NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 553 "Home Team Championship Award" (Daily Chapter)

On Tuesday, May 2008, 5, at 6 p.m., the TD Garden was bustling again after a long absence.

This morning, the NBA announced this season's best defensive player (DPOY), and Kevin Garnett of the Celtics won the award!
Garnett, who is known for his combination of offense and defense, did not win this award when he was with the Timberwolves.

After arriving in Boston, head coach Rivers adjusted the tactical strategy, which allowed Garnett to shine on the defensive end.

The terrifying assisting defense ability has made the team's defensive data have a qualitative leap. Garnett's award this time is seen by the Boston sports media as a manifestation of the team's successful team building!
Starting in the afternoon, sports reporters gathered in Boston, and the award ceremony for the best defensive player was elevated to a higher level.

The spectators who didn't know the situation thought that Garnett won the MVP, which caused the New York fans who were watching the show to laugh and led to a riot during the award ceremony.
David Stern also appeared at the scene. He handed the little bronze trophy to Garnett with a smile and applauded on the side.

Garnett, wearing his home white training suit, raised the trophy high with his left hand, looked up, clenched his right fist, looked around, and roared:
“Yee!!”

Garnett's excitement also affected the Boston fans at the scene. The noise in the TD Garden became louder and louder. Those sitting in the front row stood up and celebrated with Garnett by punching the air.

After roaring for a few seconds in the middle of the court, Garnett took the microphone. After coming to Boston, he grew a goatee, which made him look tougher:

"I never thought I would win this award, sorry, I'm so excited!"

"When I won the MVP, I was just happy, but I didn't have too many emotions. The DPOY is different. This is not only a personal award, but also a recognition of the Celtics!"

"Oh! Man! I'm so excited. I'm a defense-first player and this trophy means something special to me."

"I know what everyone is worried about, but I swear, the team will get better and better. We played like rookies in the first round, but now the beast has awakened!"

"what!!"

As Garnett raised his head and roared again, the atmosphere on the scene reached a climax, and some excited fans also shouted loudly. This was the first time in more than 10 years that someone on the team won a major award.

Of course, there were also some people who didn't know what was going on and were screaming in their seats. Some young people who had gathered together had come from New York to watch the show and were booing, causing dissatisfaction among the fans around them.

The two sides once again engaged in a war of words, and New York fans, who feel very superior, like to bring up old scores:

"Give the trophy back to Lee, you owe New York an MVP!"

Although the Celtics won 60 games this season, this record still does not win the respect of New York fans, because Garnett was not selected by Boston, and the "grouping" is not worthy of praise.

Garnett has lost the two highest honors of "One Man, One City Award" and "Home Team Championship". No matter what achievements he makes, New York fans will not recognize him.

At the other end of the court, all the Cavaliers players had blank expressions on their faces, and Howard no longer had his usual smiling face. He thought that this award would belong to him, but in the end, Garnett took it away from him.

The team built by head coach Van Gundy has been honed over the past few seasons, and this year's defensive performance ranked first in the league in the regular season.

The team allows opponents to score an average of 89.1 points per game, which leads the entire league. The Celtics cannot match this number, and the Knicks are only ranked fifth in the league.

The team data is very impressive, and Howard's personal data is not bad either. Although he has not surpassed Marcus Camby, in terms of personal performance, "The Beast" is not inferior to any player in the league on the defensive end.

In addition, the Cavaliers' zone defense system also brought huge bonuses to Howard, so no one actually objected to giving the trophy to the newbie.

"Shit! For the first time, I think the New York newspapers are right. He stole the trophy that belonged to me! Who the hell is voting for him!"

After the award ceremony, Howard stood up from the bench and turned around to complain loudly. LeBron James next to him also felt a bit disappointed. He also wanted the trophy:

"Bro, beat these old guys! If we get an away win, we can win the series!"

James, wearing a red away jersey and taking off his training jacket, stepped forward to encourage the team. After making a series of fancy gestures with Howard, he threw magnesium powder in front of the technical table amid boos from the audience.

"Shhh!!"

In front of the camera, ignoring the boos, James clapped his hands with a serious expression, took the initiative to hug head coach Van Gundy, and also said hello to head coach Rivers.

In terms of playoff experience, James, who has been beaten for several consecutive years, actually does not lose to the opposing veterans.

Most teams in the league do not have the opportunity to play against the Knicks in the playoffs. In a sense, James has played more high-quality games, and consecutive failures have made him more confident.

When Howard, wearing red energy arm guards, came to the center of the venue, he glared at Garnett. The latter had just won an award and was very excited, so he immediately glared back and kept muttering.

