After the physical decline, Jordan's offense was not good, and although he could still rely on Joe Johnson's rookie bonus to score points, it was ultimately unstable.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, Doug Collins replaced Jordan and Lightner with Yu Fei and Brown.

Although the improvement was limited, Collins finally realized that it would be good for them to have Yu Fei and Brown play together.

"Paul Pearce is lazy on the defensive end and Antoine Walker sucks defensively." Every time Collins switches to Yu Fei, he hopes that the rookie can bring positive feedback.

This is not normal.

Collins also doesn't know why he can't get the most out of Yu Fei and expect him to play well every time he plays, maybe because he hasn't played a bad game so far this season.

"Can I play freely?" Yu Fei asked.

Collins said: "It depends. ”

It depends? Can it be understood that if my "free play" brings good results, then this power is given by you, and otherwise, I will carry the whole blame?

Yu Fei didn't want to think too badly of Collins, but he couldn't expect too much from the head coach who put kneeling and licking Jordan first.

17 to 15

Although Chad Hamilton pulled to the bottom tonight as if he had acute gastroenteritis, Jordan's play prevented the Celtics from taking advantage of the opening game.

After the change of formation, the direction of the game is completely in the hands of Fei.

He came to the front court with the ball, and Tyrone Nesby thought that his time had come to play, so he wanted to follow the team's tactics and go to the high post to ask for the ball.

"Don't get out of the way!" Yu Fei pointed at Nesby and yelled.

Nesby expressed his displeasure, but when Yu Fei stepped past a languid Pierce and sent a cannonball from the free throw line to the top of the paint to assist Hamilton in a successful pie without looking at anyone, Nesby shut up in amusement.

17 to 17

"Yo, you're pretty capable." Pierce whistled at Yu Fei.

Yu Fei sneered: "Your defense is quite good. ”

It's a pity that Pierce didn't hear the sarcasm, and even smiled smugly: "That's, I've always been a player who has both offense and defense."

Then Yu Fei can only hope that the whole league is full of players who are "both offensive and defensive".

At this point, the Celtics' main controller is Erick Strickland PG, who doesn't have the aggressiveness of starting point guard Kenny Anderson, but he's also not a playmaker-first master of the game, and he's average in every way.

Or rather, very mediocre.

The Celtics didn't have a good offensive opportunity under his organization, and in the end, it was Pierce who caught the ball and made a strong shot in a matter of seconds.

The moment Pierce made a move, Yu Fei felt that he would not enter, and he could have a premonition of where it would land.

"Bang!"

Yu Fei grabbed the defensive rebound and launched a lightning-fast counterattack after landing on the ground.

It's a completely different rhythm than when Jordan is there.

Yu Fei ran at the front, followed by Hamilton, Nesby and Whitney.

Then, in the front court, Yu Fei collected the ball from behind and turned to shake off Walker's pursuit, took two steps hard, and scored with a left-handed basket.

19 to 17

"Frye Yu doesn't look like a rookie at all!" Tom Tolbert, a commentator for NBC, said, "Like a seasoned veteran, every time he comes off the bench, he's ready!" ”

After Yu Fei counterattacked, Walker regretfully said to Pierce: "Joe and Kedrick are not as good as him combined." ”

Pierce believes that not taking a more aggressive approach at this year's draft was a serious mistake by management.

If Yu Fei is put on the Celtics, he can definitely play the starting lineup.

It's a waste to put it, and they don't know what they're doing, that is, what does it mean that a rookie with such strong combat power doesn't push to the starter to accelerate his growth, and is crushed to the bench?

Pierce was still playing lightly.

It's only when Jordan comes on the court that he gets nervous.

But Yu Fei's impact is eye-catching, and if it is not taken seriously, it will be swallowed.

The 23-year-old Pierce played like an old man, and Yu Fei faced him like he was defending Jordan. He didn't have the first step that was too fast to react to, he didn't have a big change of direction that was difficult to deal with, and he didn't even have a very tricky rhythm, he had a perfect blend of technique and body.

