8 PM, Boston, New Garden.
The stadium was packed.
Amidst a deafening roar of cheers, David Stern, beaming with joy, personally handed the Celtics players championship rings, each adorned with dozens of diamonds and symbolizing their three-peat glory.
During this glorious ceremony, the broadcast camera first cut to the away team's bench.
According to NBA tradition, championship heroes who leave their teams in the summer will receive their rings when they return to their home court for the first time.
Michael Redd, Hedo Türkoğlu, and Brad Miller, the three former Boston Celtics players, walked forward somewhat awkwardly, wearing Orlando Magic Team away warm-up jerseys. When Stern handed them the rings and the home DJ shouted their names, the entire arena rose to their feet, giving these former championship pieces a deafening ovation and cheers.
However, when David Stern began awarding rings to the current Celtics players, the broadcast cameras keenly captured a strange scene.
Whether it was Garnett, Pierce, or Rasheed Wallace on the bench, none of them showed much excitement after receiving the ring that countless NBA players dream of.
Garnett merely slipped the ring onto his finger and glanced at it coldly. He expressionlessly removed the ring, casually handed it to the equipment manager beside him, and then forcefully ripped off his warm-up suit.
Pierce, Billups... all the starting players made the same move.
The moment the awards ceremony ended and Stern left the stage, the Boston Celtics, fresh from receiving their rings, were devoid of any warmth. They exuded an extremely oppressive, even suffocating, aura of menace as they stared in the direction of the visiting team.
Orlando Magic Team head coach Doc Rivers, sitting on the visiting team's bench, suddenly felt a chill.
Doc Rivers swallowed hard. He had been confident about tonight's opening game. Just a few months ago, under Lin Qi's guidance, he had made a brilliant trade using draft picks to assemble this young team with immense talent on paper.
The starting lineup included point guard Darrell B. J. Armstrong, shooting guard Michael Redd, small forward Mike Miller, and frontcourt pairings of Jermaine O'Neal and Brad Miller. Türkoğlu and Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Arenas were also on the bench.
Among them, Redd, Türkoğlu, and Brad Miller were all acquired by him from the Celtics in the summer.
This should have been a very competitive roster in the Eastern Conference. But looking at the Boston Celtics' starting lineup with their faces ashen, Doc Rivers had a very ominous feeling.
"Beep--!"
With the referee's whistle, the opening match of the 2001-2002 season officially kicked off.
Jump ball at center circle.
Ben Wallace flicked the ball back into half-court with lightning speed before his former substitute teammate Brad Miller could even jump.
Gary Payton caught the basketball steadily and slowly advanced it past half-court.
The Orlando Magic's defense immediately got into position. O'Neal Jr. stuck close to Garnett, while Michael Redd took a deep breath and stared at Chris Paul Pierce in front of him. He had experienced firsthand how formidable Pierce's one-on-one game was when he was a substitute in Boston.
This was Pierce's first appearance as the starting shooting guard of the new season.
"Why are your legs shaking? Are you getting weak in the knees when you see me?" Gary Payton dribbled the ball while trash-talking B. J. Armstrong who was guarding him, his eyes quickly scanning half the court.
Suddenly, Gary Payton flicked his wrist, and the basketball cut precisely into the right wing.
Pierce receives the ball. Facing his former teammate Redd, Pierce doesn't call a screen.
He slammed his broad back into Redd with a loud thud, sending Redd reeling backward. Using the force of the impact, Pierce executed a smooth step-back and pulled up for a three-pointer.
"Whoosh!"
The basketball swished through the net. 3-0.
Pierce gave Redd a cold glance and quickly retreated.
The Orlando Magic inbound the ball from the baseline, and B. J. Armstrong dribbles it up the court.
But soon, the Orlando Magic players realized something was wrong.
Boston's defense was exceptionally strong today.
