warrior godfather

Chapter 378 From Fourth in the East to Eighth in the East
April 4, Chicago, United Center Arena.

Although it's not yet the playoffs, there are already large groups of red in the auditorium of the United Center arena.

The god of basketball has left this city long ago, but he has turned this city into a fertile ground for basketball. Bulls fans who have been waiting for more than ten years finally see the hope of a dynasty revival, and they don’t hesitate to offer the craziest support to the team , for the new Michael Jordan of the Bulls, and for Derrick Rose.

"Rose! Rose!"

At this time, the game between the Bulls and the Celtics has progressed to 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the fourth quarter. The Bulls lead the Celtics by 90 points at 80:10, fully grasping the initiative of the game, but the Celtics are not Completely lost hope of winning, 2 minutes is enough for them to recover the score.

However, this requires that the Celtics cannot make mistakes on both ends of the offense and defense. They must not only play a sufficiently high offensive efficiency, but also must be able to defend against the Bulls' offense.

On the sidelines, Rivers folded his arms around his chest, his face was solemn, and he looked at Rondo who dribbled the ball across the half court without blinking.

The lineup he put on the court is Rondo, Ray Allen, Pierce, Brandon Bass and Steinsma. This is the strongest lineup the Celtics can put on after Garnett is injured. up.

Rondo came to the top of the arc and played a pick-and-roll with Steensma. The Bulls didn't switch defenses at all, giving Rondo room to shoot. Noah didn't stick to Steensma, but stayed behind the free throw line for the next step. position, taking a step back can shrink the basket, and further can block Rondo's breakthrough.

Seeing this scene, Rondo's heart sank, and he passed the ball directly to Pierce on the wing, giving up his plan to break through, but ran to the weak side to clear space for Pierce's single-handed challenge.

At this moment, Rondo missed Garnett very much. If Garnett is still there, the two of them will be able to mobilize the Bulls' defensive formation with a pick and roll. exist.

Rivers on the sidelines shook his head helplessly after seeing this scene. The disadvantages of Garnett's absence were clearly revealed. He is the backbone of the Celtics on both ends of the offense and defense, and no one can replace him. After he was injured, the Celtics lost to the Magic and stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals. Now that he is injured again, the future of the Celtics has once again fallen into chaos.

After Pierce received the ball, he singled out Loel Deng. He first made a tentative step, then carried Loel Deng to the three-point line, raised his hand and waved it. , Luol Deng took off, but this time he was still feinting. After Luol Deng landed, Pierce calmly made a long two-pointer and hit it steadily.

At 82:90, the Celtics narrowed the point difference to single digits for the first time after the first quarter.

After Pierce scored the goal, the shouts in the United Center suddenly became much quieter, but the Bulls quickly sent the baseline ball, Rose dribbled the ball halfway, and the shocking sound spread again and became louder and louder, like an angry The bull's panting was getting heavier and heavier before it charged towards the matador.

"Rose! Rose!"

"Let's go, Bulls!!"

Amidst the increasingly noisy din, Rose came to the top of the arc. At this critical moment, he still looked normal, looking at Rondo, who was in front of him with his arms outstretched and waiting in full force, holding the ball on the spot, and glanced at the timer from time to time. , Consuming offensive time, his eyes didn't fluctuate at all, it seemed that Rondo, who was selected as the best first defense for two consecutive years, was not in his eyes at all.

Bulls fans looked at Rose who was dribbling on the spot, as if they saw the basketball god who dared to let the time go by even if he fell behind at the last moment, and kept pressing until the last 5 seconds before launching an attack and making a lore. Everyone stood up, and the applause, cheers and whistles in the auditorium became louder, making today's United Center dream back to 20 years ago.

Listening to the cheers coming from his ears, Rose narrowed his eyes slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

When the attack time was only 6 seconds left, he suddenly started without warning, took a big step forward to the left, and at the same time passed the ball to his left hand, and changed direction sharply to the left. Rondo immediately slid to block, but Rose followed He changed direction sharply to the right again, but did not slow down. Rondo subconsciously adjusted his center of gravity, but his body did not react. His feet slipped and he almost fell. He could only watch Rose whizzing past him.

