As soon as the match started, the cheers of the 20,000 home fans nearly lifted the roof off.
However, the Celtics struggled in the first possession after the jump ball.
As soon as Delk dribbled past half-court, the Knicks ' Charlie Ward chested him down, and Chris Childs double-teamed him from the wing.
Delk was forced to the sideline and thought of a tactical route to pass to Garnett in the high post, but Garnett was already firmly blocked behind him by Charles Oakley's thick arm.
Delk's last-minute pass went wide of the sideline...
The Celtics didn't even manage a basket in the first 24 seconds.
In the following rounds, the Celtics continued to struggle.
Delk passed the ball to Eddie Jones, Jones pulled up for a jump shot but missed. Patrick Ewing boxed out Mutombo, and Charles Oakley shoved Garnett aside to grab the rebound.
The Knicks transitioned to a half-court offense. Patrick Ewing backed down Mutombo in the low post, dominating him twice before drawing the Celtics ' defensive attention.
Allan Houston on the weak side used a screen to get out, and Charles Oakley took a step forward to block Garnett, who was trying to help defend.
Houston received the ball and calmly sank an open mid-range shot.
The Knicks' offense wasn't fast-paced, but it was extremely taxing on the Celtics ' stamina.
In the first five minutes of the first quarter, the Celtics only scored 9 points but committed 3 turnovers...
It was all because Delk was completely overwhelmed by the Knicks' guards, and his passing lanes were blocked.
Pitino was forced to call a timeout.
As the players were leaving the field, Gary Payton had already stood up, ready to come on, but Pitino didn't even look at him, continuing to point at Delk and say, " Tony, you go on. Get the ball higher up the pitch earlier, don't stop it."
Garnett couldn't help but pull off his towel and retort, "Coach, Charles Oakley is constantly fronting me, and Larry Bird Johnson is always ready to help defend. They've completely blocked all the high post receiving routes; I can't get the ball at all."
Pitino replied curtly, "If the route is dead, then use your body to fight it! Kevin, run more, use your speed to get into position and receive the ball. As long as your off-the-ball movement is fast enough, their defensive rotations won't be able to keep up."
Garnett gritted his teeth and remained silent.
At the end of the first quarter, the Celtics trailed by 7 points, 19-26.
In the second quarter, the Knicks continued to torment the Celtics with their old tactics.
Ward and Childs took turns wearing down Delk, Patrick Ewing held off Mutombo, and Charles Oakley kept provoking Garnett with dirty tricks in the paint.
After Knicks ' backup John Starks came on, he even deliberately walked to the Celtics' bench during a dead ball situation, bent down, and put his face directly in front of Gary Payton.
Starks was chewing gum and grinning.
" Gary, when that college coach put a leash on you, you didn't dare utter a sound? A 60-win superstar, now he's just sitting on the sidelines as a water boy. If I were you, I'd retire tonight."
Gary Payton's facial muscles twitched violently. He ripped the towel off his head, stood up abruptly, and slammed his chest into Starks.
The two people were face to face, less than a centimeter apart, and could even smell the chewing gum on each other's mouths.
Without even blinking, Gary Payton's massive mouth opened fire on Starks ' face like a machine gun.
"Even if I sit on the bench, I'll still earn more than you, that lowly loser who used to work as a supermarket deliveryman! John, a few years ago in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, you were a softie who shot 2-for-18. If I were you, I would have hanged myself at Compaq Center back then! Today, even if I only play 5 minutes, I can still crush your balls!"
Starks's face changed instantly. His terrible performance in the NBA Finals two years ago was a lifelong nightmare and Achilles' heel. Gary Payton's slap landed squarely on his lungs.
Starks' eyes instantly turned red, and he raised his arm to strike.
The referee immediately blew his whistle and rushed over, screaming.
Pitino gripped Gary Payton's shoulder tightly, his face ashen, and he practically spat out the words through clenched teeth.
" Gary, take off your jacket and get on the field."
With 6 minutes and 40 seconds left in the second quarter, Gary Payton finally entered the game, and the entire audience erupted in thunderous cheers.
The moment Gary Payton entered the game, the situation changed immediately.
In the first possession, he directly blew past Ward's tight defense and dribbled the ball to the elbow area. Facing Childs ' help defense, Gary Payton didn't follow Pitino's plan at all. Instead, he seized the moment when Charles Oakley tried to box out Garnett and made a bounce pass ahead of time. Garnett understood perfectly, cut to the basket, caught the ball, and completed a two-handed dunk over Charles Oakley.
As they retreated on defense, Gary Payton shoved Garnett: "Don't waste your breath on Charles Oakley, he doesn't even have enough money for gum. Go keep an eye on Patrick Ewing and get the rebounds!"
Turning back, the Knicks had just dribbled the ball across half-court when Gary Payton immediately closed in. He used his body to block Charlie Ward's dribbling space, his knees and elbows subtly blocking the opponent's lower body.
Gary Payton tilted his head and yelled at Ward.
" Charlie, I heard you threatened David Stern before the draft? I'll tell you right now why neither the NFL nor the NBA wanted to draft you in the first round—because your dribbling moves like a truck driver with polio! Do you think this is a Florida football stadium where you can just stick your ass out and five 200-pound offensive forwards will stand in front of you to protect you? Open your eyes and look carefully, the person standing in front of you right now is Gary Payton!"
Ward is usually a Christian who doesn't swear, but he hates it when people bring up his football background. With Gary Payton bombarding him like that, his attention was momentarily diverted, and his dribbling rhythm paused slightly.
For Gary Payton, that one moment was enough.
His left hand, which had been resting against Ward's waist, shot out with lightning speed and poked the bottom of the basketball with extreme precision.
