Ending a 23-game winning streak, Celtic also lifted the heavy burden from their shoulders and started from scratch. After spending a fun all-nighter in San Antonio with the players www.biquge.info Leon left together at noon the next day and flew to Miami.

The regular season of the NBA is so long and boring, flying around the United States, training gyms, hotels, arenas, airports, several places back and forth, once you meet back-to-back is extremely hard. Winning is often the only pleasure in this long journey, and it's fine to be in a city like Miami with a bustling nightlife, but if you go to a small city like the West or North, the monotony of life will drive many players crazy.

Halfway through the season, the strong teams are already showing their strength, the weak teams are slipping into the quagmire, and the young teams with potential are slowly showing hope for the future. After an unsatisfactory start to the season, the Miami Heat are gradually getting on track to become a playoff team in the Eastern Conference.

However, in the face of a strong Celtics, who have just ended their winning streak and started from scratch, the Heat have no chance of winning at the American Airlines Center at home. Lamar Odom, known as Garnett Jr., did not play as well as he should in front of the real Garnett, and the entire Heat interior was destroyed by Garnett and PJ Brown, who combined for 13 frontcourt rebounds and scored at least 20 points with their secondary offense.

In the case of Pierce and Arenas' average outside touch, the Celtics purely relied on the advantage of the interior to break through the Heat, and they achieved an overwhelming advantage in rebounding this game, grabbing 21 more rebounds than the Heat. In this situation, the Heat resisted a first half, and the Celtics pulled away in the third quarter, and finally lost the game unsurprisingly.

After the game, Leon returns to the hotel, only to receive a text invitation from an unfamiliar number to a café at the South Beach Hotel in Miami for coffee. There was no record of this number in Leon's phone book, but after thinking about it for a while, Leon decided to go.

After arriving at the place indicated on the text message, Leon met the inviter, the manager of the Miami Heat, Pat Riley, in the café's premium private room. He was sitting on a velvet stool, wearing an Armani shirt and a huge ring on his hand — the championship ring he won with the Lakers.

"Welcome, you're here, I thought you'd call to make sure." Riley saw Leon being taken into the private room by the waiter, stood up and spoke.

"No, I knew from the tone of the text message that it was you, a style of Armani suit." Leon seemed to be able to determine the identity of the sender from the wording of the text message, but in fact he only remembered in his head that it was Riley's phone number recorded in the NBA manager's contact book, which he had looked through in Ange's office and remembered it all about the same.

Riley didn't care if Leon was braggadocio or really had the ability, he called the waiter and served Leon a cup of coffee.

"This is an Amber Jue coffee from Crystal Mountain, Cuba, which has a very limited annual production, and I got it from a Cuban friend." Riley pushed the coffee cup in front of Leon, which he had personally brought with him and told the people at the café to make it. The cup was steaming hot, and the silky brown liquid released a fuzzy aroma.

Leon picked it up and took a sip, it was not very bitter, it was not very sweet, the entrance was very soft, there was a slight sourness, and there was a hint of freshness, although it was very weak, but it was quite wonderful with the coffee taste.

"I don't like coffee, but I can feel that it's a good drink...... If there is Cuban coffee, there should also be Cuban cigars. Leon didn't look satisfied with a cup of coffee.

Sure enough, Riley smiled, took out a Havana cigar from his pocket and threw it into Leon's hand, and he took out one himself, and the two quickly swallowed the clouds.

Since they met in the summer league this summer, the two have developed a bit of a friendship, and Leon is very good at dealing with this kind of old fox, because he is never stage frightened, and he is very witty, and he can often play against opponents.

"Let's get down to business, coffee and cigars, and you don't tell me just to smoke with me. The game is over, and it's impossible for me to release water for you. Leon asked Riley after exhaling a large puff of cigarette.

"Oh, no, it's nothing, it's really not. I just want to have a cigarette, a coffee, and a chat with you. You've had amazing results with your Celtics, and maybe I can learn a little bit from talking to you, because the Heat are still growing. Riley smiled and half-jokingly said to Leon.

Leon didn't care, and really talked to Riley about basketball. As a legendary coach in NBA history, Riley naturally has many valuable lessons to learn, and Leon, as a coach with no background, also has many genius ideas that surprise Riley.

After drinking three cups of coffee in a row, Riley suddenly brought up a sensitive topic.

"Ever thought about coaching a team other than the Celtics?" Riley asked suddenly.

"Celtic for a day, Celtic for life." Leon said.

"Hahaha, the players and coaches in the league are divided into two categories, one is the Celtics and the other is the others. But this is no longer the case, and the Celtics are still very powerful, and you have a good chance of winning this year, but this league is no longer the time for the Bostonians to block half the sky. Fox, I know Auerbach has high hopes for you, but I bet you won't be the second Auerbach. I can tell from the way you act, you will be invincible, but you will not tear the earth and crown the king. Riley's eyes became like knives, but Leon was silent.

Leon must admit that some of Riley's words speak to his bones. He's really going to win, he's going to win championships, he's going to be successful, and in fact he'd been going to do that if he wasn't in basketball. He enjoys winning and succeeding in the fun game of basketball, and he enjoys pursuing the ultimate tactics and teams, but he doesn't seek to build a Celtic empire.

In this sense, he is a man who lacks basketball feelings, but a rationalist pursuer of success.

Seeing that Leon was no longer talking, Riley fiddled with the ring on his hand and said, "This is the championship ring I got when I first coached the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982. In 1982, my first coaching, championship, hehe, I got a lot of things in my first season that a coach has always dreamed of. At that time, the Lakers were just as powerful as the Celtics now, incredibly powerful, and many people like to reminisce about the yellow-green duel between the Celtics and the Lakers back then, but let me tell you, the Lakers are much stronger than the Celtics. In Los Angeles, it took me almost a decade, four championships, and then I went to the Knicks and was one step away from the championship. Finally, today, I'm with the Miami Heat, and I'm getting nowhere. But I'm happier here than I am in New York or Los Angeles. This is my team. “

Leon smiled and said, "Yes, this is your team, not mine." ”

"Haha, I'm not here to persuade you to join, you still have some way to go in Boston. I'm just casually mentioning it, don't mind. Oh, and one more thing I want to tell you, when a team reaches a certain level, its opponent is really just itself. Riley concluded, and they ended the meeting.

Leon left the South Beach Hotel and left with the Celtics the next day to continue his regular season journey. No matter what Riley says, Fox Leon will not waver in his will to win a championship for the Celtics.

This is a promise and a fate.

In the days that followed, the Celtics won back-to-back games in the regular season, and the Lakers' record declined due to Malone's injury and Kobe's absence, and no team has been able to compete with the Celtics in the regular season since then. Riding the dust, the Celtics have already begun to set their hearts on the playoffs. (To be continued.) )