Pierce played almost every ball sticking to the defender, Yu Fei defended him for a few seconds, and somehow, he saw the empty space of his teammates, and then gave the ball to the basket to assist Walker to dunk and score.

"No, rookie, let me in so easily, let Michael come, you can't."

Pierce thought he was very humorous, but he didn't know that the name Jordan was the "switch" for Yu Fei to switch forms.

"Chris, you take possession of the ball."

"What do you want to do?"

Whitney had a bad premonition.

When Whitney dribbled to the frontcourt, he saw Yu Fei let Brown and Nesby leave the penalty area, and he cleared one side to the low post.

"Are you serious?" Pierce continued to tease Yu Fei, "This is a slide you can't even touch. ”

Whitney saw that the personnel had been pulled away, and Yu Fei was still in position, so he could only pass the ball.

This scene is unusual in the eyes of many.

On the Wizards, only Jordan and a few interior players would normally play in the low post.

It is a duty to play the low post inside, but Jordan playing the low post is a way to show his core position, what about Yu Fei? What is the purpose of this move?

Yu Fei took the ball and probed to the left, but his shoulder turned inward to the right to start the breakthrough, Pierce was too relaxed, deceived by the first action, and couldn't stop Yu Fei's breakthrough at all.

At the moment when Yu Fei completed the turn, because he was not familiar with the steps of turning the basket in a low position, his right elbow hit Pierce's shoulder fiercely, but that scene happened too suddenly, too fast, the referee couldn't see clearly, Pierce didn't have time to react, everything only happened in an instant.

"Damn it!"

Pierce called out, but his defense had collapsed.

Yu Fei rushed into the basket and completed a one-handed backdunk like a beast, and exclamations and boos rang out in the center of the fleet.

Pierce glared at Yu Fei angrily, this young man's movements were too unclean.

Who knows, Yu Fei was unapologetic, just glanced at Pierce, "Don't put on a show that you can handle me with your hands, and don't look at what your defense has become like if it is rotten." ”

With only the last minute left in the first quarter, Yu Fei unsurprisingly angered his opponent.

It's a repertoire for the Wizards.

If Yu Fei didn't make his opponent angry in any game, it could only mean that his opponent had a good temper.

"I don't know what to do, I'm going to teach you a good lesson for MJ!"

Pierce angrily came over to ask for a position, and shouted at his teammates with open hands.

When Pierce was about to get into a favorable position, the ball also came, and the big butt hit Yu Fei's position back by half a meter, and then he was about to shoot.

Yu Fei instinctively reached out and cut Pierce's ball off like a fruit knife.

It was a clean steal, but the referee didn't allow the rookie to show off like this away, and a foul on body hair fell on Yu Fei's head.

"Is this a foul?" Yu Fei was about to walk towards the referee as he spoke, but Whitney stopped him as soon as he could, "Whatever the referee says, shut up!" ”

Pierce couldn't wait to get his face up, "Haha, it's a foul!" Rookie, this is professional basketball, you're still tender, let's figure out how to avoid fouls first! ”

Yu Fei glanced at the time.

There are 50 seconds left in the first quarter.

It's almost enough for the Celtics to complete an offense after serving, and then let the Wizards play the last offense of the first quarter, and then have more than a dozen seconds left to press the Celtics for offense.

Jordan is in good shape tonight and shouldn't sit on the bench for too long, which also means that Yu Fei won't play for too long, so the number of fouls doesn't matter at all.

Even, Yu Fei can use it as a means to punish his opponent.

Like a lesson for some idiot who doesn't look at himself right at all and frolicks like a fucking superstar.

Paul Pierce was still laughing, not noticing the malice in Yu Fei's eyes.

The Celtics, who re-serve, let Antoine Walker single Kwame Brown.

As the big man of the Celtics, Walker's performance tonight was far less impressive than Pierce's.

But if you despise him because of his negative role on the defensive end, you will suffer a big loss.

Brown didn't take Walker's offense to heart, and was finished with a top-up turn, dribble, and a stop-and-go board.

"What's the big deal, I'll do it too."

Now Brown only dares to say big things in front of Yu Fei.

