Two Hundred and Sixty-Four: Big 4 Flanks

The game went to dead ball when Conley was fouled for trying to steal Rondo. The electronic buzzer reminded me that this represented a team substitution.

A young man with a short head and a faint stubble on his chin stepped onto the court. Because of Link's proposal to "don't shave if he doesn't get the top four", all the Grizzlies players came out with thick hair. The fans are really curious now.

"Jimmy Butler, the Grizzlies replaced Rudy Gay with Jimmy Butler. Gay just let Pierce score 4 points in a row, and he obviously has a hard time staying focused on the defensive end. Battier is also in good shape today. Very general, so Coach Hollins actually chose Jimmy Butler now!" Jaylen Rose, who explained the game, was a little surprised, and replaced by a water cooler, the Grizzlies were really pushed into a corner.

At this time, many fans have a question in their minds, "Who is Jimmy Butler? Does the Grizzlies still have this number?"

"This summer, the Grizzlies traded O.J. Mayo to Butler, and the trade was hotly debated. Now, Mayo is averaging 12.6 points per game with the Nets. And Jimmy Butler  … .. in his limited playing time, only 2.6 points per game has been credited."

Until Jaylen Rose said so, the fans suddenly realized. Oh, so he was the guy the Grizzlies traded for Mayo.

Seeing that Butler is not a well-known player, Boston fans are starting their "reserved program" again. As soon as he got on the court, Butler heard a lot of abuse.

But Butler didn't care. Seriously, his childhood was much darker than that. Since his mother said "I don't like the way you look, let's go", there is no language in the world that can make Jimmy Butler feel vicious.

Butler stepped onto the court, walked up to his teammates, and relayed to them a message from head coach Hollins.

"Don't give up, keep going!"

Although it was just a simple sentence, the Grizzlies players took a deep breath one by one, preparing to make the Celtics look good in the next defensive round!

Jimmy Butler catches a defensive possession as soon as he gets on the floor, which is to his taste.

Paul Pierce wiped the sweat with his collar. It's been a tough season. The record so far is 12 wins and 10 losses, which is definitely difficult to satisfy the Celtics. Today, the intensity of the game also makes Pierce feel tortured.

Don't look at the Celtics now leading the Grizzlies by 8 points, but they are also under great pressure,

Not easy either. But seeing the young player in front of him, whose name was not mentioned in the Celtics' preparation plan, Pierce thought, this should be a few rounds easier.

The Celtics continued their offense, with Rondo taking his time to organize from beyond the arc. This season's Rondo has been one of the indispensable cores of the Celtics, and his tactical status is sometimes even higher than the Big Three.

Because of this, there have been frequent reports of Rondo's feud with coaches and teammates this season.

But no matter what the locker room looks like, Rondo is pretty professional on the basketball court. When you return from the field, you must play well when you are on the field.

Ray Allen was about to move, ready to run out of the open to catch the ball. But Link's strict defense made Ray Allen very uncomfortable. Today, Ray Allen's shooting percentage and scoring were the least among the Big Three. No way, who made his matchup the starting forward of the Western All-Star team?

Rondo saw that Ray Allen did not run out, and Garnett was fighting Randolph again. So, he gave the ball to Pierce. Pierce feints the ball and prepares to break through directly. Generally, this simple trick is more than enough to deal with rookies.

But Pierce was just half a step away when he was stopped by Jimmy Butler! And Butler's confrontation ability surprised Pierce. Is he really a first-year?

The last Grizzlies player to ask Pierce this question was Link.

Pierce was blocked by Jimmy Butler. Off the court, Hollins waved his fist excitedly! Going on Jimmy Butler is undoubtedly a dangerous move, but for now, it's the right move!

"Jimmy is very focused on defense. He should have no problem dealing with Pierce, who is already very tired!" Beside Hollins, assistant coach Elston Turner looked confident.

Turner was in charge of scouting players before the draft last summer, and during joint workouts, many youngsters like to show off their jumping, speed and shooting. But Butler was an outlier among the players in the workouts, just as hardworking as he was in college, defending instead of showing his personality.

At that time, Elster Turner knew that Butler was at least a player with a good defensive attitude and strong willpower. It is true that Butler has not been polished to perfection, but Pierce is not in perfect shape now.