"Smack!"
The ball slipped from Ward's control. Gary Payton didn't even wait for the ball to hit the ground; the instant it bounced, he scooped it up with his right hand and intercepted it.
At this point, the entire Knicks team was still moving up the court, and no one had time to get back on defense.
Gary Payton received the ball and dribbled down the court, without even taking a dribble, he launched a long pass forward.
Eddie Jones, sprinting at full speed, leaped in the middle, caught the ball, and used the momentum to slam it into the basket!
The point difference has narrowed to four points.
The entire stadium of fans stood up.
Gary Payton didn't celebrate. Instead, he deliberately ran backwards while retreating on defense, staring intently at Ward, who was still in shock, and shouted.
"Welcome to the NBA playoffs, college quarterback! This shot is a reward from me on behalf of basketball. Go back to your football field!"
Pitino on the sidelines looked grim, because neither of the two goals was entirely due to Gary Payton's individual skill; he had nothing to do with it.
At halftime, the Celtics trailed by only 3 points, 42-45.
However, at the start of the third quarter, Pitino once again made a breathtaking move...
He put Delk back in the starting lineup and sent Gary Payton back to the bench.
The crowd erupted in boos.
Knicks head coach Van Gundy astutely seized the opportunity, signaling the backcourt to continue applying intense pressure.
Delk's advance was extremely difficult, and the Celtics ' overall offense was forced into a quagmire.
Garnett was repeatedly battling physically with Charles Oakley and Larry Bird Johnson in the paint, Patrick Ewing was still camping out in the restricted area.
Although Garnett managed to score 6 points during this period using his talent to force shots, blocks, and even second-chance points, he couldn't prevent the team's offense from stalling.
At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics were down by 12 points again.
With eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Pitino couldn't withstand the pressure and had to bring Gary Payton back on, while keeping Garnett, Mutombo, Eddie Jones, and Horry on the court – the Celtics' strongest five-man lineup.
The five players launched a furious counterattack on the field.
Gary Payton used his back-to-the-basket moves to bully Ward, drawing fouls while simultaneously passing the ball to Horry in the corner for a three-pointer.
Garnett delivered a brilliant pass from the high post, assisting Jones on a cut to the basket for a dunk. Mutombo swatted away Patrick Ewing's hook shot on the defensive end and wagged his finger at the crowd.
Just when the team was on a scoring run and looked poised to turn the tide, Pitino suddenly called a timeout.
Gary Payton walked back to the bench with a cold expression and slammed a towel against the back of his chair.
Pitino didn't even look at Gary Payton. He picked up the tactical board and slammed it twice with a marker. "Last three and a half minutes, no more blindly accelerating! Everyone get back into position and run your positions exactly as 'Number 5' tactic does."
Gary Payton pointed at the scoreboard and sneered.
" Rick, we've almost broken them down with our split-push attacks and chaotic skirmishes. Now you want us to stop and give them time to get back into defensive formation?"
Pitino's face instantly darkened, and his voice was low but extremely stiff.
" Gary, the last three minutes of the playoffs are all about success rate; you have to stick to the tactics."
Pause ended.
In the first round, Gary Payton stood on the field, but ultimately had to carry out the instructions.
He dribbled the ball across half-court and passed it to Garnett in the high post.
As soon as Garnett received the ball, the Knicks ' defense didn't budge.
Because the starting move of Pitino's tactics is to have Garnett pass the ball to Jones on the weak side.
Houston positioned himself half a step ahead of Jones, completely blocking his path.
Jones couldn't receive the ball at all and could only rely on Delk, who had just been substituted on to receive it.
When Delk ran out to receive the ball, his rhythm was noticeably half a beat slower.
Starks pounced from the side, stole the ball, and finished with a fast break layup.
The point difference instantly narrowed to 5 points.
In the second leg, Pitino was frantic on the sidelines, like a cat on a hot tin roof, gesturing wildly to the field and yelling hysterically, "Be patient, stick to the plan!"
Gary Payton dribbled at the top of the key, listening to Pitino's shouts from the sidelines, and hesitated for half a second again about the passing lane. He knew that passing according to the play would be a dead end, but the coach was still yelling in his ear.
In that half-second of hesitation, Childs swatted the ball out of bounds.
Although the Celtics still had possession of the ball, only 6 seconds remained on the shot clock.
The inbound pass was barely made, Horry had no choice but to hastily take a three-pointer at the last moment.
The ball bounced high off the front of the rim, and Charles Oakley, inside, shoved Garnett aside and grabbed the crucial rebound.
With one minute remaining, Gary Payton missed a three-pointer, forcing the Celtics to resort to fouling.
The Knicks secured their first road victory with a 94-86 win thanks to consistent free throw shooting.
When the final whistle blew, a deafening chorus of boos erupted from the FleetCenter.
Garnett finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks; Mutombo had 12 rebounds; Gary Payton contributed 14 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals in just 21 minutes.
Delk, who started and played 27 minutes, only scored 6 points and had 5 turnovers.
At the post-game press conference, Pitino reiterated into the microphone, "We lost because we didn't consistently execute our tactics. New York did what they were supposed to do, and we have to play the full 48 minutes the right way."
When asked by reporters whether the team would consider starting Gary Payton in the next game, given that he had a net positive of 12 points when he was on the court, Pitino dodged the question, saying, "I will evaluate all the options."
The following day, local media and radio stations launched a barrage of criticism, pointing out that Pitino's stubbornness had effectively tied the hands of the 60-win team.
The first game ended, Celtics not only lost their home-court advantage.
Even more seriously, the head coach's inflexible thinking has completely shattered the team's locker room.