Starting with 2006

Chapter 534 First Victory

"For the Magic, they played very well. Howard was able to shoot close to [-]% of his shots at the basket while being accurate from the outside. But it is a pity that they met the Bobcats."

Kenny Smith's regret gave a final conclusion to this game. After he finished speaking, Van Gundy, the head coach of the Magic, replaced the team's main players. With less than 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, They announced their withdrawal.

Although Howard was very unwilling, no one could change the established result of the game. The Bobcats had maintained a 15-point lead since the second half. No matter how hot the Magic felt, they were still able to stabilize the situation. It was delayed until 3 minutes before the end of the fourth quarter.

This is an extremely desperate thing for the Magic. You must know that their performance today is definitely the best game since the playoffs, but unfortunately, they still lost this game.

This is a big blow to them who are aiming for the championship. You must know that their goals this season are not small. Of course, the goals of the teams that can reach this point are naturally not small, but the goal of the Magic champion.

This sounds a bit unbelievable, after all, they are a team that just made the playoffs last season, but for the management of the Magic and their fans, they can't wait, they need this game Victory, they need victory this season, they need a championship to prove their strength!
Therefore, no matter what, when they were beaten to despair by the opposing Bobcats, they realized their own shortcomings.

What they thought was too simple at the beginning. Just Howard wanted to take them further in the playoffs. It is indeed a bit unrealistic. In the regular season, they have not realized this problem until now in the first game. When the game met the Bobcats head-on, Howard's shortcomings and the limitations of the Magic's role players were infinitely magnified. After watching the game, the Magic management suddenly realized this huge problem.

Why is the playoffs a stage for superstars?
This is because they have abilities beyond ordinary players, which makes them able to display their strengths better in the more tense, fiercer, and more confrontational stage of the playoffs, and Howard is an outstanding player. Outstanding ability is enough, of course you can also give me full of talent, naturally very talented, but his shortcomings are too obvious!
He doesn't have any range at all away from the rim, which means he's not a threat.

Maybe other teams have no way to keep Howard away from the basket, but for the Bobcats, where almost everyone has range, it is too easy to hang the paint away from the basket. In addition, Howard had to rush out after three consecutive three-pointers, and once Huo Ade was transferred out of the Magic's restricted area, then the Bobcats players would be able to wreak havoc under the Magic's basket with their unscrupulous talents.

This problem is a bit unsolvable for the Magic. Perhaps they can only hope that when the Bobcats' Gasol Jr. can't hit the open space like the first game, after three points, they will have a chance to win the game.

But when Gasol Jr. was able to keep more than 50% open three-pointers from the outside in the second and third games, the Magic were directly stunned. They never thought that in this round of the series During the game, the Bobcats were able to have an inside player who maintained such a three-point shooting rate.

This is tantamount to directly catching the shortcomings of the Magic and being beaten to death with a stick, and being shot to death by an unknown inside player by the Bobcats. This is really unacceptable for the Magic.

The 3-0 result also surprised many people. Everyone who was going to watch the show dropped their jaws in shock. No one could have imagined that the Magic, the No. The third one just swept out.

Could it be that Magic can't even compare to a bull?

Obviously, this is not the case. The Bobcats will definitely not be much better than the Magic, and the Bulls will not be better than the Magic, but perhaps it is because of their mutual restraint that the Bobcats can easily grasp the fatal flaw of the Magic and easily get the match point of the game. It was something that no one expected before the game.

Now the time in the United States has slowly entered May, but in this country, which is considered by many people to be a paradise, it has been quite melancholy recently. The war that makes this country extremely depressed is still going on. Now the United States, many times They are all full of impetuousness, or anxiety, because of the war, no one will have a good mood to face anything.

And in such a general environment, the NBA is also deeply affected, especially in the cruel playoff environment. Now is the time when the second round of the playoffs begins. Half of the teams in the game have already returned home, and among these teams that were eliminated early, almost every head coach is facing pressure from fans and team management.

The current Magic is suffering from such pressure. Of course, this is not important to the Bobcats. What they need to pay attention to is their current game, the most crucial fourth game between the two sides.

"Xiao Gao, how are you? Are you nervous?"

Before the start of the game, Dayao called Gao Tian. He was asking about the situation of the Bobcats and also cheering for the Bobcats.

After all, the Rockets were eliminated by the Suns with a big score of 4:2 in the first round, so now Yao is putting all his hopes on the Bobcats. After all, the Bobcats have three young Chinese players.

They are the hope of Huaxia basketball in the future, and Dayao naturally hopes that they can achieve a good result in the playoffs. Of course, what has achieved a good result now is naturally far beyond Dayao's expectations. After all, he did not expect The unstoppable Magic in the regular season will be knocked down by the Bobcats in the playoffs. Now the Bobcats will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals again, only one game away!

Therefore, Dayao's call now naturally hopes that Gao Tian and the others can take it lightly and be caught by the Magic. Of course, he naturally feels that the Magic can't hope to make a comeback, but it's better not to be careless in such a crucial game. Advance to the next round of competition as soon as possible, and don't keep the suspense.

Facing Dayao's question, Gao Tian just said one word briefly, and that one was so loud and easy to let go, that Dayao on the other end of the phone couldn't help but tremble. From this word, he expected that At the end of the game, when Gao Tian was serious, there was no way for the Magic to stop Gao Tian!

This game is rare for the Magic to be concentric, because the game has reached this point, and they really can't afford to lose. Of course, they also know that there is not much hope for this game, and they even say that this series is basically over. , but they couldn't just be swept away by the Bobcats with a 4-0 humiliating score. For them, this is really an unacceptable thing.

At least they have to win one more game to make their season look less ugly.

And when the game comes to this point, the Magic will naturally not be restrained. Everyone rushes to the basket like crazy. They desperately want to use physical contact to get the Bobcats into trouble. I have to say, at least they Such a desperate tactic is still useful. Now the Bobcats are indeed in some trouble, and they can't control their fouls.

Of course, it is mainly because the referee Bavita of this game is indeed somewhat biased towards the Magic, and they obviously get more whistles than the Bobcats at home.

Of course, there is no way around this. After all, the factors that can determine the outcome of a game are definitely not only on the field, but also many factors outside the field. , The Magic lead to ten points, this is the first time in the entire series, the fans and players of the Magic couldn't help but burst into tears, at least now they see the dawn of victory in the game.

Now all the players of the Magic have murderous looks on their faces. If they don't fight at this time, they really have no chance to fight. So at this point, they naturally don't have to worry so much.

And only a team that doesn't care about anything at all can often explode with unimaginable fighting power in a desperate situation. This is the case with the Magic now. At least 2 minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, they have already marched towards victory with one foot threshold.

Maybe the Bobcats are really going to lose in this game?

Will the Magic leave some dignity and let them think about next season?

It can be said that when everyone thought that the Bobcats were going to lose this game, there was no doubt that Gao Tian, ​​who had been performing poorly in this game, was beyond everyone's expectations, but also stood up in some people's expectations. come out.

Facing the Magic perimeter players who were defending him, Gao Tian coldly scored three three-pointers. These three-level three-pointers directly destroyed the Magic players' psychological defense and directly hit them from the highest point of momentum to the lowest point. .

At this time, the fragile hearts of the Magic players could no longer bear it. A violent and short blow like Gao Tian's was like an indestructible sharp blade to him and them, piercing through their hearts.

There is no way out.

With another steal by Gao Tian, ​​the Bobcats directly overtook the score. With less than 1 minute before the end of the game, Gao Tian directly led the Bobcats to a terrifying 12-0.

There is no hope for magic!
In the sigh of Kenneth Smith, the Bobcats ended the game and ended this round of the series. Like last season, they once again advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. What is different from last season is that this time they are based on The status of the league's first team to advance to the conference finals.

The only thing that is the same as last season is that they are all teams that are not favored by everyone from the beginning, and no one can even think of their process, it will be so simple, so simple that everyone thinks it seems that their opponents They are all releasing water.

But no matter what, the Bobcats are probably the biggest dark horse of this season, and they went all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, and they will wait for their old opponents in their Eastern Conference finals. The Walters, perhaps within a few days, they will repeat the plot of last season.

For many Bobcats fans and Celtics fans, this seems a bit dreamy, and this fact makes them feel unacceptable.

What Bobcats fans can hardly accept is that they have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals so quickly and rebuilt their position from last season, and what Celtics fans cannot accept is that they will meet again in the Eastern Conference Finals. The young Bobcats, and this is the second consecutive year they have met this young team in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Of course, they believe that the powerful Celtics will affect the Eastern Conference finals, advance to the finals again, compete with their archenemy Lakers, and win the final championship, but this does not mean that they have nothing to do with the current Bobcats concern.

After all, the current Bobcats are too young. At the same time as they are extremely young, they have told everyone with their performance in the playoffs that just because they are young does not mean that they are inexperienced, lack strength, and cannot go far in the playoffs.

So, perhaps the current Bobcats may not pose much threat to the Celtics, but in the next two years, when the Celtics are at their peak, once it passes, the Bobcats may be the overlord of the Eastern Conference in the future!

Just when such faint worries appeared in the hearts of Celtics fans, as the Celtics finally used their overall performance to turn James' 50+ large triple-double into an empty cut, the Celtics finally ended up with We defeated the Cavaliers with a big score of 4 to 1, and we will meet their old rival Bobcats again in the Eastern Conference Finals!
Obviously, this early Eastern Conference Finals has also attracted the attention of all fans. After all, compared with the more intense playoffs in the Western Conference, the situation in the Eastern Conference is now extremely clear. Now the Lakers in the Western Conference are still following. The Suns are playing evenly, and the Hornets are also continuing their top-level duel with the Spurs. It is still unclear which two teams will advance to the Western Conference Finals, so fans all over the world are focusing on the upcoming first round. An Eastern Conference final.

They want to know whether it is the Celtics who defeated the Bobcats in the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive years and advanced to the finals, or the young Bobcats led by Gao Tian can beat the mighty Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Reached the finals for the first time!
Such a sense of anticipation made this game instantly become the focus of attention of all fans around the world, and in such an atmosphere full of pressure and tension, this game officially started!
First of all, of course, is the familiar jump ball between Gasol and Garnett. In the four matches between the two teams this season, the Celtics have a huge advantage of 3 to 1. This is why the outside world is unanimous. Optimistic about the reasons for the Celtics, after all, whether it is from the strength of the team, or from the spiritual level, the Bobcats are difficult to compare with the Celtics.

At least the current Bobcats may be able to win two games under the Celtics, but if you want to beat the Celtics in this round of the series, reaching the finals is really a bit unreal.

The only thing to look forward to is probably what kind of miracles Gao Tian, ​​the core of the Bobcats, can create in this round of the series?
After all, apart from Gao Tian, ​​they didn't expect that the Bobcats would have other players who could perform well in this round of the series and help Gao Tian.

Therefore, for this round, many media have given a conclusion that the Celtics will beat the Bobcats with a total score of 4:2. Perhaps Gao Tian will cause a lot of trouble for the Celtics, but he wants to To defeat the Celtics, it is absolutely impossible for the Bobcats to have Gao Tian stand up alone.

And who can the Bobcats stand out in this round of the series?
Jane?Sun Yue?Yi Jianlian?
North Shore Gardens, Boston, May 2009, 5.

The North Shore Garden Arena in Boston has always been one of the holy places of the NBA. This is the home of the Boston Celtics, one of the greatest giants in the NBA. There have been countless myths and miracles that have appeared on this venue. There are countless moments and passing players.

Basically, every old fan of the Boston Celtics can talk about the past history of the Celtics here for a long time. The difference between the legendary Boston Celtics is that the current North Shore Garden is no longer the former North Shore Garden. This North Shore Garden was newly built and used in 1995. It can be said that in this new North Shore Garden, the current Only the Boston Celtics are their most glorious moment, and they are working hard to create new brilliance!
Perhaps compared with the old North Shore Garden, this round of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Bobcats is nothing at all. The previous Boston Celtics won 16 championships, and they still care about this mere conference finals?
Whether it is compared to history or background, the current Boston Celtics are not comparable to the previous ones. Of course, the difference is that for most Celtics fans, the past history is too much It's far away, and it only exists in the memory of most Celtics fans. Even after more than a decade of dark years, these Boston Celtics fans have been exhausted by their own history. Tired, every time they think of their past glory and see the reality they are in, these Boston Celtics don’t know how to vent their depression in their hearts, and with the appearance of the Big Three, these Boston Celtics fans Just like the freshmen in North Shore Garden, they found their new goals.

They look forward to the new Celtics being able to bring them great victories in the new history, and they desperately need this championship, especially when their mortal enemy, the Lakers, has more championships than them. There is an urgent need for a championship that can allow them to tie with the Lakers, or even overtake them again!
The current North Shore Garden is no longer the North Shore Garden of the past, and now the Boston Celtics are different from the Boston Celtics of the past. This is a reborn arena, and this is also a reborn team. There is also a group of fans who are almost reborn.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, as the game time approached, the line outside the North Shore Garden was getting shorter and shorter. Most of the fans came to line up three or four hours in advance, and the game was at [-] pm. In normal times, almost all Boston Celtics fans can enter the stadium an hour earlier.

This is enough to reflect the attitude of the Celtics fans towards this game. They are one of the best teams and they are the master of the king, so they will definitely win the game!
In this case, when there are less than two hours left before the game, the outside of the North Shore Garden is often empty, but in the playoffs, even fans with tickets have all entered the stadium, but the square outside There will not be too many fans, because most fans without tickets choose to watch the game on the square outside the arena, because it looks more atmospheric, and it is definitely a blessing to be able to share your happiness with others. A very interesting thing, even if there is no joy, of course, this is impossible.

Celtics fans are so confident, they believe that the Celtics will win.

"Great atmosphere, isn't it?"

Stotts had a smile on his face, yes, under such tremendous pressure, he had a rare smile on his serious face since he entered the playoffs, seeing the look on Stotts' face Smiling Bobcats players once doubted their own vision, or their coach a little crazy?
Obviously, Stotts didn't take into account what the players think of him. Now he may have been completely immersed in his own world. It is certainly not easy for the Bobcats to get to this point. They have paid a lot and paid a lot. A lot of hard work.

The vast majority of people only saw the Bobcats in the playoffs, but they did not see the Bobcats coaching staff and the preparations made by the Bobcats players for the playoffs. While entertaining, they are still sweating profusely in the training hall. This is the biggest reason why the Bobcats have been able to go all the way to the present.

Everyone only saw the brilliance of the Bobcats on the surface, but how difficult the Bobcats are is something they didn't pay attention to. Therefore, the Bobcats who have come to the present will not change their beliefs because of the outside world, and their confidence will not change. There will be no wavering.

What are they doing this season?
All Bobcats players will never forget what their leader Gao Tian said after the end of last season.

"Get up from where you fell!"

It is precisely because of Gao Tian's words that all of them were able to overcome all difficulties in one season and forge ahead all the way to where they are now, and to go back to their greatest enemy, Kyle, who defeated them last season in front of the special people.

And now what are they going to do?
There is no doubt that it is to beat the Celtics with all their strength!
Wherever you fall, you have to get up from where you fell, and now the Bobcats players will use their actions to realize their promises to themselves!

Gao Tian walked in front of everyone silently. He was like a stalwart giant, standing on top of the North Shore Garden Arena. Amidst the wild boos of tens of thousands of fans, he led the young Bobcats players all the way to the end of the field. central.

Today's game is destined to be extraordinary!
The Celtics, who had a smile on their faces, seemed to feel something. They saw a dangerous light in Gao Tian's eyes. They were very, very familiar with such eyes. The terrifying guy with such a headache smashed their pride with such eyes and such strength!

Gao Tian's regular season stats are a bit bleak compared to his regular season MVP-level stats last season. Although it seems to be at the level of a superstar, it is not really at the level of Gao Tian.

But in the playoffs, Gao Tian's stats increased sharply. Compared with the regular season, his stats have improved a lot. The most frightening thing is that his high-level stats are also improving. is the scariest thing.

The NBA has always been a sport with an extremely long season, and it is also a sport with an extremely tight schedule. Compared with the other two major professional sports, football and baseball, the amount of exercise in professional basketball is really much greater. In such a huge Under the amount of exercise, in fact, for players, there has always been a difficult choice.

Between the long regular season and the big playoffs, they have to make a judgment call.

