Boston, New Garden.
The winter night was bitterly cold, but the arena was packed with people. Tonight's nationally televised highlight game was the Eastern Conference leaders, the Boston Celtics, hosting the hottest New Jersey Nets.
On the sidelines, commentator Marv Albert was giving his pre-game analysis. " Boston hasn't been having an easy time lately; the pain of losing Gary Payton is showing. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Nets, with the rapid development of their rookie Yao Ming and the defensive trio of Elton Brand and Andrei Kirilenko on the wing, have built the most terrifying 'Wailing Wall' in the Eastern Conference. Tonight's game against Rick Carlisle's offensive system will be a very stressful test."
The referee blew the whistle, and the game began.
The New Jersey Nets took the initiative on the road, displaying strong defensive pressure from the start. Point guard Andrei Miller used his solid physique to constantly squeeze Chauncey Billups Billups ' dribbling space. In the paint, the 2.26-meter China giant Yao Ming dominated the rim, while Brand held the low post, creating an impenetrable defense.
In the first four possessions of the first quarter, the Celtics missed two shots. The young and impetuous Ron Artest received the ball in the left corner and, in a moment of rashness, attempted a forced drive. As a result, just as he entered the free throw line, he collided headfirst with Kirilenko's towering arms, forcing a turnover out of bounds.
The Nets took an early lead, 8-2.
A restless commotion arose in the stands of the New Garden. Reporters in the media section were already furiously typing headlines like "The Offensive Dead End in the Post- Gary Payton Era" into their notebooks.
" Ron!" A furious roar suddenly erupted from the sidelines. Rick Carlisle jumped up from the bench, pointed at Raja Bell on the bench, and yelled at Artest on the court, "I'm saying this one last time! Stand in the corner, or get off the court and make room for Raja!"
With any other coach, Artest, a troublemaker, might have retorted. But he glanced at the sidelines; the usually mild-mannered Rick Carlisle was now expressionless, while Raja Bell on the bench had already unzipped his training jersey, ready to enter the game at any moment. Artest knew that the young coach wasn't joking; his threat to substitute was definitely not just a bluff.
Artest swallowed hard, shrank his neck, and reluctantly raised his hand to admit his mistake.
After reprimanding the players, Rick Carlisle walked to the scorer's table and made a subtle gesture towards Billups on the field: his right fist was clenched with his index finger pointing upwards.
This is an old code left over from the Adelman era in Boston a few years ago.
Turning back, Billups dribbled the ball across half-court. Instead of calling for a pick-and-roll and driving to the basket as he usually does, he stopped the ball at the top of the key and calmly passed it to Kevin Garnett, who had moved up to the free-throw line.
Elton Brand, who was defending KG, habitually took a half step back, trying to cover the driving lane behind him. After all, in this era, power forwards pulling out this far is usually just for setting screens.
But in that instant, Garnett didn't even take a probing step. Facing Brand's defensive distance of an arm and a half, he raised his hand and made an extremely decisive pull-up jump shot!
"Whoosh!"
The basketball swished through the net, making it 4-8.
After scoring, Garnett pounded his chest, his veins bulging, and flashed his signature fierce smile at the stunned Brand. This almost obsessive passion for the game instantly ignited the suppressed emotions throughout the New Garden.
" Brand isn't sticking too close," shouted Marv Albert, "But Kevin came out very wide tonight, and his mid-range and long-range shots are a regular weapon now!"
The Nets didn't seem to care. Yao Ming then established position in the low post and responded with a smooth turnaround hook shot.
But when the Celtics went on offense, the atmosphere in the entire arena suddenly changed.
Garnett brought up the top of the key again. This time, Brand, having learned his lesson, had no choice but to stick to him, standing right on the three-point line.
" The Nets fell for it." Assistant coach Blatt sat on the bench with his arms crossed, a smile playing on his lips.
Just as Brand shifted his weight and expanded his defensive line, Chris Paul Pierce, who had been positioned on the weak side, suddenly launched his attack!
Without the usual stiff, one-on-one play, Pierce used Ben Wallace's solid off-ball screens to shake off his defender and cut into the paint like a sharp knife from the corner. Without Brand's help defense, Yao Ming was left alone in the Nets ' paint to face Boston's onslaught.
Garnett, at the top of the key, didn't even turn his head. He caught the ball with his right hand and delivered a tricky bounce pass under Brand's arm!
The ball seemed to have eyes, piercing through the Nets defense and landing precisely in front of Pierce as he ran. Pierce caught the ball, jumped, and in mid-air, he leaned firmly against Kirilenko, who was trying to help defend, and scored with a high bank shot, drawing a foul in the process! 2+1!
"Beautiful cut! Kevin Garnett's high post playmaking!" exclaimed Marv Albert. "His passing vision is like that of a top point guard!"
Pierce had fallen to the floor, slid excitedly for a while, then rolled over and got up, pounding his chest wildly at the baseline camera while spewing out Boston street slang. Garnett, who delivered the perfect pass, merely glanced coldly at Brand, then turned and gave Billups was returning to defense, a heavy high-five.
Nets head coach Byron Scott, sitting on the visiting team's bench, frowned sharply. He paced irritably on the sidelines, trying to yell at his players to change their defensive formation, but he suddenly realized that Boston's offensive approach had completely changed.
Meanwhile, Rick Carlisle, standing on the other side of the field, simply crossed his arms and coldly observed everything happening on the field.
But this is just the beginning.
In the following rounds, the Celtics ' offense completely shed the sluggishness of the past few weeks. Garnett seemed to have returned to the days when Adelman was coaching, his playmaking talent, which had the Princeton offense ingrained in his very being, fully erupted at this moment.
Sometimes he would set a handoff screen with Billups at the high post, using his body to block Andrei Miller, after which Chauncey Billups pull up and sink a cold-blooded three-pointer. Other times, he would draw Yao Ming up to help defend in the elbow area, then lob the ball high above the rim, assisting Ben Wallace for a thunderous alley-oop dunk!
With Garnett orchestrating the offense, the Celtics ' ball movement was dazzlingly fast.
In the latter part of the first quarter, Garnett scored 8 points and dished out an amazing 5 assists! Billups made 2 of 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, scoring 6 points efficiently. Pierce scored 9 points.
"My God..." The special guest commentator gasped, "We all thought Boston lost its brain after Gary Payton left, but Kevin Garnett's performance tonight reminded me of Chris Webber, no, Chris Webber with top-notch defense! He completely controlled half the court!"
At the end of the first quarter, the Boston Celtics had taken a 29-20 lead.