Well, Yu Fei believes that he can do it when he is practicing, but in actual combat, he will most likely fail to attack because his sexy little hands can't control the ball.

With Jordan sitting next to Collins, Yu Fei was sure that he would go straight to the court in the second quarter, and that was when he was off.

"Kwamei, make a 45-degree angle of the pick-and-roll inward."

After Yu Fei gave the order, after about ten seconds, Brown did so.

The Celtics' penalty area immediately appeared in a vacuum area, and Brown was the only one, and Yu Fei decisively sent a hanging pass to assist Brown to dunk and score.

23 to 21

With 12 seconds left in the first quarter, the Celtics quickly passed the half, and Pierce was about to come to the ball and go head-to-head.

"You can't stop me at all!"

After that, Pierce aimed at the flaw that Yu Fei deliberately leaked, took a sharp step, and jumped up with the ball after occupying a favorable position.

What Paul Pierce didn't expect was that Yu Fei never thought about defending a ball well.

What he's going to do is—

Yu Fei jumped from Pierce's side, pressed his entire center of gravity on the opponent's body, swung his hand fiercely, and knocked out all the arms with the ball, and made Pierce lose his center of gravity in the air and fall to the ground.

“@#￥%@#%……”

Yu Fei turned around and shouted at the referee who blew his steal into a foul: "This is a foul!" ”

Originally, this foul close to the standard of malicious foul was only blown for an ordinary foul, and after this roar, the referee added a technical foul on Yu Fei.

The rampaging Pierce was pulled away before he could find Yu Fei's dry frame, and Yu Fei was also replaced by Doug Collins, and there were 18,000 spectators sitting in the center of the fleet, expressing strong dissatisfaction with Fei's bad behavior.

Boos, curses, all there

"It's so hateful, this young man should be expelled from the game!" Celtic legend Tom Heinsohn shouted, "I don't want to see him again in this game!" ”

Doug Collins looked at Yu Fei in disappointment: "You don't seem to have taken the Bible's admonitions into account at all. ”

"Leave the admonition to Jesus." Yu Fei sneered, "My mission is for him to meet Jesus in his dreams!" ”

In the final seconds of the first quarter, Jordan came back on the court.

According to the plan, he was supposed to play in the second quarter, but Yu Fei's "loss of control" disrupted Collins' arrangement.

Collins didn't know why Yu Fei was angry, but Jordan did, because of the playing time, and Pierce's contemptuous attitude.

As a competitor, Yu Fei takes every opponent seriously, and what Pierce wants from Jordan is also what Yu Fei wants.

Therefore, Yu Fei faced Pierce extremely seriously, and the result? Pierce played ball with a hippie smile and trash-talk like a friend.

Yu Fei was not so familiar with him, and Yu Fei didn't want to be close to his opponent.

From this point of view, Jordan thinks that Yu Fei is very similar to himself.

However, Jordan was dissatisfied with Yu Fei for never taking the initiative to show favor to him, which is the reason why he has pressed Yu Fei so far and prevented him from playing as a starter.

As a rookie, you can be proud, you can have your own temper and character, you can show disrespect to the veteran because you are young, but you must not know who is the owner of the team.

Yu Fei didn't know, or he didn't admit it.

Jordan is both a player and an owner, he is the master.

Yu Fei didn't recognize him as the master, and since joining the team, he has not taken the initiative to say a word to him, made a joke, and has not even hypocritically cared about his tenosynovitis injury.

This disregard angered Jordan more than Kwame Brown's weakness and incompetence.

After fighting with Yu Fei before the game today, Jordan gradually understood the other party's thoughts.

Yu Fei wants to compete with himself, he will not bow his head, will not show humility, will not have any rookie consciousness, he wants not only the starter, but also the control of the team.

This is consistent with Doug Collins' judgment.

Yu Fei is ambitious, and Jordan should be happy.

But he found himself today that he might not be able to dominate Yu Fei on the court.

Then the matter becomes delicate, is he going to give up his position like a heavenly hook who gave way to the magician?

If he had to make a choice, Jordan would rather be Larry Bird in 1992, he would proudly go to the end, and as for Yu Fei, let this rookie of the dog day die like Reggie Lewis!

