After witnessing Pierce's series of performances.
The New Garden Arena fell into an eerie silence for a moment.
Then, a deafening roar of applause and cheers echoed from the VIP stands all the way to the top stands.
"Did you see that?! I'm asking you, did you see that?!"
Gary Payton jumped up on the bench, slapped his thigh, and turned to Harper, roaring, "Tenth pick? To hell with tenth pick! Those nine general managers should be fired right now!"
Harper screwed on her water bottle and said casually, "If you shout any louder, Chris Paul will think you're in love with him tonight."
Gary Payton's eyes widened instantly. "I like him? I just fucking hate idiots!"
The New York lost face, and their offense became unusually aggressive.
Childs sprinted across half-court and passed the ball directly to Allan Houston on the perimeter. As soon as Houston received the ball, Eddie Jones closed in, his long arms almost blocking his nose.
Larry Bird Johnson set two consecutive off-ball screens, getting Houston to the other side of the court.
The Celtics' defense was forced to switch, resulting in a mismatch against Pierce.
Houston gave the rookie a cold glance, and without any hesitation, stepped into the last bit of space created by the screen and confidently launched a mid-range shot.
Pierce was quick to pounce, but the " Mid-Range King's" release rhythm was too steady. His body stretched out in the air, and just a second before Pierce's fingertips blocked his view, the ball gently slid out from his fingertips.
brush!
The ball went into the net cleanly.
Gary Payton, coming off the bench, instantly broke down, yelling at the players on the court, " Chris Paul! Who the hell are you guarding? Don't you dare jump around like that! Do you think you're still playing college basketball? That guy has plenty of time to buy you a hot coffee before he shoots, and then he'll leave you completely disoriented!"
Pierce ran towards the frontcourt, glancing back as he did so, and simply nodded to Gary Payton.
The meaning is clear: I understand, I won't do it again.
After the timeout, the Knicks changed their strategy. Sprewell pushed the defense two steps beyond the three-point line, determined not to let Pierce receive the ball comfortably any longer.
Chauncey Billups's pass was touched by Childs' fingertips halfway through, and the ball immediately went astray.
At the critical moment, Ben Wallace suddenly lunged out from the weak side.
He slammed almost sideways onto the floor, his right hand managing to swat the ball back near the sideline before it fell into the Knicks' hands.
The basketball bounced off the floor.
Pierce rushed over immediately and retrieved the ball back onto the court just before it went out of bounds.
Chauncey Billups receives the ball again.
The young point guard didn't panic.
Through the crowd, he immediately spotted Chris Paul Pierce blocking Sprewell's path by half a body length.
Without any hesitation, a lob shot grazed the defender's head.
Pierce caught the ball steadily, turned his back, and shoved it hard with his right shoulder.
Sprewell gritted his teeth, stubbornly holding on to his lower body and refusing to give an inch.
Pierce displayed a maturity far beyond his years, suddenly gathering the ball, pivoting with his right foot, and smoothly turning slightly towards the center.
Seeing this, " Mid-Range King " Allan Houston immediately and cunningly reached out his long arm from the weak side to steal the ball.
Facing the double-team, Pierce subtly flicked his wrist downwards, and the basketball, as if guided by eyes, slipped through the gap in their defense, feeding P.J. Brown near the free-throw line.
When Brown received the ball, there was no one in front of him. He took a deep breath and took a mid-range shot.
A sure hit.
Once again, applause and whistles filled the stands of the New Garden Arena.
Hey, big guy!
Gary Payton slammed his hand on the advertising board on the bench, grinning widely as he unleashed a torrent of abuse at the scrambling Ben Wallace, "Were you freaking saving the ball, or celebrating your two-year wedding anniversary with the FleetCenter floor?"
Big Ben, his face dark, ran back with his head down, not even sparing Gary Payton a second glance.
Seeing this, Gary Payton laughed even more wildly, chewing gum and yelling at Harper beside him, "I'm starting to like this kid more and more, he's got my taste."
Ron Harper tugged at the towel and said casually, "You just like all masochists who aren't afraid of pain."
With a little over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Gary Payton returned to the court.
He walked past the technical table like an old man surveying his territory, and casually slapped the slightly out-of-breath Chauncey Billups Billups hard on the butt.
"Listen, kid. There were two possessions just now where your ball-handling rhythm and defensive positioning really resembled a real NBA point guard."
Chauncey Billups was about to exhale a breath of relief and relax his tense nerves.
Gary Payton, drawing out his words, blurted out, "As for the rest of the possessions, the way you dribbled was like a daytime bike thief stealing bicycles in South Boston. Could you pass any slower?"
Chauncey Billups's lips twitched violently.
Harper, on the bench, completely disregarded the young man's feelings and burst out laughing.
After crossing half-court, Gary Payton passed the ball to Kevin Garnett in the high post.
Garnett received the ball and made a clean, decisive step, driving aggressively into the paint. His aggressive first step forced the Knicks ' weak-side defense to abandon the perimeter and instinctively collapse towards the middle to cover.
It turned out to be just a feint by Garnett. While in the air, he flicked his wrist at its maximum extension, sending the ball flying directly into the right corner, where the defense was completely open.
