Chris Paul Russ, frowning on the sidelines, yelled at the players, "Get back on defense! Look for people, don't all huddle into the paint!"
In the next possession, LeBron James used a screen to get out of position and hit a mid-range jump shot.
But as soon as the ball crossed the Nets, Garnett had already retreated to the baseline and immediately passed the ball to Wade.
It only took Wade three seconds to push the ball across half-court. This time, the Cavaliers ' perimeter players learned their lesson and sprinted back to position themselves inside the three-point line, not giving the Celtics a chance to launch a pull-up three-pointer.
With the shot clock ticking down to seventeen seconds, and no open shot from the previous eight seconds yet, Wade didn't stop the ball at the top of the arc to slow the pace; instead, he made a tactical gesture.
Ben Wallace immediately moved up from the low post to the top of the key, setting a solid side screen for Wade.
LeBron James, who was defending Wade, was blocked by Big Ben. Cavaliers center Ilgauskas, following his defensive routine, stayed below the free-throw line to protect the Big Ben, preparing to defend Wade's drive while also covering Wallace's cut.
Just as Big Ben turned and cut to the basket, Pierce, who was originally standing at a 45-degree angle on the right, suddenly started moving, slipped to the vicinity of the free-throw line, and directly used his back to block Ilgauskas ' chest.
Boston Pick-and-Roll.
Ilgauskas was watching Wade with the ball when Pierce suddenly set a back screen for him, trapping his tall frame in place, unable to retreat.
At this moment, Ben Wallace had already rushed into the unguarded three-second zone.
Wade flicked his wrist, tossing the ball towards the top of the basket. Big Ben leaped into the air, caught the ball with both hands, and slammed it into the hoop!
The entire play, from crossing half-court to completing the alley-oop dunk, took less than seven seconds.
Upon landing, Ilgauskas looked blankly at the coaching bench on the sidelines, not understanding why there was suddenly an extra screener behind him. Boozer was still watching Garnett in the corner and didn't have time to come over and help defend.
Lin Qi, sitting in the private room, took a sip of tea and nodded slightly.
In the existing defensive system, most centers are used to crouching down under the basket when defending pick-and-rolls. The second back screen added to the Boston Pick-and-Roll is specifically designed to exploit the time difference of the center crouching down.
The match continued.
The Cavaliers tried to slow down the pace and play half-court offense, but once the Celtics fell into half-court defense, although their outside shooting was ineffective, Garnett and Big Ben covered too much area in the paint. Ricky Davis and Myers attacked the paint twice in a row, but both times they were blocked by Big Ben and Garnett with vertical jumps and missed the basket.
Once they secured the defensive rebound, Boston immediately increased their pace.
With six minutes left in the first quarter, the Cavaliers committed a turnover on a cross-court pass, which Bell intercepted and passed to Wade for a fast break.
In the chaos of the high-speed defensive transition, the Cavaliers ' defense was misaligned again. Ricky Davis was forced to guard Garnett under the basket, while rookie LeBron James was matched up against Pierce on the left side of the post.
Wade immediately passed the ball to Pierce was positioned on the wing.
With 18 seconds left on the shot clock, the Cavaliers ' help defense hadn't yet arrived.
Pierce, holding the ball and facing LeBron James, didn't wait for his teammates to make a run. He first bumped LeBron James with his back, then made a step-through drive followed by a sudden stop and fake.
LeBron James has an exceptional jumping ability; as soon as he saw Pierce make a shooting motion, he immediately leaped high to try and block the shot.
Pierce had been waiting for this jump. He waited until LeBron James reached his highest point and began to fall before leaning his shoulder against LeBron James' chest, then leaping up to bank the ball in, just as the whistle blew!
Two plus one!
Pierce got up from the ground, walked to the free-throw line, looked at LeBron James who was throwing his hands up in frustration, and said in a calm tone, "You jumped pretty high, rookie. How's the air up there?"
LeBron James pursed his lips and retreated silently to either side of the three-second zone.
Rick Carlisle glanced at the clock on the sidelines; with five minutes and forty seconds left in the first quarter, the score had widened to 18-7.
Rick Carlisle walked to the scorer's table and waved for substitutions: Ben Wallace and Raja Bell were replaced with Mehmet Okur and Gerald Wallace.
As Ben Wallace wiped his sweat off the court, he glanced at the scoreboard. Although he had only played for six minutes, his forehead was covered in sweat from the several all-out sprints and rim protection under the basket, and he no longer felt the strain he had worried about.
On the field, Cleveland's troubles have only just begun.
As soon as Okur entered the game, he didn't even enter the paint, instead standing two steps away from the three-point line at the top of the arc.
In the next possession, Wade called for another Boston Pick-and-Roll. This time, Garnett stepped up to set a screen and rolled to the basket, Okur set a back screen for Ilgauskas on the weak side, and then Okur popped out to the top of the arc for a three-pointer.
To prevent Garnett from cutting to the basket, Ilgauskas didn't dare to rush out and could only watch helplessly as Wade passed the ball to Okur at the top of the key.
Okur received the ball, took a breath, and jumped to shoot.
The three-pointer swished through the net, bringing the point difference to fourteen.
Chris Paul Russ couldn't sit still any longer and immediately went to the scorer's table to request a long timeout.
The Cavaliers players walked off the court with their heads down. Ilgauskas, panting heavily, sat on the bench with his hands on his hips; the seven-minute high-speed shuttle run had already made the 2.21-meter tall man's legs feel heavy. Ricky Davis was still complaining to Myers about why he hadn't been passed the ball to him earlier. LeBron James sat in the middle of the bench, covering his head with a towel, staring at the scoreboard, his chest heaving.
Before the game, they studied countless videos of Boston's half-court offense from last season, preparing to wrestle and battle with the Celtics in the paint. But they never expected to face such a team tonight, a team that played completely differently from last season.
At the same time, the nationwide live television broadcast switched to commercial breaks.
On the television broadcast signal and the large screen above the New Garden, Nike's " The Chosen One" commercial had just finished playing when the screen went black, and a black-and-white shot without background music appeared.
The image shows a large hand wearing four championship rings and a black mask hanging on a locker.
Immediately afterwards, Kevin Garnett's deep, husky voice clearly echoed throughout the entire arena.
Nine years ago, they said a high school center like me wouldn't make it in the league.
Nine years later, I'm twenty-seven, and I have four championship rings...