The Golden Age of Basketball

"ball-battle." (Hi everyone, I'm Johnny Most, high up on the sidelines once again, and I'll give you live coverage of the Boston Celtics-Portland Trail Blazers basketball battle. "

It was another night of excitement in Boston, and John Mostert was once again in his familiar seat overlooking the Boston Garden Plaza parquet floor, ready to deliver a commentary of a great game to local sports fans.

The Boston fans this season are happy. After experiencing the humiliation of last season, the Celtics are ready to go, and the Celtics fans are also enthusiastic. defeat.

Judging from the current state of the team, this winning streak is likely to continue. It seems that no team can beat this green giant full of revenge desires in the away game.

And just when Most used his magnetic hoarse voice to warm up the game, the players from both sides hadn't appeared yet, and the Trail Blazers players in the away game were staying in the sweltering away locker room for pre-game preparations.

"Damn it, the heater in Boston has never been fixed!" Jones, the oldest and longest-serving center on the Trail Blazers, complained.

He entered ABA as early as 1973 to start his basketball career, and came to NBA in 1976. In the words of this old antique, Boston has experienced so many ups and downs. The only constant is not their dominance in NBA, but their How bad the away dressing room is.

For the red-headed Rick Auerbach, who is doing everything to win, it is not impossible to put air conditioners in the away locker room in winter and heat in summer, but it is just a regular season now, and the heaters are used in the cold December. Being broken is already worthy of the away team.

"Okay, we should get used to this old guy's tricks. The strength of the Celtics lies in the strength of their team. These are just drizzle. Kick their ass in the away game and heat up this damn place." Ram Qi encouraged the players like this.

Ramsey's first coaching job was to follow Billy Cunningham, the godfather of the 76ers, as an assistant coach for the 76ers. The greatest achievement of the 76ers was to defeat the eight-time champion Kai in the 1967 playoffs. The Celtics reached the finals and finally reached the top, ending the Celtics' ten consecutive championships.

When Ramsey became the head coach, but 10 years later in 1977, he led the Blazers to defeat the former club 76ers and won the most important championship in his life. I have to say that this world is so wonderful , Enmity is everywhere.

"We want to avenge the lore of last season, and show them some color!" After his comeback, Drexler's performance in the last game was mediocre, and he was holding back his energy in this game. play.

When Gan Guoyang heard Drexler's words, his heart tightened. Gan Guoyang still remembered the lore of last season. At that moment, he couldn't move at all...

"What's the matter Gan? Your face is a little pale? Could it be that you are nervous?" Drexler saw that Gan Guoyang, who had always been active, was silent, biting his lower lip in a daze.

"I just feel a little cold... I will run more when I get on the court, so that my body will warm up." Gan Guoyang shrugged and said, after speaking, the Trail Blazers were ready to play.

…………

Once again stepping on the parquet floor of Boston Garden Plaza, no matter which player it is, the feeling of playing here will be completely different from other places. It feels like being in a blood-stained ancient Roman Colosseum, surrounded by court You are a proud noble with a thumbs up.

The players on the visiting team are captured beasts whose only hope of survival is to kill the gladiators in green clothes. There is no other way to do it, and the audience will not give them a thumbs up.

Just when the two teams were warming up, the Celtics' new aid this year and the former Blazers pride Bill Walton walked to the sidelines, and made a simple hug with the Blazers coach Ramsey, whispering After a few words, they were separated immediately.

Now Wharton and the entire Trail Blazers have long been strangers. The former heroes of the West Coast are now serving as eagle dogs for the Green Empire on the East Coast.

This period of history will naturally become the big gimmick of this game, but the players of the Trail Blazers said that they are not willing to look for that poor grain of rice in the dust of history, but want to create a big scene that belongs to them.

The first quarter of the game had just begun, and the Blazers' fierce offense caught the Celtics by surprise.

With Vandeweghe plagued by an ankle injury, Drexler replaced all of the starting small forward positions, and Jim Paxson returned as the starting shooting guard.

In Ramsey's view, Jerome Cosey may be able to restrain Donimick Wilkins in the game against the Eagles, because Wilkins is a man of physical fitness and a passing black hole, so that It would be best for Ke Xi, who is also a quality man, to stare at him.

But the real small forward of the Celtics in this game is "Bird God" Larry Bird, a guy who looks average in physical fitness but is ten times more terrifying than Wilkins. Bird, basically just to see how the big bird plays monkeys.