After Yu Fei went off the field, Brown's form also dropped rapidly. No one made him the ball anymore, and Jordan's command was mixed with swearing, making him walk on thin ice. Soon, Brown was replaced.

"Welcome back!" Taryn Lew joked, "This will always be your home!" ”

Yu Fei also asked jokingly: "Why do you look like you can't play when you partner with Michael?" ”

Brown replied to Yu Fei with a phrase that perfectly fits the hopeless Gen Y waste: "Because Michael won't let me be myself." ”

"Shhhh

Steve Whitch watched with interest the complaints and jokes of the young players off the court about Jordan, and then, like the god of war, Jordan on the court resumed his opening performance.

As long as he has the stamina and feel, Jordan is still a difficult player to deal with.

The Celtics got it in the second quarter.

Pierce, who was confused by Yu Fei, lost his activity in the first quarter, and in the face of Jordan, he was deflated again and again, but it was the big boss of the Celtics who stood up.

However, Jordan is still the one who shines the brightest on the court.

Spiritual reversal and relays layups in the air;

Catch-and-turn jumper in the center of the paint area;

Signature cross-step dribble pull-up jump shot.

He found his form again and proved that he was still the ruler of the pitch with his best performance since his comeback.

Pierce was frustrated, Walker couldn't get out of the way, and Jordan was as if he had never left.

Steve Wise recalls listening to Jordan talk about his desire to play in the Wizards' office earlier this year.

Isn't that why he came back?

What makes professional sports, especially basketball, so different from almost every other sport is that the NBA is the only unique league in the world. As a result, the space at the top end is extremely limited, as narrow as a funnel, and the top end can only be reserved for one player. As such, it's not at all like Hollywood's entertainment industry, like the film industry, where there's always plenty of room for great old actors and promising new actors: Pacino and De Niro can coexist with the aging Nicholson and Hoffman, younger stars like Sean Penn, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe don't occupy their niche, and Hollywood will never turn away new stars to take the throne, they allow these people to exist in the same pantheon.

And the NBA, since the McCann era, has been born an eternal law: someone must fall before someone can rise. Those at the top can only maintain their position by beating their competitors. 24 seconds destroyed McCann, Russell ruled Chamberlain and the West year after year, Magic won the battle between black and white, and most notably Jordan.

Stern's league and Jordan's team are a solemn account of Jordan's commitment to the team's philosophy and victory, thus obscuring the importance of a championship-winning team to a superstar. In the end, all this publicity made Jordan a god, and like all basketball players who have achieved something, everyone is forced to play to Jordan's standards, if you don't dominate the opponent, if you can't take over the game at the last minute, if you run away, if you take a shortcut, then you're never Jordan.

Pierce is a generation of superstitious Jordans who grew up in the latter's saga and aspire to write their own Jordan legend.

So, he was crazy about Jordan and wanted to beat him in the game.

Steve Wyeche understands the background behind this game, and Yu Fei is a variable.

His actions, actions, and words all show that he wants to be a part of this competition as well.

But Jordan didn't give him a chance, and Pierce didn't treat him as an opponent.

That's why he behaved irrationally.

But now, he's calmed down.

But Whitch felt that calming down the contemporary Ervin Hayes was not a better idea than making him emotional.

Jordan played the full second quarter to lead the Wizards to a 50-43 lead to the end of the first half.

Then, as a matter of course, the second half continued to start.

Pierce and Walker both turned off the fire, and Jordan scored 7 points in a single quarter, which should have been a key quarter for the Wizards to take away the Celtics, however, Green Rookie Joe Johnson bravely stood up and responded to Jordan, making the game still suspenseful.

In the last three minutes of the third quarter, Yu Fei returned to the game.

He knew he could play those three minutes at most, so he couldn't waste a second.

In the last three minutes, Yu Fei was completely the ball bully, controlling the ball throughout the whole process, hitting a three-point shot first, and then throwing a two-point shot, but unfortunately, all the cakes fed to his teammates were spit out.

