Guard With a Knife

"I can assure all Boston fans that the black eight will never happen!!"

Paul Pierce said categorically in the post-match press conference: "No matter when Kentrick returns, we will easily reach the second round."

Doc Rivers also emphasized: "Our coaching staff has several completely different tactical systems, and we still have three All-Stars. We are by no means as vulnerable as others imagine."

The general of the Green Army who swallowed his first defeat made a confident statement towards the camera.

However, the vast majority are taking a wait-and-see attitude. They are no longer as sure as they were before the first game that Boston will easily advance to the second round. Because everyone knows that the playoffs are all about defense and the penalty area. But now...the Celtics not only lost the defensive axis Garnett, but also lost Perkins, the iron gate of the penalty area.

Although their opponents have no outside singles ability, their penalty area is extremely strong. From Zach Randolph, who can play back and face, to Milicic who supports defense, to David Lee with mid-range shots and rebounds, and finally Snoopy Todd. In fact, if you count Eddie Curry...the Knicks have too many restricted area options.

In a sense, the series between the two teams has evolved into a duel between two cripples, a battle between the restricted area and the outside line!

When the Celtics generals left, Stephon Marbury and Herb Williams came to the scene of the post-match press conference.

Herb Williams was all smiles. He got confirmation from Snoopy five minutes ago that, at least in this series, he will officially be the head coach of the Knicks.

This made him jump up excitedly.

He was thrilled.

Coaching a playoff team was his dream job, and now... the dawn.

"You have to thank Snoopy." Stephen Marbury reminded him all the time, and Marbury has been emphasizing the matter of not forgetting the well digger when drinking water. Since the end of the game, he has been telling the players in the locker room that without the Duke, there would be no victory tonight.

Now he seems to have become Snoopy's right-hand man. He began to arm the team ideologically, as if he wanted to turn the Knicks into the Duke's personal army.

Herb Williams hastily thanked Doug.

Duger didn't have any "benefactor" mentality. He smiled: "Mr. Coach, everything we do is for victory. Next, we have to work hard.

We're going to win this series. "

Herb Williams nodded approvingly. He knows better than anyone that losing this series and winning this series will be two very different concepts for his future. Although I currently have the support of the Duke, I am still just a temporary worker. If D'Antoni and Isaiah Thomas hadn't made the conflict public and affected the normal operation of the game, I would have no possibility of coaching at all.

However, if he leads the team to complete the second black eight miracle in team history. Then... the hope of becoming a regular by yourself will be extremely great.

But... the premise is to reach a very good relationship with Snoopy.

He has tied his future on the young rookie's lap.

So, when he showed up at the postgame press conference.

Snoopy can't be separated from three sentences, and occasionally he will say "Master Duke".

"...In fact, many of our tactics were adjusted by Snoopy on the court. He was our on-court coach. Without him, my first playoff coaching career would never have been successful."

"... the best player to play tonight was of course Duke Snoopy, he was everywhere, he filled every hole, I couldn't ask for more from him. In fact, you'll never see more than He's a more mature and smarter rookie, and it took him less than 10 seconds to settle into the playoffs."

"In the future, we will still stick to the style of play with Snoopy as the core. I firmly believe that he can lead the team to break through the first round and enter the second round."

Herb Williams is full of praise, and these praises are not even like the compliments of the head coach to the players, but more like the flattery of the subordinates to the superiors.

And when the reporter asked why D'Antoni did not attend the post-match press conference tonight, Herb Williams gave an official reply: "Mr. McD'Antoni has returned to New York for treatment because of the flu virus."

This explanation is obviously not convincing to reporters. After all, D'Antoni was alive and well commanding loudly on the sidelines in the first half, and he didn't look like he was infected with the flu at all.

However, since Herb Williams gave this answer, the reporters could no longer continue to ask questions, and could only dig out the inside story from other channels.

Afterwards, Marbury officially answered a few questions, and the post-match press conference ended.

After the press conference, the Boston Celtics released Kentrick Perkins' latest injury report: Perkins has torn ankle ligaments and will undergo minimally invasive surgery. He will miss at least four weeks of games, that is, Saying...Boston needs to at least make it to the Finals if they want to see him from this season.

The news of the diagnosis is undoubtedly a heavy blow to Bostonians.

"The balance of the game has slowly shifted from being completely inclined to the Celtics. Now the Knicks and the Celtics are roughly in balance. They have huge advantages in the interior and exterior respectively. According to the situation, both sides have a 50% probability of advancing."

After ESPN's basketball experts got the news of Perkins' season reimbursement, they quickly expressed their views, and immediately revised their previous predictions for this series: Many experts had previously said that the Celtics would easily win. For victory, most of them give five or even four games to resolve the battle. But now, the number of games has become six, or even seven. The Knicks are starting to gain some traction, but ... the number who think the defending champions can pull through is still in the ascendant.

After all...the Knicks are a young team for the playoffs, and they don't seem to be in harmony internally.

After Doug returned to the hotel room, he didn't pay attention to the comments of the basketball experts on the website, nor did he read the praises from the sports media, and he didn't pay attention to Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus this evening. Gossip about face-to-face brawls on Hollywood Boulevard.

He just took time to chat with Isaiah Thomas and D'Antoni separately.

The two head coaches will fly back to New York on the same plane tomorrow morning, and then start their long vacation.

Their conversation was not tense, and of course, it was not very pleasant.

The conversation was completed in a very polite manner.

Isaiah Thomas, known as the smiling assassin from his player days, doesn't show much emotion in his conversations.

On the contrary, D'Antoni was worried about being deprived of his command. He could not accept this kind of thing, but he did not use the word "betrayal".

Because he still hopes to continue to improve the running and bombing 2.0 system with Snoopy next season.

"I have no grudge against you, I just hate Isaiah Thomas (D'Antoni) and Herb Williams, one of them is the stupidest idiot, and the other is the most insidious hidden mirror."

They pretty much said the exact same thing at the end of the conversation.

This made Doug unable to answer.

...