211: Round 1 Player of the Match
At the start of the season, Henson used to say it. The Boston Celtics will certainly not be able to deliver too good results in the regular season.
As it turned out, Henson's prediction was incomparably correct. In the regular season this season, the aging Celtics finished fourth in the East in a dense schedule. The record is 39 wins and 27 losses, and if such a result is placed in the West, it can only be ranked sixth!
39-27, fourth in the East. Is this a bad grade? Actually, it's not bad. But is this a good result? There is no doubt about righteousness, and it is far from good for the Green Army, which has a big three.
But Henson's statement was limited to the regular season. He didn't say that the Celtics won't be too good this season, but that the regular season won't be too good.
Because Henson knows very well that the Big Three, who have championship experience and are still focused on winning championships, will not be easily knocked down in the playoffs!
The playoffs are more intense, but they don't have to be back-to-back. Therefore, the physical fitness problems of the three elders of the Green Army will not be too serious.
Facts once again proved Henson's conjecture, in the last game of the series between the Celtics and the Hawks, Garnett cut a terrible statistic of 28+14, leading the Celtics to defeat the Hawks by 3 points and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals!
At the end of the game, the camera gives Garnett a close-up. The 76-year-old veteran, who will turn 36 in 9 days, stared at the camera with a hideous expression. And around him, there were teammates who gathered around him in ecstasy.
Garnett's vicious eyes seemed to be fixed on Henson through the TV screen. Henson couldn't help but tighten the blanket that was draped over his body, what did he see? It was as if he had seen a bloodthirsty wolf!
"Tut-tut, rejuvenation." Henson shook his head, Garnett's performance was a bit unexpected. Not just tonight's 28+14, but throughout the first round, Garnett's form was surprisingly good!
In the first game of the series between the Celtics and the Hawks, the Celtics lost by 6 points, and Garnett 20+11. After that game, talk started to circulate that the Celtics would be eliminated in the first round.
After the silence of the second battle, the third battle, Garnett 20+13, the fourth battle 20+16, and then 22+8. Until today, in the decisive game, the "Wolf King" scored 28 points and 14 rebounds in one go, and hit the key ball, forcing the Celtics to the Eastern Conference semifinals!
Garnett knew it was time to fight to the death. During the regular season, he could live with only finishing fourth in the East. But when it comes to the playoffs, the Green Shirts can't afford to lose!
Although it is better to deal with the Celtics than to deal with the Heat or the Bulls in the bottom half of the league. But in reality, the Celtics are not as easy to take as the 76ers in the first round.
Turning off the TV, Henson rubbed his temples. Last year, he and his team fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Hopefully, this year, the same nightmare won't happen twice!
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After May 10, the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs has all ended. Some of these outcomes were completely expected, while others were unexpected.
As expected, the Pacers and Heat have advanced to the top two of them. The Pacers swept the 76ers 4-0, while the Heat took five games to tackle the Orlando Magic.
Of course, the Chicago Bulls, who won 50 in the regular season, were eliminated by the New York Knicks, which was undoubtedly an unexpected result.
No one would have thought that the youngest MVP, Derek. Rose would get injured in the playoffs. The fact that Rose missed 26 games in the regular season this season speaks volumes. Many coaches, including Henson, can see that Rose's own style of play and Thibodeau's main employment strategy have done great damage to the youngest MVP.
But with Rose already missing 26 games this season, Thibodeau has not taken any protective measures. As a result, in the first game of the playoffs, Rose retired with another injury, ending his ambitious season early. And the Chicago Bulls couldn't cheer up after losing their MVP, and they were actually staged a black seven by the Orlando Magic!
The Magic team hasn't played well this season, and they were able to advance, which is really something that most people didn't expect. It was expected that Rose, Heat and Pacers would put on a good three-way scuffle. However, the Bulls' early exit caught many fans and experts off guard.
As for the other unexpected thing in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Hawks to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In fact, it's normal for the Celtics and Hawks to win and lose, because in terms of the regular season, the two sides are very close in strength.
The reason why the fans felt that it was unexpected was because Garnett's performance in the first round was so good!
A veteran who was "dying" in the regular season, when he reached the playoffs, his average points per game went straight to 20, and he played an average of 20+10 data per game.
So when the heat of Henson's Coach of the Year title subsided. The most discussed in the media has become Celtic and Garnett!
"We interviewed the head coaches of all 30 NBA teams and asked them to pick one of the best players for the first round of the series. And the result of the vote, you certainly can't imagine. Coaches believe that the best player in the first round of this year's playoffs is the Celtics' Kevin Brown. Garnett! ”
On the TV, a basketball show was chatting about Garnett. Henson glanced at it, but quickly returned to the training ground.
ESPN's vote was genuine, as Henson was also involved. It was none other than Christine who called to interview him.
Henson's choice, like most coaches, also voted for Garnett for first place, because the veteran has been amazing this year.
But now is not the time to lament Garnett's magic, but to find a way to deal with that guy.
The reason why Garnett suddenly became magical, one thing Henson can be sure of, that is, Garnett's rare top five!
It's no secret that the Celtics don't have much of a center reserve this season. Rivers' approach of using O'Neal Jr. as a starting center early in the season proved undesirable.
As a result, Garnett, who had gained weight, was driven to the shelves and stood on the fifth position. But the result was unexpectedly smooth.
After playing center, Garnett's main task is not to fight hand-to-hand inside, but to open up space. In this way, the Celtics' Buss and Garnett, two interior lines, have projection ability. Combined with Pierce's still excellent scoring skills and Rondo's ability to control the court, the entire Celtics have a new look!
It's hard to say if Rivers borrowed from Henson's style of play to put on such a lineup that can shoot inside. After all, once you succeed, you're sure to win a lot of followers.
Facing the Hawks, who are weak and unable to defend inside, Garnett can get a lot of easy scoring opportunities every game, and revitalize the Celtics' offense in one fell swoop.
Pierce's bravery after gaining space and Rondon's triple-double were the result of Garnett's top five.
"Are there any special lineup changes we're going to make to the next round against the Celtics?" Vogel also saw the Celtics' strategy, so he set his sights on Anderson, "We can put on a lineup where Anderson and Horford play at the same time, so that we can take care of both offense and defense." ”
Henson waved his hand after listening, Vogel didn't grasp the point! "No, we should think about how to strengthen the flank defence. While Garnett's stats are gorgeous, what the Celtics really benefited from was Pierce who got space! He's got plenty of singles opportunities, and Pierce rarely has to deal with a cover due to the shooting prowesses of Buss and Garnett. Paul. Pierce is the Celtic who really killed the game! ”
"Really? No wonder ......" Vogel smiled, no wonder, Henson had been staring at Leonard today......