October 29th, New Garden, Boston.
Forty minutes before the game started, the stands were already packed with home fans in green jerseys. More than three hundred accredited reporters were crowded around the baselines on both sides, and in the first row of VIP seats, in addition to local Boston celebrities, sat a team of Nike executives who had flown in from Oregon, as well as more than a dozen Hollywood stars.
To promote LeBron James ' debut, Nike spent a fortune this week renting two giant billboards across the street from the New Garden, displaying LeBron James ' posters. Placing the posters of the visiting team's rookie right in front of the four-time champions' home turf has infuriated Boston fans. As soon as the Cavaliers players ran out of the tunnel to warm up, a chorus of boos erupted from the stands.
Inside the home team's locker room, the heavy soundproof door blocked out most of the noise from outside.
Rick Carlisle stood in front of the tactics board, Mark in hand, making final preparations before going on stage.
" The Cleveland Cavaliers' starting lineup for tonight has been confirmed. Center: Ilgauskas; Power Forward: Carlos Boozer; Wings: Darius Myers and Ricky Davis; Point Guard: LeBron James."
Rick Carlisle tapped Ilgauskas's name with his pen.
"They fielded a lineup of big men, with both obvious strengths and weaknesses. Ilgauskas, at 2.21 meters tall, is slow on his feet and can only retreat to the paint to defend pick-and-rolls. Myers and Davis lack defensive focus and have poor transition defense habits."
"Tonight, our active roster will have Mehmet ( Okur ) as our first backup in the paint, and Gerald ( Wallace ) on the wing. Tyson Chandler ( Chandler ) and Tayshaun ( Prince ) will be sitting on the bench in suits."
Okur and Gerald Wallace, sitting on the bench, nodded and bent down to unbutton their warm-up suits. Chandler and Prince sat calmly beside them. After more than half a month of rotation and adjustment in Boston and Maine, the young players had gotten used to this rule of arranging their lineup according to the opponent's playing style.
Garnett sat in front of the locker, head down, tightening his shoelaces. Tonight he was wearing the new Converse All-Round signature shoes that had just arrived—a mid-top design in black and green, and almost a quarter lighter than last year's sneakers.
Garnett stood up, stomped his feet hard on the carpet to test the rebound of his forefoot, and gestured with his chin to Pierce next to him. " Chris Paul, those Nike guys have plastered posters of that high school kid all over the front of our arena."
Pierce slipped the wristband onto his wrist, grabbed the chalk box, and clapped his hands. "Let them put it on. Once he's on the court, he'll know the difference between high school league and New Garden."
"Remember the rules we practiced in the preseason," Rick Carlisle concluded. "Tonight's referee is Mark Davis, and the league just gave all the refereeing teams a strict order this week. For the first five minutes, Raja and Chris Paul, you two go test his calls. If the calls get tight, stop immediately and pick up the pace."
At 8:00 PM sharp, the starting players from both sides stepped onto the field.
Boston Celtics starting lineup: Dwyane Wade, Raja Bell, Chris Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace.
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the third-floor VIP box, Lin Qi held a cup of tea and looked down at the basketball court below.
As the referee tossed the ball into the air, Garnett used his speed advantage to tip the ball to Wade in the backcourt before Ilgauskas could reach it.
The opening match of the 2003-04 season officially kicked off.
The Celtics' first possession was solid. Wade dribbled past half-court and, seeing the Cavaliers' five players had retreated to inside the three-point line, immediately called for a high screen. Garnett set the screen, and Wade drove to the free-throw line, drawing Boozer's help defense, before passing the ball to the wing.
Garnett received the ball on the outside, jumped from 18 feet, and swished it into the net. 2-0.
The Cavaliers then launched their attack.
LeBron James dribbled the ball across half-court amidst boos from the crowd. As a 2.03-meter-tall high school point guard, his vision was indeed excellent, and he spotted Darius Myers cutting in from the weak side just past the mid-court line.
