadn’t shrunk but had even grown to 17 points.

With 7 minutes and 42 seconds left in the half, Grant Hill stepped to the free-throw line, and the Celtics’ bench was silent.

The inflated confidence after beating the Orlando Magic had completely vanished.

Although both were frontline lineups, the Knicks were superior.

Clay Lee, draped in a towel, noticed that Tom Thibodeau had no intention of making substitutions, so he simply leaned back strategically, sitting in his seat and watching the show.

When Pierce missed a shot, Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest would yell insults from the sidelines.

Ron Artest expressed his disapproval of this forward who had been a late addition to the All-Star team.

Fans behind Lee were still shouting his name.

He turned and waved to a child, eliciting another round of screams:

“Ah!”

Pau Gasol next to him was a little envious.

Although Lee received many boos when playing on the road, in New York, the situation was completely different, with his popularity exploding.

The Celtics called a timeout.

Pierce had already become a meme, walking to the bench with a long face, not saying a word.

Lee stood up and high-fived everyone in celebration, noticing that the excellent-performing Grant Hill was beaming, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and tease:

“After tonight’s game, I’ll lose two more brothers!”

It took a moment for Grant Hill to understand Lee’s meaning, then he stepped forward for another fist bump and chuckled softly:

“They’ll still boo you in Boston anyway, so winning by 20 points isn’t much different from winning by 10!”

“…”

…..

By the way, don’t forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me 🙂

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep