manynovel Chapter 544 Swearing doesn't hurt, but the truth does!
Chapter 544 Swearing doesn't hurt, but the truth does!
"Indeed, it really is just these two changes." Kenny continued, "On the offensive end, Lin repeatedly called out isolation tactics, repeatedly having his teammates completely spread out for him, and then rushing in to attack the Celtics' heart of the offense."
"And the Celtics' proud defense and two big men really couldn't stop Lin! It can only be said that Lin's offensive power is truly unparalleled! No one can compare to him."
"The question now is: Does Lin need a rest? He played the entire first quarter; will Don Nelson let him rest in the second quarter?"
Kenny had barely finished speaking when the second quarter began, and Lin Tian was not on the court!
Lin Tian, who had played the entire first quarter, sat on the bench, gulping down an energy drink, and began to rest.
"Now, it's time to test the rest of the Knicks." Seeing the lineup on the court, Barkley immediately said, "This is the first time the Knicks have a lead of more than 10 points in this series. Let's see if the rest of the Knicks can withstand this!"
Can we hold on?
We can't hold on any longer!
The Knicks have been on a cold streak this round.
Whether it was Anthony or Stoudemire, Okur or Jackson, they all played terribly with very low shooting percentages.
This was when Lin Tian was present.
With Lin Tian absent, and facing the Celtics who are eager to win and are going all out to catch up, how could they possibly hold on?
For the Celtics, starters Duncan and Davis were temporarily rested, while Pierce, Marbury, and Howard, along with two substitutes, played this transitional period on the court.
With Lin Tian gone, the Knicks' offense and defense both plummeted. They couldn't score and they couldn't defend!
Marbury, in particular, who had a poor performance in the first quarter, immediately dribbled and drove to the basket after he found that Ward was guarding him, and scored his first 2 points of the night.
Marbury then pulled up for a three-pointer and made it!
After scoring 5 points in a row, Marbury seemed to think he was invincible again. When he went back on defense, he actually started gesturing at Lin Tian with a provocative look on his face.
Unfortunately, Lin Tian didn't even glance at him, instead keeping his head down and tying his shoelaces.
The main point is to completely ignore him, they don't even consider Marbury a worthy candidate!
Perhaps it was Lin Tian's disregard that reignited Marbury's anger. He was determined to prove himself at this stage, and in the next two rounds, he again chose to attack personally, but unfortunately, he failed to score on either of those attacks.
On the contrary, Okur found his rhythm and finally hit his first three-pointer of the night.
The point difference between the two sides has widened again to more than 10 points!
5: 3!
In the first two minutes of the second quarter, the two sides scored a total of three goals.
Then, Nelson still didn't let Lin Tian play, letting him continue to sit. On the contrary, Rivers couldn't sit still anymore. He took Marbury, who had been missing shots for several days, and Mark Blount, the backup center who hadn't made much of an impact, and replaced him with Duncan and Tony Allen.
Since Lin Tian isn't playing, he needs to narrow the score gap as quickly as possible!
He couldn't stand the team's inefficient attack, scoring two goals in two minutes.
We must hurry!
Once Duncan entered the game, the Celtics found their rhythm again.
Well, they haven't exactly found their rhythm; their shooting percentage is still terrible. But Duncan and Howard completely dominated the paint!
They grabbed three offensive rebounds in the next two minutes and scored on all three second-chance points.
On the defensive end, Duncan and Howard withstood the Knicks' repeated attacks, either by blocking shots or disrupting shots, forcing the Knicks players to be less willing to attack the paint and only dare to take shots from mid-range and long-range.
Two minutes later, the Knicks failed to score a single point. Meanwhile, the Celtics, despite their poor shooting and inability to execute their tactics, managed to score at least six points through three second-chance opportunities, thanks to offensive rebounds from Duncan and Howard.
31: 36!
Four minutes into the second quarter, the score difference between the two teams narrowed to five points!
At this point, Nelson could no longer hold back and asked the referee for a substitution.
Lin Tian makes another appearance!
"Lin, this is probably your last rest tonight. You'll likely have to play the full 32 minutes of the game." Before Lin Tian went on the court, Old Nelson patted him on the shoulder, indicating that he was counting on Lin Tian for the rest of the game.
"No problem." Lin Tian nodded and said, "I've encountered situations more difficult than tonight's many times, and I've always handled them."
After giving Ward a high five, Lin Tian reappeared.
"He's here! Lin's here!" Barkley shouted. "Knowing Lin as I do, he probably won't rest tonight; he'll play the rest of the game."
"Of course, excluding garbage time!"
"This means that the decisive battle between the two sides has already begun ahead of schedule, and every minute and every round from now on is the final battle!"
"I thought you were too scared to come up!" Pierce said casually, chewing gum. "If you hadn't come up, I was going to beat you all to a pulp."
"How did you manage to blow them up?" Lin Tian rolled his eyes and said, "Blow them up by going 0-for-3 in the second quarter? How dare a scorer who didn't score a single point talk such nonsense?"
"You Celtics guys, all you've got is bragging and talking nonsense, is that all you've got?"
"Shut up!" Pierce cursed, though it was more of a self-talk than a direct rebuke to Lin Tian.
Because after that, he decisively chose to keep quiet.
I dare not say any more.
Lin Tian is absolutely right. What can he do?
Swearing doesn't hurt people, but the truth hurts them the most.
After Lin Tian returned to the court, he didn't rush because the Celtics players had already taken their positions. Instead, he slowly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.
The person guarding him was Allen, who, although he had not yet reached his defensive peak, had already begun to show his prowess on the defensive end. This guy lowered his already low center of gravity and stared intently at Lin Tian, completely entering a defensive state.
Even though he was only in his rookie year, his defense was still much stronger than Marbury's. At least for Lin Tian, it wouldn't be enough to get past him with just one crossover dribble; he would need at least two.
After a double crossover, Lin Tian took a step forward and pushed Allen aside with his shoulder, sending him out of position. Then he suddenly accelerated and charged toward the Celtics' paint again.
But around the same time, the Celtics' changes in the second quarter also became apparent.
Allen was hot on his heels.
The incredibly talented Howard stepped forward early, blocking Lin Tian's offensive space.
Although Duncan stayed under the basket, he was also watching closely and could rush over to help defend at any time. Meanwhile, Pierce on the other side also chose to drop back to the middle to surround and intercept Lin Tian.
In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded and double-teamed by 3.5 people!
Compared to the first quarter when Lin Tian was only double-teamed in the paint, the Celtics' defense was noticeably wider, and their defense against Lin Tian was more solid and aggressive.
But this kind of defense also means that the Knicks will have open shots everywhere.
After a slight hesitation, Lin Tian found Anthony on the wing and threw the basketball to him.
Anthony received the ball in the mid-range, which was his most comfortable position and rhythm. Even though Davis rushed forward to help, it was too late.
Anthony's mid-range shot came out with a thud, followed by a muffled thud.
"Bang!"
Still forging iron!
Anthony still couldn't find his rhythm.
In the next few minutes of the game, not only Anthony, but also Stoudemire, Okur and others, felt nothing!
They couldn't make their shots.
The Knicks' shooting touch seemed to spread like a plague; no one could find their rhythm, and they were hitting the wrong shots repeatedly.
This cold-feeling plague virus quickly infected even Lin Tian.
Faced with the Celtics' almost relentless and frantic defense, as well as their ubiquitous double-teaming and help defense, even Lin Tian lost the frenzy he displayed in the first quarter.
In this quarter, Lin Tian only made 5 of 13 shots and scored 13 points, but even these 13 points accounted for more than 70% of the team's score.
The Knicks only scored 18 points in this quarter!
Apart from Lin Tian, everyone else only got 5 points.
Or rather, aside from Okur's three-pointer and Jackson's dunk after a cut, the rest of the Knicks failed to score in the second quarter.
Perhaps the only good news is that the Celtics still can't score; they really can't get the ball in.
The Celtics only scored 22 points in this quarter, and 10 of those points came from second-chance opportunities!
Their scoring relies entirely on offensive rebounds.
Even so, they managed to close the gap to 4 points, bringing the score to 9 points as they entered the second half.
42: 51!
In the second half, both teams switched players and started fighting again. Both teams' shooting touch improved slightly in this quarter. In addition to both sides scoring more than 25 points in this quarter, there are two other obvious and intuitive statistics that prove that both teams' shooting touch has returned.
Lin Tian dished out 6 assists in this quarter, and he has only dished out 7 assists in total tonight!
His teammates are making shots!
As for the Celtics, they had significantly fewer offensive rebounds, allowing the team to execute plays and score more often on their first possession.
Marbury, Pierce, and Duncan all scored in isolation plays in this quarter!
Overall, the Knicks' offense has recovered, but not completely.
The Celtics' offense still relies solely on isolation plays and the individual abilities of their star players to score. They still lack a cohesive offensive strategy and can only depend on individual skill.
"How did Rivers even become the head coach?" Even Bird couldn't stand it anymore when this quarter was over: "My grandma coached this Celtics team and designed more sophisticated offensive tactics than him."
"Why is this idiot allowed to be the head coach here? What makes him qualified? What kind of idiot hired him?"
"I heard that Mr. Auerbach made the decision himself," Carlisle said timidly, revealing a little secret within their coaching circle.
Even the wisest person can make a mistake!
Bird shook his head, then silently opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass.
Tonight, he felt quite conflicted and melancholy.
He supports both teams and hopes both teams win; he doesn't want either team to lose.
He wasn't this conflicted when several girls invited him to their graduation prom during high school.
After all, his waist and back were not injured at that time, and he was in the prime of his youth, so he could have proudly said: I want them all.
But tonight, it's clearly impossible to have it all.
25: 28.
In this quarter, the Knicks lost by another 3 points, and the 13-point lead that Lin Tian gave the team in the first quarter is now reduced to only 6 points.
70: 76!
The gap between the two sides is now only 2 goals!
The Knicks could be caught up by the Celtics at any time.
In this quarter, Lin Tian not only provided 6 assists but also scored 11 points.
His stats tonight have reached an astonishing 53 points!
He also recorded 7 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks!
Lin Tian has already pushed himself to the limit!
He has done everything he could, but the team is still only leading by 6 points tonight.
A six-point advantage is really insignificant compared to his near triple-double output of 50+ points in three quarters.
But for Lin Tian now, he is not tired at all, or rather, he has forgotten about being tired.
He felt he was at his peak!
Come on! The last 12 minutes!
It's just the Celtics.
"Lin still hasn't rested!" Barkley shouted at the start of the fourth quarter. "Or rather, none of the starters on either side have rested! They're all on the court."
"Both sides knew what this game meant and what its significance was, so they brought out their full strength and strongest lineups to face off in this final quarter."
"Let's see if this quarter can decide the fate of these two teams!"
"Besides Lin, who played the best, no other player on the Knicks team scored more than 10 points! Or rather, the rest of the players combined only scored a little over 20 points, barely half of Lin Tian's total."
"As for the Celtics, Duncan scored a team-high 17 points, Pierce had 14 points, Marbury added 8 points, Davis scored 11 points and Howard had 7 points, all five starters performed well."
"Of course, their shooting percentage was quite mediocre, but they managed to score 70 points in three quarters thanks to their dominance on the boards! That was the Celtics' biggest advantage in this game."
「篮板数55：40，凯尔特人赢了15个！其中前场篮板更是19：4，凯尔特人也赢了足足15个！」
"The result of that 15-rebound difference is that the Celtics scored 28 points on second-chance opportunities, while the Knicks only managed 8! If it weren't for Lin's phenomenal performance, the Celtics would definitely be leading right now!"
Kenny then added, "If the Celtics' secret weapon is defense and rebounding, then the Knicks' secret weapon tonight is Lin! They only have Lin! Although the team's shooting touch improved slightly in the third quarter, nobody knows if this barely acceptable touch can carry over into the fourth quarter!"
"The Knicks desperately need a surprise weapon like Smith from Game 1 to provide Lin with sufficient support!"
"After all, Lin is really lonely right now! So far tonight, he's made 17 of 38 field goals, 3 of 7 three-pointers, and 16 of 18 free throws. He's already scored 53 points, but where are his teammates?"
「林天的队友总计只有40投9中，3分球9投2中，罚球6罚3中，只拿到23分。」
"They were terrible! Besides being terrible, I don't even know how else to describe Lin's teammates."
"Their poor performance made the Celtics' double-team defense even more frantic and exaggerated. They didn't even defend the other Knicks players anymore. Because of this, Lin's shooting percentage was actually declining rapidly."
"Aside from his extremely high shooting percentage in the first quarter, his efficiency in the remaining two quarters was not particularly outstanding."
"Of course, that's compared to himself! If you compare him to his teammates, he's playing this game with such efficiency, it's like he's coming from another dimension."
"I thought Lin's teammates last year were bad enough after Webber and Ginobili were out for the season, but I never expected that this year's Knicks, with their full roster, would be even weaker!"
"It's truly unexpected that Anthony and Stoudemire aren't as good as Parker and Artest!"
"In the fourth quarter, and if there are any more games to come, I really hope the rest of the Knicks players can perform to their potential and give Lin Tian enough support!"
While the two commentators were analyzing the situation, Marbury had already dribbled the ball back to the frontcourt.
The game continues in the fourth quarter!
"Stephen, what score did you get against me tonight?"
"Three points? How many shots are there again? 1 out of 7? And that's assuming I completely ignore you, don't even match up against you, and let you shoot open threes."
"You noob! Allen is at least 10 times better than you!"
"Shut up!"
"At least Alan doesn't run away from me when we're facing each other, you weak woman!"
Marbury's mentality collapsed! (End of Chapter)