Leon directly witnessed the scene where Maddie was reversed after putting down the big words, the same situation, the same words, but with a completely different ending. Leon did not gloat over this, on the contrary, he saw in Maddie the cruelty of competitive sports, and the cruelty of the media and fans. Many people may look at winning and losing with peace and respect, but when the desire to win and the enthusiasm for supporting the team drown everything, the resentment and anger caused by attacking and attacking each other will completely drown out the kind and beautiful side of competitive sports.

Leon can already see that if Maddie can't prove himself with victory for a long time to come, then the words he said in the 2003 playoffs will be repeated and ridiculed. This may not diminish the love of some fans for him, but it will also become a stinger in his life that cannot be pulled out. Such a stinger almost stuck in Leon's flesh.

Leon was both scared and excited. He has indeed changed a lot in this half season, including the step-by-step pressure of Auerbach and Angie, and the change in Fox Leon's heart. His spirit was no longer only completely dominated by the soul of that Fan Chen in the past, but also integrated into the personality of the original owner of this body, gambling, thrill-seeking, manic and huge emotional changes that were revealed from time to time.

The moment Stamp lit his cigar that night, Leon realized that he was deriving great pleasure from this act, which was in fact completely unconscious at the time, and that he had just dropped the cigar smoke and matches in the inner pocket of his coat. When the Celtics were in control, his hand touched the cigar and match, which he pulled out and lit as Auerbach did.

Of course, in Leon's mind, the voice of reason still occupies the majority, and even so, reason does not swallow passion, but deliberately leaves a territory for passion. He calmly pondered the consequences of every time he made a big fuss or blatantly provoked, and he also enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when he dressed to force success. He, like Auerbach, even used this behavior to motivate and motivate the Celtic players, and put them into a state of excitement.

In the fifth game against the 76ers, Leon did little special tactical arrangement, he just kept telling the players to do their best to win this game. Leon's incendiary language and frenzied atmosphere supported the Celtics to grit their teeth and withstand the 76ers' counterattack and finally win the game. And such a victory is a great encouragement to the spirit of the players, and it is also a release of pressure.

In the days after winning the game, Leon waited for the results of the series between the Pistons and the Magic, and the wait was a week, the Pistons eliminated the Magic in a seven-game steal, and the Celtics booked a ticket to Detroit.

On the flight to Detroit, the atmosphere within the Celtics was relaxed and cheerful, and they unexpectedly stepped over the 76ers in the first round, slapping all the experts and fans who didn't think of them. They feel very confident, they are very strong, they have an experienced insider, they are in great form, they are well-rested players and they have a lot of depth on the bench.

In contrast, the Detroit Pistons, who surprisingly experienced seven big battles, although they advanced to the next round, were questioned by many people. The first place in the East was forced to a desperate situation by the Magic in the first round, and they were almost blackened by the eight. If this wasn't the 2003 playoffs but the 2002 playoffs, the Pistons would have gone home fishing with the shame of being black-eight.

The reversal of the public opinion situation did not make Leon happy, on the contrary, he was worried. For more than half a season, Leon has been using various means to create public opinion pressure for the Celtics, including letting Andy Miller write an article attacking the Celtics, in order to make the team burst out of extraordinary motivation in the harsh public opinion environment. Not just the Celtics, but even all of Boston are creating a sense of going back to the evil empire of the past against the All-Union Empire.

But the feeling is just the feeling, when they haven't become the real big demon king, public opinion can flip and lift you up to the sky at any time, and then watch you fall hard.

Leon watched the youngsters bet on tomorrow's scores, and Arenas said, "I've got to score 20 points, definitely, watch." In the first round against the 76ers, Arenas averaged just 15.5 points per game, a cut less than in the regular season. The main reason for this is that Leon has been arranging him to defend Iverson alone, which puts him under a lot of defensive pressure and cannot let go on the offensive end. "Let's not say a word, winning is all that matters...... I've already scored 20 points, so I'm too lazy to compare with you. Michael Reed was dismissive of Arenas. In the playoffs, Reed regained his position as the Celtics' third-leading scorer, and his role looked even more important than Walker's, with his three-pointers on the wing and pull-up jumpers on the counter-attack, Larry Brown couldn't solve his defensive problems throughout the series. "Gilbert, I guess you're going to get 20 points, but Billups on the other side is probably going to score 30 points." Leon suddenly interjected to Arenas.