Steensma and Brandon Bass on the inside have been paying attention to Rose's movements. After seeing him pass Rondo with one step, they were shocked and raised their hands high. Qiqi rushed towards him and blocked his attack. Breakthrough route.

Facing the two assisting defenses, Rose didn't change his face, and even accelerated, rushed into the paint area, kicked his feet, and his body was as light as a flying feather, soaring into the air effortlessly, folding in the air, and dodging the cloth. Landon Bass's attack, and then stretched out, gliding for a certain distance in the air, an extreme large pull bar, avoiding Steensma's block, and hitting the cricket.

92: 82.

"Yeah!!!"

"Fuck, Rose—fuck!! I love you!!!"

"Ohhhhhh—"

The moment the basketball hit the net, the United Center was like an erupting volcano. Thousands of roars, swear words, and howls turned into hot magma and volcanic ash that covered the sky and filled the entire arena. Countless arms that had already been ready to go were raised high.

With Rose's layup, there were 1 minute and 41 seconds left in the game, and the point difference returned to 10 points, which meant that the Celtics had to score four consecutive rounds and successfully accept the Bulls' offense in order to reverse and win , This is an almost impossible task, that is to say, Rose's ball completely killed the game!

"Di-"

The referee blew his whistle, and Rivers called a timeout. He stood on the sidelines with a livid face, looked at the players who came down from the field, and said nothing.

He also didn't think that the Celtics still had a chance to win, so he simply used the last timeout, replaced the starter, and conceded the loss.

In the past, no matter how badly the Celtics lost, Rivers would not face his players coldly. He would immediately put the failure behind him, comfort the frustrated players, and soothe them with the warmest words hearts, and resolve their loss with just the right amount of humor.

When the Celtics lost to the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Lakers in the Finals, and the Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Rivers played the role of the players' spiritual mentor, allowing the Celtics to get out of the failure as quickly as possible. Haze, re-enter the battle for the next season.

But today, Rivers was not in the mood to be a "spiritual mentor" at all. He simply nodded to the players, named a few substitute names, said a few tactics casually, sent them on the field, and then sat down. Go back to your seat and let the silent low pressure and negative energy spread on the Celtics bench.

After losing this game, the Celtics' ranking was overtaken by the Magic and will drop to sixth in the Eastern Conference. There is only one game behind the Knicks in the seventh in the Eastern Conference. If they are not careful, their ranking will fall. Continue to slide, and even seventh in the Eastern Conference may not be the end. After all, the 1ers ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference are only 76 games behind the current Celtics.

This is the most critical moment for the Celtics after the formation of the Big Three. Although they have no risk of falling out of the playoff zone, in the history of the NBA for more than [-] years, except for the Rockets, there has been no second half of the playoffs. The team in the zone can finally win the championship, and the Celtics are already at the bottom.

If it was just a decline in the rankings, Rivers would not be so pessimistic. Even if Garnett is not on the table, with Pierce, Ray Allen and Rondo, the Celtics are still a strong team. Lun started the playoff mode in advance, regardless of physical consumption, squeezed out all the combat power, and stabilized the record first.

However, the Celtics have only eleven regular season games left, and eight of them are against Eastern Conference playoff teams. With the addition of the Bulls, they just played the top seven games in the Eastern Conference. It's time to play the Eagles.

You don’t need to think about it. At that time, those five games against the Knicks, Hawks, Magic and 76ers will be the intensity of the playoffs. No one wants to fall behind. The direct competitor of the Celtics certainly doesn't mind stepping on the Celtics and completely kicking the Celtics off the cliff.

The Hawks, Knicks, and Magic all have inside stars. Without Garnett, the Celtics' inside line lacks height and hardness, and they will suffer big losses on both offense and defense. It can be called a devil's schedule, and it will be even worse.

If it really falls to eighth in the East...

