Chapter 1 Education Starts Young

As the saying goes, education must start from childhood.

During halftime, to prevent Stephen Curry from following in the footsteps of Artest and Pierce in the future, before returning to the locker room to rest, Su Feng and Old Curry joined forces to give Stephen Curry, who was only 11 years old at the time, a five-minute ideological education.

Originally, the "unyielding" Stephen Curry had intended to fight to the end against his evil father and Uncle Melo.

However, under the carrot and stick offensive of Old Curry's "halving of pocket money" and Su Feng's "doubling of pocket money"...

What else could the young Stephen Curry do but surrender obediently?

Farewell, my dear Uncle Vince!

From today onward, from this moment on, you will never hear Stephen Curry cheer for you again!

"Seth, actually, from a long time ago, I thought 'Uncle Melo's' dunks were better than Uncle Vince's. Don't you think so too?" On the back row of the Raptors' bench, Stephen Curry, who had decided to turn over a new leaf, said to his younger brother, Seth Curry.

Seth: "......"

Good heavens!

So, this is the power of money?

In the Raptors' locker room, after satisfactorily reversing Stephen Curry's faith...

Tonight, Su Feng once again felt the "stench" of money.

However, compared to gaining Stephen Curry as a little fan, at the moment, what Su Feng was more concerned about was how to win this Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics.

You know, after the first half of tonight's game, even without Su Feng's mobilization, the other Raptors players had already felt the pressure of this Eastern Conference Finals.

Obviously, compared to last year, this year's Celtics, whether in terms of strength or state, were very close to the current Raptors.

Looking at the individual matchups, in the first half of the game, McGrady's advantage over Marbury was still obvious.

However, through high-speed rotation and help defense, McGrady, who had not yet reached his peak, found it difficult to completely blow past Marbury one-on-one.

And in return, when facing Marbury and Duncan's almost unsolvable pick-and-roll, McGrady's weakness on the defensive end was exposed.

Due to his overly high center of gravity, McGrady's ankles were under pressure throughout the first half.

Therefore, in this way, the matchup between McGrady and Marbury turned into a fifty-fifty affair.

The same was true for the matchup between Carter and Ray Allen.

When attacking, relying on his overbearing and unreasonable physical碾压, Ray Allen would be bypassed by Carter if he wasn't careful when defending him.

But conversely, Ray Allen's running would always make Carter, who was prone to distraction when defending, lose sight of one thing while attending to another.

After the first half, Davis knew very well that compared to the Celtics, the Raptors' only remaining advantage was their bench.

However, because of the playoffs, everyone generally chose to run their starters to death, so how much energy the Raptors' bench could exert in this series...

In Davis's view, it completely depended on whether the Raptors could survive the first few games smoothly.

Because the situation of this playoff series had already become clear with the decisions the two teams had made in this series.

The Raptors' choice to have more bench players join the rotation in this Eastern Conference Finals would not only allow the starters to maintain excellent physical condition, but also leave more possibilities for the games to come.

And although the Celtics were also trying to let their starters rest as much as possible, because they didn't have as many role players as the Raptors, as long as the Raptors could keep the series going, then the Raptors would definitely have the upper hand.

"John, I'm not questioning your decision, but in this way, if our bench can't withstand the pressure of the game, can we really wait for the final battle with the Celtics?"

In the Raptors' locker room, looking at John Davis, whose face was full of confidence, D'Antoni voiced his doubts.

In fact, even before this series began, D'Antoni was the most steadfast "run the starters to death" advocate in the Raptors.

Because in D'Antoni's view, the Celtics, who had just fought a fierce six-game series against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, could not possibly have a physical advantage in the first two games.

Therefore, D'Antoni believed that the Raptors should seize the opportunity to quickly win the first two games with their strongest lineup and establish an advantage in this series.

Unfortunately, Davis did not adopt D'Antoni's suggestion.

Because Davis knew very well that although D'Antoni's suggestion had some feasibility, in that case, the risks the Raptors would have to bear on their championship journey this year would only be higher.

Besides, who said the Raptors' bench couldn't withstand the Celtics?

After halftime, patting D'Antoni on the shoulder, Davis smiled confidently: "Mike, you know what? If we didn't have Su, then I would definitely take your advice."

Hearing this, following the direction Davis's finger pointed, D'Antoni's gaze turned to the Raptors' number 23, who had already stepped onto the court.

At the same time, on the Celtics' bench, Auerbach, who had returned to the court one step ahead of the Raptors' coaching staff, was also sizing up Su Feng.

Just what kind of player was Su Feng?

