The moment the final whistle blew in the second game of the first round.
The expected chorus of boos did not immediately erupt at the Boston FleetCenter Arena.
The 20,000 Boston fans seemed to be collectively choked, a deathly silence spreading out.
The silence was so heavy it was almost eerie; people didn't even leave.
He just stood there, staring blankly at the huge scoreboard above his head, his eyes filled with absurdity and incomprehension.
New York Knicks 91, Boston Celtics 84.
A 7-point gap.
The score is 0-2.
This is a team that won 60 games in the regular season and ranked second in the Eastern Conference. This is a young and tough team that has achieved a terrifying record of 36 wins and 5 losses at home.
However, in the first two games of the playoffs, they lost both home games in a row under the watchful eyes of the city's die-hard fans.
Head coach Pitino was meticulously adjusting his suit cuffs. His face was as pale as paper under the light, but his spine remained ramrod straight as he gripped the tactical board that had once accompanied him to victory in college basketball.
Point guard Delk, head down like a child who had done something wrong, hurried into the player tunnel.
He started and played 29 minutes today, scoring a paltry 7 points and 3 assists, while also committing 4 fatal turnovers.
In this game, Garnett scored 21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks. Gary Payton, in limited playing time of 26 minutes, also contributed efficiently with 17 points, 8 assists, and 4 steals.
Lin Qi sat alone in the VIP box above the court, his hands resting on the railing, remaining motionless for a long time.
Next game, Madison Square Garden.
New York City has never hidden its dislike for Boston.
From the moment the Boston Celtics team bus drove into Manhattan, the entire city displayed its malice blatantly on the bus windows.
The bus moved slowly through the congested streets, and New York on both sides stopped and gave it the middle finger with cold smiles.
Outside Madison Square Garden, the area was already packed with New York fans.
The guards clung tightly to the safety barriers, enduring the shoving and jostling of the crowd.
Countless crudely made playing cards waved in the air, their slogans glaring and malicious.
Sixty wins in the regular season? Sorry, we're currently at zero wins.
"Welcome to the adult world, head coach of the university team."
One of the most ironic was a huge cardboard sign hanging on a lamppost. It depicted a tactical board drawn on it with thick black marker, and in the center were two large characters that read "The Correct Way." Below that was a line of mocking smaller print. "Take this and go back to Boston."
Gary Payton, sitting in the last row of the bus, saw the playing card through the tinted glass and a mocking smile crept onto his lips.
Lin Qi sat in the front row by the window, clutching a copy of the New York Post he had just bought.
The bold headline on the front page was as glaring as a knife. "One game away from a historic disaster: The doomsday countdown for the 60-win Boston Celtics."
Turning to the second page, the New York media had even begun planning for Boston's future. " Gary Payton or Pitino, who will leave Boston first?"
Lin Qi folded the newspaper expressionlessly and tossed it casually onto the empty seat next to him.
At 4 PM, the final starting lineups for both teams were officially announced.
This time, the name on the Boston Celtics ' point guard roster has finally been changed back to " Gary Payton ".
When Rick Pitino announced the decision in the locker room, his back remained ramrod straight, attempting to maintain his dignity as a renowned coach.
" Gary is back in the starting lineup tonight."
The locker room below the stage was deathly silent.
No one cheered, and no one showed any surprise.
Everyone knows perfectly well that this is not a concession at all.
This was merely a desperate measure after falling behind 0-2.
At 7:30 p. m., the game officially kicked off at Madison Square Garden.
Before the jump ball, Charles Oakley deliberately brushed past Garnett on the shoulder with ill intent, not even bothering to look at Garnett's face, and simply said in a gloomy tone, "You little brat, don't come crying to your mother on the court tonight."
Garnett clenched his teeth tightly around his mouth, his eyes blazing with fury.
Gary Payton walked past him discreetly, nudging Garnett lightly with his elbow. "Ignore him, focus on the game."
The referee tossed the ball high into the air. Dikembe Mutombo displayed the dominance of a top defensive center in the league, accurately flicking the ball into the backcourt with a single swipe.
Gary Payton received the ball and steadily dribbled it past midfield.
This marks the first time in the entire series that the Boston Celtics have handed the ball to their star point guard in the very first possession of the game.
With 4 minutes and 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Knicks led 82-77 by 5 points, pushing Boston to the brink of elimination.
At the crucial moment, Gary Payton completely shed his shackles.