Pierce immediately closed in, and following his defensive habits from the past few years, he casually placed his left forearm on LeBron James's waist, preparing to put some contact on the number one draft pick.
LeBron James had just dribbled a step to the right, his shoulder not yet fully colliding with Pierce.
"Beep!"
The young referee near the baseline immediately blew his whistle and made a blocking foul gesture with both hands, pointing at Pierce.
Pierce paused for a moment, then spread his hands and walked towards the referee. "I just put my hands there, I didn't push anyone at all."
The referee, expressionless, gestured the arm-contact action. "On the perimeter, it is not allowed to place your hand on your waist to delay the ball's trajectory."
Forty seconds into the game, Pierce received a personal foul.
The Cavaliers inbounded the ball, and Ricky Davis received it on the wing for a one-on-one play. Raja Bell stepped up to defend him, and as Davis changed direction, Bell bumped Davis's shoulder with his chest and then swiftly jabbed him in the waist with his right hand.
"Beep!"
The whistle blew again; it was still a blocking foul on the outside.
Less than two minutes into the game, both of the Celtics ' starting perimeter players picked up a foul. Cavaliers head coach Chris Paul Russ, seeing this, crossed his arms and leaned back.
Rick Carlisle, standing in front of the home team's bench, showed no sign of panic. He glanced at the scorer's table, walked to the sideline, pressed his palms down, and then forcefully waved them towards the attacking third.
Garnett and Wade, who were on the court, saw the gesture and exchanged a gesture with each other.
The referees have been very strict about hand contact on the perimeter tonight.
In the third minute, the Cavaliers launched an attack.
This time, Pierce and Raja Bell stopped their dirty tricks, spread their arms, kept a half-step distance from the ball handler, and blocked the breakthrough route with only lateral sliding steps.
LeBron James received the ball at the top of the key and, seeing that Pierce wasn't close enough, used his speed to drive hard from the right. Pierce didn't reach out, but instead stayed sideways to guard LeBron James, forcing him into Ben Wallace's defense zone under the basket. LeBron James took a step and jumped to prepare for a layup, but Big Ben and Garnett simultaneously leaped vertically, their four long arms blocking the shooting angle in front of the rim.
LeBron James had to gather the ball in mid-air and barely managed to pass it to Ricky Davis on the outside.
At this moment, LeBron James landed and cut into the basket, creating an open space. He reached out for the ball, but Ricky Davis didn't even glance at him. He took a step and, facing Bell's long arms, launched a long two-pointer.
The basketball bounced off the back of the rim.
Garnett jumped under the basket and grabbed the backboard with both hands.
The instant Garnett landed, Wade and Pierce, who had been contesting the shot beyond the three-point line, turned and sprinted towards the frontcourt without even turning their heads.
Based on his habits from the past few seasons, Garnett should have passed the ball to the point guard who was receiving it, and waited for the whole team to advance the ball. But tonight, after landing, Garnett didn't dribble. Instead, he spotted Wade running down the court and flicked the ball away with his right hand.
At that moment, Cavaliers center Ilgauskas had just turned around from under the basket and started running back. Ricky Davis was still standing there, angrily waving his hands.
Wade received the ball a step in front of the mid-court line, with only Boozer and LeBron James retreating to defend him.
The offense transitions within the first eight and a half seconds.
Wade dribbled straight to the free-throw line, forcing Boozer to collapse into the paint to block his drive, while LeBron James instinctively marked Raja Bell who was making a fast break down the weak side during his defensive retreat.
In the chaos, no one paid attention to Pierce was following up from the top of the arc.
Wade flicked the ball behind him with his toe.
Pierce received the ball a step beyond the three-point line with nineteen seconds left on the shot clock, and there was no one within three meters of him. Ilgauskas had just run to the vicinity of the center circle.
Pierce caught the ball and immediately jumped to shoot.
The basketball spun as it fell into the net.
A thunderous cheer erupted from the New Garden.
Pierce glanced at Ilgauskas, who was still panting in the center court, turned around and quickly retreated to defense, giving Wade a high five.