At noon on the 22nd, Hollins took the players on a plane to Boston. One of the biggest features of the Grizzlies' schedule this month is that they play against Eastern Conference teams more frequently.

In the past few months, the Grizzlies have faced mostly Western Conference teams. But month, their road trip to the East began to get more and more. Playing the Eastern team is the most annoying, in addition to not being very familiar with the opponent, there is also too long flight distance.

From Memphis to Boston, most civil flights require a connecting flight, which can take at least more than 5 hours. The Grizzlies' private flight, although not connected, took more than three hours to reach Boston.

It was a long flight, and most of the players started taking a nap as soon as they got on the plane. Link couldn't sleep, and the Chinese-American striker leaned his head against the window of the plane, thinking about the conversation he had with Tony Allen and Randolph after yesterday's game.

"Boston isn't as simple as you think, Link. In that place, our troubles will not stop with basketball. I didn't like Boston, which is one of the reasons I didn't choose to renew my contract with the Celtics back then. What does that place say? As a person of color, I feel that life is quite depressing. ”

Link didn't expect Tony Allen to say that, he knew that Boston was one of the most racist cities in the United States, but he didn't expect it to be so serious.

Link believes that as a member of the Celtics, even if Tony Allen was not popular in the first place, he should not be in too much trouble.

However, Tony Allen's subsequent narration refreshed Link's perception of the city of Boston.

"You know, Boston is a city with a lot of history. The aborigines there are mostly purebred white people who immigrated from Europe 00 years ago, and the number of blacks there is small, and for many historical reasons, Boston has serious racial discrimination to this day. You might say that we're definitely respected as NBA stars. Wrong, Link. Even Bill Russell was in Boston, and he had encountered local white men breaking into his apartment at night and pulling in his bedroom. When I was playing for Celtic, I had a lot of unpleasant things. Anyway, I really don't like that place. ”

"yes, yes, I lived in Boston for a while, and it's a completely white supremacy city. Racism and Greater Irelandism are in the city's DNA, and I still love Memphis, at least it's more ethnically tolerant. After listening to Tony Allen, Randolph nodded in agreement.

Remembering yesterday's conversation in the locker room, Link shook his head. These two guys are exaggerating, what age are they, and they are still worried about this kind of thing. Which of the Celtic Big Three is not black? People don't mix it up.

Without thinking much about it, Link also felt a little sleepy, so he closed his eyes. He didn't think about it so much, he just wanted to be able to play well in the North Shore Garden.

※※※

Boston's North Shore Garden Arena, another basketball temple in the league in addition to Staples.

The dome of the arena, the retired jerseys and the championship pennant write the glorious history of this great NBA team. Even the special texture of the oak floor of this arena exudes a strong sense of history.

Link was standing in the North Shore Garden arena, a lot of noise here than it was when he played away in Salt Lake City.

Hollins had to open his throat to make sure the players could hear him. Now Link can be considered to know how Rivers became a male duck.

Link looked around at the stands and, as expected, did see a lot of placards with discriminatory slogans. Randolph and Tony Allen didn't even bother to look up, for them it was simply the norm.

Link shook his head, he had been living in Boston for almost 24 hours since yesterday afternoon. But Link could already feel the unfriendliness of the city of Boston.

During the media session during practice yesterday afternoon, a local Boston reporter even asked Link, "How does it feel to survive in the NBA as a Chinese-American?" ”

At first glance, this question seems to be fine, but the reporter used the word "HK" to describe Chinese Americans.

How natural the word came out of the Boston reporter's mouth, he blurted it out without much thought, and didn't even feel the slightest bit wrong when he asked. This shows how Bostonians usually refer to Chinese Americans.

In the end, Link refused to answer the reporter's question. The reporter was quite dissatisfied at the time, saying that he would report to the League Office to punish Link

Link thought Randolph and Tony Allen were exaggerating when they were on the plane yesterday, but now Link has seen the power of Boston.

"Hey, can you see the numbers on the scoreboard with such small eyes? Hahaha! ”

Just then, the shouts of several fans in the stands jumped into Link's ears. Not only Link, but even Hollins suddenly stopped talking and looked up at the stands. There is no doubt that everyone heard the shouting of the fan just now.

Seeing that he had attracted the attention of the Grizzlies players, the white fan pulled the corners of his eyes up. It seems that he is quite proud of this.

"Don't care about the crap and focus on the game, Link." Hollinster comforted Link, who nodded silently.

He was glad that at least he had a bunch of supportive teams around him.

In this smoky atmosphere, the referee urged the players of both sides to step onto the court. At that moment, the shouting in the North Shore Garden was an octave higher. But in addition to the sound of cheering for the Celtics, it is naturally mixed with a lot of trash talk.

Boston is a place that you don't want to stay for a second.

"The game is about to begin, and it's definitely the biggest challenge the Grizzlies have had in the last ten days. Unlike teams on the brink of the playoffs, the Boston Celtics sit third in the East and still have championship eyesights. For the grizzlies, this is a challenge to test their quality! ”

Before the game even started, the voice of ESPN's ace commentator Mike Brin had already whetted the appetite of the fans.

Mike Brin is also the first time this season that he has been a live commentator for the Grizzlies, as the ESPN's ace commentator, he has mostly appeared in important games such as national broadcasts. And this season, the Grizzlies have barely had any games that are broadcast live across the United States.

But today, because the Grizzlies are gaining momentum and the Celtics have a huge flow, ESPN has listed this game as a key game. That's why Mike Brin was sent.

Although Mike Brin did not comment on the Grizzlies' game live, he did have a certain understanding of the Grizzlies' performance and that magical draft loss. So today, Brin is especially looking forward to Link's performance. He's curious to see how far an undrafted pick can go on the court.

After all, his opponent today is Paul Pearce, one of the strongest small forwards in the league!

I don't know if the villain wearing the dark blue No. 0 jersey can continue his counterattack this time.

"Okay, both sides are playing. On the Celtics side, Nenard Kostic and Garnett partnered on the inside, Paul Pierce played the No. 3 position, and Ray Allen was still the same. The number one position is still Rajon Rondo, and the lineup has not changed. ”

The Celtics' lineup is almost identical to last season, with the only change being defensive stalwart Kendrick Perkins who plays the No. 5 position into a low-profile Serbian center, Nénad Kostic.

In the middle of this season, the Celtics traded Perkins and "Little Potato" Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Kostic and Jeff Green.

Perkins' defensive ability is naturally something that Kostic does not have, but the strong man center did not return until January after suffering a knee injury last year, and his form since his return is very average. In addition, the Celtics are now short of a No. 3 candidate, so Angie made this trade.

It can be said that it is another typical example of a hero being directly abandoned after being injured and useless.

Angie believes that with Garnett on the inside, the Celtics' interior defense won't be too bad even without Perkins. What's more, the Celtics now have O'Neal and O'Neal on their roster, and Angie hopes that these two can play the role Perkins used to play in the playoffs after returning from injury.

However, judging from the games for most of the month after the trade, the impact of Perkins' departure on the Celtics' defensive end is still very huge. KG is 5 years old, and it's hard for him to be a leak on the defensive end. And Jeff Green's agile offense will hardly make up for the Celtics' loss on the defensive end.

So today, Hollins gave the players a task - to storm the Celtics' interior!

Link looked at Pierce and listened to the insults coming from the stands, and couldn't help but take a deep breath and feel the air fill his lungs, which calmed him down.

He remains convinced that the Boston Celtics are no longer invincible. And, he desperately wants to take away the victory in the North Shore Garden, in front of those foreign garbage!