Half an hour before Andy Miller received the text message, at the Continental Airlines Arena, the atmosphere in the arena was already suffocating, and even Fox Leon himself felt as if it was rain in the pond before a rainy day, and he was stuffy and wanted to show his face to breathe.

The playoffs are a game of constant games and countermeasures, although the seven-game series reduces the impact of various unexpected factors and reduces the probability of upsets, but the battle between teams with similar strength will be more exciting. And compared with the regular season, which tests the team's training level and tactical proficiency, the playoffs pay more attention to the players' adjustment ability and the coach's coaching ideas, and every game, especially the previous games, will be a new matchup.

And once the fourth race is over, and the fifth race is reached, the changes between the two sides are basically used up, like the second half of a long-distance run, the competition will be the willpower of the players, the resoluteness of the coach, and the inventory in the stomach. The Nets and Celtics are playing like this, the cards on both sides are basically finished, at least the cards on the board are about the same. The Celtics, in particular, used almost all of his tricks in Game 4 and ended up falling short with Kidd's free throws and the Nets' defense.

Although Leon was fined $20,000 by the league after the game that the final penalty was unfair, the result could not be changed, and they had to go to the Continental Airlines Arena to play Tianwang Mountain.

The Celtics played quite well in the first half, with Arenas and Walker feeling good and he led by three points into the third quarter. At the start of the third quarter, Paul Pearce came out of his power and scored consecutive points to stretch the gap between the two sides to six points. The Celtics were on the verge of repeating their winning pattern in Game 1, leading slightly in the first half, Pierce in the second half, and holding on to the advantage until the end of the final quarter.

But everything changed after Pierce's injury in the third quarter, when the Celtics executed a flash-cut tactic, Pierce was deep on the left to get to the point of attack, Arenas made a timely pass, Pierce received the ball and turned back to completely shake off his defender Jefferson, and then went to the basket against Kenyon Martin, and the two collided in the air.

Pierce's right leg hit the ground first as he fell, resulting in a reverse joint and falling to the ground in pain. At that time, Leon felt that his heart was tugging, he didn't care if he would win this game, but thought that Pierce would never suffer a fatal injury, the future Celtics needed him, Leon needed him in his blueprint, and Leon didn't want this person who had already suffered a lot of injuries to be hurt by injuries again.

He immediately re-entered the court and saved Pierce's head to ask him about the situation, but Pierce just shook his head in pain, his face twisted like an arrow in his knee. The team doctor then checked the situation on the spot and limped back to the locker room with Pierce in his arms. Looking at Pierce's disappearing back, for a moment, Leon himself felt like giving up.

Sure enough, without Pierce, the Celtics' offensive momentum came to an abrupt halt, and instead the Nets set off a climax of counterattack, Kittels' two three-pointers and Jefferson's strong basket allowed the Nets to overtake the score in two minutes, from six points behind to two points ahead.

Leon immediately called a timeout, Pierce's injury hit all the hard, everyone was obviously relieved, if this breath is released, this game, and even this series, the Celtics will be over.

Leon's mind spun like a Mustang fighter at full power, and he constantly went through various tactical models and player characteristics over and over again in his mind, looking for weaknesses on the court and the energy that the Nets still had in the roster at this time. Wang Zhizhi? No, he's having a hard time adjusting to the intensity of the playoffs right now, and the Nets are targeting him defensively; Eric Williams? The safest choice, he is also Pierce's first backup, but his offense is weak, and he means that he has to fight with the Nets to defend, but his performance on the court just now is anxious, and what the Celtics lack the most is offense. Chris Anderson? Let Walker play small forward, no, this lineup has been practiced too little in training. Or Steve Cole? There's really nothing Kerr can do against Kidd or Kittels, he's a little old.

Leon was thinking about it, but he didn't think about laying out the tactics for the players, everyone was blind, and an anxious mood began to gradually spread within the Celtics.

This is, Leon's mind flashed a name, a name that he weighed in the 12-man squad for a long time before the playoffs began - JR Bremer.

“JR！ Get ready to come on and replace Williams. Leon yelled, everyone was scared, and JR-Bremer, who had been sitting on the bench with a wooden face, was also frightened, he didn't expect Leon to let him play at all. But he remembered that before the playoffs began, Leon had specifically approached him, saying that he would keep him in the 12-man squad for the playoffs, and told him that he was not kept to make up the numbers, but to be able to play one day.

Thinking of this, JR-Bremer immediately got up from the bench, took off his jersey, and prepared to play.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, Bremer was drafted in 2002, but no team drafted him, and ended up having to try out with various teams and play for a time in the NBDL. Later, because of the Celtics' lack of point guards, he was called up, and in the competition with another point guard, Alexander, Bremer had the last laugh with a better three-point shot and entered the Celtics' playoff squad.

In more than 40 games in the regular season, Bremer shot 39 percent from three-point range, although the number of shots was pitiful, but in daily training, Leon could feel that this is a guy with shooting talent. However, his height is hard, only 6-foot-2, and when he replaces Williams, it means that the Celtics are completely without a small forward, and the team's outside defense will drop a notch.

Byron Scott saw Leon's risky approach, and he sneered in his heart, and in the third game, Leon tried to use substitutes to improve the situation, but he died miserably, and the offensive disadvantage was pulled away by a wave. In Scott's view, in the playoffs, this kind of coach who hopes for a small role player to explode is a childish ghost who has not yet grown up.

But then things changed in a way that Scott had never imagined. Bremer came on the court under tremendous pressure, but he lived up to expectations and made a contribution as soon as he got on the court, Arenas made a breakthrough to attract the defense, and gave the ball to Bremer who was 45, Bremer did not do any thinking and hesitation to shoot directly outside the three-point line to meet the defense.

For a player like that, being able to put the ball in is the greatest contribution to the team, and everything else is empty talk. Bremer hit the three-pointer to help the Celtics turn the score around and take a one-point lead.

It was also the only goal in the entire series, the entire playoffs, and he never got a shot on the court again, but this time he took it and threw the ball in. A three-point shot in the third quarter is not a stunner, not the last ten seconds, but for the Celtics, this three-point is too crucial. The ball was like a tranquilizer, which stabilized the anxiety of the whole team. For the entire third quarter, the Celtics held on to the advantage of this point, leaving all the suspense until the fourth quarter.

And the guy who really changed the game was Paul Pearce, who came back in the fourth quarter and came back to the court as if nothing had happened, as if he had only been bitten by a mosquito in his right leg.

Leon looked at him and didn't speak, didn't ask him if his leg hurt, if there was a problem, he only asked Pierce one sentence, "Are you ready to fight?" ”

Pierce nodded and said, "Yes, always on standby." ”

In the fourth quarter, Pierce returned to the court and the already exhausted Celtics were given a shot in the arm, and Pierce returned to the court with only four points in the fourth quarter, hitting a mid-range shot and two free throws, but the others stepped up. Arenas is once again a Demoman, with no organization in his head, no passing, just to hold the ball and score under the basket of the Nets!

Fifteen seconds before the end, the two sides tied 87:87, Pierce got an open shot outside the left three-point line, the Nets three players pounced, Pierce found the opportunity to make an inside pass, Arenas cut into the heart of the Nets like a knife, and stabbed the knife into the heart of the Nets with a layup! When Kidd missed a three-pointer from a long distance, the Boston Celtics, in an incredible way, won the game and got the series match point. (To be continued.) )