Hearing Arenas's "so-you-are-overpaid", Leon, who was originally serious-looking, couldn't help but smile, this is not Arenas provoking Leon, but a famous mantra from the Boston Celtics - from Cardinal Auerbach. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info, the eccentric old man, likes to squeeze his players the most, and after he became Celtic's general manager, he has sourced talent and used all kinds of methods to keep players down. The fact that the city-wide public opinion was mobilized in the first place to put down the salary of newcomer Larry Bird is a good example.

In addition, the old man likes to spray players "so-you-are-overpaid" on various occasions regardless of time period, which makes some players really wonder if the old red head really pays him too much in the end. Of course, after winning the championship in 1984, Bird used this sentence to fight back against the old man beautifully, and after the championship interview, Auerbach humbly said, "After all, I didn't shoot and score," and Bird added a so-you-are-overpaid sentence at the right time, which made Auerbach himself laugh.

Now Leon also likes to yell at the players in training from time to time, especially to Arenas, when he has a bad three-point hand and likes to shoot blindly, Leon will spray him with this sentence, but I didn't expect Arenas to finally take revenge in the finals.

Leon, who had been standing on the sidelines and watching the game nervously, finally returned to his position, with his hands on his laps, straightening up and looking like Phil Jackson was in Zen; On the other hand, Phil Jackson has long been unable to sit still, in fact, he basically has no time to sit on the stool and watch the game quietly after the Finals begins, and the Lakers are facing a disadvantage that makes it impossible for Zen masters to calm down.

And Leon knows that his players have fully entered the state, although the score of the two sides on the court is only a tie, but the Celtics have overwhelmed the Lakers in psychology and state. All he has to do is wait, wait for the team he has single-handedly tweaked to have players who play to their strengths and give the Lakers a beating in Los Angeles.

……………………

On the Lakers' side, if there is anyone who doesn't want to give up first, then this person must be Karl Malone. A person who has experienced despair, when he is faced with the same despair again, either collapses or grits his teeth with an incomparably strong will.

The situation in the second half of the third quarter was even worse than Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, because Malone felt that his legs were a little disobedient, and on the contrary, the Celtics were getting faster and more aggressive. After Arenas' three-point hit equalized the score, the Celtics' three-point shooting washed over the Lakers' basket like rain, and Malone really couldn't do anything in the face of these three-pointers, he could only watch Pierce and Arenas, two Angelenos devouring the Los Angelesers' dream of winning the championship.

In the second half of the third quarter, the Celtics replaced Kevin Garnett, while Jackson replaced Malone off the court, Malone could only sit on the bench and watch Garnett turn over at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, while the Lakers still only had O'Neal and Kobe Bryant two absolute strong points to rely on. The point difference is opening up little by little, 2 points, 3 points, 6 points, 8 points, and the Celtics are playing quite steadily. After that three-point frenzy, they smoothly transitioned into positional offense, and it was clear that they had shaken off the poor form of the first half and returned to the advantage.

Malone beckoned Wharton to hand him two ice packs to apply to his knees, which had not had much trouble in 20 years and suddenly went on strike when he most wanted to win a championship. He missed only eight games in the previous 18 seasons in the regular season, but this year he missed a total of 40 games in the regular season, making up for everything he hasn't stopped in the past 18 years.

The reason is that his knees really can't bear it, and there is no way for him to continue to maintain a steely body after all, and manpower can't fight time after all, and aging can be delayed but unavoidable. Malone watched the young Celtics players gallop around the court like birds and beasts, while the Lakers were a little faltering except for Kobe.

"Coach, I want to try again in the fourth quarter." Malone suddenly said to Phil Jackson, who sat next to Jackson and lowered his head to stop looking at the situation on the court and the score.

Jackson turned his head to look at Malone and nodded slightly, at this time, Jackson could only be a dead horse and a live horse doctor.

……………………

In the third quarter of the game, as Leon expected, after the Celtics returned to normal state, the Lakers were not opponents at all, not to mention anything else, the two sides were a little worse in terms of physical strength and athleticism, the oldest main player on the Celtics' side was PJ Brown, 32 years old this year, and the Lakers' side was dominated by veterans over 33 years old, only Kobe Bryant was a young Peter Pan.

Jackson is not without veterans, the Bulls won the championship with the league's oldest average age lineup, but their opponent is the Utah Jazz's second-oldest in the league. So Jackson knows that on the basketball court, experience and athleticism are often a pair of enemies, with you and without him. However, there are always players who can combine the two well at the right time, and unfortunately, the current Celtics are such a team.

Still, he chose to trust Malone, and Jackson had a lot of trust in him since he decided to come here in the summer, not only because he had been his biggest rival, but also because he was a trustworthy man.

At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics played a 37:20 climax in this quarter, from a 10-point deficit to a 7-point lead, if it weren't for the Celtics' several empty three-point misses in the second half of the third quarter, the difference between the two sides would have been stretched to more than 10 points. So for the Lakers, the 7-point difference is still saved.

The Celtics are really strong, and Jackson realizes that because until now, he still didn't know where the team really was, Fox Leon never really showed his cards, and the Celtics never showed their killer weapons. It reminded Jackson of the Bulls in 1996, and he understood the state of the team, which was "the world is beautiful, basketball is happy, and the championship is mine." ”

He decided to take a gamble, Karl Malone was back in the game, and Jackson laid out the tactical focus between the third and fourth quarters, asking Kobe and Malone to block and find a breakthrough from Malone's point to tear apart the Celtics' defense.

"Blocking and dismantling, use more small cooperation, this is our last chance, no one wants to face a situation of 0:3 behind, no one wants to, because no one can turn the tables, no! Don't think we're the exception, so, there's still a section of time to work on! Jackson said in an extremely tough tone, obviously this is a warning to Kobe.

In the third quarter, Kobe Bryant still had a good performance, and he made several difficult goals to keep the team alive, but his unconventional style of play was no match for the Celtics. Whether O'Neal can catch the ball in the fourth quarter and whether he can make free throws will be a question, so Jackson decided to bet on Malone.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, a regrouped Malone announced that he hadn't given up on offense with a mid-range jumper, an 18-foot jumper that he completed after blocking with Kobe Bryant, in his favorite position.

But Pierce then broke through to a layup on offense and changed the color, and there was no one on the Lakers' side to stop Pierce.

Malone's flame was not completely extinguished, and the Lakers counterattacked, and he and Kobe Bryant completed the block again, this time he chose to cut inside, and then received the ball and rushed inside, causing Brown's foul.

Standing at the free throw line, Malone remembered his mother, the single woman who drove a forklift, laundry, cooked, and supported 8 children by herself. Malone was not a strong child since he was a child, until he entered the NBA, he would secretly wipe his tears because of the poor environment in Salt Lake City and the fierce competition in the NBA, and when he called home, his mother yelled at him as always, "Don't cry!" ”

Today, Malone is already a tough guy, no matter how desperate, he will not give up and will not cry.

"Huh!" "Huh!" Malone hit two free throws, scored 5 points, and one breath remained. (To be continued.) )