To be honest, even if Auerbach were to choose one among O'Neal, Duncan, and Su Feng at this moment, Auerbach would definitely choose O'Neal or Duncan, not Su Feng.

But if you were to say, among these three, who Auerbach would least want to have as an opponent of the Celtics...

Then Auerbach would definitely choose Su Feng.

On the court, after halftime, the game continued.

Bang, bang, bang.

Right from the start, Su Feng once again educated Artest with his solid muscles on the wing.

As early as last year, when helping Jordan restore his condition, Su Feng had learned from Jordan the correct way to use strength.

Rambling wildly, that was a trick only used by children fighting.

And in Su Feng's view, the real back attack relied on waves of non-repetitive rhythms.

The young Artest couldn't possibly block Su Feng's tricks, because as a layered back attack, often just as Artest guessed Su Feng's next move, Su Feng had already completed his next next move one step ahead of Artest.

Swish—!

An exquisite fadeaway jumper.

52 to 59.

This was the 21st point Su Feng had scored this evening.

And in return, on the Celtics' offense, Duncan also successfully passed the ball to his inside partner, Peter Pan, under the double-teaming of Big Ben and Little O'Neal.

Bang, swish.

54 to 59.

On TNT, Kenny Smith said with emotion: "Tonight, Su and Tim have both played with the style of star players. To be honest, in my opinion, no matter what the outcome of this Eastern Conference Finals is, Su and Tim both deserve a ticket to the Finals."

And on the side, Derek echoed: "But unfortunately, there is only one such ticket."

Perhaps the most cruel part of competitive sports is here.

Because no matter how outstanding your performance has been before, in the end, only one team can have the last laugh.

In the Air Canada Centre, after Su Feng's high-post jump shot clanked off the rim, the Raptors fans in attendance couldn't remember the last time they had been as nervous as they were tonight...

Fortunately, in return, Little O'Neal and Big Ben finally managed to defend Duncan once.

Because Big Ben's double-teaming at the last moment was very clever, it prevented Duncan from choosing to pass the ball at the first opportunity.

Therefore, before being called for an offensive three-second violation, Duncan had to use his signature old man's hook shot to hook the ball towards the backboard.

However, the backboard did not listen to Duncan's call this time.

After Little O'Neal secured the rebound, the Raptors took advantage of the situation to launch a fast break.

However, as fast as the Raptors' fast break was, the Celtics' retreat was just as swift.

Clang—!

On the court, Carter's fast break three-pointer failed to hit under Ray Allen's interference.

And immediately after, Marbury's high-post jump shot after a pick-and-roll also missed the basket.

In the third quarter, after the break, the players on both teams obviously hadn't found their touch from the first half.

In addition, because defense would affect shooting percentage, the shooting stability of the shooters declined as the physical contact between the two teams increased.

In the NBA, especially in the playoffs, the reason why games often turn into turn-based games is because in the playoffs, in order to pursue stability and reduce mistakes, everyone will correspondingly reduce passing and cutting cooperation.

In the first half of the third quarter, with both teams maintaining a very high level of focus on the defensive end, it wasn't until there were 8 minutes and 11 seconds left in the third quarter that Su Feng personally broke the deadlock on the court.

A maple-like pull-up jump shot that was so handsome it was off the charts.

And on the court, looking at Su Feng's "helpless" expression after scoring, at this moment, if it weren't for reason prevailing, Artest would definitely have launched a "Malice at the Palace" at Su Feng.

Of course, Artest might not believe it if he were told...

Su Feng's "helplessness" really wasn't an act.

Because who knew how much "bricklaying value" Su Feng had lost on this night?

"Keep it up, don't give up!" When retreating on defense, Su Feng didn't forget to encourage Artest.

Artest: "......"

To be fair, in Artest's eyes, a senior like Su Feng was just too awful in terms of personality.

However, where would the young Artest know that Su Feng was really seriously encouraging him?

You know, compared to the silly guy who was only worth a few thousand "bricklaying value" at the beginning of the season, the current Artest was already giving Su Feng nearly ten thousand "bricklaying value" in their matchup.

Therefore, Su Feng was already so busy "loving" such an excellent junior that there was no way he could be bullying him out of revenge for his previous "disrespect" towards him.

To put it bluntly, ever since the old hooligan retired, Su Feng had discovered that, currently, and in the next year or two, especially with most of the league's perimeter stars still in the growing stage, his "bricklaying value" acquisition progress couldn't compare to when the old hooligan was still around.

Therefore, as a man determined to surpass Michael Jordan, in Su Feng's view, it was time for him to help these perimeter stars speed up their growth.