For example, some players must make a decision. They need to make some trade-offs between the regular season data and the playoffs. In many cases, for most players, they generally do not try their best in the regular season when they can guarantee the regular season results. For example, Gao Tian still has some veterans now. After the team has acquired many excellent new teammates, and when the team has enough strength to go further in the regular season, the core players of the team began to gradually improve. Same as changing roles.

Now Gao Tian has begun to have a mentality of a strong man. The so-called mentality of a strong man is naturally a kind of indifference to some unimportant or insignificant things. This kind of indifference is not shared by everyone. If Kobe of the Lakers can have such a mentality, at least he can have more sufficient physical strength and spirit in the playoffs, such a Lakers may be able to go more easily in the playoffs.

Perhaps Kobe has already gotten used to his teammates. If Kobe changed his character and his style of play, then he would not be the black mamba who must get revenge! ,

And now Gao Tian is such an existence. For Gao Tian, ​​the regular season is more about finding his status, and he can only show his true strength when the playoffs are his real stage.

Of course, everyone in the Celtics understands this truth, so when they see Gao Tian now, they pay more attention. They all know what a dangerous opponent this is. Facing Gao Tian who is baring his fangs They have to do all the things they are supposed to do.

"The Celtics are well prepared for Gao Tian's defense!"

Kenny Smith's exclamation is not unreasonable. The Celtics began to entangle Gao Tian at the beginning of the game. Pierce entangled Gao Tian regardless of time, trying to change Gao Tian's mood and his physical strength in this way. This is their only way to allow Gao Tian to take over the game with difficulty.

But is this really useful to Gao Tian?
"It's all useless work!"

Barkley snorted coldly. Although everyone knew that he was laughing at the Celtics' overreach, Kenny Smith could hear a bit of unwillingness from Barkley's words. A person got up, the man who used to control their fear, the owner of the Bobcats who was watching the game at the North Shore Garden, Michael Jordan!

For Jordan, they have done such a strategy a long time ago, and all teams that compete with Jordan have used this method, but it turns out that this is of no use, and it can even be said that it consumes their own physical strength.

The same is true for Gao Tian. Compared with Jordan, his shot selection is more reasonable. The advantage of this more reasonable shot method is that his physical strength is more energy-saving, and even more deterrent. force.

After all, defending Gao Tian's three-pointer is a huge problem for any team.

"Three points! Another three points!"

Gao Tian went crazy and didn't give the Celtics players a chance at all. The Celtics players were a little confused in the first quarter. In the first quarter, Gao Tian made five shots on Pierce's head. Three points!

Forty points in two quarters, this is Gao Tian's attitude, this is his attitude in the first game against the Celtics!

"Boys, your performance in the first half was very good, but it was not enough. I need you to maintain this momentum in the second half, and even show a stronger attitude. This is what we must do! "

"This is their place, but we're going to fuck their asses right here!"

In the Bobcats lounge, Stotts smiled and encouraged the Bobcats players, and Stotts did not forget to wave his fist when talking about this, which is really great for Stotts An unimaginable thing, and the Bobcats players were extremely excited at this time.

The first half was definitely the best half they played in the playoffs this season. They almost completely suppressed the somewhat conservative Celtics. Under such circumstances, there is no better way to suppress their biggest enemy More exciting things, so now the Charlotte Bobcats locker room is a relaxed.

In addition to Stotts' praise for the Bobcats players, the Bobcats players themselves are extremely relaxed listening to Stotts' words and nodding. In the minds of these people now, this game is just a perfect completion of the first half. If you really want to complete the whole game perfectly, you need to persevere in the second half, not to mention that the current Bobcats are mainly able to take the lead because of Gao Tian's outbreak, so even if Stotts didn't remind them, they knew that it was not right now. Time to celebrate.

Their current problem is of course because of Gao Tian. He solved the Bobcats problem by himself, and took over the banner of the attack by himself. This is naturally the best way, this is the best way.

But this is also the most tiring way. However, since Gao Tian chose this way, all of them just support him. Anyway, Gao Tian is the real banner of Shan Mao.

Generally speaking, in the first game, both sides will have a lot of rounds and try again, but the game between the Bobcats and the Celtics obviously did not have so many trials. They were playing directly from the beginning The fiercest attack, Gao Tian's unreserved attack, directly plunged the North Shore Garden into silence.

