Four Hundred and Forty-Eight: Villains and Villains

The North Shore Gardens on January 2, 2013 had a particularly heavy atmosphere. Today, when Link stepped into the arena, he could immediately feel an oppressive air blowing towards him.

Celtic fans didn't shout, and the lights in the North Shore Gardens stand were dim, as if only the basketball court was illuminated. The basketball court was surrounded by darkness.

The Celtics are on a three-game losing streak, losing 23 points per game. Faced with such a situation, Celtic fans naturally couldn't clamor. After all, they know very well that the Celtics' opponent today is the No. 1 opponent in the league. It is the Memphis Grizzlies who have just slaughtered the Pacers two days ago!

Celtics fans may not be so confident at home since the Big Three met on the East Coast in 2007.

Link was observing the abnormal North Shore Garden when suddenly he heard a small cheer. Turning his head to look, sure enough, the Celtics players appeared!

Pierce was the first to lead everyone out of the tunnel. The 34-year-old small forward was serious and unsmiling.

Link knew what Pierce was thinking, otherwise he wouldn't have asked himself about "truth" yesterday.

The Celtics want to stop the decline at home, and Pierce wants to continue to use what is left in his gas tank to compete with Link.

Link certainly knew how important the win was to the Celtics, but that wasn't about him. It is impossible for him to do something like letting go of water because he sympathizes with his opponent.

"Link, if Garnett attacks you with trash talk today, don't lose control." Stevens shouted, causing Link to look away from Pierce.

"Don't worry, it's also Mr. Zach's anger if you want to be angry." Link smiled and waved his hand, but then again, Garnett's mood is really not very good recently. It should have been a few days since the famous scolding between him and Anthony.

It's a pity that Garnett got the wrong guy in New York. It is said that Anthony went to block Garnett after the game, and Garnett hid in the team bus and did not dare to come out.

It's really messy in New York, Guage has the final say.

Today is the home court of the Celtics, on Garnett's turf. It is estimated that the guy's mouth will be more broken.

Link was really worried about Randolph. I hope that guy doesn't fight Garnett.

After the warm-up, the TV reporter found Pierce and did a brief pre-match interview with him.

Unsurprisingly, the reporter's question was about Link, "Is Link the best 3 in the league right now?"

There is no doubt that the reporter asked Pierce this question in the hope that Pierce would give some praise to the younger generation.

However, Pierce joked, "I'm the best, I have this confidence."

The reporter froze in place, as if he had heard this answer. Before the 2007 Finals, a reporter asked Pierce if Kobe was the best player on the planet. As a result, Pierce responded to the reporter with that sentence.

As we all know, the Celtics defeated the Lakers 4-2 in the finals and won the 17th championship trophy in the history of the Celtics. Pierce averaged 22 points and won the FMVP trophy.

Pierce's words quickly reached Link's ears,

He was not surprised by this.

Don't be deceived by Pierce's honest appearance. He has always been a player who has been beaten and scolded by his mouth. And like Link, he is a "villain".

In 2008, when the media kept blasting "Kobe will get another championship ring", Pierce and the other two giants led the team to beat the Lakers 4-2.

When the whole world was clamoring for the finals "23vs24", Pierce and his Green Army destroyed people's dreams time and time again.

When playing against popular newcomers, when the whole world waited for Pierce to make way for him, he would silently pick up his gloves and throw punches and punches at the "decency" that everyone expects.

Speaking of which, Pierce and Link are quite alike.

So in the face of Pierce's provocation, Link did not respond, "I just want to work hard and play well, that's all."

Everyone is a big villain, it depends on who is more ruthless!

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the referee signaled the players from both sides to step into the court, and the game is about to start!

Today, there was no player introduction ceremony or overwhelming cheers. The Celtics players were like soldiers who fought to the death, with the determination to "die if you can't win", in front of the league's first.

The Celtics were about the same as usual, with Rondo and Bradley partnering on the perimeter. Garnett and Pierce are the two veterans in the front line, and the center has always been the soft underbelly of the Celtics. Now it is not a wise choice to let the aging Garnett go to the top 5 position. Therefore, the Celtics have also tried a lot of center options this season.

Today, the center sent by the Celtics is Jason Collins, a veteran who entered the industry in 2001. Collins had a mediocre career, averaging only 6 points and 6 rebounds in his peak season.

The only time this guy was in the public eye was last year, not because of basketball, but because he became the first active athlete in North American sports history to openly admit to being gay.

Therefore, the 5th position is the breakthrough for the Grizzlies today.

The referee blew the whistle, and the heavy atmosphere of the game officially started. Gasol easily scrambled the basketball off Collins, and Conley pushed the ball past half court.

Rajon Rondo isn't a friendly opponent. The point guard, who has been named to the All-Defensive Team four years in a row and two of the All-Defensive First Team, blocked his path in front of Conley.