Beep—!

On the court, after Duncan also broke the deadlock for the Celtics, Su Feng, in turn, successfully drew a foul from Artest by taking advantage of a missed position.

And it was worth mentioning that when stepping onto the free throw line, Su Feng also pointed out to Artest the shortcomings in his defense just now.

Artest: "......"

This...

Was this guy teaching him how to do things?

Unfortunately, on the side, after listening to Su Feng's explanation, although Duncan also felt that Su Feng's move was a bit pretentious...

But to be honest, Duncan really didn't think there was anything wrong with what Su Feng said.

"Alas, in this league, if there were more seniors as excellent as me, then why would the NBA have to worry about a star drought in the future?" When stepping onto the free throw line, Su Feng sighed silently.

As the saying goes, doing one good deed a day accumulates three thousand merits.

After making both free throws, Su Feng felt that after he passed away in the future, a great philanthropist like him, if cremated, would have to burn out at least 81 sariras to be worthy of the good deeds he had done.

It was just a pity...

It was obviously impossible to use love to influence Artest in his youth.

On the court, under Su Feng's stimulation, Artest intensified his retaliation against Su Feng on both ends of the court.

But...

"Use Bruce to replace Ron."

On the Celtics' bench, Auerbach, noticing that Artest had already committed four fouls, said to Celtics coach Miller Karl.

Hearing this, Karl sighed deeply and said, "Su is just too cunning."

Auerbach nodded and said, "Tonight, Su gave us all a lesson."

As a legendary coach who had witnessed countless big scenes in the past, Auerbach knew very well that at this critical moment when the two teams were fighting fiercely, the side that could steadily score points would inevitably be able to take control of the game.

And free throws were undoubtedly the most stable way to score points in this situation.

Before the start of this year's playoffs, Auerbach originally believed that Artest could use his fierce defense to make Su Feng lose his judgment of the game.

But at this moment...

The one who was angered had turned out to be Artest instead.

Was this Su Feng?

Compared to the Su Feng from last year, in Auerbach's view, this year's Su Feng had improved in all aspects compared to last year.

And the most important thing was...

He was only 22 years old this year.

This was more than just future potential...

If he were to grow for a few more years, then in Auerbach's view, no one in this league would be able to control him at all.

On the court, taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the Celtics replaced Artest with Bowen.

And just as the Raptors relied on Su Feng to score 8 consecutive points with free throws, the pressure had now been passed on to the Celtics.

In the extremely difficult third quarter, the Celtics' weakness of lacking stamina after their previous battle with the Pacers was fully exposed.

However, at the critical moment, Tim Duncan once again stepped forward to save the Celtics' last hope.

In Su Feng's previous life, before Yao Ming entered the league, as the NBA's number one resistance king, in his countless duels with O'Neal, you could often see scenes of Duncan being beaten defenseless by O'Neal.

However, even so, Duncan had never bowed his head to O'Neal in a game.

From 1999 to 2007, the teams that Duncan and O'Neal were on had dominated 8 of the past 9 seasons.

And among them, Duncan had won 4 times, while O'Neal had also won 4 times.

Therefore, O'Neal had also complained when he was a commentator in the future.

If it weren't for that damn Duncan, then he should have won at least 8 championships.

This was Tim Duncan.

A player who reached his peak upon debut and had maxed out his resilience talent.

In the second half of the third quarter, relying on Duncan's several successful one-on-one plays, as well as his solid and steady performance in pick-and-rolls and defense, the Celtics successfully survived this difficult physical low point.

After three quarters, although they were still trailing the Raptors by 7 points, almost all Celtics fans in front of the TV believed that they had a chance to create a "surprise" against the number one title favorite in this Game 1.

And looking at the score of 73 to 80, Su Feng, who had played for 36 minutes, finally understood why O'Neal and Duncan had created so many "uncrowned kings" in his previous life.

Because these two people...

Bah!

These two bugs were even harder to deal with than the other.

On the Raptors' bench, before the start of the fourth quarter, looking at Su Feng, who was already showing signs of fatigue, Davis asked the assistant coach to massage and treat Su Feng while soliciting his opinion on whether he needed a rest.

"Coach, no matter how many times you ask me, I will always give the same answer, you know that." After regulating his breathing, Su Feng said to Davis.

Hearing this, Davis shook Su Feng's hands affectionately and said, "I'm counting on you, our superstar."

On the Celtics' bench, in the fourth quarter, when noticing that Su Feng was still not resting, Auerbach almost coughed his old phlegm onto Miller Karl's face.

No...

In a normal NBA game, it would be fine if you didn't rest.

