Chapter 313: Nightmare

Miami, the Heat's game has ended early. They defeated the New Jersey Nets in the last game of the regular season, successfully ended their regular season, and finally ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference, and they were in the playoffs. The opponent is the Nets.
However, Riley didn’t seem to have much interest in their opponents. Even if they easily defeated the Nets in the final game, Riley knew that there was a big gap between the Heat and the Nets. In the last game, the Nets played on the bench. Did not play the last game seriously.
At this time Riley was somewhat concerned about the Celtics and the Pistons confrontation, from the Heat and the Nets halfway through the game, he left the sidelines alone and never returned. He returned to the luxurious office in the locker room of the American Airlines Center and turned on the TV to watch the Celtics and Pistons live broadcast.
The game was in the third quarter, and the Celtics used a fully defensive lineup, which only existed on the court for five minutes.
Riley's fingers kept tapping on the table, and he was thinking in his heart, when the Pistons could score a goal, he got up and left to make himself a cup of coffee.
Riley waited for this cup of coffee for more than six minutes. The sound of his finger tapping on the desktop became louder and louder, until there was a whistle on the TV and paused, Riley got up and left to make himself a cup. coffee.
At this time, the Heat’s game was over. The players rushed into the locker room after the interview. Everyone was very happy. Odom raised his hands with a grin and stirred up a hip dance in the locker room. Wade sat In front of his cabinet, looking at Odom, his face showed a smile beyond the maturity of the rookie.
When Riley appeared in front of everyone with coffee, everyone greeted Riley in excitement, but Riley didn't say a word, and the voice in the dressing room soon became quieter. Everyone thought Riley would give an exciting speech to summarize the season, but after taking a few sips of coffee, Riley said, "You won't get a point, you won't get a point." , Then turned and left.
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In San Antonio, SBC Center, the Spurs and Nuggets game is coming to an end. The Spurs lead with a 91:65 score. The Nuggets have no chance, but they don't seem to care too much, because the Nuggets have entered the Western Conference playoffs. After getting Anthony this season, the Nuggets finally have their superstars and hope for the future. They also returned to the Western Conference Finals after many years.
Only facing the defending champion Spurs, Anthony is still very immature, and the playoffs are worry-free, the offensive end of the Nuggets, which has always been known for offense, is in a mess. With less than a minute left before the end of the game, seeing them can't make it through. 70 points.
Popovich sat on the bench feeling quite proud. He looked up at the scoreboard, thinking that it was another game that lowered his opponent to less than 70 points. It seemed that he could pretend to be a force in front of reporters.
Sure enough, with Anthony's last three-pointer missed, the game ended, the Nuggets' scoring was frozen at 67 points, and the Spurs won their 57th victory this season.
Popovich was intercepted by reporters when he left the field. The reporter asked him several questions, but he didn't ask about defending the Spurs and suppressing opponents to 70 points. Popovich answered a few words casually and left. He seemed annoyed that the reporter hadn't asked the question he wanted to answer.
After returning to the locker room, Popovich couldn't help asking assistant coach Mario Avery, "Aren't our defenses beautiful tonight? Another under 70 points."
Avery shrugged and said to Popovich, "You should watch the TV news. The Celtics and Pistons game is over."
Popovich stood up, walked into the office in the locker room, turned on the computer on the desk, and asked an assistant to log on to ESPN's website. As expected, the Celtics and Pistons game ended, just the score...
"It's over? Isn't it over halftime?" Popovich thought. No wonder the reporter didn't ask himself questions about defense and suppressing scoring, because he was afraid of embarrassment.
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Back at the North Shore Garden Arena, Bill Russell on the sidelines has been completely and completely incarnate as a loyal Celtics fan. He does not want to hide anymore, and does not want to pretend to be fair and objective, because he is from this team. The Alters saw the ultimate defense.
The great Bill Russell, his and Reed Auerbach’s greatest contribution to basketball is not to create the longest eight consecutive championships or 11 singles championships in the history of professional sports in the United States, but the first. In order to defend the crucial low position in basketball games, the second is to refine the defense, especially a series of basic norms, actions and guidelines in the process of center defense.
It was from Auerbach and Russell that defense was no longer an accessory to offense in NBA games, and passive confrontation without the ball. They took the lead in summarizing and distilling some crucial strategies and methods in defense. Some, although not their first, were used in professional games earlier, and from now on, defense has become a tactical and offensive division.
From the monotony of the 1960s to the chaos of the 1970s, to the gradual clarification of modern basketball defensive techniques in the 1980s, several major defensive schools formed in the 1990s. Until today, just like offense, defense has begun to become integrated and strategic. . A team's defensive strategy is no longer a simple one or two tactics can be summarized, they are as ever-changing as offense, soldiers come to block water.
But even so, basketball is after all a game that compares who scores more goals, and offense will always be ahead of defense. For those coaches or basketball enthusiasts who are obsessed with defense, the ultimate defense in their minds is to be able to turn passive into active, and the defensive side can truly take advantage of the offensive in the confrontation.
Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, and Dick Hart have all tried this, and there are many defensive coaches who use aggressive siege, fierce physical confrontation or rapid rotation to deal with attackers. Some It has a very good effect, but the strong offensive side will eventually move higher. No matter who owns the ball, the initiative of the game lies in whose hand.
But tonight, Bill Russell, and the well-known coaches who were sitting in front of the TV watching the game, in four minutes, they appreciated what is the real ultimate defense, what is the meaning of leaving the opponent without You can walk, you can't advance, and you can't retreat.
In four minutes, the lineup of Garnett, Posey, Bell, and Brown Gared lasted for four minutes~EbookFREE.me~ But Fox-Leon used this high-intensity, impeccable, like a lion fight The rabbit-like four minutes completely destroyed the confidence and will of the Detroit Pistons' offense.
"This is the greatest collective defensive performance in NBA history. In the defensive performance of the 2004 regular season curtain call, the Detroit Pistons did not score a point in these five minutes, did not score a free throw, made 6 turnovers, and were intercepted 4 times. , 4 fouls, 1 technical foul, 3 blocked shots... What a terrible and terrifying four minutes is a nightmare for the Pistons players. Larry Brown tried a timeout, but it didn’t work. Remember, it is useless."
This will be an unforgettable night in the Detroit Pistons' career. It will be a nightmare for five minutes. When Billups recalled this experience many years later, he said: "There was a short period of time, about a minute or two. I was right. I have doubts about whether I can play in the NBA. Even when I was traded away by the Celtics, I never thought about it that way, but it was really, really..."
In the end, the score of this game was fixed at 93:45. The Pistons scored 45 points in the game, setting a record for the lowest scoring in a single game in the NBA and breaking the 1999 Bulls' lowest score of 49 points in a single game.
Leon and his Celtics have taken the defense to a whole new level. (To be continued.)