Chapter 25 Boston, North Shore Garden Arena

If the Celtics had been challenging the Raptors as the underdogs for the past two seasons...

Then, at least in this year's Christmas game, that dynamic had subtly shifted.

25 wins and 3 losses.

That was the Celtics' record at the start of Christmas Day.

This season, the Celtics, who averaged 105.8 points per game, not only ranked fifth in the NBA in offensive firepower...

In addition, with an average of only 93.5 points allowed per game, they were also the third-best defensive team in the league.

And if you consider the average number of offensive possessions of the top two teams in the average points allowed ranking...

Then, in terms of defensive efficiency per 48 minutes, the new-season Celtics had even achieved the ultimate balance between offense and defense in a sense.

Arnold Jacob Auerbach.

Look...

Even though this new era no longer had a ship carrying the "Red Auerbach"...

Still, the old man's every word...

Continued to influence the development of the entire league today, and in the future.

If you know enough about the state of Massachusetts in the "Beautiful Country," if you know enough about the local customs of Boston, if you know enough about the history of the Celtics...

Then you should know that the reason Boston didn't follow in Dallas' footsteps was because the Black players who played at the North Shore Garden Arena had always lived under Auerbach's protection.

"Tim, I've told you many times, instead of wasting time moving chairs for an old geezer like me, you might as well go practice your shooting a few more times on the court."

On the sidelines, on the Celtics' bench...

When Auerbach appeared on the court tonight as the actual behind-the-scenes controller of the Green Army, for the Celtics fans who were still taking their seats at this moment...

This was definitely a sense of security that the fans of the other twenty-eight NBA teams couldn't experience.

Only...

Just as Duncan was smiling and moving chairs for Auerbach...

Even if Auerbach was in charge tonight...

Even if fifty-eight of the sixty experts favored the Celtics before the game...

Even if Nash and O'Neal were still flirting with the nurses in the hospital on the Raptors' side.

In the players' tunnel, as that man walked towards the world...

At this moment, even the most devout Celtics fans on the stands couldn't help but tremble.

Su Feng.

A man who had single-handedly turned the NBA's timely MVP rankings into an NBA's timely joke rankings this season.

A superstar scorer who had scored 67 and 66 points respectively in the past two games.

An alien who had broken three NBA records in just 96 minutes.

The number one evil dragon in the hearts of Lakers fans, the Eastern tyrant in the hearts of Celtics fans, the darling that Pat Riley wanted but couldn't get...

"Boo——————!!"

At the North Shore Garden Arena, the Celtics fans' ear-piercing boos at this moment were the highest respect for Su Feng.

"Sigh... Ever since the Black Eight Bulls back then, these visiting fans are getting worse and worse."

On the court, listening to the Celtics fans booing him, Su Feng nonchalantly began his pre-match shooting warm-up.

And at this time...

Because the Celtics provided him with a very backward position for his relatives and friends tonight...

On the stands, James, wearing a Su Feng number 23 jersey, mixed among the Celtics fans...

Was shaking at this moment.

You know...

Tonight, the man sitting on James' left weighed at least 300 pounds.

And the guy sitting on James' right, looked like he was a trained martial artist.

No cap, as a young man who had seen various big scenes with Su Feng, this was definitely not James being a coward.

But...

In that pile of green, James was just too conspicuous.

"That kid shouldn't pee his pants in a while, right?" On the court, Old Curry pointed at James and said to Su Feng.

Hearing this, Su Feng felt that Old Curry had a bit of a misunderstanding about James.

Because of His Majesty's appearance...

Who would dare to mess with him?

It is worth mentioning that, on the court, just as Su Feng was about to go back to the bench to get a towel to wipe his sweat...

Suddenly...

A beautiful figure directly petrified Su Feng on the spot.

On TNT, Kenny Smith smiled as he saw this scene: "Oh ho, interesting, tonight Britney is also here, does this mean she wants to get back together with Su?"

Get back...

Get back my ass!

On the court, the moment he noticed Britney, looking at her angry expression, even if Su Feng used James' fifty-year-old face to think, he knew that Britney was here to settle scores tonight.

"It's just that I didn't date her on Christmas Eve...

This girl shouldn't be so unreasonable, right?"

