Forward to the basket

Rivals, if interpreted literally, are actually opponents, competitors.However, more people are willing to interpret this word as an old enemy, which has been sublimated from the status of a competitor to another level.

Just by looking at this word, one can tell that the smell of gunpowder contained in it is self-evidently strong.

This guy is not an old enemy, this guy is not an old enemy, er, a very weird existence like the Great Demon King Roshan is also a kind of old enemy, but it looks a little bit 2 that's all.

Enemy, to be worthy of this word, must debut at the same time, take off at the same time, compete on the same field, a pair of enemies of the same level, each will use each other as a mirror, watching each other and seeing their own ups and downs.

Such a person is qualified to be an old enemy, otherwise, it will be less fun to blindly trample the other party to death. After all, being invincible alone is lonely, and only when you have a comparable opponent can you truly achieve greatness.

Just like how many years Jobs and Bill Gates have been rivals, although they later walked together, the number of secret confrontations between the two is probably indispensable, even after cooperation.

Like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Moutai and Wuliangye, McDonald’s and KFC, Baidu and Google, Nike and Adidas, uh, Japanese love action movies and European and American love action movies, etc. Anyway, as long as there are two giants in the same industry at the same time, they The confrontation between them often provokes flames of war in the industry.

Another example is the Smurfs and Gargamel, Bumpman and the little monster, Big Big Wolf and Xiyangyang, these are all old enemies.

The same is true in the basketball world. Leader Joe will always have challengers like Peyton and Miller by his side. They are entangled together and desperately fighting every confrontation to achieve the greatness of the basketball god.

Although it has been in the background for many years, it is estimated that no one can forget the scene of Peyton spraying trash at the leader of Joe, and no one can forget the awe-inspiring feeling when Miller pushed Joe away and threw a three-pointer. arrogance.

If Joe can defeat them, people will remember the most glorious era of the Bulls. If you are the sun, if you don’t have a group of stars that can also shine around you, your existence will be lonely.

This is the role of opponents. Without them, even if you are a naturally great guy, you will lose your due splendor and your value will be discounted because there is no top-notch confrontation.

Greatness requires a qualified foil. The stronger the man in the background, the stronger you will be.

But counting the entire history of the NBA, like the Knicks and the Heat, the Pistons and the Bulls, these are all old enemies, but the entanglement of these guys is limited to within ten years, and there is no grievance that lasts for decades.

Only the Celtics and the Lakers can be regarded as lingering forever. Since the day the NBA was born, they have been like lovers for several generations. Today you blatantly bully me, then tomorrow I will fight back.

It is estimated that no one can be more entangled than them, especially the Lakers who have been overwhelmed by the Celtics. Not to mention two fewer championships (as of 2007, it is now one short.) It is because of the two The direct confrontation has never taken advantage of it, mainly in the ten years since the 58-59 season, they have been losing almost all the time. As long as they enter the finals and meet the Celtics, the Lakers will end up alone. .

Those ten years were a waste of a group of talents for the Lakers. The Celtics' eight consecutive championships made them desperate. Regardless of whether it was West or Baylor, they couldn't break through the siege of the Celtics, even if their talents were amazing. .

Including West, this awesome character who has been fixed on the nba icon (although the nba officials are evading this fact, of course, I believe that the icon recognized by the whole world must be based on West, It's just that the NBA doesn't plan to pay for portrait rights for decades. Stein is really not an ordinary stingy.), Now he talks about the era that belonged to Boston, and he also looks helpless.

Because of those ten years of confrontation, every time the Lakers met the Celtics in the Finals, the Lakers ended up losing without exception, and West is the personal experience of that series of failures.

The entanglement in the 80s, the Lakers won five championships, the Celtics won the championship three times, and the duo of Bird and Johnson competed for hegemony.

The only consolation for the Lakers may be that their record after entering the millennium is far better than the Celtics who have been sinking to the bottom.

Their three consecutive championships since 2000 have narrowed the championship gap between the two. If not, they may have to catch up for a long time before they can catch up to the same level of championships.

Don't say that the level of basketball in the 60s is not developed enough, the Celtics won the championship with water, in fact, these remarks can be refuted with one sentence, "You can't win if you are underdeveloped, so what are you talking about!?"

But no one denies the greatness of the Lakers. Just like the Celtics, they are also a symbol of the NBA. Now it is estimated that no one knows the brilliance of "showtime" and the ferocity of the big sharks.

