However, in the face of the sudden strength of the Boston Celtics, Carlisle did not waver in his determination to lead his team to win everything, so two days after the game in Auburn Hills, he led the Detroit Pistons to Boston's North Shore Garden Arena on January 31, and the two teams met for the second time in three days. Originally, it was expected to be a close battle, but this time the Pistons had the upper hand.

The game was in the rhythm of the Detroiters from the start, with Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups playing from the outside, and the two of them combined for 19 points in the first quarter to help the Pistons build a 12-point lead. In the second quarter, the Pistons' bench group began to exert their power, and a group of bench players such as Oku, Williams, and Tyshawn Prince were in amazing shape, with mid-range shots, three-pointers, and fast breaks, as if they had all been unlocked.

In comparison, the Celtics did a pretty bad job in the first quarter, Antoine Walker flew around the court like a fly without a head, and it was clear from his shooting and dribbling that the guy was completely out of shape, missing all 4 shots in the first quarter, scoring no points, and sending two fouls to finish himself off the court. Leon had to be replaced by Chris Anderson, although Anderson has endless passion and energy, but in the face of the Pistons' inside gate Ben Wallace, Anderson is like a piece of white cream, easily squashed by the steely Wallace. He tried twice to score on an inside dunk, but was fanned out by Wallace.

The Celtics' bad hand spread like a contagion to every player on the court, whether it was a quick counterattack or an open shot, they missed a lot of shots that seemed very simple in the past, which made Carlisle firmly take the joint defense route, the Pistons used the joint defense against the Celtics almost half of the time, and the best weapon to break the joint defense, the three-point shot, but it was not in the hands of the Celtics.

In the third quarter, the biggest difference between the two sides even stretched to 48 points at one point. It was a disaster for the North Shore Gardens fans, and the key point is that many fans were reluctant to leave the stadium early, instead watching the team die until the last minute.

Leon had to watch as the team was slaughtered by the Pistons at home, with a huge margin of 118:78, 40 points, and the Celtics unexpectedly lost to the Detroit Pistons at home. The joy of the victory over the opponent in the last game was swept away in two hours, replaced by a huge sense of frustration and frustration after the defeat. Leon watched the poor performance of the players, and could hardly suppress the anger in his heart, and gave each of them a punch to sober up.

After the match, Carlisle walked up to the other side as Leon did the day before yesterday. Said to Leon: "I said that now is not the time, at least I can't see it if I live." Carlisle is not the right time, of course, he is referring to what Leon said about how to replace the low post offense, tonight the Celtics are dying of a lack of efficient and consistent offensive means, when their three-point fire is dumb, the situation on the court is indeed a bit ugly, relying on Paul Pierce's back is a drop in the bucket, after all, he is a small forward, and he can't do enough damage like a center. Or attract a lot of bags to create opportunities for teammates.

Worse still, such doubts don't just come from opponents, but also from within Celtic. After the game on the evening of the 31st, at noon on the next day, February 1st. At a Celtics charity dinner that Leon attended, Danny Angie and some of the most famous old guys in Celtic history were present, and there was no doubt that some basketball-related issues would be discussed at the party. A group of celebrities, led by Tom Heinsohn, believe that the Celtics should abandon their current style of play, which relies on quick offense and three-point shooting. Instead, it's about focusing more on defense and interior offense to deal with the current group of strong interior players in the league.

Of all the people, only two people stood on Leon's side and said two words for him. One is Bill Russell, the first person in Celtics history, who came from Louisiana to attend the banquet and also wanted to see the Celtics play, but the Celtics disappointed him last night. However, he did not dismiss Leon's tactical thinking, on the contrary, he felt that this was the style of the Celtics.

Another one who endorsed Leon was Bob Cousy, who currently works in the team's marketing department, for a simple reason, saying, "I was also against it across the board when I first played, but it turned out that I was right, so I think you'll be right, too." ”

The support of the two old-timers gave Leon some motivation, but if the Celtics can't keep winning, then the doubts won't stop. The Celtics' record for the entire month of January is 7-5, and the winning percentage is no longer as dazzling as it was at the start of the season.