No one could have imagined that Gao Tian would show such a state from the very beginning. Facing the Celtics, it has to be said that the Celtics fans are at least mentally qualified. Now they know very well that they have already played After halftime, Gao Tian may experience a decline in physical strength in the second half. At this time, his state will definitely not be as good as in the first half, and this time their Celtics have an opportunity.

In fact, it was not what the Celtics fans expected, and of course it was not what the Celtics coach Rivers expected. The Bobcats really beat Gao Tian after less than 5 minutes in the third quarter. After being replaced, everyone's eyes lit up the moment they saw Gao Tian in the field, and they all knew that their chance had come at this time!

But when they saw the player who replaced Gao Tian, ​​their hearts were a little cold for a moment, because Gao Tian was replaced in the playoffs by Grant Hill, who played only 10 minutes.

For this player, fans of most teams may not have too many sighs. This is just a veteran, but for Celtic fans, they are profound reporters. In last year's Eastern Conference Finals, How much trouble this old guy has brought to the Celtics.

And when they saw Chris Webber replacing Gasol Jr., their original hot atmosphere instantly cooled down again. At this time, they had already figured out one thing, that is why Stotts let Gao Tian didn't hesitate to expend his energy to play such a terrifying performance in the first half, isn't it just for these two veterans to play!

No one knows better than Stotts the chemical reaction produced by these two veterans on the court. The change Gao Tian's ability has brought to the Bobcats is that he can show the performance the team needs at any time and help the team achieve success. victory.

The changes that Chris Webber and Grant Hill brought to the Bobcats are probably like the kind of confidence that has been built in a subtle way, the kind of continuous scoring and successful defense, and the movement of the ball to the Bobcats players. bring confidence.

So now after playing Hill and Webber, Celtics fans have no choice but to find that their powerful Celtics have never been able to defeat the Bobcats under the leadership of these two veterans.

There is no way around it, the Bobcats won the first game somewhat inexplicably, of course they also won aboveboard, although in the eyes of everyone, the process and the result of this game were somewhat unexpected, however, no matter how the Bobcats performed Definitely deserved to win this game.

Gao Tian undoubtedly became the MVP of the game. He scored 56 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the game, and he successfully led the Bobcats to victory in the first game.

For the Bobcats, the victory in this game is more about their confidence in the next game. At least they know what they need to do to beat the Celtics.

So in the post-match press conference, Gao Tian and Stotts were very humble. They knew how to beat the Celtics, but that was two different things from whether they could do it. What the Bobcats have to do now is to let The players calm down and then prepare for the next game.

Everyone knows what a tough team the Celtics are. Even under difficult circumstances, the Celtics will not give up the game easily, let alone the Bobcats just won After winning the first game, they still need to win three games to advance to the finals.

"It was easy to win this game? No! I didn't think it was very easy for us to win. As we all know, the Celtics are a very strong team. They have the top inside players in the league like Kevin Garnett. They also have With Paul and Ray, the league's top perimeter players."

"So I think a large part of our victory is because our players felt very good today, and our players did a good job in tactical execution. They successfully completed the pre-match arrangement!"

"So I also said that the strength of the Celtics is not only reflected in their game today, we will always have enough respect for the Celtics, no matter what we will not take it lightly, let alone today We won the first game this year, which doesn't mean anything!"

"Yes, we always think that the Bobcats are not a young team, because their team not only has superstars like Gao Tian, ​​​​they also have very experienced veterans like Chris Webber and Granta Hill, So it is not surprising that our team lost to the Bobcats today, because the Bobcats really have such strength!"

"Even in the league, no team can win against the Charlotte Bobcats. They have the most enviable talent on the planet, and they are developing their talents step by step. , So, no matter how far the Bobcats go, what kind of strength they show, I will not be surprised, that is what they can do with their talents!"

"About the next game, I think we need to do better, not only in the outside shooting, but also in the defense of the inside to be more solid and stable, so that the game will be more competitive! "

The speeches of Stotts and Rivers made this game seem to be a modest meeting, but all fans who have carefully understood the two teams of Bobcats and Celtics will not fail to hear There is a sword hidden in these simple and modest speeches!
(End of this chapter)