So Ramsey still seeks stability and puts on the more experienced combination of Paxson and Drexler.

Before this game, Ramsey made full tactical preparations. He asked the Blazers to rush for offensive rebounds at all costs in the first quarter and kill the Blazers inside as much as possible.

This is very different from the strategy that the Blazers pursued in the past without grabbing the frontcourt and going all out to defend.

Because Ramsey knows that after the Celtics have Bill Walton, the strength and thickness of the frontcourt has reached an astonishing level. If they don’t consume the Celtics in the first quarter, let Kyle The special people play a normal rotation, and the Blazers are very difficult to play.

Facing a superior opponent, we must demand change.

"Paxson caught a jumper, it hit the hoop and missed it...Gump caught the offensive rebound and made a layup! The ref's whistle blew, Parrish was fouled, Gan was going to the free throw line, and it was only 5 minutes into the game , this is the third time Gan has stepped to the free throw line."

From Most's commentary, it can be heard that Gan Guoyang did effectively kill in the first quarter of the game. His three offensive rebounds allowed Parish, McHale, Bird, and the Celtics' frontcourt giants A foul was awarded respectively.

"Two free throws! The Blazers have already led the Celtics by 12 points 4:8, but coach KC-Jones did not call a timeout. It seems that he is very confident in the players' ability to adjust."

KC-Jones is indeed very confident. The Celtics players didn't feel good at the beginning, and they tried several outside jumpers without success.

For a super strong team like the Celtics, they often don't need to play any special tactics at the beginning. Every player they start has excellent personal ability. The most important thing for them is to find out early. The feeling of the game, as long as you find the feeling, everything will be easy to handle later.

Damn, they started off badly, so it was Larry Bird's turn to step up.

"Bird got stuck on the right side, Ainge passed the ball, Bird turned and faked... shot! And fouled! Foul by Gan!"

Bird was originally on the right side, but he suddenly crossed from the baseline to the left waist position, and squeezed away Drexler who was following the defense with his back. Kessler, then leaning on Drexler, took a one-handed shot with a very awkward right hand.

Drexler tried his best to dodge Bird. He knew that this was Bird's stunt, but Gan Guoyang, who stepped forward to defend, couldn't dodge. When he blocked the shot, he still hit Bird's palm with his fingertips. , was called a foul by the referee.

And the ball is still hollow into the net.

"The referee's whistle is really for you tonight~" Bird looked at Gan Guoyang and joked after scoring the goal. The game has just started, and four fouls have been related to Gan Guoyang.

Bird made an easy free throw. For him, free throws are easier than layups.

"Scatter! Spread!" Valentine commanded the offense. Paxson and Drexler hadn't started at the same time for a long time. There was obviously a problem with their coordination when they played together. They were all crowded on the right side, and the running position couldn't start all of a sudden.

The Celtics' defensive strength has also improved. Dennis Johnson put a lot of pressure on Valentine, and his teammates who didn't run away made him unable to pass the ball.

"I'm here!" Gan Guoyang saw that it seemed difficult for Valentine to play the ball, so he immediately mentioned a high position to support him.

Valentine reluctantly handed the ball to Gan Guoyang, and when Gan Guoyang took the ball and turned around, he was already standing outside the three-point line.

"Damn it, there's no time." The offensive time was obviously insufficient. After Valentine cut in, Johnson still stared at him very hard. With Gan Guoyang's passing level, directly inserting the ball is basically equal to a mistake. He is not magic.

Seeing that the attack time was coming, Gan Guoyang suddenly bent over with the ball, he wanted to do it himself!

"Gan broke through the middle with the ball! Forced layup! No go! But... Drexler... tapped the backboard, tapped again, the ball returned to Gan, Gan was under the basket, forced a layup again... the referee Whistle, Parish fouled again ... second foul of the first quarter."

Gan Guoyang's breakthrough layup was interfered by Parish.

But Drexler rushed to take off from the other time, relying on his own sky-defying bounce to point the ball out, Gan Guoyang took off for the second time to get the rebound, forced a layup under the basket, and caused a foul by Parish.

"Damn, is this guy possessed by Moses Malone!" Coach KC Jones, who has always been calm, finally got a little anxious. The Celtics didn't start well. In 6 minutes, the starting center had fouled twice. It's time for a rest.

However, compared with last season, KC-Jones no longer needs to worry about the rotation of the inside.

"Bill, get ready to play and limit that kid."