"Coach, this barrage of boos is for us, I thought we were back in the Eastern Conference Finals last season"

December 3, 2003, General Motors Arena, Vancouver, Canada, today's game here is the Boston Celtics away game against the Grizzlies, the second in the East, this game is also the first meeting between the top two teams in the East this year, and it is also the first meeting between the two teams after the playoffs last season. It can be said that all the failures and resentments of this team last season can be traced back to the Boston Celtics.

And the team that defeated them last season to defend the title and eventually replaced them as the NBA champion is also this Boston Celtics, and it is precisely because of this series of grievances between the two teams last season that these two teams have almost become a new pair of rivals in the NBA recently, although the grievances of these two teams are certainly not the Lakers and Boston Celtics The two teams have been at this level for decades, but for now, the Boston Celtics are indeed the sworn enemies of the Grizzlies, so this time, When Zhuang Fei brought the Boston Celtics back here, the treatment that this Boston Celtics enjoyed here can be imagined.

Now, the Boston Celtics are the enemy of almost all of Vancouver or all of Canada. In such a situation, Grizzlies fans are still quite civilized now, after all, they didn't scold directly, and they didn't do it directly, of course, although there are a lot of scolding in American fan culture, there are very few hands, so after Green complained a little. Zhuang Fei also smiled on the side. After that, there wasn't much to say.

Today's game is a revenge game for the Grizzlies and a confirmed battle for the team's goal for the season, if the Grizzlies can beat the Boston Celtics or find a way to beat the Boston Celtics in this game. So it will definitely be a major impact on the team's ultimate goal this season, after all, the team was completely suppressed by the Boston Celtics after missing Artest in the playoffs last season.

In the end, there was a disagreement between Carter and Carter as the No. 3 position or as the inside, and in the end, the team could only let Carter return to the most primitive style of play, and this season, after Artest's return, this team did not have such a dilemma, because of Artest's return, this team's defense on the perimeter. Especially in the number three position, the defense has been hardened again. Coupled with Arenas at the No. 1 position and Reed at the No. 2 position, although this team can't be compared with Rasheed Wallace playing the No. 4 position and Carter playing the No. 2 position defensively, but it is also not bad, at least this team will not appear last season when the Boston Celtics let Jackson or James play Reed and Billups with their backs, this team can only let Carter make up for it in the end.

So this season's Grizzlies have become more clear about their style of play after Artest's return, especially Carter's positioning, and now Carter has only one task, that is, to play the No. 4 position. At the same time, it also makes the Grizzlies' interior offense tough. Of course, although everyone knows that Carter can play the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, everyone also knows that when Carter plays the interior, especially when there is no player on the interior to contain him, many times his offense is a heads-up two, and in this case he is also the most consumed.

Under such a big consumption, even if he can average 26+10 per game this season, but for him, the efficiency is still very low, of course, for the Grizzlies, even if Carter is not as efficient as he is on the outside, but now there is no other way for this team, who let Juwan Howard, who signed back in the free market this summer, not work? The former Wizards star and former Suns core player hasn't performed well since signing with the Grizzlies, although the power forward has averaged a much higher shooting percentage per game in his limited playing time this season than he did last season when he had the Suns, shooting from 40% to 43%.

But for an interior player, especially an interior player who focuses on shooting, they can cause less inside kills, plus a 43% shooting percentage is unqualified for an interior line, in this case, the power forward now has no deterrent to the opponent at all, how can an interior line that cannot make kills and shoot inaccurately become a fulcrum? If this interior line can't be the fulcrum, how can you attract the defense to create space for your teammates? So for the Grizzlies, Juwan Howard is now completely a chicken rib, although the data is not bad, but the tactical value is too low, in this case, Carter can only go to the No. 4 position for the team's interior tactical value.

In fact, for the Grizzlies, there will be all kinds of problems with letting the team's boss play a position where he is not the best, such as Carter can't organize too much now, and the task of organizing will fall more heavily to Arenas, and as we all know, this shooting nerve knife guard has a very good control over the rhythm on the court, and his defense is also very good, but in the area of organizing the offense, he has never been of the level of Nash and Kidd, even the white chocolate or Jae Williams in the first gear can't compare.

Of course, in addition to Carter's organization of offense, Arenas needs to be able to make up for it, and in other aspects, such as the team's outside offense, it also needs to be shared, especially Carter's ability to create a large number of opponent's outside kills in the past, and now in the starting position, neither Billups nor Reed are first-class breakthrough players or experts in making kills, and in this regard, the team can only rely on Artest's tank breakthrough, Of course, if this team can really run in completely, Carter can solve his No. 4 position defense well, Artest can also complete the breakthrough left by Carter, and Arenas can also do a good job of Carter's organizational responsibility, then this team will still be very competitive.

Of course, if the Grizzlies want to be competitive, they need more time to adapt to such a different style of play, after all, this team has changed more than the Boston Celtics this season, even now, although Carter is already playing the No. 4 position, but his average assists per game is still the most in this team, which can also be seen that he is still helping Billups organize the team's offense, to some extent, this team is still too dependent on him, However, for the current Grizzlies, this is also the best way for them to change and ensure that their record is not pulled down too much, so what the Grizzlies need to do now is to continuously improve the team's tactics while still being able to rank in the top three in the East, as for the rest, it will be said later, if before the playoffs, this team can perfectly adapt to the new style of play, then for them there is not much difference between third in the East or second or first.

So in this game, although the Boston Celtics are playing away, they have always suppressed the Grizzlies on the field or in the score, although this game Grizzlies want to hold the revenge of last season's playoffs, and the performance of Artest, the second leader of the Grizzlies, is also very excited, but it is obvious that as far as the current Grizzlies are concerned, they are still a little behind last season, of course, the current Boston Celtics are also a little bit behind last season, so in this case, Although the Boston Celtics were able to slightly lead the Grizzlies in this game, the Grizzlies playing at home were also able to bite the Boston Celtics all the time, and the gap between the two teams was not very big throughout the game.

And the final victory or defeat of this game was not produced until the last moment, but unlike last season, Carter was able to take over the game at the last moment, although the league's No. 1 key gentleman this season was also able to take over the game in this game, but as far as the whole court is concerned, he is not the only one who can take over the game, such as the Boston Celtics leading player, Maddy, the leading player of the Boston Celtics scored 12 points in the fourth quarter of this game, And 10 of the 12 points were scored in the last five minutes, and the final score of this game was also the Boston Celtics defeated the Grizzlies 100-96 on the road, and it also greatly consolidated their first position in the East, after the Boston Celtics won this game, the Boston Celtics' record also became 18-2, while the Grizzlies were 15-5, although they are still second in the East, but they have the same record as the Wizards, and the gap between them and the Boston Celtics has also widened.

It's just that for the Boston Celtics who won this game, the slightly bad thing is that a day later, that is, on December 4, the Boston Celtics lost back-to-back at home against the Raptors, who are third in the West, although this game is home for the Boston Celtics, but the Celtics who flew back to Boston from Vancouver have no so-called home court advantage at all, and the Raptors, who arrived a day earlier, were playing at home, and the two teams met in the last game. The Boston Celtics won by 3 points and went to overtake the Raptors at the last moment, and the Raptors in this game did not give the Boston Celtics a chance to complete the overtake, and the Celtics were also a little tired and unable to complete the overtake. However, the good thing is that after losing to the Raptors at home, the Boston Celtics defeated the Jazz and Nuggets in a row in the Northwest tour, and still secured their first place in the East. (To be continued.) )