December 28, Boston, New Garden.
The Celtics will host the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is their first home game after their first loss, and also the first game in which Lin Qi is putting pressure on Rick Carlisle to implement rotation adjustments.
In the locker room before the game, Rick Carlisle wrote down the rotation changes on the tactics board with a blank expression.
Starting lineup: Gary Payton / Doug Christie / Pierce /KG/ Big Ben.
Playing time has changed.
Big Ben: Maximum 30 minutes (mandatory workload reduction).
KG: Maximum 32 minutes (forced load reduction).
Rasheed Wallace: Minimum 25 minutes (requires playing center).
Brad Miller: Minimum 12 minutes.
Billups: Minimum 25 minutes (second unit main playmaker)
"Listen," Rick Carlisle stared at Garnett and Big Ben, "Your time will be shredded tonight. Eight minutes in the first quarter, four minutes at most in the second. No matter what's going on, you're out of the game when the time is up."
Garnett frowned. "Coach, what if the score is very close?"
"Then let him keep going." Rick Carlisle's voice left no room for negotiation. "KG, have you forgotten how Big Ben fell down in Dallas?"
Garnett shut his mouth.
Rick Carlisle turned to the bench. " Rasheed, you need to come in halfway through the first quarter and play center. Your job is to protect the rim and guard players. Chauncey Billups, after Gary goes to the bench, take over the ball, stabilize the rhythm, and run more off-ball screens."
Lin Qi leaned against the doorframe, silently watching everything unfold.
Section 1.
The Cavaliers are mediocre, a typical Eastern Conference. The Celtics' starting lineup still displayed terrifying dominance. Big Ben kept Ilgauskas out of the paint, Garnett swept the court, and Pierce scored frequently.
But in the 6th minute, Rick Carlisle's voice rang out from the sidelines.
" Big Ben, get down! Rasheed, go!"
Big Ben paused for a moment, glanced at his jersey which wasn't even very sweaty, gritted his teeth, and without saying a word, turned and walked towards the bench. Rasheed took to the field.
The Celtics ' interior game completely changed the moment Rasheed entered the game.
Offensively, his shooting range extends to the three-point line. He receives the ball at the high post, fakes a shot, and then steadily sinks a mid-range jumper.
But on the defensive end, he's not the Big Ben of monster who can single-handedly sweep, assist, and protect the rim.
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Andrei Miller drove to the basket after a screen, Rasheed was a little slow, allowing the opponent to score a layup.
"Get back on defense! Rasheed!" Rick Carlisle roared from the sidelines.
Just as Rasheed was adjusting to the defensive intensity at center, with two minutes left in the first quarter, Rick Carlisle made another substitution.
"KG, get down!"
Garnett pointed incredulously at himself. " Rick, I've only played for eight minutes!"
"Get down." Rick Carlisle didn't even glance at him.
Garnett grumbled as he walked to the bench, slammed his towel down on the chair, and plopped down on it.
The second phase, the labor pains, arrived as expected.
Billups fielded an all-substitute lineup ( Billups / Redd / Bowen / Türkoğlu / Miller ).
Garnett sat on the bench, looking like he was covered in fleas.
On the court, Miller turned and scored with a hook shot.
But the Cavaliers suddenly sped up. Andrei Miller drew a foul, Weatherspoon hit a three-pointer from the corner.
The score was instantly reversed.
Garnett finally couldn't sit still on the bench any longer. He jumped up and walked to the edge of the bench.
"Defense! Stay with your man! Bruce, don't let him get past you!" Garnett lowered his center of gravity and made extremely exaggerated interference gestures with his hands on the sidelines, as if he were the one breaking through on the other side.
When Billups had the ball, Garnett even ran out of bounds to set a screen and then popped out. "I'm open here! Chauncey Billups! Pass it to me!"
Big Ben, standing nearby, was dumbfounded. "KG, are you possessed?"
"Shut up, I'm playing basketball." Garnett didn't even turn around, his forehead covered in sweat.
His body swayed wildly with the flow of the game, sometimes setting screens, sometimes feinting for rebounds. When Brad Miller delivered a massive block inside, Garnett leaped high, slapping the air with his hand. "Good shot! Do it that way!"
With six minutes remaining in the second quarter, Rick Carlisle finally spoke up, "KG, in!"
Garnett, like a hungry wolf released from its cage, ripped off his warm-up suit and rushed onto the scorer's table.
The Celtics ' defense instantly intensified the moment Garnett entered the game.
A powerful block sent Weatherspoon, followed by a thunderous dunk.
At halftime, Garnett led his team to regain control of the game with a 52-47 lead.
Section 3.
The Celtics took control of the game, with Pierce hitting consecutive three-pointers and Garnett dominating the paint.
In the 7th minute, Rick Carlisle shouted from the sidelines, "KG, come down!"
"My God, we're only up by 12 points!" Garnett protested.
"Get down."
