The suspension of play left fans feeling incredibly bored, resulting in a massive crowd outside New Garden Arena.
Tickets sold by scalpers have already doubled in price.
Tonight's match is not only the opening game, but also the first public appearance of the newly renamed New Garden.
In the stands, television cameras quickly panned across Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, while the boxes were packed with corporate clients.
Outside the merchandise store, long lines of fans were snapping up the Boston Celtics' newly released co-branded green jackets, hoodies, and caps.
Doc Rivers was chewing gum, the media was watching closely to see if this "rookie coach" would make a mistake, and the New York were waiting with their arms crossed to see him make a fool of himself...
In the first round of last season's playoffs, it was the New York Knicks who swept the Celtics 3-0 at Madison Square Garden, in front of nationally televised cameras, completely crushing Boston's pride.
The shadow of that night has not completely dissipated.
Lin Qi sat in the top-floor VIP box, with a report on the revenue from merchandise and tickets for the single event that had just been delivered to him.
The numbers above broke the team's all-time record, but he didn't even lift an eyelid.
He simply leaned on the handrail, looking down at the players warming up in the center of the field.
When the lights in the New Garden Arena dimmed instantly and the arena DJ shouted out the names of the Boston Celtics' starting five, even Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who was used to big games, felt his eyelids twitch almost imperceptibly.
Gary Payton, Eddie Jones, Robert Horry, Kevin Garnett, Dikembe Mutombo.
New York also fielded their full starting lineup: Charlie Ward, " Mid-Range King " Allan Houston, " The Madman " Latrell Sprewell, " Grandmama " Larry Bird Johnson, and Patrick Ewing.
As soon as the whistle blew, both sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle. Having not played a formal match for more than half a year, both teams' initial positional warfare coordination was extremely rusty.
Gary Payton's first high lob pass to Garnett resulted in a turnover, the ball hitting an advertising board and bouncing out of bounds. Horry attempted two spot-up three-pointers from the right corner, both of which bounced off the rim. Not only Boston, but the Knicks ' passing was also erratic, with Ewing Patrick Ewing losing possession of the ball in the low post.
Both sides made repeated mistakes on the field, and the scouts in the stands shook their heads.
However, after a few rounds, Jeff Van Gundy's brow furrowed more and more. He realized that although the tactical coordination between the two sides was a mess, the defensive instincts and physical condition displayed by the Boston players on the court were worlds apart from those of the Knicks.
During the lockout, over 90% of the players in the league indulged themselves, gained weight, and went to nightclubs. Tonight, the Knicks are relying entirely on their past achievements and instincts to fight it out.
But this Celtics is different.
Four days before the official suspension, Lin Qi and Doc Rivers had already outlined the offseason plans for everyone.
Their offensive touch tonight may also be rusty, and even the connection between Gary Payton and Garnett is still finding its rhythm, but Boston's defensive positioning, weak-side boxing, and physical abilities are clearly much better than the Knicks'.
Tonight, Gary Payton's mid-range jumper was incredibly powerful, with both his core strength and shooting form being remarkably steady. Garnett was forced to call a timeout on an offensive play at the high post, and the ball was passed to Gary Payton at the top of the Glove arc. Overcoming Charlie Ward's face-blocking defense, Payton made a clean and crisp mid-range shot, the basketball swishing through the net.
In the next possession, Larry Bird Johnson was matched up against Horry. Before Johnson could even change direction, Garnett rushed out from the high post to complete an extremely precise double-team, stretching out his long arms to hold the ball in mid-air.
The Celtics ' ball movement was a bit choppy, failing to execute a smooth fast break, but the ball eventually found Horry lurking in the weak-side corner. Horry had strictly controlled his body fat during the summer, and his receiving, jumping, and shooting were completely unaffected by the long break, resulting in a signature spot-up three-pointer that once again swished through the net accurately.
Although Boston's tactics weren't great, everyone's basic skills and shooting accuracy were all on point.
In contrast, the Knicks ' half-court offense was a complete disaster. Patrick Ewing turned around in the low post, he was met by Mutombo. The African Mountain man, who had strictly followed the medical team's guidelines during the hiatus and had not touched a drop of alcohol, was incredibly energetic and positioned himself extremely aggressively, forcing Patrick Ewing to barely manage a hook shot that went wide.
