After receiving the MVP trophy, which symbolizes the best player of the regular season in a season, Kevin Garnett shyly lowered his head and pursed his lips, and then lifted the trophy to the cheers and applause of more than 20,000 spectators at the North Shore Garden Arena, and showed a big smile. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The regular season MVP trophy is named after the first president of the NBA, Maurice Podolov, and is the highest individual honor of an NBA player in the regular season.

In the 2003-2004 season, no one deserved this honor more than Kevin Garnett, whose selfless style of play, all-round statistics, strong mental energy, and Celtics' dazzling record all praised the new Boston power forward. Perhaps the only thing people have complained about him is that he didn't come from a Celtics draft — the four previous MVP players of the Celtics were all drafted by the Celtics and have since retired with the Celtics.

But in this day and age, not too many people will care about this problem anymore, he is here, victorious, and that is enough.

The brief ritual was soon over, and Garnett's face quickly returned to the serious, fierce, and even bloodthirsty look of the past, a look that Leon was all too familiar with. When a wolf is about to fight an opponent, he will always bare his teeth to intimidate, Garnett is a guy who is good at bluffing, and fortunately, behind the bluff, he does have the ability to change the game.

Tonight is the old rival New Jersey Nets, the outside world is unanimously optimistic about the Celtics, after all, last year without Garnett, the Celtics were able to beat the Nets to the Finals, and now the Celtics' strength has been qualitatively improved, and many people think that beating the Nets will be no problem.

But Leon doesn't think so, the Knicks really didn't pay attention to it, the Nets are different, this year's Nets are only fourth in the East, 50 wins have not been obtained, and the core player Kidd is also riddled with injuries, but Leon still feels that this team should not be underestimated.

First of all, the Nets are actually not as good as in 2003 in terms of roster depth, they have left several powerful players, but the main framework is still there, and the third year of cooperation has become more mature and tacit, and it is a very effective team.

Secondly, the Nets have always focused on outside defense and quick counterattacks in terms of play, but they were trapped by the injuries of Kidd and Martin in the regular season, as well as the style of play itself, and their record is average. When it comes to the playoffs, this defensive team will be tough to bite regardless of their regular season record.

Third, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson are more mature, Martin ushered in the fourth year of his career, which is also a contract year, and he played the best statistics of his career, setting new highs in rebounds, blocks, and steals; Jefferson has also grown rapidly, playing in 82 games and carrying the burden of offense while Kidd is plagued by injuries, averaging 18.5 points per game.

Fourth, players such as Kittels and Jason Collins are as stable as ever, and the Nets' bench may not be as good as before, but in the playoffs, a stable, solid starting lineup can still keep them competitive. As you can see from the first-round game against the Heat, while the Heat, with Wade and Odom, have shown amazing talent, the Nets can still rely on defense and experience to send them home in the playoffs.

Leon knew that since he had made a sweeping oath, he had to fulfill it to the end.

"When you come out to play, you must be credited, and if you say a good sweep, you must sweep." Leon said this to his players before the start of the game, saying that he didn't want the players to leave anything to chance and have a game. A really strong team that does not play with his opponents, but must kill each other with all his might, which is the greatest respect for the game and the opponent.

At 7:30 p.m., the game officially began, and the Nets, dressed in blue-and-gray jerseys, stood on the floor of the North Shore Garden arena for the third consecutive playoff game. Three years is a cycle in the NBA, for coaches, for players, and for teams. Three years will be a hurdle, no matter who passes this hurdle, it will be a new world, and if you can't get over, you will often have to start all over again.

The Nets are standing on this hurdle, just as Jason Kidd is dragging his aching knee on the parquet floor, and in any case, Kidd is hoping to win a championship with the Nets, and the unexpected Finals in 2002 always made people feel completely unprepared; By 2003 they were ready, only to be avenged by a seemingly unprepared Celtic.

Now, no one is optimistic about them anymore, he suffered from a knee injury in the regular season, and he can no longer make a change of direction breakthrough without slowing down, and he can no longer dunk easily, but he is still willing to persevere. In the summer, Popovich asked him to join the Spurs, when the Boston Celtics had just acquired Kevin Garnett, and Popovich told him you wouldn't have another chance in the East.

But Kidd still refused, he was not willing to leave this Nets for the championship, this is not a bad team, but a team that has reached the Finals, is close to the championship, is a team with a full roster and tactics, he is the core here, he is a basketball hero in New Jersey, he is only 31 years old, he wants to bring an O'Brien Cup here.

Now, standing at the North Shore Garden Arena, Kidd feels a dull pain in his knee, and he has done enough treatment before the game, and his left knee is wrapped around a thick knee pad, but there is no way, the broken things will not return to the way they used to be.

In the scrum, Jason Collins touched the ball and Kidd expertly took the ball and began to organize the attack.

Before the start of the series, the Nets also did a lot of research and preparation, and head coach Frank believes that how to score in the positional offense will be the key. That's right, Frank's request was for the Nets to be able to score in positional offense, because based on footage and regular-season game experience, the Nets had little way to organize an effective offense in positional battles.

The Nets, who lack strong single points, are almost helpless in the face of the Celtics' new defense, and every time it comes to the hard time, the Celtics will make a force on the defensive end, and the Nets will be completely dumb. In this regard, they are not even as good as the Nuggets and Knicks, at least they can continue the firepower for the team with a single sharp knife. The Nets' style of play, which relies on the whole, must make a breakthrough in the positional battle.

In the first offense of the opening game, Kidd and Martin made a passing cooperation, Kidd quickly and covertly passed the ball to Martin in a 45-degree waist, and then he feigned an inside, and then a dodge to the three-point line, Martin was passing back to Kidd, and Kidd received the ball outside the three-point line and shot directly.

Kidd's three-pointers have been inconsistent, but his shot has always been high and difficult to interfere with, and when he catches the ball and jumps up, Arenas is a little too late to pounce.

The ball bounced twice on the basket before landing in the basket and hitting a three-pointer to give Kidd the first point of the game and a good start for the Nets.

In the away game, a good start is extremely important, and this three-point point undoubtedly made the Nets have the bottom of the whole team, and they were originally a little nervous, but they soon began to relax.

In defense, Frank decided to take the lead and used full-court pressing in the opening game, Kidd Kittels wrapped Arenas and almost caused a passing error, and finally Pierce missed a mid-range jumper, the Nets got a backcourt rebound and launched a counterattack, Kenyon Martin ran across the halfcourt, Kidd made a beautiful long pass to Martin, Martin dunked and scored, 5:0, and the Nets opened with a 5:0.

At this time, Fox Leon was still firmly on the bench, and it seemed that the situation did not worry him at all.

Then Arenas missed a three-point shot outside the three-point line, and the Nets had another chance to counterattack, this time Kidd did not launch a fast break, but after dribbling past half court, he seized the opportunity and used a quick block to make a layup directly on the inside, 7:0, Kidd scored 5 points, giving the Celtics a dismount.

"Don't relax! We're just getting started! Kidd shouted at his team-mates after the goal, knowing that a small opening advantage wasn't enough, and the Celtics didn't look like they had woken up yet.

He told himself in his heart that no matter how strong the Celtics were, he would never give up the idea of fighting for victory.

At this point, Leon stood up from the stool, gestured to the players on the field, and sat back down.

After thinking about it carefully, Leon decided to tear the Nets apart in the simplest way possible. (To be continued.) )