Leon's words made Arenas blush, and the people in the cabin laughed when they heard it, Arenas was completely defeated by Iverson in the first round, but fortunately, his character of not admitting defeat made him not collapse psychologically at all, but became more and more courageous, and put 100% energy into defense. Even so, Iverson averaged 33.8 points per game in the opening game, the leading scorer in the series.

"He doesn't want to score on my head easily, I'm going to prove that I'm better than him!" Arenas was anxious and shouted at Leon, who had already closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, ignoring Arenas anymore.

The more Arenas thought about it, the more angry he became, ignoring the jokes of the other teammates around him, just thinking about getting to Detroit as soon as possible and shooting 300 three-pointers on the practice court to hone himself.

Arenas knows that this season, comparisons between him and Billups in Boston have never stopped. As a former Boston scout, Billups didn't find his home here, and after tossing and turning between the Timberwolves and the Pistons, he finally found his value in Detroit. In the offseason, Angie was also one of Billups' many suitors, but in the end, for a variety of reasons, the Detroit people took away their former flowers.

One of the reasons for this is that Leon insists that Arenas will not be worse than Billups, and judging from the performance of this season, there is still a big gap between the immature Arenas and the gradually maturing Billups. Especially in the first round of the playoffs, Billups shone in the last two games, slashing points like crazy and shooting through the outside of the Magic.

Instead, Arenas is blown up by Iverson, and he feels the ridicule and hostility from all sides, so he's tempted to prove himself in a conversation with Billups.

Leon smelled a hint of danger and uneasiness, and once a player starts thinking about his own performance, or even deliberately competing with one of the opposing players, then nine times out of ten, it will cause damage to the team.

But Leon was not in a hurry to stop or comfort Arenas, asking him to obey the team spirit from the overall situation, you know, Celtic is a young team, and it is impossible for young people to abandon the idea of being in the limelight. It's not like veterans who come together for a championship and can sacrifice their stats and future contracts, and the youngsters will try their best to win while trying to win.

Since it can't be blocked, it's better to loosen it, Leon thought, maybe Arenas can break out in the next game.

But Leon was wrong this time.

After arriving in Detroit for a day of rest, on May 6, at the Palace Arena in Auburn Hills, the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals began. The Celtics have been on a break for almost a week, while the Pistons have just had a day off before moving on to their next round.

Rest is a good thing most of the time, but sometimes it can turn into a bad thing, especially in the highly competitive playoffs, where it is easy to take too long a break and not be able to fit into the rhythm of the game as quickly as possible.

Celtic is resting, and Leon also feels that from the locker room to the opening ceremony, the Celtic players have never gathered a winning spirit, but are loose, which is very dangerous on the road. Sure enough, they were hit by the Pistons at the beginning of the game with a 13-3 attack wave, and the whole team was a little blindsided by the deafening cries of Auburn Hills.

Leon tried his best to adjust his players' mentality, but the tempo of the game was always in the hands of the Pistons. Billups is like a master of control, and Arenas is a gruffy tall lad in front of Bloups. In the third quarter, when the Celtics relied on Pierce's power to chase the score to just three points, Arenas was deceived by Billups in defense and committed a three-point foul.

Annoyed, Arenas yelled at the referee and received a technical foul directly, and then Arenas, who couldn't control his emotions, angrily kicked the ball off the court, only to receive a second technical foul and go straight back to the locker room.

The Celtics lost hope of a comeback and were suppressed by the Pistons all the way to the end of the game. Billups walked over to the Celtics' bench at the end of the game, stared at it for three seconds, and then slowly walked away to the cheers of the fans. He scored 29 points, dished out 11 assists and made three steals.

It looks like Billups has completed his first step in revenge against the Celtics. And Fox Leon was thinking about how to finish off the black guy on the other side of No. 3. (To be continued.) )