After the break, the second quarter began, and Boston's second unit continued their offensive onslaught without pause.
In the third minute of the second quarter, Tyronn Lue pushed the ball across half-court and once again made tactical hand gestures.
Okur set a screen at the top of the key, and Prince quietly slipped to the free-throw line from the right baseline, using his back to firmly block Kirilenko, who was preparing to help defend. Tyronn Lue drove and passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace at the left 45-degree angle.
Rasheed received the ball, jumped, and fired a high shot over Brand, sinking another three-pointer.
The score was 41 to 30, with the gap widening to eleven points.
After scoring, Rasheed ran back, yelling at the Nets' bench, "Keep the big men on the court! We were having a great time shooting out there tonight!"
Byron Scott, his face grim, walked to the scorer's table and requested a substitution. Under the pressure of Boston's two interior big men, Yao Ming's height advantage couldn't be utilized; instead, he was expending a lot of energy running back and forth. Scott had no choice but to take Yao Ming out and bring on Wang Zhizhi, who was faster and also had mid-range and long-range shooting ability, in an attempt to keep up with Boston's pace.
After a dead ball substitution, the Nets went on offense.
Richard Jefferson received the ball on the right wing, facing Ron Artest's defense.
Artest lowered his center of gravity, raising his two thick arms high at his sides, remembering the coaching staff's instructions before the game not to put his hands on Jefferson's waist. Jefferson took two consecutive probing steps with his left foot, then suddenly accelerated and drove hard towards the baseline.
Artest moved quickly to the side, meeting the ball head-on with his thick chest. The two collided at the edge of the paint. Jefferson lost his balance in the contact, the basketball slipped from his hands and rolled out of bounds, and he fell to the floor.
"Beep!"
The baseline referee ran over with his whistle in his mouth, raised his right fist high, and then pointed at Artest, calling a blocking foul.
Artest had already turned around to make a run forward when he heard the whistle and stopped abruptly. He turned his head, the veins on his neck bulging instantly, and his chest heaving violently.
"I had both hands up! He bumped into me himself!" Artest shouted, clenching his fists, and strode toward the baseline referee.
Rick Carlisle's heart skipped a beat on the sidelines. He was about to rush to the sideline to call a stop when Gary Payton, sitting at the end of the bench with his left knee wrapped in a thick brace and wearing a suit, stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, " Ron! Shut your stinking mouth!"
No matter how fast Gary Payton shouted, he couldn't outrun Rasheed Wallace on the court.
Rasheed was near the free-throw line. Seeing Artest charging towards the referee like a Chicago Bulls, this veteran, who had received 41 technical fouls in a single season, knew better than anyone what the referee was going to do next. Once Artest swore and was ejected, the second unit would be missing a key perimeter defender, and the eleven-point lead they had just built would immediately be wiped out.
Rasheed rushed over in three strides, and before Artest could stand in front of the referee, he stretched out his long left arm and grabbed Artest's neck, while his right hand covered Artest's mouth and half of his face.
Artest was dragged and pulled three or four meters towards midfield by Rasheed.
Artest could only groan and thrash his arms wildly as the cloth was smothered.
The baseline referee was startled by the commotion and took a half step back, watching the two men warily.
Rasheed held onto Artest tightly, turned around, glared at the referee, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "What kind of rubbish is this? Ron's hand was raised higher than the Statue of Liberty, and he didn't even touch Richard with a finger! If you've donated your eyes to a hospital, just say so, don't go around blowing the whistle like that!"
"Beep!"
The referee made a T-sign with both hands and immediately gave Rasheed Wallace a technical foul.
Rasheed released Artest, spread his long arms, and yelled at the ceiling of the arena, venting his anger into the air. Artest, on the other hand, who had just been released, looked at Rasheed, who had taken a technical foul for him, and stood there touching his neck. The anger he had felt earlier, which had been about to fight the referee, inexplicably dissipated.
Richard Jefferson stepped to the free-throw line to take the technical foul free throw.
"Bang!"
The basketball bounced off the front edge of the rim and flew out.
Standing near the center circle, Rasheed Wallace immediately pointed at the basket and roared his catchphrase that echoed throughout the arena, "The ball doesn't lie!"
Tyson Chandler Chandler and Gerald Wallace on the bench burst out laughing and covered their faces with towels.
On the court, Artest walked over to Rasheed and patted Rasheed hard on the chest. "Thanks, this goal is on me, I'll get it back for you."
The next four minutes became a nightmare for the Nets' perimeter players.
The Nets inbounded the ball, and Jefferson received it again on the wing, attempting a one-on-one against Artest.
Artest remained silent, pressing himself against Jefferson, his feet moving rapidly sideways like a crab. Jefferson's attempt to break through to the left was met with a chest bump, and his attempt to change direction to the right was blocked. Just as Jefferson pulled the ball back to his body, Artest's right hand flashed out like lightning, shoving the ball right out of Jefferson's hands!
The basketball rolled towards the sideline, Artest dove and fell to the floor, managing to tip the ball to Tyronn Lue just before it went out of bounds.
Tyronn Lue received the ball and launched a fast break, where Prince received the ball in the frontcourt and easily dunked it.
43 to 30.
In the next possession, Joe Johnson came off the bench to try and stabilize the Nets. Artest switched onto Johnson and started guarding him closely from just past the half-court line, using his 240-pound frame to block the ball's path. Andrei Miller managed to pass the ball, but Rasheed Wallace, lurking on the wing, anticipated the pass and jumped to intercept it.
On offense, Rasheed backed down Wang Zhizhi in the post and made two consecutive turnaround jump shots. Okur then received a pass from Artest at the top of the arc and hit another three-pointer.
In just five minutes, the Boston Celtics went on a 14-2 run. When Garnett and Pierce returned to the court midway through the second quarter, the score was 55-32, a difference of twenty-three points.
The second half was uneventful. Yao Ming returned to the court in the third quarter, ran out of energy during Boston's high-speed back-and-forth runs. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Rick Carlisle pulled all the starters, and the Celtics New Jersey Nets won 106-94 on the road, securing their second consecutive victory to start the season.