Garnett was so angry he laughed and sat back on the bench, but less than thirty seconds later, his "air basketball" started again.
He stood by the sideline, arms outstretched. " Sheed! Get out there and set a screen! You're standing too deep!"
"Get back on defense! The bottom corner is exposed!"
Rick Carlisle rubbed his temples, his head aching. "KG, if you keep yelling like that, we might as well skip the fourth quarter."
Garnett immediately shut up, but his body movements only intensified. As Pierce launched a fast break, Garnett executed a perfect "catch and layup" move from the sidelines, muttering to himself, "Swish..."
Michael Redd, sitting in the back row, was dumbfounded.
Artest patted Redd on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it."
By the fourth quarter, the Celtics had already taken an 18-point lead.
With 6 minutes remaining in the game, Rick Carlisle gestured. "KG, come down. Big Ben, come down."
"The game isn't over yet!" Garnett exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"It's garbage time, time to rest."
Garnett slumped dejectedly in his chair, staring at the timer. "I've only played for 30 fucking minutes..."
For the next six minutes, Garnett entered a state of maximum intensity virtual basketball playing. He kept sliding, faking, and shooting along the sideline.
The entire stadium erupted in laughter as they watched Garnett's exaggerated performance, which resembled a pantomime.
Even the commentators were laughing, "Look at Kevin Garnett! He's playing even more intensely off the court than on! That's KG for you; keeping him on the bench is worse than killing him."
The final whistle blew, 108:78.
A comfortable 30-point victory.
The locker room after the game.
Garnett stared at the stat sheet, muttering, "30 minutes. With my form today, I could play 40 minutes."
"KG," Rasheed said as he walked over, untying his leg wraps, "Don't push yourself too hard."
"But sitting there watching others play, I felt so sad, like I was being scratched by a cat!"
"Then keep playing on the sidelines," Pierce said with a smile, tossing him a towel. "Anyway, you'll definitely be on ESPN's Top 5 Plays tonight."
A burst of laughter erupted in the locker room.
Post-match press conference.
The reporter handed the microphone to Rick Carlisle: " Garnett only played 30 minutes tonight, but his performance on the sidelines... was very eye-catching."
Rick Carlisle rarely showed a smile, "KG is the kind of madman who wants to devour his opponents whole. Even when he's sitting on the bench, his soul is still fighting on the field. That's his superhuman competitive drive."
"But he seemed very unhappy about the limited playing time."
"Of course he's unhappy." Rick Carlisle's expression turned serious again. "As a coach, I have to apply the brakes to the team. This kind of rotation will be the norm for the rest of the regular season."
That evening, ESPN's "SportsCenter"
Sure enough, footage of Garnett "virtually playing" on the sidelines was edited into a highlight reel and broadcast on the show.
In the video, Garnett is making all sorts of exaggerated gestures...
He was demonstrating defensive slides, screens, passes, shots, and rebounds, all while muttering to himself.
The funniest part was when Billups made a shot on the court, Garnett mimicked a "catch and shoot" motion on the sidelines, then nodded with satisfaction. "Swish! Good shot!"
Host Stuart Scott laughed and said, "Look at Kevin Garnett, he's playing more intensely on the sidelines than the players on the court! That's KG, a true basketball fanatic."
Teammate Ricky Eisen added, " Rick Carlisle limited his playing time to 30 minutes tonight, but KG was clearly not satisfied. He added extra minutes for himself on the sidelines, playing a full ten minutes more."
"This reminds me of his performance last season," Scott said. "Apparently, there was a time when he was substituted during garbage time and then jumped around excitedly on the sidelines for a full five minutes. After the game, when reporters asked him what he was doing, he said, 'I was participating in the team's defense.'"
They both laughed.
"That's KG," Eisen said. "He's the kind of player born for basketball. You can take him off the court, but you can't stop his heart from being on it."
"And to be honest," Scott said, "I think he was more engaged on the sidelines than many players were on the court."
A sports bar in Boston.
The TV was showing a highlight reel of Garnett "virtually playing basketball".
The fans in the bar laughed as they watched the video.
"KG is a madman," one fan said.
"But that's why we love him," another fan said. "He truly loves basketball."
"Look at his actions," the third fan pointed at the screen, "He really thinks he's on the field!"
"That's KG," the bartender said. "He's the kind of guy who plays basketball even in his dreams."
Everyone laughed.
The Celtics ' rotation experiment continued for the following week.
Garnett's performances on the sidelines became a regular feature of every game.
Regardless of the score, whether he's leading or trailing, as long as he's sitting on the bench, he'll be making various gestures and muttering to himself.
Fans are starting to anticipate this scene.
Someone even started an online poll. "How would you rate KG's performance on the sidelines?"
As a result, over 80% of people chose "10 points".
Because this is Kevin Garnett.
A person who truly loves basketball.
A person whose heart is always on the field, even when sitting on the bench.