The two sides were full of gunpowder. Ilgauskas stopped talking to his opponent. As the ball was passed by Howard, the TD Garden was booed again.
After the seventh game in the first round, head coach Rivers began to reflect. Fortunately, the coaching staff reacted very quickly and readjusted the team.

At this time, after Delonte West dribbled across half court, he observed that the opponent was also using zone defense, and immediately called Ilgauskas to the free throw line to respond.

After years of experience competing against the Knicks, the Cavaliers had extremely good coordination and fast tactical execution. After the ball was handed over, Delonte West ran to the left wing, while on the other side, James shot from the middle.

On the TNT commentary booth, Marv Albert saw the Cavaliers' tactics begin and immediately exclaimed:

"Coach Van Gundy has brought championship experience to this team. This is the Knicks' favorite tactical combination. Obviously, Ilgauskas has taken on the role of Ewing."

After a quick hand-to-hand pass, James received the ball without any fake moves, briefly got rid of Pierce's pursuit, and as he released the ball with his left hand, he lowered his shoulders and accelerated, ignoring Perkins who came to assist in defense.

The collision of the black meat shield did not slow down James. He forced his way through the defense and rushed into the paint area. After taking a step, he tried to lay up with his right hand, but was interfered by Garnett who was helping to defend the basket.

As soon as the basketball hit the rim, Howard, seeing the opportunity, immediately rushed out from the lower left side of the basket. After jumping high, he grabbed the ball in the air with his right hand and pushed it into the basket!
"what!!"

After completing the dunk, Howard imitated Gartner by pounding his chest, yelling at his opponent and muttering:
"You can't stop me!"

Although he missed a layup, James didn't care. This was the task assigned to him by the coaching staff. He just wanted to attack the basket with all his strength. After several years of training, his tactics have become "shoot and grab".

Van Gundy paced confidently on the sidelines. As long as he didn't meet his old club, he would still be the youngest coach in history to win four consecutive championships. Rivers on the opposite side was not worthy of being compared with him.

The camera quickly turned to Van Gundy, who was clapping calmly. He was wearing a straight black suit, a bright red scarf, and a shiny forehead. His demeanor made Reggie Miller in the commentary booth sigh:
"Coach Van Gundy is clearly well prepared. This reminds me of the Knicks team. In terms of playoff experience, the Cavaliers actually have the advantage!"

Pierce on the court also discovered the problem. James was full of confidence facing the "Big Four" and did not seem to take them seriously.

Amid the cheers that filled the arena, Marbury slowed down his pace after crossing half court.

First, he directed his teammates to screen Ray Allen according to the tactical requirements. Wally Szczerbiak chased closely and did not have many good opportunities. In this case, Marbury did not choose to initiate a pick-and-roll, but took the initiative to pass the ball to Pierce on the right wing. When the latter received the ball, James immediately stepped up to defend.

Perkins stepped up to set the screen in time, and when James chose to go around the line to try to defend, Pierce, who was moving sideways, suddenly stopped, slowly stepped back, and suddenly shot an arrow from outside the three-point line!
The basketball hit the rim and Howard, with his quick eyes and hands, jumped high and grabbed the rebound before Garnett, then immediately passed the ball to James in front of him.

It was not a very good transition offense opportunity, but James was as fierce as a tiger in the fast break, and relied on his excellent physical fitness to force an "overtake".

After squeezing past the retreating Pierce at the three-point line, James went straight to the basket amid the cheers of Boston fans, ignoring Marbury who was returning to defense, and forced a layup by leaning against his opponent.

"Shh!"

With a flick of his left wrist in the air, the basketball hit the backboard accurately and went into the basket. James rushed out of the baseline and the boos from the audience could not be stopped for a while.

Quickly running back to half court, James stood outside the three-point line, shook his head slightly and clapped his hands again, looking more confident.

"Fake."

The unreasonable fast break made Pierce curse under his breath. The opponent's performance was very similar to that of the Knicks last night. Li You was just a personal force, and Billups and the Pistons' inside line had no way to stop him.

The cheers rang out again, and Pierce, who ran across half the court, always had the illusion that his opponents were "copying and pasting". They had watched a lot of videos before, and they knew that the Cavaliers did not play like that.

As time went by in the game, the Celtics fans at the scene soon couldn't hold it anymore and they actually fell into a scoring drought.

The "Big Four" took turns trying to attack, but all their shots were in vain. There were no frontcourt rebounds, and the angry Howard firmly controlled the backcourt rebounds.

The Cavaliers' offense was not complicated. James broke through with hand-offs, broke through with the ball in the pick-and-roll, finished at the basket, made a sudden three-pointer, and Howard rushed for the offensive rebound.

