The Whip of the God of Basketball

Before the game started, the Celtics, who were playing at home, did not receive enough attention. The live ABC TV station had been showing interviews related to Allen Iverson, and Iverson had just recently appeared on the NBA Sports Illustrated magazine cover headlines. It wasn't until the game was about to start that a little bit of Paul Pierce's pregame interview was shown on TV, and then the camera quickly cut to the scene of the game, the North Shore Garden Arena.

"This is Boston's North Shore Garden. This will be the 18th time in history that the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers have met in the playoffs. Their most recent conversation was last year, in the first round, the Celtics 3:2. Defeated the 76ers; and their earliest duel can be traced back to 1953! I believe that the Celtics and 76ers will still give us a wonderful round of playoffs this year!" ABC TV reporter Reggie - Miller's sister, Cheryl Miller, reporting live.

She briefly reviewed the history of the playoff encounters between the Celtics and the 76ers, the two oldest teams in the NBA. When the 76ers were still called the Syracuse Nation, the two teams began to compete. With the addition of Chamberlain, the 76ers became a stumbling block in preventing the Celtics from winning ten consecutive championships. By the 1970s and 1980s, the battle between Dr. J. Irving and Larry Bird could basically sum up the entire content of the Eastern Conference playoffs in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Last year, the Celtics met the 76ers in the first round. After winning two games, they were beaten by the 76ers twice in a row. Finally, in the decisive fifth game, they relied on Dennis Rodman's key offensive rebound. And Pierce's jumper hit, and the then defending Eastern Conference champion was eliminated with difficulty.

This year, both sides have seen changes in their lineups. The Celtics' young people are more mature, and the inside has the backbone of P.J. Big changes were made, especially inside. They sent away Mutombo, acquired Van Horn, and signed Coleman, which greatly increased their offensive strength inside.

Their performance in the regular season this season has improved a lot compared to last season's plummeting state. In the past, their over-reliance on defensive play consumed too much talent and health of the 76ers. After improving their offense, they His performance in the regular season was obviously more comfortable. And compared with last season, when Iverson missed 22 games, he played 82 regular season games this season. This is also his healthiest season since entering the league in 1996.

Therefore, even if Iverson's scoring average dropped to the lowest in four years, he is healthy, coupled with the 76ers team with a more balanced offense and defense, and the experienced coach Larry Brown, it is no wonder that in this series Before the start, most people were optimistic about the 76ers. Even if the Celtics defeated the 76ers in the playoffs last year, and even if the Celtics are stronger this year, people are still more willing to believe in the omnipotent player in the East. "The Answer" Iverson.

The game started soon. The 76ers sent out a starting lineup that was different from the regular season. Larry Brown put Van Horn at the small forward position, and let Kenny Thomas play at the power forward. Derrick- Coleman plays center.

Obviously Larry Brown has considered the issue of matchups on the court. If Van Horn is allowed to deal with Antoine Walker one-on-one, he may be beaten into a cash machine. As for Van Horn against Pierce, although he may be beaten into a cash machine, Van Horn has a height advantage over Pierce after all, and although Van Horn is not good at one-on-one defense, he has experienced it for a long time. After training in college, he still has a good defensive awareness under the urging of coach Larry Brown.

In the jump ball, Derrick Coleman took the lead in getting the ball, and Allen Iverson held the ball. Wearing a black No. 3 jersey, he still wears his trademark furrow hair. Although he is only 6 feet tall, his limbs are as long as an agile and free-spirited gibbon. Compared with him, Arenas was a head taller, but his stocky shoulders and disproportionate lower body made him look like a stupid gorilla.

Leon was concentrating on Iverson and Arenas on the sidelines. He did not expect Arenas to restrain Iverson alone, but hoped that Arenas would at least not fall behind in the confrontation with Iverson. , because he knows that the Celtics are still relatively weak at the point guard position, and he cannot count on Steve Kerr, who is in the last year of his career, to fight against Iverson.

But Iverson told Arenas at the beginning what an NBA MVP is. He first changed direction and dribbled in front of his body to shake Arenas' center of gravity, then stepped back and shot a direct mid-range shot from a step inside the three-point line.

Iverson's arms were long, his release point was high, and his release speed was very fast. Arenas couldn't interfere with him at all. The ball went hollow into the net, and Iverson scored the 76ers' first point.

Subsequently, the Celtics attacked, Pierce missed a jumper, and the 76ers quickly counterattacked. Iverson received a pass from Snow, dribbled to near the top of the free throw line, slowed down slightly to observe, and suddenly shot a jumper again. It's a two-point hit!

