Boston's North Shore Garden Arena was fully attended.

The Celtics are one of the oldest teams in the NBA, and their fans here are among the most loyal in the league.

The team made the playoffs last year under Stevens' leadership, and this year's season has been good, and the fans continue to support the team.

And the wave of public opinion created by the media before the game also made this game more interesting.

If the Celtics can successfully knock the Pelicans down in this game, it will be an unprecedented morale boost for the team.

Stevens, you see, the team you once looked down on, defeated the team you led!

The team's general manager, Danny Angie, was also on the scene.

He looked in high spirits.

As a meritorious player of the team, he first brought in the Big Three after entering the management, and won the championship trophy again after 22 years.

Then he made a quick decision, quickly cleaned up after the Big Three grew old and got a lot of high-quality draft picks.

Now that the team is rebuilding and playing the playoffs, it doesn't get much better than that.

Especially tonight, with Stevens under a lot of pressure, the Celtics have a lot of hope of winning.

He ended his opponent's 15-game winning streak in the rebuild, and by the time the salary cap skyrocketed next summer, he was even more confident to recruit superstars.

After the players of the two teams arrived at the court, players from the Celtics came over to greet Stevens.

From this, it can be seen that Stevens' coaching is still very popular.

And at the end of the opening ceremony, when Stevens was introduced, there was a lot of applause at the scene.

Despite Angie's constant smearing, the fans' eyes are still clear, and they know that the team has been mired in the past two years, and it is Stevens who is carrying the weight forward.

Anji frowned slightly, but didn't pay much attention to it.

By the time the Celtics win the game, fans will forget about Stevens and love McHale, who is also a decorated player.

After the warm-up, the starters from both sides came on one after another.

The Pelicans, on their side, are still the regular five Tigers.

Stevens is the same type as Popovich in the rotation, and he has to play 9~10 people in a game, which can give the main players a lot of rest.

Coupled with the strength of the team this season and the lack of time for the main players, the Pelicans have not suffered any injuries so far.

On the Celtics side, Smart and Bradley on the outside, Crowder and Amir Johnson on the front, and Sallinger at center.

It's an overwhelmingly defensive lineup, and the Celtics are averaging 98.6 points per game this season, thanks in large part to this lineup.

Sallinger is a stocky center, and Davis easily jumped to give the Pelicans a chance to take the lead.

Jokic went to the frontcourt and responded in the high post, and the ball was given to Tang Tian, who cut in the air.

The Celtics' defense was really good, and they got the bag at the first time.

Tang Tian distributed the ball to Ariza on the weak side, but Smart immediately helped the defense rotate over.

The Pelicans' offense is still a little insufficient, and there are no tactical opportunities after this wave of tactics.

Time was running out, and Ariza's final layup was jammed by Johnson.

The Celtics managed to defend the Pelicans' first-round offense.

Angie smiled in the stands.

What he said was right, the Pelicans' offense has not yet been fully run-in, and the Celtics have a good chance to fight defense.

The Celtics have a good defense, but their own offense is also tight.

Sallinger attacked Jokic under the basket and wanted to use the confrontation advantage to score points, but Davis's help defense came in time, and he received a pegboard hat after the shot, and the rebound was also won by Davis.

The Pelicans attacked the frontcourt again, and Tang Tian took the initiative to reach out for the ball.

When Stevens was in charge last season, the Celtics' offensive heart was Thomas Jr.

If he's on the floor, it's easy for the Pelicans to take advantage of this defensive hole.

But now Thomas Jr. is not reused by McHale, and he is not allowed to play in the starters, which makes their offensive strength plummet, but the defense has been greatly enhanced.

With the Pelicans' unfinished offensive system, it will be difficult to play.

In other words, the Celtics are still the same people as they were when Stevens was coaching, but the system has completely changed.

Stevens' coaching experience with the Celtics doesn't help.

After holding the ball, Tang Tian motioned for others to pull away, and then asked Jokic to mention the three-point line to play the pick-and-roll.

Of the five people on the Celtics, the other four are fast and defensive, and the defense can be connected.

But Sallinger is an exception.

The 2.06m, who weighs 127kg, is the heart of the Celtics' attack.

If it were the last century or even the beginning of the century, such a short and stout interior would be very popular, like Charles Barkley, Elton Brand.

But McHale is obviously a bit outdated, and in the small-ball era, this kind of inside line meeting a strong team is the standard breakthrough.

Jokic used his huge body to block Smart, and after dismantling it, Tang Tian misplaced himself against Sallinger.

He dribbled low to change direction from side to side, and Sallinger was like a wine glass in the wind, ready to fall over at any moment.

After seeing that Claude on the right side was about to help defend him, Tang Tian accelerated and walked to the left side to pass Sallinger.

Davis stuck Johnson to death at this time, and Tang Tian scored directly with a one-handed dunk after breaking in.

Tang Tian helped the Pelicans take the lead in scoring points!

There was a stirring on the sidelines.

Anji's brow furrowed.

He has worked with Stevens for two years and knows Stevens well enough to coach.

Stevens was tactically strict.

It's like training an army, the first thing to do is to obey orders, and absolute execution.

That's one big reason why the Celtics were able to make the playoffs last season with a bunch of role players.

But just now, the Pelicans played a tactic that was obviously not Stevens' strategy.

He glanced at Stevens.

Instead of getting angry, Stevens reached out and applauded.

This made him even more incredible, Stevens arrived at the Pelicans and suddenly changed sex?

But he immediately discovered that this was not the case.

Because in the next round, the Pelicans relied on a strong execution defense to prevent another wave of the Celtics' offense.

Angie was confused, but it was actually very simple.

Stevens and Tang Tian have been in contact as early as last season, and the two have been in high mountains and rivers for a long time, and Stevens admires Tang Tian's tactical ability very much.

Even at the beginning of the season, during the training camp, the two men communicated privately about the tactical system.

Therefore, he will not easily question Tang Tian's judgment on the field.

And although he is very strict, he is far less domineering than Popovich, he gave Tang Tian a lot of freedom on the court.

Or to put it another way, Tang Tian is a privileged player in Stevens' tactical system.

Tang Tian just used this privilege to gain insight into the defensive weaknesses of the Celtics through his own judgment and change the offensive tactics, which proved to work.

So what Stevens will do is give him a round of applause.