The Whip of the God of Basketball

The Boston Public Library, a place with a history of more than 150 years, was the first public library built in the United States. Its reading room is a majestic arc-domed building like the interior of a church. Desk lamps with green glass shades are placed on every reading table, and a quiet atmosphere permeates every corner.

Fox-Leon is sitting in an inconspicuous place reading a book. He is holding a copy of Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" and reading it with gusto. There is also an English translation of Water Margin, All-men on his left hand. -are-brothers (All brothers in the four seas), this is the earliest translation of Pearl Buck. Under his buttocks sat a stack of Boston sports newspapers from the 1970s and 1980s. Since the morning, he had been flipping through the photocopies of old newspapers, looking for things related to the Boston Celtics. In the afternoon, he was bored and simply sat all those old newspapers under his buttocks, turning to read some good basketball completes. Nothing to do with anything.

Today is April 7th, the entire NBA is suspended for one day, because a more important basketball event will attract the attention of the United States - the 2003 NCAA Finals. After the end of March Madness, more than a month in April The national college basketball event has reached its final and climax, as Syracuse University and the University of Kansas compete for the highest honor of American college basketball in New Orleans.

Unlike almost all NBA players and coaches, Leon did not have much involvement in the NCAA in his short basketball life. The only university he had contact with, the University of Southern California, did not even enter the national competition. However, their head coach Henry Bibby will not be sad because of this, because he got Wallace's promise to help Fox-Leon get Andy Miller, and he will soon leave the NCAA. Go to the NBA and work for the Grizzlies.

Taking advantage of this holiday with no games or training, Leon chose to spend his day in the library. Khomeinis is busy with his future career plans, while Leon needs a little personal space to think about the next direction of the Boston Celtics.

The miraculous victory over the Lakers on March 21 has become a thing of the past, and the smell of cigar smoke left by Leon in that game has slowly dissipated. Perhaps it will be mentioned repeatedly in the days to come, but At least now, everyone's eyes are focused on the playoffs.

After defeating the Lakers, the Celtics' record climbed to second place in the Eastern Conference. However, Leon did not give up the rest strategy afterwards. He asked Reither to conduct a comprehensive and detailed examination of the health of all players before the playoffs. , no matter who has any minor problems, they will get reasonable rest and recuperation to make the best preparation for the playoffs.

Therefore, the recent Celtics games seem to be a bit stumbling. They first lost consecutively to teams such as the Nuggets and Warriors that have missed the playoffs, then defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers twice, and then narrowly defeated their biggest sufferer at home by two points. The Sacramento King made it difficult for everyone to see clearly the strength of the Bostonians.

The day before April 7, the Celtics lost to the Washington Wizards in overtime at home. This will be the last time Michael Jordan appears on the green parquet floor in Boston. The man who once scored 63 here The flying man who scored points will never set foot on this place as a player again from now on.

After the game against the Wizards, the Celtics had a record of 46 wins and 31 losses, ranking second in the Atlantic Division, behind the New Jersey Nets, and fourth in the entire Eastern Conference. Due to a slight disadvantage, they ranked behind the Pacers.

The top five teams in the Eastern Conference, the Nets, 76ers, Pistons, Pacers and Celtics, all have a very small win gap with each other. With 5 games left in the regular season, these five teams are all There is a chance to capture first place in the Eastern Conference and then get all the home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Regarding how the Celtics will play in the last five games, everyone in the team has their own opinions. Some people believe that the Celtics should strive to win and strive for first or second place in the Eastern Conference so that they can face the Bucks in the first round. , a team like the Magic has a great chance of winning. In the second round, home field advantage can still be guaranteed, so striving for the top two is the best choice. This is also the most popular idea among the Celtics. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker all hope to end the rest in the last week and sprint with all their strength, not only to strive for a good ranking, but also to maintain their condition to enter the playoffs.

Another idea is to preserve strength, just ensure the top four, have an advantage in the first round, let the players have a better rest, and at the same time wait for opportunities to see if they can pick opponents in the last few games. . The main people who hold this idea are old foxes like Danny Ainge. As a player, he has rich experience in the playoffs. He knows that although the regular season is important, the playoffs are where the real bayonet is seen.

What's more, the situation in the Eastern Conference this year shows that although the results are close, the New Jersey Nets still have overwhelming strength, which is enough to show how weak the Eastern Conference is in the face of the powerful Western Conference.

Leon has been thinking about this issue all morning, whether to go all out to win as most people said, or to wait and see. From a character point of view, Leon definitely supports the second type. He doesn't believe in "truly strong teams don't need to pick opponents." NBA playoff history has long proven that for a team that wants to keep moving forward, For each round, what kind of opponent you encounter is very important.

Just like the Rockets who won two consecutive championships in the 1990s, they never encountered their nemesis, the Seattle SuperSonics, in the two years they won the championship. Especially in 1994, the SuperSonics suffered a defeat, which was undoubtedly of great benefit to the Rockets. Perhaps players must not be afraid of "picking opponents" psychologically, but for coaches who are strategizing, it is absolutely unforgivable to ignore this issue.

After reading Faulkner's most famous work on the stream of consciousness, Leon's mind returned to reality. He put the books and newspapers back to their original places, walked out of the library, and came to the Trinity Cathedral opposite, where he is today. There are not many people there, and there are many pigeons waiting for tourists to feed in front of the square. The Gothic-style church looks elegant and simple, unlike ordinary churches that tower into the clouds and seem to reach directly into the sky.

Leon did not enter the church. He had never been a Christian, but for a time-traveler, he would have the fear of gods and God in his heart no matter what. He stood in front of the church and thought for a long time, going through the Eastern Conference team's record, matchup map, and the rest of the regular season schedule in his mind. He had memorized all this in his mind in the morning.

His mind was calculating rapidly, calculating the different match-ups that might result from different match results. This was a very complex calculation with a lot of variables and possibilities, but for Leon, it was just a matter of standing there in a daze for a while. .

At this time, the bells rang in the church, pulling Leon away from his thoughts. The solemn and solemn bells made Leon make a decision, a choice that is most suitable for this calm and tenacious team.

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On April 16th, the last round of the NBA regular season, the Celtics will end their last game of the regular season at home at the North Shore Garden Arena in Boston, and their opponent will be the Detroit Pistons - this is a game that will The game that determines the top spot in the final regular season.

Before the game, the Celtics had 48 wins and 33 losses and the Pistons had 49 wins and 32 losses. If the Celtics win this game, their record will be tied with the Pistons and Nets. In the end, the Celtics will rely on their opponents. The record advantage has climbed to the first place in the Eastern Conference, so before the game everyone believed that the Celtics would definitely win this game.

As a result, when the Celtics' starting list came out, everyone was surprised. Leon once again rested all the main players. Of course, even so, there are examples of a full bench lineup defeating the Lakers. Many fans also hold out hope for this game. After all, it has been 15 years since the Celtics last reached the top of the Eastern Conference in the regular season.

But the result of the game disappointed all Boston fans. In the Celtics' last home regular season game, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Celtics with a 98:76, 22-point advantage. , successfully climbed to the first place in the Eastern Conference, and kicked the Celtics to the fourth position in the Eastern Conference.

Faced with the media siege after the game, Leon seemed quite confident. He said bluntly: "For the Celtics, there is no difference between being fourth in the Eastern Conference and first in the Eastern Conference. After all, our goal is to win the Eastern Conference playoffs! This is the promise I made at the beginning of the season!”

Although he is very confident, Leon knows that the brutal playoffs are about to begin, and Leon has chosen a difficult but feasible tortuous path for the Celtics.