Ron Artest began relentlessly guarding Mike Miller from beyond the three-point line. Miller, a shooter, was most vulnerable to this kind of unreasonable physical contact. Just by moving around, he was repeatedly knocked off balance by Artest's tackles and couldn't receive the ball at all.
With his outside shooting strategy proving ineffective, B. J. Armstrong had no choice but to lob the ball to O'Neal Jr. inside.
Jermaine O'Neal backs down Garnett.
O'Neal Jr. dribbled, exerted force, and tried to drive into the paint. But he felt he collided with Garnett, Garnett didn't budge an inch.
Just as O'Neal Jr. turned around to attempt a turnaround jump shot, Garnett's long arms loomed over him like a dark cloud.
"Smack!"
With a crisp sound, the basketball was slapped out of bounds by Garnett.
"Get out!!! This is my territory!" Garnett roared at O'Neal Jr.'s face after landing.
O'Neal Jr. was stunned. It was just the opening game of the regular season, but the opposing team was playing like it was a Game 7, a do-or-die situation.
This was just the beginning of the Orlando Magic's nightmare.
For the remainder of the first quarter, the game turned into a one-sided massacre.
Boston's starting five transformed the guilt and fervor they felt in the locker room into extremely brutal confrontations on the court.
Brad Miller was completely shut out of the paint by Big Ben Wallace, unable to even set a comfortable screen. Redd was helpless against Pierce's incredibly skillful "kaleidoscope" offense, picking up three fouls in the quarter. Gary Payton, on the other hand, was like an unyielding piece of chewing gum, tearing the Magic's backcourt to shreds.
With two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Boston had built a 19-point lead, 31-12.
Doc Rivers was sweating profusely on the sidelines. He was forced to call a timeout and bring on Gilbert Arenas and Türkoğlu from the bench, trying to break the scoring drought through a chaotic game.
However, Doc Rivers ' brow furrowed even more when he looked at Boston's bench.
Subsequently, Rick Carlisle substituted several starters, bringing on Chauncey Billups Billups, Stephen Jackson, Andrei Kirilenko, Rasheed Wallace, and Wang Zhizhi.
Watching this lineup step onto the court, Doc Rivers felt a deep sense of powerlessness. Although he wasn't familiar with the rookie white forward ( Kirilenko ) and the swingman ( Jackson ) who had just returned from overseas leagues, just the presence of Rasheed and Billups alone made this bench unit even more balanced than the Orlando Magic's starting lineup.
Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Arenas, a second-year rookie who had just entered the game, tried to use his speed to break through. He accelerated past Billups by half a body length and was about to shoot a layup as he entered the free-throw line.
Suddenly, a tall, slender white figure pounced from the weak side corner like a ghost. It was the Russia rising star, Andrei Kirilenko.
Gilbert Arenas had no idea that the opponent's help defense would be so terrifying. He made a hasty shot, and the basketball was intercepted in mid-air by Kirilenko's incredibly long arms as soon as it left his fingertips!
Volleyball block!
The basketball flew precisely towards the top of the key.
Stephen Jackson, the swingman, grabbed the ball and then, like a heavy pickup truck without brakes, roughly shoved the Orlando Magic's retreating defenders up the court.
The Orlando Magic's Türkoğlu tried to delay at the three-point line, but Jackson didn't even slow down. He used his broad shoulders to forcefully push Türkoğlu aside, took off from just inside the free-throw line, and finished with a powerful one-handed dunk over Brad Miller who was helping to defend!
"Boom!"
Stephen Jackson released the rim, landed, patted his chest, grinned at Gilbert Arenas was coming back on defense, revealing a wild smile.
Doc Rivers on the sidelines, closed his eyes in anguish.
This round was just a microcosm. Kirilenko's spiderweb-like help defense covering the entire court, coupled with Jackson's willingness to go toe-to-toe with defenders in chaotic situations, made Boston's second unit display a level of pressure that was in no way inferior to the starting lineup.