But tonight...

Heavens, what kind of monster are we Celtics facing on this night!

Any fan who had watched the first three quarters of tonight's game could appreciate Auerbach's mood at this moment.

Because in the first three quarters, Su Feng had not only shouldered the burden of the Raptors on the offensive end.

On the defensive end, he was also the Raptors' perimeter defensive core.

Therefore, in the fourth quarter, when Su Feng still appeared on the court, TNT's Kenny Smith bluntly said: "I don't mean to offend coach John Davis...

But to be honest, if you gave me a Su, then I feel like I could also become the best coach."

And on the side, Derek laughed: "What if you and Larry Brown are evenly matched?"

Bang—!

In front of the TV, after hearing Derek's complaint, someone who was paying attention to this year's playoffs suddenly smashed the TV screen with the remote control.

And in the Air Canada Centre, as the fourth quarter began, the Raptors fans in attendance were also expressing their extraordinary love for Su Feng in their own way.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Ray Allen missed an open three-point opportunity right off the bat.

In the second half of the game, as the physical consumption increased, Ray Allen's three-point shooting percentage was far less efficient than it was in the first half of the game.

And in return, on the Raptors' offense, almost without thinking, Duncan tore off the towel draped over his shoulders.

Because...

At a position fully two steps away from the three-point line, in front of Bruce Bowen, Su Feng decisively completed a shot.

A three-pointer?

No...

This was not just a simple three-pointer.

Because before deciding to launch the heat check, Su Feng had already completed a weighing in his heart.

It doesn't go in?

No big deal.

Because the Raptors were leading the Celtics by 7 points at the start of the fourth quarter, so even if this shot didn't go in, Su Feng could still scare the Celtics into a cold sweat.

And once it went in...

Then this shot would be more than just a three-pointer.

Swish—!

73 to 83!

At the moment the basketball swished through the net, no amount of words could express the feelings of the nearly 20,000 Raptors fans in attendance.

"MVP————!!"

"MVP————!!"

"MVP————!!"

"Hey, I said, how long are you going to let Tim rest for? I haven't had enough of playing with him yet..."

On the court, after shooting through Bruce Bowen's face, Su Feng spread his hands and walked straight to the Celtics' bench.

And at this moment, even Artest, who had always had a violent temper, had to admit that he had felt a sense of fear towards a basketball player for the first time in his life.

Whenever Tim Duncan created hope, this man could turn it into despair in the next second.

This was the youngest two-time MVP achiever in NBA history...

Was this the youngest regular season MVP winner in NBA history?

Just like when Su Feng entered the league and shouted that he was going to beat Michael Jordan...

In front of the TV, at this moment, who knew how many young people had the idea of joining the league because of him again.

Let's go to the NBA!

Because Su Feng is there!

If we can compete against Su Feng in his prime...

Then why not?

On the Celtics' bench, after Su Feng's provocation, Tim Duncan affectionately patted Auerbach on the shoulder and then walked to the scorer's table with his ordinary steps.

Perhaps in a person's life, there will be countless Su Feng who will stand up and block your way.

But as long as you can step over him, then ahead is the end of the journey.

You want to fight, then I'll fight.

Without any extra words, this was another response that Tim Duncan made to Su Feng on May 21, 2000.

Only different from last year was...

This year, Duncan had a few more teammates behind him who were just as determined as he was.

"We will definitely win the championship together, Tim." Marbury, who stood up from the bench with Duncan, patted Duncan on the back and smiled.

"I won't be provoked by him again." Staring at the Raptors' number 23 on the court, Artest said seriously.

"Maybe I can't be as overbearing as you, but Tim, I still have 3 opportunities to foul." The Ukrainian meat wall Peter Pan smiled.

At this moment, even the unsmiling Duncan showed a touching smile.

Maybe this year, the Celtics still can't stop the Raptors, who are so powerful that they are despairing.

But so what?

Giving everything for the sport and career that you love, this is the most romantic thing a man can do!

Beep—!

On the court, because Bowen's pass was cut out of bounds by Su Feng, the Celtics requested a substitution.

At the same time, on the Raptors' side, Carter, McGrady, and Big Ben were also brought back on by Davis.

"John, didn't your previous plan say to..." Looking at John Davis, whose face was shaking with fat, D'Antoni asked with a puzzled expression.

However, before D'Antoni could finish his words, Davis waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Plans can never keep up with changes.

Mike, this is the best game so far this year, so it needs the best players," Davis said.

...

ps: Fat Qiao's Diary: The fifth day of persisting in running/walking 5 kilometers every day. The first day of the November update.