On the Raptors' bench, after wiping his sweat with a towel, Su Feng, feeling that his days were numbered, silently complained.

...

North Shore Garden Arena.

Regardless of whether Su Feng would be swallowed alive by Britney after this Christmas game, at least for now, Su Feng was still living quite comfortably.

On the court, after the two teams' entry ceremony and warm-up, the big screen then gave the starting lineups for the two teams tonight.

Raptors: Big Ben, Barkley, Su Feng, Carter, Jaric.

Celtics: Potapenko, Duncan, Artest, Ray Allen, Marbury.

And on TNT, after the starting lineups of the two teams were released, Smith also popularized a little-known fact to the American fans in front of the TV.

"Because Hu chose to join the Celtics this summer...

So this year, the NBA players from China have also jointly created a new record.

That is, in this year's Christmas game, there will be 4 Chinese players appearing at the same time."

And Derrick said with a smile: "If I remember correctly, this is also the first time in NBA history that there have been 4 players from the same country other than American players appearing in the Christmas game, right?"

Smith nodded, "Yes, buddy."

—————

"It's incredible.

I still remember that before David visited China, he said that China's basketball history was as long as North America's.

However, at that time, many people felt that this president was joking with everyone.

But now, when you look back, you will find that China is already the basketball kingdom in the world second only to the United States." Derrick said with emotion.

Hearing this, Smith shook his head and said, "To be honest, judging from the process of the US team and the Chinese team playing against each other in the Olympics this year...

I feel that if the NBA stars continue to refuse to serve their country, then it will really only be a matter of time before the Chinese team defeats the US team in international competitions."

In the center of the court, Smith and Derrick's discussion was still going on, and as Big Ben and Potapenko finished the jump ball, Marbury had already dribbled the ball past half court.

The Celtics attacked first.

Duncan took the initiative to go to the high post to screen for Marbury.

So far this season, the young player Duncan, who can average 25.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.8 blocks per game, has gradually entered the peak of his career.

This season, Duncan has been at the top of ESPN's timely joke list.

And although, in the eyes of the honeys (fans), ESPN not ranking Su Feng first is a crime...

But in Su Feng's opinion, judging from this season's performance, Duncan's state is really not much worse than his.

Because if Su Feng remembered correctly, including last season, Duncan had already scored a double-double in 51 consecutive regular season games.

Therefore, ESPN ranking Duncan first on the timely MVP list is really not what the honeys think, that the American basketball experts are trying to protect the American fans' unfortunate glass hearts.

Because in 2000...

Duncan's streak of 51 consecutive double-doubles was also a new NBA record.

In this life, without the constraints of Popovich's military-style management...

Plus the overall strength of this Celtics team allows Duncan to play more freely on the court, in terms of personal data, Duncan's technical statistics panel in Su Feng's opinion can only be described as perfect.

Therefore...

If O'Neal can't lead the Lakers to overwhelm the Celtics in the standings this season, then it's really hard to say that Duncan won't continue to make this shark feel aggrieved in terms of personal honors.

As for Su Feng?

Hmph...

How awesome was Jordan in the 96/97 season?

Awesome, right?

Sorry...

Even if Jordan was better than Malone in both personal data and team record at that time, in Su Feng's original timeline, Jordan didn't get the MVP that season.

To put it bluntly, wanting to impress Stern with famous scenes is simply wishful thinking.

Otherwise, in the season when Kobe had 4 consecutive 50+ games, according to the logic of "joke", Kobe would have been named the regular season MVP long ago.

Trying to keep the water level as even as possible, while artificially and constantly creating difficulties for those monsters who have transcended the scope of common sense, thereby enhancing the influence of personal honor awards and creating a diversified star league...

The above are what Stern wants to see.

Therefore, Stern can let Su Feng become the MVP at the age of 20.

He can also selectively ignore Su Feng's personal performance this season.

And in this way, although it seems very unfair to Su Feng, in a sense, Su Feng will gain more instead.

Because, when the Americans themselves think that Su Feng not getting the NBA regular season MVP is the NBA messing around...

It also means that Su Feng has completely conquered this era.

Back to the North Shore Garden Arena, the Celtics' first attack was scored by Marbury with a layup.

0 to 2.

