53. Depressed Protection
The Celtics scored eight points in a row before the Warriors ushered in the scoring opportunity, and this goal was obtained by Chamberlain.
Chamberlain's sluggish performance made the Celtics disdain. The proud Garnett let go of him and focused on assisting defense. As a result, Azubuk saw Chamberlain pass the ball in an open space at once. At this time, Chamberlain was still outside the penalty area, which was also the reason why Garnett let him go.
After getting the ball, Chamberlain subconsciously thought that since his physical fitness has recovered, hasn't his touch recovered? Facing the two-meter-a-round empty space, Chamberlain habitually tiptoed and shook his wrist softly, and ended up hitting.
This score made the Warriors and the Celtics laugh and cry. Jackson shouted to Chamberlain in a funny way: "Z, this is the first mid-range shot you made in the NBA. You must write down this day. I think for you, this year's commemoration is second only to Christmas."
Later, Garnett forced Chamberlain to attack the inside by taking advantage of the latter's sluggish attack, and scored four points in a row, helping the Celtics lead by 12:2.
When Ellis saw that something was wrong, he turned on his personal scoring mode, swiped past Lei Allen, retreated and stepped out of the three-point line, and made a wonderful three-point long shot.
"To your guy!" Ellis proudly gave a American military salute to Thunder Allen. This three-point shot was arrogant enough. Ellis had already shook away the gentleman Thunder, but he retreated to the long shot. Just one goal showed Ellis' arrogance and confidence to the fullest.
Junzi Lei smiled slightly, not caring about Ellis's stimulation, but turned around and appeared outside the weak three-point line with Pearson's cover. After receiving Garnett's support, he also scored a three-pointer after getting the ball.
Chamberlain had a loophole in defense, which made the Warriors feel embarrassed. With Davis' injury, Chamberlain has become the new core. His tough defense and his superb ball quotient have all given the Warriors great help.
Old Nelson is also tilting tactics towards Chamberlain intentionally or unintentionally. Recently, several new sets of tactics have been practiced with Chamberlain as the core in the team training matches.
After eight minutes of the first quarter, the Warriors were already 9:25 and they were 16 points behind. Chamberlain was beaten by Garnett without any fighting back. In these eight minutes, Chamberlain did not have the style of a newcomer king or a rebounder king. He only scored four points and two rebounds, and two of the scores were free throws.
Everything is so strange. Both the fans and the players are confused now. If Chamberlain on the court hadn't had his appearance and had not changed from the past, they would have thought they had changed. Where did SUPER-Z, who used to defend like a wall of iron? Who is this soft big man?
The more he plays, the less confident he is, the worse he plays. All this has become a vicious cycle. Not only can Chamberlain not be the core of the Warriors, but he has become a burden on the court. He did not give any help to the team on the defensive end, but instead dragged down the team's offensive rhythm on the attacking end.
At first, Garnett and others thought Chamberlain was showing weakness, and they still didn't dare to underestimate him. However, as the game progressed, they found that the big man was not as strong as shown in the previous game video, so they let go, especially Garnett, who beat Chamberlain back and did whatever he wanted.
Pierce burst out his mouth and laughed, "Kevin, you really have a way. You are definitely the number one inside player in the league. Look at this poor child, you can't find him! Oh, poor little guy, are you a lost lamb?"
Chamberlain pursed his lips and said nothing. Garnett turned his back to him and wanted to get the ball again. After getting the ball, he was about to pass him as soon as he got it. Chamberlain hurriedly retreated. As a result, Garnett also took two steps back, widened the distance, and arrogantly made an accurate mid-range shot in front of him.
The Warriors serve, Jackson grabbed Chamberlain's jersey, and the accumulated dissatisfaction and confusion erupted like a volcano. He shook Chamberlain and shouted: "Damn it, what are you doing? Did you hear the fans' name? Are you still SUPER-Z?"
Chamberlain was full of grief and anger. He threw the ball away. The referee's face darkened and he wanted to call him a technical foul. Fortunately, Old Nelson asked for a timeout in time. The Warriors players came back in anger. He nodded to Bidlings and said, "You replace Z, Z, have a good rest."
Chamberlain had nothing to say, sat on the bench with a dark face, picked up a towel and covered it on his head, and tried hard to drink functional drinks, feeling confused for a moment.
Garnett had already played, and he became unlimited. He was actually no better than Dellins' defense than Chamberlain now. The lean camel was bigger than the horse, and Chamberlain's arm span and consciousness were there. After the whole first half, Garnett, who appeared in 24 minutes, scored 22 points and 18 rebounds, with amazing efficiency.
Fans kept shouting "We need SUPER-Z", but Old Nelson kept holding Chamberlain on the bench and using Bidlins to fight Garnett.