After a hasty end of the party, Leon declined Angie's invitation to go golf with him and drove straight home. For a man who grew up in a boxing ring and a broken bar, the golf course is a place that is a bit far away from him. He was with Auerbach, and although Auerbach liked to drive the golf cart around, he didn't know how to play golf at all.

Back home, because it was Saturday, so Khomeenes was practicing aerobics at home, she looked very good, compared to when she first met Leon two years ago, Khomeenez was more mature and charming, her original fiery red hair was dyed by herself into a more stable maroon, and she also permed a big wavy curl. Seeing Leon's somewhat tired and depressed look, Khamenes turned off the music, poured Leon a glass of whiskey and handed it to him, and asked, "What's wrong Fox, is there anything that makes you sad today?" Is it because of the Challenger? It's not something you can control. ”

On February 1, the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and disintegrated during the return, which is also one of the biggest news in the world today, but Leon didn't know at all, he was stunned when he heard Khomeinith say this, and instead took a sip of wine and said: "The earth is still spinning, the damned are still dying, and the deserving are still alive." ”

Khomeenez wrapped her slender and soft arm around Leon from behind and said, "You weren't such a sentimental person before, I think your personality has changed a lot since you became the coach of the team, and your troubles seem to be more than in the past half of your life combined." ”

Leon also felt that with the continuous immersion on the basketball court, his calm and calm side has not decreased, and in many cases he is still the most calm person; But at the same time, his irascible and gloomy side is also increasing, as evidenced by the conflict with Anthony Mason in the Bucks game some time ago, and in retrospect, Leon can be sure that if it weren't for someone stopping him, he would definitely go up and fight Anthony Mason directly, regardless of the 20-centimeter height difference and the 60-pound weight difference.

This may not be a particularly bad thing, basketball coaches also need passion, but it is not a good thing either, as a head coach who lacks foundation and qualifications, Leon is actually facing a much worse situation than any rookie coach. In the most complex basketball city and team in the league, with almost zero track record in the basketball circle, the only thing he relied on was Auerbach, the few assistant coaches Auerbach recruited for him, and some of the connections he built up as a scout, but he had nothing else.

Of course, his girlfriend's father is the owner of the team, but he is only one of the owners, and the other owners have always had reservations about Leon, especially the big boss Cross Pike, who is on Anji's side, and Anji has never had the intention of finding someone to replace Leon. Now Leon is almost certain that Dave Cowens was recruited by Angie, and the condition for convincing Cowens to be an assistant coach is that Cowens will be able to replace him after Leon leaves class!

The only thing Leon can do is keep winning and grueling to deal with the guns and arrows from all sides, recruiting the people he wants. In this case, only victory is the best partner, but Leon has also understood that as a team sport, victory is not something you can want.

"I'm feeling a little tired." Leon let go of Khamenez's hand and lay down on the couch. Looking at Holmenes with a distressed expression on his face, Leon, who has never talked much about things at work, still couldn't help but tell Holmenes some of his problems, and sometimes confiding is also a good way to release pressure.

Khomeenez held his cheeks and listened carefully to what Leon said a lot, if there is a hierarchy of troubles, Leon must be a senior complainant, he analyzed his own problems from shallow to deep, from far to near, from the surface to the deep Khomemenes.

"I've been thinking about these problems for a long time, and the only way to solve them is to win, and then win. There is no other way. After saying a lot, Leon gave himself a coffin. And Khomemenis frowned and thought for a while and said: "Fox, are you free at night, I think I should have a party at home and invite all the players of the Celtics to participate!" “

"Party?" Leon couldn't help but be stunned, this kind of party was what he hated most in his life, Khomemenes used to like to go to all kinds of parties, and since being with Leon, she almost didn't go to those parties anymore, because she thought it was more fun to stay with Leon. Now that Holmenes wants to party again, it is better to invite the Celtic players to come together, Leon thought about it and was about to shake his head, but he thought about it, Holmenez, this girl, might be able to see something that he couldn't see, and scratched his head and said, "Okay, but don't be too noisy." (To be continued.) )