In return, the Raptors attacked.

After Jaric dribbled the ball past half court, the Raptors formed a 1-2-2 formation to play the triangle.

On the right side of the court, Barkley went to the high post to actively receive the ball, forming a corner with Su Feng, who was in the low post, and Carter on the wing.

At this time, on the court, the young Artest also showed his unyielding side.

Bang bang!

After Su Feng received Barkley's pass, in the low post, withstanding Su Feng's plump butt, you have to say, Artest really withstood this ball.

This summer, in order to gain the strength to compete with Su Feng, Artest gained another 8kg.

And at the Chicago Heroes Conference held by Jordan in August, Artest, who was not afraid of tigers when he was born, joined Pierce to break several of the Jordan Boss's ribs.

Therefore, in terms of strength alone, Su Feng can no longer take any advantage when facing Artest now.

However...

In the low post, just as Artest was secretly pleased that he had suppressed Su Feng in terms of strength...

Faster than lightning, Su Feng first feinted to the left rear of his body, and then, without moving his pivot foot, he made a fake turnaround to the right rear of his body.

Barkley, who was standing in the high post, was already stunned in place.

Because, as a former teammate of "The Dream," no one knew better than him what kind of skill Su Feng was displaying on the court at this time.

And on the sidelines, as Su Feng's mentor, Davis felt that, looking at Su Feng's increasingly smooth movements...

Su Feng's flexibility and coordination...

Seems to be better than before?

"He still has potential! He really still has potential to be tapped!"

In Miami, when Riley, the famous coach nicknamed "The Godfather," who was squatting in front of the TV, personally witnessed Su Feng performing the "Dream Shake" on the court...

His mood at this moment was more than just excited?

But the next second...

After seeing Su Feng's jersey clearly...

Riley slumped in front of the TV like a deflated ball.

On the court, watching Su Feng, who was playing Artest like he was dancing the tango, Barkley asked curiously when he was retreating: "When did you learn this move?"

The "Dream Shake" is not difficult.

But wanting to use this move gorgeously under the intensity of the NBA, without turning this move into a "Howard clunky step", it depends on proficiency and talent.

Therefore, Barkley was so excited when Su Feng just used this move.

Looking at Barkley, Su Feng scratched his head and said, "Charles, would you believe me if I said I didn't specifically practice this move?"

Barkley: "..."

Looking at Su Feng's serious expression, Barkley felt that Su Feng didn't seem to be lying.

But why...

Why does he feel that he is pretending so hard?

After being reminded by Barkley, Su Feng realized at this time that the number of times he was lagging this season seemed to be getting less and less...

On the basketball court, compared with the visible abilities such as technique, jumping and speed, flexibility and coordination are often the most easily overlooked links.

And even the players themselves, these subtle changes, if not reminded by others, they may not even notice them themselves.

Because this aspect of ability is easily thought by the players themselves to be brought about by their good physical condition.

After all, in actual games, whether a player's physical condition is good or not is simply two completely different concepts.

But tonight...

When he couldn't gain the upper hand in the wrestling with Artest, Su Feng found that now he...

Seems like his brain is starting to not keep up with his body's reactions?

So now the question is.

Is this feeling because Su Feng is in too good a condition tonight?

Or?

On the court, looking at Britney, who was glaring at him fiercely from the sidelines, Su Feng felt that this was wonderful.

It was the Celtics' turn to attack.

Unlike the previous games against the Nets and the Suns, because Artest was not worthy of Su Feng targeting him on the defensive end, the strategy that the Raptors adopted on defense tonight was man-to-man.

In the high post, it was still Duncan and Marbury's pick-and-roll.

Marbury successfully attracted Barkley's help defense.

On the other side, after receiving Marbury's pass, Duncan easily entered the Raptors' basket, dunking successfully after the pick-and-roll.

2 to 4.

In return, the Raptors attacked.

Su Feng, who never expected that the difficult double yoga was also a way of cultivation, got the ball on the wing.

Artest, who had just been played by Su Feng in the defense, did not dare to be careless.

This ball, he hurried forward, blocking Su Feng's position to break through forward.

At this time, the advantage of the Celtics having a top inside player like Duncan was also highlighted.