The Celtics were stunned by the three attacks at the beginning of the game. No matter how loudly Rivers shouted on the sidelines, the score remained 0.
When Howard successfully received the ball in the low post on the left side after the cross-screen at the baseline, Garnett failed to get into position in time and was forced to turn around stiffly and squeeze under the basket, where he dunked the ball with both hands over two people!

10:0, with 8 minutes and 01 second left in the first quarter, the NDRC Garden became quiet as head coach Rivers requested a timeout.

“Yeee!! That’s it, beat up the old dog on the other side!!”

Howard was in high spirits, jumping up and down, shouting at the atmosphere group that rushed into the venue. James also raised his head with a smile on his face, and when he saw his younger brother Daniel Gibson rushing over, he shouted:

"Get ready Daniel, you'll be on the field soon."

"Shhh!!"

The boos that broke out in the arena did not affect Van Gundy's good mood. He specially watched the video of the Knicks' semi-final Game 1, and after "copying homework", he really caught his opponent by surprise.

Clapping calmly, Van Gundy patted the players who returned to their seats. At this moment, he became the championship creator again, and the red scarf on his chest seemed to be even brighter.

After the timeout, watching the opponent's piecemeal offense, Van Gundy simply returned to his seat and leaned back tactically. He took the Coke handed to him by the staff, took a sip, and felt even more refreshed:
"What is a champion coach?"

On Wednesday, May 5, news of the "Big Four"'s home defeat swept the entire NBA circle, and some basketball commentators were slapped in the face.

Although the Celtics have a older age structure, they looked more like rookies throughout the game compared to the Cavaliers.

90:78, neither team scored much, this can definitely be called a defensive battle.

出场45分钟的詹姆斯表现出色，24中9，三分线外7中2，罚球12中9，砍下29分7篮板8助攻2抢断2盖帽4失误的数据。

It is worth mentioning that Pierce, who was facing him, was in a slump, shooting 16 of 4 and scoring only 8 points in the entire game.
出场46分钟霍华德也通过这场比赛证明了自己，13中7，罚球12中5，砍下19分15篮板1抢断3盖帽3失误的大号两双。

Garnett, who was on the opposite side, also showed his offensive versatility, making 22 of 13 shots and scoring a Celtics-high 28 points.

Free throws were the key in this game, as the Cavaliers showed great aggressiveness and crushed their opponents with their absolute physical talent.

The two Eastern Conference semifinals were very similar. The Knicks frequently attacked the basket, crushing their opponents in three quarters and eventually defeating them easily 87:116.

It is worth mentioning that Li You made 16 free throws in three quarters, and he made 16 of them, which was obviously a response to the performance of the Los Angeles Mamba.

The semifinals continued tonight, with both the Knicks and the Lakers playing games. Since the Suns lost to the Hornets away, O'Neal had no chance to show off, and most sports reporters eventually chose to go to New York to have fun.

In the afternoon, when the Knicks arrived at Madison Square Garden early to warm up, the spectators gathered on the sidelines to warm up.

After only one night of fermentation, Van Gundy's "plagiarism" was exposed by a group of sports columnists. With the support of well-founded data, the fans of the "champion coach" were unable to refute it.

Li You did not forget to congratulate Durant, who won the Best Rookie Award, for being selected into the All-Rookie First Team again. After a simple blessing, he smiled and responded to the question:

"The game of basketball is all about winning, and I think Coach D'Antoni will be happy to know that more teams are imitating us!"

"I think Coach Van Gundy just made the right choice and amplified the talent of the young guys."

ESPN reporters focus on something different from others. They have more column writers and have discovered the Cavaliers' "copy and paste behavior" through data analysis.

"Lee, what do you think about winning a championship with a team? Does it enhance the player's historical status?"

Every season, ESPN will prepare a ranking. Maybe ranking the current players has become boring to the spectators, so recently they plan to start a "historical brawl".

"A champion is a champion. If you think about it from another perspective, being able to win championships with different teams is actually a great achievement."

"It's a pity that I don't have such an opportunity, but I respect such a choice and I respect all winners!"

Although Li You had a "respectful" look on his face, the sports reporters around him had an illusion of "looking down on" him. This feeling is hard to describe. The GOAT seemed to be mocking his opponent again.
Among the current players, most of the championship awards of their parent teams are concentrated on the Knicks. This is also the reason why more and more people praise New York. Team building depends entirely on the draft.

On the other side of the court, Artest was not interested in discussing these issues. He only got 16 minutes of playing time in the last game. Although this was related to the opponent's poor performance, he was not satisfied with it.

"Bro, my agent said the team will give me a big contract! I don't want to see you leave next season."

JR Smith leaned over to Artest and whispered his choice. Artest shrugged and did not give a clear response, but just complained casually:
"The coach doesn't seem to trust me anymore."

(End of this chapter)