The New York ' only lifeline was Allan Houston. This Mid-Range King didn't need complicated set plays; facing Eddie Jones ' tight defense, he used his solid technique to shift half a step to the side, and with almost no balance, delivered a textbook deadly mid-range shot to forcefully keep the Knicks' offense going.
In the backcourt, as soon as Charlie Ward received the ball, Gary Payton immediately closed in.
Gary Payton's long arms nearly slapped him across the face, and his infamous chatter continued to torment Ward, his words sticky and sarcastic.
" Charlie, you've been eating like crazy these past six months, haven't you? You've got almost a three-layered belly now, is your stomach completely stuffed with hamburgers and fries? Look at your heavy butt, you can barely even turn around."
"Go ahead and dribble, why aren't you dribbling anymore? You don't even know who should have the ball after the halfway line. How about I call a timeout right now so you can pray to God on the spot? Oh right, I forgot, God thinks you're too fat tonight and doesn't even want to look at you."
Ward, known for his piety and composure, now had his face turn a deep purplish-red. Under this historic close-quarters biting and ear-piercing scream, even his basic vision of the ball was completely blocked.
The first quarter lacked flashy alley-oops and fluid movement; instead, the court was filled with suffocating physical battles and piercing whistles. Both sides' tactical coordination was chaotic, but Boston, with its superior individual shooting and defensive rotations, managed to maintain firm control of the game's tempo.
At the end of the first quarter, the Celtics the Knicks 23-18.
The score was low, and the teamwork between the two sides was still awkward. But Lin Qi sat in the box, watching the New York Knicks' bench, which was already panting heavily just twelve minutes into the game, and slowly lit a cigarette.
Entering the second quarter, both teams began rotating their lineups. Jeff Van Gundy intended to bring in a group of tough guys with gangster backgrounds, such as Chris Childs and Kurt Thomas, to continue battling the Boston Celtics. But when he looked up, he saw Chauncey Billups Billups and Chris Paul Pierce, the rookie who had fallen to the tenth pick in the draft, striding onto the Boston bench.
Against the backdrop of the major lockout, the prospects for this year's rookies are generally viewed pessimistically. Without the Summer League or preseason training camp, these young players will have to face the most brutal defensive battles in the NBA right from the start in a packed schedule with no buffer.
However, the moment Pierce appeared, his figure and gaze made Jeff Van Gundy's heart skip a beat.
He didn't look bloated at all after the resumption of the competition; instead, he exuded an extremely solid and substantial aura.
The Boston Celtics ' second lineup, lacking cohesion, also struggled with complex passing and cutting. After Billups repeatedly probed the top of the arc, seeing that time was running out, he simply passed the ball to Pierce.
The Knicks instantly intensified their physicality, with defenders sticking to Pierce's back like a wall. An average rookie would have lost possession after such a collision, but Pierce grounded himself, positioning himself like a seasoned veteran of the league for a decade, actively seeking contact.
Immediately afterwards, with a simple yet deceptively deceptive probing step, Pierce used a strange pause in his rhythm to create half a body length. Without any unnecessary movements, just one step inside the three-point line, he raised his hand, jumped, stabilized his pivot, and completed a slightly fadeaway mid-range shot.
Swish!
"Is this guy really a rookie?" Jeff Van Gundy frowned as he watched from the sidelines.
The ability to maintain absolute balance during a high-intensity physical confrontation is beyond the mental fortitude and technical skill expected of someone of this age.
Before the New York could react, on the defensive end, Pierce had already locked onto the Knicks ' passing lane. The instant Childs the ball, he leaped and intercepted it!
Boston immediately launched a counterattack. Pierce passed the ball to Billups and then sprinted forward at full speed, accelerating all the way to the right 45-degree angle.
Billups controlled the ball and sprinted forward, the ball arriving just as he did.
Pierce received the ball with a slumped shoulder, and from beyond the three-point line—where he had practiced countless times during that long summer—he forced a jump despite the defender's effort and shot.
The ball, with a slight rightward spin but extremely stable rotation, once again cleanly pierced the center of the net.
The Knicks ' defense was tough enough, but Chris Paul Pierce displayed a composure far beyond his years tonight. An unreasonable one-on-one play, a defensive interception, and a fast-break three-pointer—he single-handedly widened the gap at the start of the second quarter.
On the sidelines, Jeff Van Gundy, his face ashen, strode to the scorer's table the moment the ball went dead, requesting a substitution and bringing key players like Patrick Ewing and Houston back onto the court ahead of time.