Chapter 210: warrior

Leon’s post-match speeches did not arouse much interest in the media, not only because McGrady said it, but also because for Leon, such words are no longer news. So many things happened to him in the second half of the season, so that people began to peel off the good but mediocre impression of him before, and slowly label him big mouth and bad boy. Moreover, the Celtics did show an overwhelming advantage in the game. All the guys who were optimistic about the 76ers were slapped in the face.
However, Leon’s words undoubtedly angered the 76ers' players and angered Iverson. Iverson said in an interview that the series is not over yet and everything is too early. The 76ers also took a sigh of relief and wanted to show the Celtics and Leon a little bit of color in the fifth game. Before the start of the fifth game, Danny Angie found Leon, and the two had a drink in the beer hall in the North End. Angie came to Leon to discuss the contract issue for next season. Leon signed a short contract this season, and according to the current record and performance of the Celtics, giving Leon a long contract is not a problem.
This was just an informal private exchange. Angie mentioned Leon's remarks after the game. He said: "You are talking nonsense after the game again. Before the series is over, there is no benefit in saying such big talk. You have to consider that everything will happen in the NBA."
Leon was confused and replied: "If I don't say this, what are the reporters doing to write news to live?"
Angie snorted and said, "You weren't Fox like this before. You have been in Boston for three years. The changes in the past six months are not small."
Leon has indeed changed a lot after becoming the head coach, especially in the second half of the season, almost qualitatively changed under tremendous pressure. The guy who used to do things without making a sound seemed to have become a lot arrogant. Whether it was his appearance or speech behavior, he showed more and more the wildness of the old Celtics.
Leon squinted at Anji's heart and said, "Isn't this what you want?" He said, "You should understand my past. Actually I am such a person."
Angie also couldn't figure out what Leon meant. In the Celtics, only Auerbach understood Leon's details, and Angie only knew a little bit. All he knows is that Leon did have the experience of being in MCI, and the scars on his body are not fake.
"No matter what, you are becoming more and more like a Celtic. You must know that Arnold has put a lot of effort into you. If Larry knows all this, he will be crazy." Angie said. He is fighting for Leon with emotion, because in the conversation he discovered just now, Leon doesn't seem to have the idea of ​​devoting all his basketball career to Boston.
Leon took a sip of beer and said: "Angie, I love this team now, I love the Celtics, I love Arnold even more, I will try my best to win the championship for the team. So what I did Everything, including my changes, is for the championship and for success, not because I became a real Celtic."
Leon’s words caused the two to fall into a long silence. Finally Leon said:
Don’t worry about the contract. I won’t leave here until I win the championship unless you kick me away. Also, before we win this Before the series, stop talking to me about contract matters. If, I mean, if we are overturned by the 76ers, I won’t have the face to stay in Boston."
Angie didn't speak anymore. He knew that Leon was a stubborn person who did what he said. In this regard, he was quite Siegfried.
"Well, you're all boasting, then you must win the fifth game, otherwise you won't be as simple as leaving Boston, but you will be passed on as a laughingstock...
"Angie reminded Leon that if you talk big in the NBA, if you say it is a legend, if you fail to fulfill it, it will be the object of ridicule by the media and fans in the next ten or two decades. You will be pulled out to parade when necessary.
Leon knows the risks, but he said firmly: "We will kill the 76ers in the fifth game. In any case, we will not delay to the sixth game to give them a chance."
One day later, on April 30th, the Celtics played against the 76ers at home, and it was really dark. The 76ers are never reconciled to being eliminated easily, especially Allen Iverson. He tried his best in the game. In 48 minutes of the game, he only rested for three minutes. It seems that Larry Brown can only pin his hopes on Iverson, giving him unlimited firepower, as long as he thinks he has a chance to shoot, he can shoot.
In the first four games, Brown has found that the gap between the Celtics and the 76ers is a gap in hard power. After a season of running-in, training and pre-season breaks, the Celtics’ The state is amazing. The 76ers and Brown have entered a period of cooperation burnout. Brown's overly strict and rigid coaching philosophy has become increasingly incompatible with Iverson's unruly style. This broke out in the final stage of the fifth stop.
Iverson fought desperately for a while, but the Celtics always suppressed the 76ers and maintained a 5-point lead. With one minute to go to the end of the game, the Celtics still led by 6 points. Iverson threw himself into the crowd and fouled in spite of his physical injury, to get the points back for the 76ers. In the end, Paul- Pierce made a cold-blooded three-pointer from the outside, which turned his efforts to ashes.
In the cheers of more than 20,000 fans in the North Shore Garden Arena, Fox-Leon raised his arms to celebrate the team's victory in advance. And Iverson is still making the final effort, he forcibly pulled up three points in the offense, but this is not his strong point. Michael Reid got a rebound in the backcourt and calmly received it in his arms. It was Iverson who rushed over and fouled directly.
This was Iverson's sixth foul, and he was sent off. He didn't say much to the referee, didn't complain, didn't feel unwilling, didn't argue, didn't struggle, he just bowed his head and left in silence. At this moment Leon lowered his arms, he looked at Iverson passing by and stretched out his left fist. Iverson seemed to subconsciously, and also touched Leon with his left fist. The two had no eye contact, no dialogue, and they were not even familiar with each other, did not know each other, and did not speak much.
It's just that Leon feels that such a fighter should be respected when he fails, because he is just a lost game, but he did not lose basketball.
On the contrary, when Iverson passed by his own bench and when he passed Larry Brown, the two people also had no communication. Brown did not comfort Iverson, and Iverson did not look at Brown. Brown just continued to stubbornly hold his head up and watch the game on the court. With less than 20 seconds left before the end of the game, the Celtics led by 7 points, and everything was over.
Iverson lowered his head and returned to the bench. Fans kept calling his name behind him. They also respected this opponent, the superstar who once exhausted his talents and shined brightly in NBA history.
When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, there was a warm cheers from the audience. Leon felt relieved, his madness came true, and he could really start thinking about his opponent in the next round. In fact, this round of the game was unexpectedly easy. Everyone believed that the Celtics would start a tough fight with Philadelphia, and it was very likely that the seventh game would be able to tell the winner. Unexpectedly, 4:1, the Celtics The result was 76 people cleanly.
In another venue, the Detroit Pistons, which were thought to be a one-sided showdown, played against the Orlando Magic, but there was an extremely dramatic plot. First, the Magic unexpectedly won the first game, and then after losing the second game as expected, the Magic broke out at home, winning two games in a row ~EbookFREE.me~ and the score became 3: 1. The Pistons face the situation of being eliminated and being hacked.
This is something no one thought of. After the fourth game, Magic star McGrady said something similar to Leon, and he is also considering his opponent in the next round. But their opponent in the next round is not the Boston Celtics, because they don't have the next round.
The enraged Detroit Pistons, led by Big Ben Wallace, swept the Magic at home in Game 5, suppressing Tracy McGrady to 8 of 20, scoring 19 points. Game 6 was at Magic’s home game, Chauncey Billou. Puth scored 40 points angrily, stifling the Magic's hope of promotion in Orlando.
By the seventh game, the situation in the series had been completely reversed, and it was playing in Detroit. The Pistons did not give the Magic any chance. They took the lead from the first quarter, crushing the Magic all the way to the end of the game, and Billups cut again. Under 37 points.
In this way, Billups, who scored high points in two key games in a row, finally helped the team complete an incredible 1:3 backward reversal. Then he will face his old team in the semifinals. He entered the NBA and finally abandoned his Boston Celtics.
And McGrady's phrase "Consider the next round of opponents" has become a nightmare he will linger in the future. (To be continued.)