He dribbled past half-court, ignoring Pitino's frantic hand signals on the sidelines, and went straight to the low post for a back-to-the-basket move. He used his broad shoulders to firmly block Charlie Ward, forcefully pushing him aside by two body lengths, and before Patrick Ewing could jump to help defend, he made a cold floater.
In the very next defensive possession, Gary Payton darted out like a ghost, intercepting Allan Houston's off-ball pass with one hand in mid-air.
In the long sprint of the counterattack, Gary Payton took the lead and drove into the paint. Facing an empty basket, he did not choose the safe layup, but instead slammed the ball hard against the backboard.
Garnett followed up by leaping into the air from inside the free-throw line, his arms outstretched to the maximum in the air, catching the rebounding basketball, and slamming it into the New York Knicks ' basket with terrifying momentum!
The difference is now only one point.
Madison Square Garden fell into an eerie silence for a moment.
Jeff Van Gundy reacted quickly, requesting a timeout from the scorer's table the instant the ball hit the ground.
After the timeout, Patrick Ewing received the ball on the left low post, drawing the Celtics' defense inwards. In that instant, he delivered a precise cross pass to Allan Houston, who was lurking on the weak side.
Houston received the ball and shot; the basketball arced through the air and swished through the net with pinpoint accuracy.
The Knicks have extended their lead back to 3 points.
With two minutes and thirty-seven seconds left in the game, the entire arena was on edge.
Gary Payton calmly dribbled the ball up the court. Garnett once again resolutely took his place at the high post.
The two exchanged a glance amidst the chaotic movement.
It's that familiar misalignment again.
It's that hard-won gap in the passing lane again.
Throughout the regular season, as long as those two could execute this simple pick-and-roll perfectly, no team in the league could avoid paying a heavy price.
Gary Payton lowered his center of gravity while dribbling, preparing to drive to the basket.
Garnett understood immediately, and slightly stepped his left foot forward and to the left, preparing to descend.
Now!
However, just as Gary Payton was about to slip the ball into the gap, a piercing whistle suddenly rang out from the sidelines.
Head coach Rick Pitino gestured loudly to the scorer's table from the sidelines, signaling for a timeout.
Gary Payton caught the ball with one hand and stood still. He turned his head very slowly and looked coldly at Pitino on the sidelines.
The 20,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden were initially stunned, then the entire arena erupted in wild laughter.
These well-informed New York fans understood.
Van Gundy took off his glasses on the sidelines, wiped them, and revealed a confident smile.
Even Charles Oakley, who was standing on the field, couldn't help but clap his hands and grin at Gary Payton.
On the Celtics ' bench, not a single person could be smiling.
Pitino's eyes gleamed with an almost neurotic fervor as his pen flew across the whiteboard.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew an extremely sophisticated, versatile, and perfect set of tactics—so perfect that they could be written directly into a coaching textbook—through the interlacing lines.
Everyone was too tired and too numb. In the brutal battle where the New York had peeled off a layer of skin, no one had the mood or energy to cooperate with the head coach to complete the perfect war game in his mind.
The brief few dozen seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
The timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court.
This textbook-perfect tactic was destroyed within the first two seconds of stepping onto the court.
Before the ball could even be passed around, it was forced into a corner.
The hurried thud of a shot hitting the rim, the dull thud of Ewing grabbing the rebound under the basket, and Patrick Ewing Allan Houston's wide-open mid-range jumper that sealed the victory in just two possessions.
88 to 82.
The red light comes on, and the final whistle blows.
The New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics at home.
The score is 3-0.
The seventh-seeded New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference completed a sweep of the second- Eastern Conference.
Garnett stood alone in the center of the court, looking somewhat lost in thought.
16 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks.
Pitino walked slowly from the direction of the home team's bench, his face somewhat grim. " Kevin..."
Garnett walked past Pitino expressionlessly, not even glancing at his coach for a second.
Garnett walked straight to the corner of the away team's scorer's table.
Gary Payton sat there helplessly, a huge long towel completely covering his head.
Garnett stood in front of Gary Payton, his voice terribly hoarse. " Gary... we could have won."
"I know."
Then, Garnett suddenly bent down and hugged Gary Payton tightly with both arms.
Gary Payton froze for a full two seconds.
Then, with some difficulty, he raised his thick arm and patted Garnett's broad but somewhat thin back twice.
On the sidelines, high-definition cameras broadcasting live across the United States captured this scene clearly on television screens in millions of homes across the country.
Not far away at the edge of the field, Pitino stood there all alone.
Lin Qi sat in the away team's VIP box high up, watching the absurd yet despairing scene below the field, and slowly closed his eyes.