On the last day of October, the weather was very muggy, and the Boston Local Weather Observatory warned that there was about to hit a heavy rain from New England, which may be the last rainstorm after the beginning of autumn. Fans heading to the North Shore Garden Arena in the evening brought rain gear in advance, and although many people drove or took the convenient subway, a sudden rainstorm was enough to make people fall into the soup in a short period of time.

Leon arrived at the arena at five o'clock, he arrived in the locker room and plastered tactical notes on the coach's strategy board, and the pressure was also very high after facing Eastern teams in two consecutive games in the opening season. Most people still don't know how much depth the Nets, which have made major personnel changes, are currently in plain sight. Only Leon, who is an unpredictable prophet, knows that this Nets is a Finals-caliber team, and if his memory is correct, it will be difficult for the Nets to meet opponents in the weak East.

Last season's Nets had an embarrassing 25-57 record and finished last in the Eastern Conference, and Stephen Marbury, who averaged 24 points and 8 assists per game, was unable to bring the team victory, which led to one of the biggest league-shaking deals of the summer, with Marbury and Jason Kidd swapping owners for two super point guards.

Leon was impressed by Jason Kidd, who was extremely skilled, but also had a bad temper, and nine times out of ten the reasons for appearing in the headlines were conflicts with teammates, quarrels with coaches or girlfriend hits. Danny Angie has complained to Leon more than once that Kidd's style on the court and off the court are two people at all, and his experience of disagreeing with his coach can be traced back to his freshman year of college.

But Leon isn't just a gossip fan, he's watched Kidd's preseason games with the Suns and Nets this season, and he knows a lot about Kidd's ability to comb the offense, and he probably has the best pass in the entire league, which is crucial for a team's offensive launch. Whether it's a fast break or a positional offense, with such a point guard, the Nets' offense will be taken up a notch.

Of course, Leon is more concerned about the change in the playing style of the Nets as a whole, and many media predict that the Nets will get strong fast-break ability, which Leon agrees with, but he is more concerned about the Nets' defense, and his data analysis shows that Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittels are both excellent on the defensive end. Especially Martin, although he is only a sophomore, but he only entered the NBA after graduating from his senior year, he has a solid defensive utilitarianism, and Leon has thought that Martin will be the best defensive power forward in the East since the draft in 00.

"Pay attention to the shift of the ball from the outside, the Nets' pressing defense can be difficult for us to get used to...... Mistakes, you must control mistakes, the Nets' ability to catch mistakes and grab points will be unbearable......" Leon posted these notes with detailed notes on the whiteboard, hoping that O'Brien could pay attention, or the players themselves could be alerted if they saw it.

Hart Sr. came to the arena after Leon, he saw the note posted by Leon, nodded in approval, although Hart was the defensive coach hired by O'Brien, he also admired Leon, he felt that this young man had a special understanding in basketball. From these notes, it can be seen that some seemingly cliché reminders are actually very targeted, and Hart also picked up a note and asked, "What does this mean?" If you can't make a shot, give the ball to Pierce. ”

Leon looked at the note and replied: "I think Pierce's single is the most reliable scoring method for the team right now, and it will probably be Van Horn who defends him, and Pierce will have a chance to play him." But other points ...... We're going to be difficult, but if we have a few mistakes and three points, I think we'll have a chance. ”

Listening to Leon's words, old Hart's face showed a strange expression, and he frowned and said to Leon: "You guy, what do you mean that we have a chance, must the Nets be better than us?" They had a really poor record last year and I think we have a better chance of winning this game. We're morale boys. ”

Leon smiled without explanation, and continued to focus on sticking sticky notes, as time went on, getting closer and closer to the start of the game, and the players returned to the locker room to start the final pre-match mobilization after changing clothes and warming up on the field. O'Brien changed into a new dark gray suit, wore a crimson tie, and meticulously combed his hair, explaining the basics to the players before the game.

O'Brien replaces Pitino, but tactically he is in the same vein as Pitino, emphasizing pressing defense, ball transfer and three-pointers. And with some success with Leon and Vogel in data analysis this season, O'Brien is more particular about some details than Pitino, and he is also very good at encouraging players, which is why he led the team well last season.

He just ignored the sticky notes posted by Leon, just wrote a few notes on the whiteboard, and then walked to the coach's box before the players, and the rest of the players began to prepare for the entrance ceremony in a circle.

Leon doesn't mind ignoring O'Brien, he just cares about what kind of sparks the Celtics will have in the game with the Nets, whether the Nets are as strong as he imagined, and whether the current Celtics can match them.

……………………

TD North Shore Garden Arena has a capacity of 20,000 spectators and is packed for the first game of the new season. For the first time, Leon was in the dugout to experience the regular season at North Shore Gardens, and it was a completely different preseason game, with cacophony and noise filling the eardrums. Leon wanted to talk to Vogel beside him, but found that he had to use a roar, otherwise Vogel would not react at all.

The game officially kicked off at 7:30 p.m., with O'Brien fielding his regular lineup with center Tony Barty, power forward Antoine Walker, small forward Pierce, shooting guard Michael Reed, and point guard Steve Kerr. Dennis Rodman continues to be on the watch list for this game, while veteran Steve Kerr had to step into the starting point guard position, and he shared playing time with Arenas in the last game, although it seems that Arenas' overly ego performance on the court is not satisfactory to O'Brien.

The Celtics started the first quarter perfectly, with Pierce, Reed and Walker taking turns from the outside and hitting five three-pointers in the first quarter to build a nine-point advantage. For a while, the Nets seemed to have a hard time adjusting to the Celtics' three-point bombardment and the huge noise of the North Shore Garden.

The momentum of the Celtics continued into the second half, the Nets after half-court adjustments began to slowly exert their strength in the third quarter, and the Celtics, who lost their super touch in the first half, began to fall into an offensive slump, and the defensive strangulation trio composed of Nets Kittels, Kidd and Martin destroyed the Celtics' offense again and again, Steve Kerr, who was still full of energy in the first half, slowed down in the second half, and Arenas, who was on the court, was obviously lacking in organization, and the Celtics' offense began to fall into chaos. Their defense, too, was plagued by stamina, tempo, and offense, and could no longer be as intense as the first half, and the Nets' fearsome three-line fast break finally showed its might and the Celtics' defense was torn apart.

The score flipped in the fourth minute of the third quarter, after which the difference between the two sides began to widen. The Nets were trapped by the lack of reliable interior attackers, so they once fell into a scoring drought and were caught up by the Celtics little by little, but in the fourth quarter, Kidd's three-point shot suddenly opened fire, and the Nets continued to rely on blocking and dismantling to shoot directly to the basket on the outside, and the Nets' defensive holes in the point guard position were exposed. At this time, O'Brien remembered Leon's sticky notes on the whiteboard, so he made a decisive substitution, taking Eric William Folklife to play a non-point guard lineup, and then relying on Paul Pearce's singles for offense, and the other players defended with all their might. After a summer of hard work, Pierce showed his increasingly sophisticated offensive skills, and Van Horn was useless in front of him, scoring eight straight points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics close the score.

But the Celtics' efforts came to naught in the final three minutes, as two fatal outside pass errors allowed Kenyon Martin to double fast-break dunks and roar on the floor of the North Shore Garden, which ultimately led to the Celtics' final home 91-99, eight-point deficit to the New Jersey Nets.

Leon sat on the bench and barely moved throughout the game, just watched O'Brien on the sidelines with a solemn expression and a moment of roaring at the players, and finally lost the game. Back in the locker room, Leon tore off all the sticky notes on the whiteboard and threw them in the trash.