Anyway, the entanglement between the Lakers and the Celtics started from the day the NBA was born, and judging from this posture, they are likely to continue this deadlocked state.

It's just that in the course of the battle, those who witnessed it will change a group of players every few years.

This kind of deep-seated hostility cannot be erased by time, and as time goes on, the grievances of the old enemy will become more and more intense, just like the sediment of history.

The king's entanglement made the only choice between the two to continue to confront, and no one would choose to take a step back.

Rivers can be regarded as a part of the continuation of this old enemy's inheritance. As a member of the Celtics, he has only one thought in his mind when he meets the Lakers, and that is to trample the opponent under his feet.

It's not hatred, it's just a habit, just like Auerbach once said a classic sentence when he was still a coach, "Losing to the Lakers? I'm really sorry, that is absolutely impossible."

This old guy really did what he said. When McCann was playing for the Lakers, the Lakers, still called Minneapolis, stepped on the Celtics to reach the top. The coach at the time was Auerbach .

However, after McCann retired, this situation was completely reversed, and they never turned around.

Especially after the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, if they met Auerbach's Celtics, the only ending would be to lose. Even if you can get entangled in the seventh game of the finals, it is still a fate of a crushing defeat.

Therefore, the Celtics now have a habit. As long as they meet the Lakers, even in their lowest years, they can often play very tough games. Fierce temperament, just like those old seniors, they will never lose to this opponent easily.

This is an unsolvable phenomenon, whether you like it or not, anyway, the Celtics are such a tough existence, but as their old enemy, the Lakers are not vegetarian, they are also great.

So this kind of entanglement will continue until now, and the first stop of the Celtics' western tour is to go to Los Angeles to find trouble, and these guys plan to take away the victory. They have set foot on that area countless times. The field belongs to the Lakers, and every time the two meet, the game will be sparks.

Rivers is not afraid of this kind of confrontation. Anyway, he has been a deadly enemy with the Lakers for so many years, and this game is not bad. It's just that the schedule of consecutive away games in the West gives him a bit of a headache.

"If we can play two more games at home, maybe we can create an eight-game winning streak, and then we will have a chance to break into the top four in the Eastern Conference." Rivers said when studying the schedule with Thibodeau.

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with it. We played too smoothly. If we meet our main opponent in the playoffs later, we may not be able to be so easy. You also know that the playoffs and the regular season are completely two levels of confrontation. , the opponents we can defeat now, put it on that occasion, it may not be that we can win again."

"If those wild boys have been winning so smoothly, when there is a setback, there may be an unexpected landslide. This is beyond your control. Therefore, if there is a problem, it is better to expose it early."

Thibodeau has always been the kind of guy who handles things very calmly. For him, the gap between fifth and sixth in the Eastern Conference is not big, and the schedule arrangement gives them a chance to hit the top four, but this chance is not great.

After all, the Pistons, Bulls, Heat, Nets, including the Magic are all very strong. In addition, the Raptors' rising trend is also difficult to suppress. Just fighting with these teams will make the Celtics very difficult.

Instead of hoping to reach the top four in the Eastern Conference, it is better to be more stable and try to hold the Raptors in the Atlantic Division. Anyway, the situation between No.4 and No.5 is also a deadlock. In fact, the difference is only in the home and away games.

According to the current team's state and personnel mix, the Celtics will definitely have a place in the Eastern Conference, but it's just that Thibodeau and Rivers have no way to predict where they will eventually rush.

It can only be played game by game. If you are lucky enough, you may be able to reach the top four and have a good home court advantage. Otherwise, you will wait to fight the team in front of you. This is inevitable.

Anyway, if you can make it through the first round, you may not have much home court advantage against any team you meet later.

And just like what he said, playing too smoothly now will make the gang of wild boys under him relax. Once it comes to the high-confrontation games of the playoffs, this kind of relaxation may be fatal.

If a loss is inevitable, Thibodeau would like trouble to come sooner, so they still have time to correct those wrong things.

If it breaks out in the playoffs, it must be a situation that no one likes to see, at least he and Rivers don't want to put the failure on that occasion.

So it's not a bad thing for the Celtics to have a Western experience at this time, at least Thibodeau and Rivers think so.

But now they meet their old enemy and old enemy, none of them want to lose this game easily.

Regardless of whether it's in Boston or Los Angeles, it will be a fierce confrontation between the bandits in green shirts and the Purple and Gold Army. Since it's a match, someone has to be trampled underfoot. Who wins?