Rondo did not press close to him as soon as he came up, but maintained a moderate distance so that Conley could not easily accelerate.

Under Rondo's block, Conley hit the ball to Andre Iguodala. Iguodala has an advantage in the face of Bradley, who is only 1.88 meters tall.

So, Iguodala broke through after taking the cover, and wanted to use his height advantage to eat Bradley!

But just after Iguodala jumped into the penalty area, Kevin Garnett arrived with a roar.

"Wolf King" jumped hard, straightened his arms, and slammed Iguodala's layup back!

Iguodala couldn't take off at full strength because Bradley was on top of the defense. Don't look at Bradley is only 1.88 meters, but the confrontation ability is really strong. When Bradley was still in college, people said he could guard NBA-caliber guards.

In this way, Iguodala's first layup was blocked by Garnett!

"KG, he actually blocked Iguodala, it's incredible!" The Boston commentators on the scene were wide-eyed. As age increases, Garnett's defensive ability is actually declining year by year.

Unlike the average of 2.2 blocks per game in his peak period, Garnett now uses more interference and confrontation to force the opponent to strike, rather than directly blocking.

It's really rare for Garnett to have such a crisp blowout just now. It seems that KG really fought hard today!

Rondo got the basketball that was blocked. This guy is always very accurate in his judgment of where the basketball will fall. The nickname "C-do" is not a random shout.

Rondo did not advance quickly, but dribbled the ball and gestured unhurriedly.

After Rondo crossed the midfield line, he was embarrassed to find that Conley had retreated directly to the three-point line, and he was once again completely empty outside the three-point line.

Rondo's mouth twitched twice, but it didn't interrupt his thoughts. He handed the ball to KG, who was standing at the free throw line. KG and Pierce played hand in hand, Iguodala was blocked by Garnett, and Randolph had to switch to Pierce.

Randolph thought that Pierce would take advantage of this small chance to make a big breakthrough, but as soon as Pierce got the ball from Garnett, he took advantage of the situation and made a straight back jumper!

"Damn it!" Randolph hurried to block, but Pierce's shot was too difficult to interfere.

Pierce's jump height is not high, but the angle of the back is particularly large. Gives a feeling of "I'm about to seal him, but I just can't".

Under Randolph's weak interference, Pierce's mid-range fallback jumper directly and crisply entered the net!

Garnett and Pierce, the two superstars who have been "outdated", used the excellent performance of one offense and one defense to give the Celtics a head start!

The moment the ball was scored, Link finally heard the cheers of letters from the stands. The North Shore Garden was finally activated by Pierce.

"Beautiful fallback jumper, Pierce has a strong desire to attack today. He shoots when he catches the ball, without hesitation. I hope his state today can be maintained forever."

The Grizzlies attacked, and this time, the Grizzlies pulled away all, and Conley hoisted the ball inside to give Gasol a single against Collins.

But Collins was unexpectedly tough on the defensive end. Gasol hit his back twice, and the distance he could advance was negligible.

There was no way, Gasol had to turn over and make a jumper before the back-up timeout was violated.

Gasol's shot point is high, but Collins also has a height of 2.13 meters and a pair of long arms. Under his interference, Gasol Jr.'s shot hit the frame, and the Grizzlies missed the second consecutive attack!

"The Celtics' defense is better than expected!" On the Grizzlies' bench, assistant coach Elston Turner was anxious.

"This is the Celtics, man." Stevens is still very calm, he has long known that the Celtics are different from the rest of the ninth in the East.

Garnett received the second rebound of the game, the Celtics counterattack!

Iguodala has been following Pierce, he knows, this guy is the number one danger to the Celtics. The fade-back jumper just now showed Pierce's good feel today.

Pierce walked unhurriedly to the mid-range position on the right side of the court, and then leaned on Iguodala with his back, as if he was going to post a single!

Pierce's ass is not small, and his back footsteps are also excellent. Iguodala didn't dare to slack off, trying to support Pierce's waist and sinking his center of gravity back.

But at this moment, Pierce secretly pushed Iguodala, and then suddenly rebounded beyond the three-point line!

Iguodala's center of gravity has sunk, and if he is pushed by Pierce like this, it is difficult to keep up with the first time!

As soon as Pierce ran outside the three-point line on the right, Rondo's pass was delivered immediately. At this time, Iguodala is still one position behind Pierce.

Pierce showed no mercy, pulled up and shot! Iguodala sealed up, but he had left Pierce too much space before.

"brush!"

Pierce picked up the knife and fell, and the basketball hollowed into the net, without delay! Celtics fans cheered and all stood up. With 5 points in a row, Paul Pierce seems destined to end the losing streak at home!

Pierce, waving his arms after the goal, shouted, "This is the fucking truth!"

Link is ready to move, he should take over the attack.