Chamberlain couldn't stand it anymore. At the beginning of the second half, he pulled off the towel and shouted at Old Nelson: "BOSS, if I'm on the court, the worst thing is that I can die on the court. I will never let the Bostonians have a better life!" He is still an ancient beast in his bones.
Old Nelson looked at Chamberlain in surprise, then smiled. He sat next to Chamberlain and said, "Z, relax, this is just a regular season game. We have to play 82 games in this season. Although I really want to win all the time, it is impossible. No one can win all the games. You have to get used to winning or losing."
Looking at Chamberlain's unwilling eyes, Old Nelson continued to smile: "What you have to do today is to have a good rest, and then watch the game carefully and see how Garnett plays. If we want to win, we will sooner or later meet the Bostonian in the finals. At that time, the most important thing is that we can win."
Chamberlain still wanted to argue, and Li Qun pulled him and whispered: "Z, Coach Nelson is protecting you, Garnett is unstoppable. It is obvious that he is going to play the most exciting game of the season today. Coach Nelson wants to protect you, and he will not allow Garnett to destroy your confidence!"
This is obvious. In fact, NBA head coaches often do this. When their rookies face famous superstars and are at a disadvantage, out of love, they will put the players on the bench to avoid facing the confidence that they are crushed. In such a thing, it is not embarrassing.
In the 1984-85 season, the Celtics were visiting Chicago to challenge the Bulls. Bird also killed crazy in that game. Even the Flying Majesty Jordan had to sit on the bench to avoid his edge. At that time, Jordan was also pressed on the bench by coach Kevin Longlee, and he was even more miserable. He only played for five minutes in a game.
In addition, LeBron James in 2003. Since his debut in the NBA, the Little Emperor showed his strong talent and became a favorite of fans and the league, which made famous superstars very uncomfortable. McGrath, who was the most popular at the time, decided to come forward to teach the Little Emperor a lesson. In the confrontation between the Cavaliers and the Magic, McGrath repeatedly broke through James' defense in front of him and dunked in front of him. John Lucas, who was the head coach of the Cavaliers at the time, had to replace the Little Emperor.
Chamberlain was depressed, and Old Nelson felt this and said meaningfully: "Don't think too much, Z, there is no doubt that you have an excellent tomorrow. The outcome of this game is really not important, and even for us, losing may not be a good thing."
This sentence surprised Chamberlain, and Old Nelson smiled and said, "Although the reputation of the league number one sounds good, it will become a burden if it is too famous. I hope you play games because of your love for basketball and your desire for victory, not because of some false reputations. Winning streaks will make you proud and complacent. Only when you lose a game can you see yourself more clearly."
A few minutes into the second half, Old Nelson started to change the substitute lineup. Troy Hudson finally had a chance to make a appearance, but he was not lucky. A rookie with super defense appeared in the Celtics opposite. The guy was Tony Allen, who was against Hudson, and he was so ecstatic that he defended.
This game, which was originally expected by everyone to hit the Earth by Mars, came to an end. Rivers is a very graceful coach. After Old Nelson replaced the pure substitute, he did not continue to send his main players to rage on the court, and also replaced the Golden Trident. Although Garnett played well, he was likely to break his own record in this game.
The Warriors' substitute lineup is still good. Barnes and Biderlins led the substitutes to play well, but instead caught up with a lot of scores. In the end, the Warriors lost the game 92:104, and the scores were not lost. There was no difference just from the results. However, everyone who has watched the game knows that the Celtics and the Warriors are very different.
I am used to Chamberlain's opponent's defense in the inside. The Warriors' other players performed poorly in this game. Ellis only scored 18 points, which was the first time this season that the score was not 20. Of course, the 92-point score was also the first time the Warriors did not break through 100 points this season.
At the end of the game, Rivers came up respectfully to shake hands with Old Nelson. He said reservedly: "This is not the true face of your team. Coach Tang, don't you want me to see your true strength in advance? Well, it seems that you have your own plans. Maybe I should tell you, see you in the finals."
Rivers is very good at speaking. He described Chamberlain and other Warriors' poor performance as Old Nelson's temporary avoidance, and put a high hat on the old man, saying that the Warriors and his team will enter the finals.
The Celtics players do not have such cultivation. Garnett is fine. He is really disappointed and said to Chamberlain disdainfully: "I thought you would be a good opponent. It seems that I am thinking too much. You are a piece of shit, a rookie. You have to remember my evaluation of you. You are a piece of shit, you will always be!"
Pearson said a few words to Jackson, and when Garnett commented on Chamberlain, he laughed, "Man, can I think you're insulting to 'shit'?"
Chamberlain glanced at the two of them expressionlessly, gritted his teeth and said, "See you in the next game."
Chapter completed!