Eddie Jones receives the ball, jumps, and releases the three-pointer from the corner, a shot he's taken countless times over the summer.
brush!
Three-pointer goes in.
The buzzer sounded for halftime, and the score was 46-39.
In the visiting team's locker room during halftime, Doc Rivers simply placed the scratched tactical board on the table, speaking calmly as if stating an objective fact.
"Listen, in the second half, those New York Knicks bastards will only get dirtier."
At the start of the third quarter, the Knicks, having been pushed to the brink, indeed dragged the game into a quagmire from beginning to end.
Larry Bird Johnson twice charged into Horry Sprewell off the ball, launching a frenzied attack on the rim. Houston, meanwhile, frantically circled around screens on the weak side, forcing Eddie Jones to dribble through walls of defenders like a football player on every defensive possession.
The experienced Patrick Ewing cleverly used a subtle elbow contact in the low post to draw Mutombo's third foul.
48 to 42, 52 to 48...
The score was relentlessly closed by these seasoned New York veterans using the most basic and rudimentary methods.
With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the roaring noise from the crowd suddenly subsided as the Knicks forced their way back to within two points.
Doc Rivers stood on the sidelines, his fingertips already touching the timeout board on the scorer's table.
Gary Payton keenly caught the coach's gesture on the court. While wiping the sweat from his face with his clothes, he waved wildly at Doc Rivers.
No need to call a timeout, leave it to me.
Doc Rivers paused for a full second at the edge of the white line.
But Doc Rivers finally took a deep breath, slowly removed his hand from the timeout board, and chose to trust his players.
Gary Payton dribbled the ball past half-court, and Charlie Ward closed him down.
Gary Payton didn't spout any trash talk this time.
He simply raised his left hand coldly, held up one finger, and gestured for KG to come up.
High pick and roll.
Van Gundy let out a near-voice-breaking roar from the sidelines, Knicks ' wing players didn't hesitate at all, immediately sending two players to double-team Gary Payton.
Just as he was about to lose his balance, the Glove used one hand to forcefully return the ball to Garnett, who had freed himself, from under the defender's arm.
Kevin Garnett did not hesitate for a moment.
A wide diagonal pass!
The basketball traced a sharp, almost straight arc through the air, flying diagonally over the dark mass of people towards the weak side of the court.
Eddie Jones stood there calmly.
A three-pointer is attempted.
brush!
The instant the basketball pierced the net, Gary Payton didn't even wait for the ball to bounce before he retreated on defense and spread his arms high towards the New York bench.
"Keep attacking from both sides! You bunch of idiots!"
At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics led 72-61.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Knicks went on a frantic attempt to close the gap back to single digits.
Gary Payton cornered Ward on the baseline, forcing him to step out of bounds in a panic. Eddie Jones then bypassed several screens and cut off Houston's pass in mid-air.
Robert Horry was positioned half a second ahead of Larry Bird Johnson as he turned around, taking a solid elbow and drawing an offensive foul.
As Sprewell attempted a putback, Garnett leaped from beyond the free-throw line to the basket, his long arms blocking the ball away.
With 5 minutes and 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Patrick Ewing received the ball in the low post and used his signature bunny step to turn and hook the ball.
The moment the basketball completely left Patrick Ewing's grasp, Mutombo leaped into the air.
"Smack!!"
The basketball was powerfully swatted away by Mutombo with one hand.
The entire New Garden Arena was ignited at that moment.
The Knicks were forced to call a timeout. In this suffocating defensive stalemate that lasted for six minutes, the Boston Celtics had managed to pull ahead 82-68.
After the timeout, Chris Paul Pierce replaced Horry.
The New York Knicks players no longer looked at him with the same disdain they had at the beginning of the game.
Pierce's first call for the ball was immediately met with a triple-team from the Knicks, forcing a timeout.
When he received the ball a second time, he didn't try to force it. He turned to protect the ball, flicked his wrist to pass it back to Gary Payton at the top of the arc, and then sprinted back, cutting into the paint in the opposite direction.
Gary Payton's eyesight is incredibly sharp; he arrives at the ball just as the player does.
Pierce received the ball in the paint and forced a layup despite Jared Dudley's aerial challenge.
Although the ball slid off the rim, the baseline referee's whistle rang out sharply at the same instant.
Two free throws.
As the young man stepped onto the free-throw line at Boston New Garden Arena, the lower stands finally began to murmur the name that would one day resonate throughout the league.
" Chris Paul Pierce!"
" Chris Paul Pierce!!"
The young man stood under the spotlight, his chest heaving, and took a deep breath.
First penalty: swirls through the net.
The second free throw, the hand position was still very stable, and it went in again.
In the final two minutes, the outcome of the match was completely decided.
Doc Rivers pulled Gary Payton and Mutombo from the bench during the dead ball situation.
"Beep--!"
The red light came on to signal the end of the game. The final score was: Boston Celtics 94:78 New York Knicks.
The arena erupted in applause. Doc Rivers secured his first truly significant victory as head Boston Celtics.
Pierce scored 16 points in 22 minutes off the bench tonight. Gary Payton had 18 points and 8 assists. Garnett finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Mutombo played only 31 minutes but still managed 5 blocks.