At the end of February, Larry Brown could sense that the Detroit Pistons were on the right path. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info since that important trade before the end of the trade period, ushered in the Pistons of Rashid Wallace, and finally has the last piece of the puzzle to become a super team, a perfect piece of the puzzle.

Rasheed Wallace, the big forward from Portland, has always been under the big four, but in Brown's mind, he is the best candidate for his team. Offense doesn't need the ball, can be inside and out, and has the unique ability of shooting with one hand back. In defense, one-on-one single defense is one of the best in the league, hard and winding, with enough height, arm span, and strength to be able to defend almost all interior lines in the league.

His weaknesses are lack of focus on the offensive end, lack of desire to score, average defensive ability, and average backcourt rebounding ability, but these weaknesses can be well compensated for in the Pistons. On the offensive end, he doesn't need to take on the burden of scoring, and he doesn't need to eat hard at critical moments, and on the defensive end, he and another Wallace are simply seamless, and Wallace's strong defensive ability and super backcourt rebounding skills can fill the vacancy of Rashid.

It's a perfect reinforcement, a perfect deal. Of course, in Brown's view, the only imperfection is that the Boston Celtics got a future draft pick in this trade, from the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks have really done a good job this season, Stephen Jackson can't compete for the Pacers, traded Wallace and traded to the Pistons, and then gave the Celtics a draft pick, which can be said to have made three super teams in the East.

Brown doesn't know what else a team like the Celtics needs draft picks for, he just knows that whether he and the Detroit can make a breakthrough this season depends on whether they can get past the Bostoners. History is always strikingly similar, the Pistons who wanted to rise in the late eighties faced the same problem, they had to cross the Celtics, the difference is that now the Pistons and the Celtics are on the same starting line.

Since March, Brown has been working on a new lineup and new tactics, first of all, he has solidified the starting lineup, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tyshawn Prince, Richard Hamilton, which will be the starting five under Larry Brown.

Tactically, he is the first to attack, and as soon as possible, Rasheed Wallace's offensive ability can help the team. Then in March, Larry Brown began to unleash the Pistons' defensive energy to the limit.

On March 4, against the Portland Trail Blazers, 83:68, won away; On March 6, it was still away, Denver Nuggets, 97:66, successfully strangled, and on March 7, back-to-back games against the Seattle SuperSonics on the road, 86:65, strangled again; On March 10, they returned to their home court, 98:65, and the league was shocked for four consecutive games to contain opponents' scores below 70 points.

Four days later, at Auburn Hills Palace, 87:69, the Detroit Pistons crippled the 76ers without Allen Iverson with a steely defense, and none of the 76ers' starting five players scored more than 10 points.

Their streak of pressing opponents by less than 70 points in a row ended in New Jersey, and on March 18, they beat the Nets in New Jersey, and there was no suspense in the end of the game, but the Nets still did not give up and chose to continue to attack, because they had scored 69 points! In the final moments, the Nets relied on forcing fouls to stand at the free throw line, hitting two free throws, allowing the Pistons to suppress opponents by less than 70 points in a row.

Even so, the Detroit Pistons' performance on the defensive end was still impressive, and Larry Brown finally felt that the ultimate defense he had been pursuing for 20 years had finally arrived.

He remembers when he first coached, he still liked to wear colorful plaid suits, he liked to change his offensive tactics, and over time he began to pursue "playing the right way", and although he never won a championship in the league, he persevered. In 2001, he made it to the Finals with the 76ers who played the right way and Iverson with a freewheeling ego, where he was torn apart with dignity by the ferocious Los Angeles Lakers.

Now he felt himself getting closer again, closer than he had in 2001, and standing in his way was another beast—the Boston Celtics.

The Pistons finished their March schedule with 11 wins from 14 games, and the speed of their rise caught the attention of the league after the trade, so the game against the Indiana Pacers on April 4 was in the national spotlight, and the two defensive teams in the same division will face off for the final battle before the playoffs, and the two teams currently sit in 2nd and 3rd place in the East.

And as things stand, this will also be the final standings after the regular season, and they will most likely meet in the tragic springboard battle of the Eastern Conference semifinals, so Larry Brown and the Pistons are taking this game very seriously.

Since holding opponents under 70 points in five consecutive games, the Pistons have stopped chasing the ultimate in scoring in subsequent games, so the points conceded have increased. But on the night of April 4, in Auburn Hills, they would not show mercy.

The game was extremely miserable and ugly, with the final scores of the two teams adding up to no more than 140 points, with Stephen Jackson being sent off for two technical fouls, Rasheed Wallace being sent off for two technical fouls, Jermaine O'Neal leaving the court with six fouls, Tyshawn Pulis with five fouls, and Ben Wallley with five fouls.

This ugly defensive battle ended with the Pistons 77-63, and they once again suppressed the opponent's score below 70 points, and only Ron Artest scored more than 10 points in the entire Pacers, and the Pacers shot only 30 percent from the field.

A Larry Brown-style victory, a Detroit Pistons-style victory, but after the game, Larry Brown appeared quite low-key and calm, saying in his post-game interview: "The real challenge is far from coming, we still have the playoffs, and we have stronger opponents." ”

Larry Brown's caution is justified because two weeks later, the season finale, the Detroit Pistons will travel to Boston to take on the kings of the East, the Celtics. Brown knows this will be the best and last chance to test his team's quality in the regular season, and confidence will be built in this game.

On the other hand, Fox Leon is also pondering how to dispel the illusion that the current arrogant Detroits can fight the Celtics. (To be continued.) )