Under the tough defense of Jimmy Butler, Pierce's mid-range pull-up jumper finally hit the frame. Gasol struggled to protect the rebound, and the Grizzlies got the opportunity to narrow the difference!

The Grizzlies are missing Mr. Tony, and the Celtics are not without injuries. This year's injury problems have been fatal to all teams, not just the Grizzlies.

Perkins was traded to the Thunder in the middle of last season due to O'Neal's retirement. So, the Celtics don't have a decent center available this season.

Jermaine O'Neal? He's no longer the All-Star forward he used to be. Serious injuries and wandering around in recent years have made him a pure blue-collar, or a blue-collar that is not very easy to use.

Therefore, most of the time this season, the Celtics use Brandon Bass to play the power forward and let Garnett go to the top five.

Although Bass is only 2.03 meters tall, he has a soft shooting feel, strong confrontation and active play. This season, he can contribute 12.5 points per game and is an important main force for the Celtics.

But now, Buss is injured, and the Celtics can only replace Buss with O'Neal Jr. The result is that the rebounding is not strong, and the interior defense is weak.

After receiving the pass from Xiao Conley, Link drove straight in, smashed Huanglong, and attacked the basket.

Ray Allen couldn't keep up with Link, and Link was really not afraid of O'Neal's rim protection ability.

In the confrontation, Link easily scored the ball! Little O'Neal could hardly jump up now, so he could only watch himself being eaten by Link.

It's really cool to catch the opponent's injury problem and fight hard.

"With only 6 points left, the Grizzlies try again to get closer. Jimmy Butler just had a very successful defense against Pierce, and he was an important factor in this counterattack. But success in one possession is not enough. The Grizzlies must keep up the good work!"

"Focus, focus!" Doug Rivers' terrifying voice immediately resounded through the audience. He thought the Celtics had just slackened.

But in fact, the Celtics players just got serious! They really can't stop the Grizzlies!

This time, the basketball was still in Pierce's hands. But it's clear that Jimmy Butler's just-successful defense wasn't luck, as he once again cornered a weary Pierce.

The last time the Grizzlies played against the Thunder, the young Thunder Three Shao was still full of energy until the end. But today, the Big Three are significantly more tired than the Grizzlies.

No way, Pierce had to give the ball to Garnett. KG sat back twice, but this push was unsuccessful. Randolph doesn't want to lose anymore, he's fed up with losing every game because of last-minute weakness.

Garnett saw that he couldn't move, so he passed the ball again! But it must be said that the veteran made a very low-level mistake, his passing was too redundant and his intentions were too obvious!

As soon as Pierce was ready to catch the ball, Jimmy Butler rushed out to intercept the basketball midway, and the Celtics failed again!

"A steal! My God, Jimmy Butler did a great job! He got a key steal in the second round after playing! KG made a mistake and Jimmy Butler tried to convert the opponent's mistake into Score!"

Butler is not greedy for credit, and immediately handed the ball to Conley after grabbing the basketball. For him, it is enough to do what he should do on the court.

On the Celtics side, it was not timely to retreat due to physical problems. Of the five people on the field, only Rondo retreated the fastest. Although Rondo is also a defensive player, it is difficult for him to protect the basket when the opponent is attacking quickly.

Conley threw the ball directly into the air, Link came up behind, held the basketball with one hand and smashed it into the frame, alley-oop!

Rondo didn't jump directly to try to block Link, not because he was not active, but because of Rondo's basketball IQ, he knew very well that even if he jumped, he would at most apply for a foul for himself. So, it's not necessary at all.

"Bo! Alley dunks! Beautiful cooperation from Link and Mike Conley. With 4 points, the Grizzlies narrowed the difference to 4 points! The Celtics were weak in the follow-up, and they didn't attack the Grizzlies for three full quarters. Kill. And now, it's the Memphis' turn to fight back!"

Most people are cheering for Conley and Link, and they are all talking about the dunks just now. But few people remember that the opportunity came from a steal by Jimmy Butler.

After Link walked back, he high-fived Jimmy Butler. No one could remember his contribution on the defensive end just now, but Link would not forget it.

"Go ahead, you're going to drive him crazy." After Link finished, Jimmy Butler nodded.

This pair of senior wings is about to change the trend of the game.