On the evening of March 7, 2003, after the Boston Celtics' home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Paul Pierce and his lover Rebecca Blazer went to the "Nightcrawler" bar in Boston, where they had an informal engagement celebration. Pierce wasn't on the court tonight, missing two games with a groin strain, but the Celtics did win at home against the Los Angeles Clippers, who pushed the Clippers to just 70 points, the third time in the last 10 games that they have pushed their opponents below 70.

Therefore, not being able to participate in the competition did not affect Pierce's mood, he and Rebecca met in high school, together in college, and today they have been in love for eight years, and in this eighth year Pierce finally decided to give Rebecca a name, enter the palace of marriage with her, and settle down with her in the city of Boston.

Pierce's teammates all came to the night game, and the night game did not make the players tired and unable to move, and the young people were still full of energy. In addition to this, many of Pierce's friends, as well as other sports people in the Boston area, such as club-loving Red Sox pitcher David Wells, the familiar and the unfamiliar all got together to party in the "Nightcrawler" bar.

Pierce hadn't forgotten Leon, he had heard that Leon had returned to Boston the day before, but he hadn't shown up at the gym, and he tried to call Leon in the hope that he would be able to attend the party, but Leon's phone couldn't get through.

The Celtics players haven't been able to see Leon in Boston since the month, but every night the players get calls from Leon to talk about today's training or games, and Leon knows almost everything about it, as if he has been staying with the players and not leaving.

The same goes for Paul Pearce, who thought Leon was going to leave the Celtics altogether when he learned that Leon was not only suspended. He was the first of them all to call Leon to inquire about the situation. However, after receiving assurances that Leon would not leave the team, he also put his mind at ease and concentrated on the season.

In the eyes of the Celtics players, Leon is a very special coach, not because of his coaching style or special background, but because he grew up with this group of players, especially young players.

What's more, before the championship, Leon's series of moves won the hearts of the players. Inviting everyone to a house party and fighting for the players on the pitch is nothing more emotional than this fledgling group of lads.

At the engagement party, more than one person asked Pierce why Coach Leon didn't come, and Pierce had to keep explaining that "I can't get through to him, you can give it a try." ”

The party went on until the wee hours of the morning and everyone was in high spirits. But Pierce didn't drink a drop of wine, and in this regard, Pierce and the other players were still very self-controlled, playing and playing, and not touching much wine. Gambling is also very rare now, everyone just chats, sings, dances, and sisters. Pierce was having fun when a waiter came. Holding a large bottle of champagne in his hand, he handed it to Pierce and said, "This is an engagement gift from a guest, please accept it." ”

Pierce took the bottle and looked at it. It was a bottle of Grand Roland Birch, an expensive French champagne, and a bottle should have cost more than $900, and Pierce asked, "Do you know who he is?" The waiter shook his head and said, "He said he was your fan." ”

"Thank you for me!" Pierce put the champagne aside, he wasn't going to drink the bottle at the party, not to mention that he didn't dare to open it casually when it was sent by a stranger, he had to take it home and check it carefully.

In this way, Pierce had a wonderful engagement party, and then he drove back to his apartment with his fiancée. When he returned, he and Rebecca opened the bottle of champagne again, and it was indeed a very good bottle, just the right vintage, and the quality was also very good, and Pierce and his lover drank two glasses, and put the rest in the refrigerator. Pierce wondered who had given him such a good bottle of wine, and if he could see him, he would have to thank him.

The next day, March 8th, Pierce woke up early in the morning, got into his Mercedes S600 after washing, and headed to Waltham, the training base, because today will be the first day after Leon's ban ends, and tomorrow the Celtics will host the mighty San Antonio Spurs, and Pierce will be eager to train effectively today.

Since Leon's departure, the Celtics have not been able to complete off-ball simulation training in the team, and Pierce can feel that the team's offense is significantly less fluid than before, and the tacit understanding between the players is decreasing. Of course, this also has to do with the strategy of acting coach Cowens, the team began to focus on defense, using more slow positional attacks to wear down opponents. In the current league where Handcheck is still prevalent, defense is still in favor, and even with the addition of the three-second rule, it is still difficult for the attacking side once both sides fall into position, especially if the team lacks a strong attack point on the inside.

Only Leon's second-fast offense can effectively dodge the power of Handcheck, allowing perimeter players to fully speed up and devote themselves to the offense. Players like Arenas, Reid and Williams are now missing Leon and hopefully his return will take the team back to the tactical track of the past. Although the results of the team led by Cowens are also very good.

However, in the 15 games coached by Cowens, the Celtics have not gnawed a hard bone, suffered a heavy defeat against the Sacramento Kings, and also lost to the not so strong Houston Rockets, and those opponents who won were teams outside the playoff threshold except for the Pacers. Against a team that lacks quality, the Celtics can rely on their offensive flair and Dick Hart's strong defense to solve their opponents, but there is no indication that they will be able to take on the top teams in the league.

And when Leon's suspension ends, the Celtics will be a strong opponent, the Spurs are the first level, and then the Nets, Pistons, and Lakers will come to the door, and some critics are also secretly waiting to see that after Fox Leon returns to the Celtics, if they lose to those giants and cause the team's record to decline, then Leon will not be able to escape being scolded anyway.

In this way, Pierce went on the road with a jumbled idea in his head, and not long after he set off, when he had just driven to Newberry Street, he stopped at a red light in front of him, and a policeman came and knocked on his car door. Pierce was a little surprised, it was not a good thing to be knocked on a car door by a police officer in the United States, but Pierce opened the window and recognized it as a police officer in a nearby neighborhood, Pete Kalimla, whom Pierce knew.

"Hello, Officer Kalimra, would you like a ride?" Pierce joked to the officer.

But instead of smiling on his face, the tall, shy officer leaned over and said to Pierce with a cold face, "Paul, one of my subordinates saw you at the Nightkin Bar last night, and the waiter brought you a large bottle of champagne. Then, at night you drove away at night, you know that Boston drunk driving is very strict now, he didn't wear a police uniform yesterday so he didn't bother you, you better pay attention in the future. ”

After listening to the officer's words, Pierce shook his head, and he said loudly: "Someone gave me a bottle of champagne, but I didn't open it at all!" I only took two sips when I got home, how could I drink and drive? ”

However, Officer Kalimra did not want to listen to Pierce's explanation, at this time the red light had turned green, and the cars behind him had already begun to honk their horns in a hurry, and Pierce deserved to release the brakes and drive forward, and he could see Officer Kalimra's cold gaze from the rearview mirror. In the United States, it is not a good thing to be targeted by the police, who are known for their violence and solidarity in law enforcement.

“Fu-ck！” Pierce couldn't help but make a swear word in the car, he encountered such a bad thing early in the morning, and there have been a lot of negative news about Pierce in the media recently, most of which are about his likes to go to bars and nightclubs. Actually, this is all an old thing, since that stabbing time, Pierce has rarely gone to that kind of place, and if he does, he will go to the familiar one. I don't know why these things were dug up again.

By the time Pierce arrived at Waltham's training gym, there were several cars parked in the parking lot, and it seemed that someone had arrived earlier, and Pierce had seen Leon's car. He walked into the training hall, heard the sound of basketball, went to the locker room to change his clothes and walked to the training field. Sure enough, he saw Fox Leon, who was standing on the side of the court, and Pierce hadn't seen him in a month.

He stepped forward to greet Leon, but when he walked up to Leon, he couldn't help but stop, he looked at Leon and said, "Oh...... Fox, you...... What's wrong with you? (To be continued.) )