That is, compared with Pierce, McGrady, Marion and others not daring to let Su Feng break through, Artest adopted the classic blocking strategy when defending Su Feng head-on this time.

In NBA games, this defensive tactic is very common.

Especially when there is a top inside barrier on one's own side, this defensive method can, to a certain extent, make the opponent's offensive players afraid to act rashly.

Plus, Artest knew that his speed couldn't keep up with Su Feng, so this defensive method could even allow him to gain a certain advantage in his local PK with Su Feng.

Clang——!

As a result, because no matter how Su Feng faked his moves, the other side had been blocked by him, Artest successfully predicted Su Feng's offensive line.

Su Feng's dry pull-up shot went wide under strong interference and strong resistance, and Duncan grabbed the rebound.

"I said! I have already seen through your offense!" On the court, after successfully defending Su Feng, the smug Artest did not forget to roar at Su Feng.

Su Feng: "..."

Okay...

Thank you Artest, old iron, for the "Grinding King Buff"!

To be honest, Su Feng was a little embarrassed to bully such a good and upright kid like Artest.

Clang——!

On the court, the Celtics' attack also failed to score, and Barkley protected the rebound, giving the Raptors possession.

Jaric failed to push the fast break, and turned to set up position, Carter singled Ray Allen on the left wing.

At this time, on the other side, Artest's face was full of the word "invincible".

Because in his opinion, after being provoked by him, a person like Su Feng who is so vindictive didn't even have any temper, wouldn't that mean that Su Feng was already afraid of him?

"You should quickly put away your arms that are thinner than a woman's, don't be embarrassed!" Looking at Su Feng's arms that were a circle smaller than his, Artest continued to say smugly on the court.

Swish——!

Just as Su Feng chose to mute Artest's mic, on the left wing, Carter also made a beautiful shot over Ray Allen's face.

But...

After Carter scored, Artest became even more arrogant.

Celtics attack.

You may not believe it, Artest actually expanded to the point of not passing the ball to Duncan this time, but wanted to cut a bloody path from Su Feng with his big elbows...

In the Raptors' restricted area, Duncan, who had already suppressed Barkley, hurriedly dodged to the other side when he noticed Artest mowing down on Su Feng like a bulldozer.

Invincible!

At the North Shore Garden Arena, the Celtics fans in the audience were already preparing to stand up and cheer for Artest, looking at the extremely domineering Artest.

But...

Just as Artest knocked Su Feng away, preparing to jump up and finish the attack...

An embarrassing scene appeared.

The facts prove that without anti-human physiques like Su Feng and James, basketball players had better not question Newton.

Because he increased his weight to more than 115 kilograms in one go this summer...

So for the current Artest, if he can jump 50 centimeters after the resistance, then Su Feng will admit defeat!

Pa————!

On the court, Su Feng's counter-kill was like those super-long three-pointers he made in the last game...

Without a bit of preparation, nor a trace of warning, it came in an instant!

And what's even more amazing is that Su Feng's big hand seemed to have an attraction to the basketball...

This ball, he actually forcibly pressed Artest's layup onto the backboard with just one hand!

This is a...

Block with no second landing point!

This is...

In the legend...

A nail board grab cap that you can't even operate in 2k!

On the court, before Artest could react, Su Feng almost ran forward with the ball in his hands after landing.

At this time, the NBA referees also showed their extremely high professionalism.

That is...

In fact, for this ball, they could completely call Su Feng for walking based on Su Feng's way of accelerating like he was playing football.

But...

Can the king's walking be called walking?

On the court, the Celtics players didn't have time to retreat to defend.

Because Su Feng crossed half court in the blink of an eye and came to the Celtics' basket.

Take off.

Turn around.

Single-handed windmill!

This is actually...

The same dunk that Carter used to blow up Oakland in the All-Star Game last season!

"What else can I say, what else can I say?

Go home, ladies and gentlemen!

Go home! Everyone go home!" On TNT, Smith roared excitedly at this moment.

...

ps: =. =, I went, I almost thought I was going to ask for leave again today! No way, my mother's new phone arrived today, and the process of teaching her how to use the new phone can really only be described as "Oh my dear mother"...

5000 words mid-chapter delivered! Please give me a recommendation ticket! Almost one million words!