Chapter 330: confidence

Larry Bird felt a little sweat on the palm of his hand.
The high temperature battle at Boston Garden Plaza in 1984 is still fresh in his mind. The old arena is like a big steamer. He had to run faster to let the wind cool down.
Twenty years have passed and the Boston Garden Plaza has been replaced by North Shore Garden. Although the parquet floor is still used, the floor here no longer has holes, no longer will tilt up, and no longer will the racket fail to bounce. The air conditioner here will not be damaged "casually". No matter how hot the summer sun is, fans can watch the game coolly and happily in the stadium.
However, Bird could feel the sweat on his palms more and more. One was because the fanatical fans had increased the temperature of the stadium by at least five degrees Celsius. The other was, the Indiana Pacers started from the sixth minute of the third quarter to the ninth. Minute O'Brien called a timeout and didn't score a point. Yes, no points.
Before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, the game between the Celtics and the Detroit Pistons caught Bird’s attention. The Celtics showed amazing defense in it, but Bird thought it was just a coincidence, as if Jordan scored six three-pointers in the finals, which is an unrepeatable state outbreak.
In the subsequent playoffs, the Celtics did not show such a terrifying defensive level. Indeed, it is not impossible to completely lock the opponent's offense in three to five minutes, but this requires the cooperation of the opponent. Long periods of non-scoring are often not because the defense is too good, but because the offense is too bad.
But tonight, in the gradual white fog of North Shore Garden, Larry Bird once again saw the terrible defense of the Bostonians. The death defense lineup has increased the defensive intensity and defensive attention to the peak in a short time. The Celtics All of the defensive moves and actions of the Pacers are in front of the Pacers’ offense, blocking, interference, blocking, and stealing. Pacers’ players cannot find any tactical routines other than one-on-one singles. They are completely cut apart.
"Get up, guys, get up!" Bird stood up from his position and shouted at the Pacers' players, who was sitting not far from the Pacers' bench.
However, Bird's shouting was suddenly annihilated by the almost fanatical cheers of North Shore Garden. The fans around him found Bird was shouting and immediately increased the decibel to interfere with him. Now, Bird is not the hero here, but the enemy here.
The timeout was over, O'Brien replaced Reggie Miller again, but at this time the difference between the two sides had been extended to 22 points. In these few minutes, the Celtics did not score many points, without Ali. Nass and Pierce, the Celtics' ability to attack the ball is too poor. The fundamental reason for them to open the gap is to keep their opponents from scoring.
Of course, this is not without cost. Leon replaced Garnett in advance, and Posey also sat on the bench and panted for breath. Such defense is a huge consumption and test of physical strength and energy. Kevin Garnett Nate, as the core of the defensive end, is the cpu on the field. He must make advance judgments based on the opponent's offensive situation, and command his teammates to fill in in time.
The Pacers’ offensive routines. Before the start of the game, Fox-Leon ordered a forty-five-page tactical manual and fifteen video tapes, took Garnett to see the spit, and analyzed all the offensive backhands, Change moves and habitual tactical choices.
After three more days of simulation training, plus the basis of continuous practice before, can the Pacers' offense in a game such as the Eastern Finals be easily and completely blocked, directly reducing the opponent's offensive level by two levels, just like the nba team against ncaa Ordinary team.
After the timeout ended and returned to the court, the Celtics put in a substitute lineup, Strickland replaced Bell, Anderson replaced Garnett, Pierce also reappeared. It can be said that the Celtics' substitutions are very irregular and elusive, but everyone with a clear eye knows that Leon has a clear thinking and reasonable scheduling, and established a 22-point lead in one quarter.
For a defensive team like the Pacers, the 22-point gap is nothing short of the sky. Even if the Celtics do not score in the entire fourth quarter, whether the Pacers can score 22 points is a question. In the 2004 season when the three-pointer was not fully developed and the perimeter K's influence was still alive, the death sentence was sentenced after being more than 20 points behind in the third quarter of the playoffs, with a 12-minute reprieve.
However, Leon still seemed to be uneasy. He didn't want to give the Pacers a chance, and didn't want them to have any thoughts of "we still have salvation".
Therefore, the Celtics' firepower has never been cut off, and the defensive strength is still the same. After Anderson came on the field, the ultimate defense is impossible to stage again. Leon steadily defended a 4-link and 1-star, allowing Reid to take care of Reggie throughout. -Miller, don't give this veteran the chance to play the magical script again.
But the game continued and reached the middle of the fourth quarter. There was still a 25-point gap between the two sides. It was longer than the end of the third quarter. The Pacers finally gave up their efforts. O'Brien replaced O'Neal, Artest and Stephen. Jackson, no matter how tough a team faces such a gap that cannot be smoothed, it will feel desperate.
In just one quarter, the Celtics used explosive defense and offense in the third quarter to completely destroy the Pacers. The Pacers, who played back and forth with the Celtics in the first half, acted like a team that had always been on the edge of the playoffs in the second half. They had nothing but passion but played out of order.
When the game was over, Leon breathed a sigh of relief. He tidied up his tie and suit and walked onto the court to hug O'Brien and Vogel. The three exchanged greetings and then separated. Tonight, Leon's pressure is by no means as easy as the score seems, 97:74, 23 points advantage to defeat the strong enemy, behind the Celtics overwhelming advantage is full preparation and accumulation of a season.
Leon was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines, UU reading www. uukanshu.com, he simply perfunctorily said that the Celtics won the third quarter three-point shooting and defense. On the surface, it seems that the Celtics won like this. Then he left the court and returned to the dressing room to celebrate with the players. The dressing room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, but there was no excessive ecstasy. After all, this was just a small step.
"We took a small step on the road to winning, but I think this is a big step in the Eastern Conference finals." Rick Carlisle took off his jacket and put on his shirt in the locker room.
"Your arrogant words are quite like mine. What gives you such confidence?" Leon teased Carlisle. He didn't change his clothes because he had to attend the post-match press conference later.
"Because of confidence, I bet the Pacers' confidence has been hit. In every crucial playoff game, confidence is very important. We not only won the game, but also won the fight for confidence. I was never an arrogant guy, but today I also want to say, we are going to sweep them!" Carlisle said loudly, rarely, his face flushed.
The players in the dressing room laughed, as if Carlisle's passionate words had no effect on them at all. Garnett stood up from his position, walked towards the door and said to Carlisle: "Coach Rick, tell you, we thought this way from the beginning of the playoffs. You thought it too late."
"I thought your fo, fo, fo, fo were joking."
"No one would joke about this, we all think so, Coach Rick." Arenas said, his expression very serious.
Carlisle nodded, and now this belief is extremely firm in his heart, and he wants to win the championship in the most perfect way! (To be continued.)