Arenas has almost nothing to do against Iverson. Although his steps are fast enough and his wingspan is okay, his defensive position and hand skills have always been below average, even if Siegfried gave him He can't transform him even if he uses a small method. After all, he is a sharp dagger, and blocking is not his strong point.

Iverson scored four points in a row, and it was Arenas in the regular season. At this time, he had to do it alone no matter what, either to break through directly or to chase for a three-pointer, but Arenas didn't. He seemed He was quite calm, holding the ball through half court, and then lobbed the ball to Brown inside. Brown squeezed Coleman away with a reverse cut and succeeded in a layup.

The Celtics relied on the inside to get the first point of the opening game, which is still quite rare in Celtics games, because they are a team that is good at shooting, and inside offense has always been their weakness.

The 76ers' attack on the Celtics continued. Iverson broke through the middle and scored the ball. Van Horn, who was 45 degrees on the right, caught the ball and hit a three-pointer directly! 7:2, the 76ers turned away from home in the opening game, leading the Celtics by 5 points.

After that, the Celtics still tried to play from the inside. Antoine Walker beat Kenny Thomas, causing Thomas to foul. Walker, who stood on the free throw line, made one of two free throws. 7:3, the Celtics were still behind. .

The 76ers had a smooth hand. Snow suddenly made a pass from outside the three-point line, penetrating the Celtics' defense. Coleman caught the ball and made a layup, returning the favor to Brown.

The worse was still to come. Arenas made a mistake in passing the ball during the counterattack and was intercepted by Iverson. The ball almost went out of bounds from the left sideline. Iverson rushed out to retrieve the ball before it flew out of bounds and threw it. Snow's hands.

Iverson stepped out of bounds and immediately ran into the inbounds, and then went straight to the Celtics basket. Snow made a short pass at the right time. Iverson didn't even need to dribble after receiving the ball, he just started to lay up and dodge. Opened Michael Reid's block and succeeded in a layup!

After scoring, Iverson pointed his right hand to the sky, as if to challenge the Boston fans, telling them who is the MVP of the Eastern Conference and that he wants to regain the dignity he lost here last year.

Leon stood up from the bench. The referee Steve Jarvie thought that Leon was going to call a timeout. He bit the whistle in his mouth and looked at Leon, but Leon did not react. He just stood up and left. Two steps later, he sat back on the bench.

On the other side, Larry Brown is also a little strange. He thought that the Celtics would definitely call a timeout so that he could implement the next tactical plan. At least so far, his plan has been relatively successful. Van Horn mentioned that the small forward , Kenny Thomas's decision to face Walker was undoubtedly aimed at the Celtics' strategy of playing inside in the opening game in order to open up shooting space.

But it seemed that Leon and his players were not impatient. They still insisted on going inside. PJ Brown beat Coleman in the low post on the right, turned inside and made a jump shot. He reluctantly shot against the blocker, but the ball was Entered. PJ Brown seemed to be the Celtics' only source of firepower in the opening game.

When the game continued, Iverson's fiery touch still did not disappear. This time he faced Arenas and forced a breakthrough from the right, and then succeeded with a throw. Everyone knows that Iverson has a path to take, but even knowing this, they still can't stop him in many cases.

On the Celtics side, Michael Reid missed a three-pointer. P.J. Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and then caused a foul on Van Horn. He stood on the free throw line and made two free throws. In this way, for the Celtics, PJ Brown scored 6 points in 7 minutes. This is also an unprecedented situation this season. The touch of other Celtic players seemed to be sucked away.

"Should we call a timeout?" Cowens asked after seeing the current situation on the court. He felt that the Celtics' state was not very normal. On the contrary, if the 76ers were allowed to open up and play offensively, the rest of the game would be , the Celtics will be very difficult.

"No, wait a minute... They just haven't found a suitable rhythm yet. They are adjusting. I can see it... Wait a minute." Leon responded. He still remembers what he said to the players before the game, he still remembers the strategy the team formulated during training the day before yesterday, and he still remembers the sweat and effort the players put in during training.

They were like a pair of newly oiled pliers, slowly applying force.

When Iverson broke through again and passed the ball to Van Horn, Van Horn tried to repeat his old trick of directly catching the ball and shooting, but this time Pierce's fingertips touched the ball and the ball fell in mid-air.

P.J. Brown squeezed through the 76ers players like a bulldozer to grab this backcourt rebound, and then passed a diagonal pass to Arenas on the right sideline. Arenas received the ball and quickly advanced from the sideline, and then passed the ball. Paul - Pierce caught the ball and dunked hard with both hands!

The North Shore Garden Arena, which had been silent and suppressed for nearly five minutes, finally erupted into a tsunami-like roar. After the goal, Pierce roared, as if to tell the 76ers players and Iverson that the real Boston Celtics, The battle with them begins now.

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