Rivers had this idea in his mind countless times, but never dared to think about it further.

The Celtics are a Big Three team. Their goal every year is to compete for the championship, but they only won one championship in the first year. After that, their results became worse every year. Last season, they didn’t even win the Eastern Conference Finals. After scoring, Rivers is very aware of Danny Ainge's temperament. If this situation continues, he will definitely be the first to take the blame.

If Kevin hadn't been injured, we wouldn't have fallen into such a difficult situation. Blame that bastard Green and the Chinese, they are the culprits!Falk!Shet!

Rivers clenched his right hand tightly, cursing a few words in his heart.

But then, a sense of remorse flooded into Rivers' heart. If he had prevented Garnett from stepping on Curry at that time, the Warriors would not have retaliated. Even if the Celtics lost that game, it would be just A little behind in the competition with the Eagles, it will not be like it is now, and there is even a risk of falling all the way to eighth in the Eastern Conference.

However, this kind of thought just flashed in Rivers' mind, and the resentment towards the Warriors regained the upper hand. He is an old-school coach, and old-school coaches protect their shortcomings. He will not criticize Garnett for intentionally hurting people. Just blame all the mistakes on the opponent.

……

When Rivers was full of resentment, the last 1 minute and 41 seconds of the game ended calmly in garbage time.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Celtics 96:90, successfully defended their home court, and further expanded their lead over the Heat, consolidating their No. [-] ranking in the East, while the Celtics officially slipped to No. [-] in the East. The position is half a game behind the Magic, and the Knicks are also chasing after them.

Rivers shook hands with Thibodeau hastily with a gloomy expression, walked quickly to the player tunnel without saying anything, and assistant coach Mike LongoBarady followed him.

The two walked in silence for a while, and Rivers suddenly slowed down and asked:
"If I remember correctly, the Warriors also have a game today?"

"That's right, the Warriors played the Timberwolves away today." Mike replied.

"Timberwolves?" Rivers frowned, showing displeasure.

How can the Timberwolves win against the Warriors?
Sure enough, Mike immediately said:
"The game is over. The Warriors won by 16 points. They beat the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves couldn't fight back. Curry made 7 three-pointers and scored 36 points. The efficiency is still very high..."

"Oh! This is going to compete for the scoring champion? Young people really haven't seen the world, be careful of overturning in the playoffs..." Rivers frowned more and more tightly, snorted coldly, and quickened his pace, but his mouth was full of disdain said.

……

"Fack! If I can play, Rose will definitely not be able to score this goal..."

Garnett cursed under his breath as he watched a replay of Rose's game-winning goal on the big TV screen at his home in Boston.

After he was injured, he stayed at home to recuperate. He did some training every day to maintain his muscle strength and shooting touch. He did not travel with the team.

But he would watch every Celtics game. Today, he kept a sullen face the whole time, resisting the urge to turn off the TV, and finished watching the Bulls-Celtics game.

Whenever he saw Steensma and Brandon Bass' terrible help defense, it made Rose feel like no one in the Celtics inside.After the pick-and-roll with Rondo and the two, Noah and Gibbs didn't care about the pass of the two, and completely blocked Rondo's breakthrough route, and Garnett would have an unknown anger in his heart.

If he was on the inside, the Celtics' penalty area would never be as empty as it is now, allowing others to bully. Even if that person is Rose, he would not be able to easily break through his defense. This is Garnett as a top defender. The absolute confidence of the players.

However, Garnett changed his mind and thought that he was injured again. Although this injury is not as serious as last time, but his age is here. After this return, will he still have the strength, resistance, bounce and speed before?If he loses it all...

Snapped.

Garnett turned off the TV, his eyes lost focus, and he sat motionless on the sofa, like a sculpture.

Half an hour later, he slowly stood up, walked up the stairs, returned to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and slowly closed his eyes.

Garnett doesn't know the answer. The only thing he can do is to rest well, train well, strive to return to the game as soon as possible, and fight with all his strength for the next championship trophy.

(End of this chapter)