At the end of the third quarter, Yu Fei scored 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 6 minutes and 02 seconds, and the Wizards entered the final quarter with a 9-point advantage.

In the fourth quarter, Collins really replaced Yu Fei with Jordan.

Yu Fei put on his appearance uniform to avoid catching a cold.

Although he only played for 6 minutes, he did his best to get the data of 9+2+2, which is passable, and the plus/minus value is also positive, although they have a high probability of winning tonight, but if they accidentally lose, it is also the team's loss, not that he lost.

At the beginning of the final quarter, both sides had a bad hand and played each other's irons, but from the seventh minute, Pierce took the initiative to play against Jordan, which brought the atmosphere of the game to a climax.

But Pierce overestimated his defense, and in the face of him, Jordan scored on two jumpers.

It's just that Antoine Walker's responsible solo performance came a little suddenly.

originally thought that Jordan's 10 points in a single quarter in the final quarter could already set up the victory, but Walker's performance of 18 points in a single quarter allowed the Celtics to come back from defeat to victory three minutes before the end.

Then, Pierce, who was basically blown up by Jordan in the second half, was ashamed and braved and used a three-pointer to widen the difference.

Jordan, who had only rested for 6 minutes since the opening, began to feel tired.

Old things, once tired, make mistakes.

Jordan suddenly missed the basket for a layup, grabbed the offensive rebound but had a walking violation, and then, when he turned around, he was counterattacked by the Celtics 2+1. The Wizards are already trailing by five points.

It was Jordan, who faced Pierce and leaned back, but was blocked.

Pierce caught up with the ball to complete the counterattack, and the Celtics led by seven points.

This round actually killed the suspense of the match.

The Wizards didn't have a three-point shot, Jordan was tired, and Leitner, who scored the second-highest score on the team, could only play downwind, and no one could stand up.

In the final minute, the Wizards desperately shot three pointers, but failed to score a single shot.

Yu Fei waited silently for the loss, and 40 seconds before the end of the game, Collins glanced at Yu Fei and wondered if he would be willing to play for a few more seconds, but Yu Fei, who was wearing a appearance suit, showed his attitude.

Jordan was completely relaxed when the free throws came on the court, and the Wizards were about to lose, but he had the leisure to chat with referee Nolan Fine, who knew each other and had a good relationship, and Finn made a joke and gave a rare sight to the national audience.

Jordan, who was about to lose, smiled, which directly reflected his good mood.

Can he be in a bad mood? Although the team lost, the matchup with Pierce was won. Pierce's final winning block could only be spread in the Boston area, but the story of Jordan's victory over Pierce in the duel could be circulated around the world.

In the end, 109-99, the Celtics successfully defended their home court, causing the Wizards to suffer two consecutive defeats.

Post-match interview

"I just saw through his tricks." - Pierce on his key block to Jordan.

"Paul is strong, Paul is really strong, and no matter what Michael brings him, Paul will face it bravely. Michael may score on him, but Paul will respond as well, and Paul will pounce on him and surround him. Once Paul gets used to his tricks, he will behave better. I love Michael. But this is no longer the young Michael. I don't know if Michael can accept this result. In short, we won. - Walker on the game and the Pierce vs. Jordan matchup.

"It's Michael's best game at the moment, you know? He's going to get better and better, and there's no ceiling to his performance. - Collins on Jordan's performance.

"I know you'd like to see Frye play longer, but he's a rookie and he's learning how to play longer, so we have plans for him." - Collins on Yu Fei's playing time.

"Fry, did you lose tonight?"

"You know my answer."

"You scored nine points in six minutes, what do you think is the reason why you can't play longer?"

'I don't know, if you were to ask me to answer that question, I would say I have the stamina to play 40 minutes, but it's not something I can decide, I want to play longer and I want to help the team win the game, but I can't do it if I only play six minutes.

Jordan, who is probably the only person on the Wizards who feels like he hasn't lost, told the media: "I played well. I found my rhythm in the third and fourth quarters and my legs felt much better. Then he talked about defending against Pierce, "I just tried not to let him catch the ball, I didn't want him to have any rhythm and he really didn't keep his rhythm. ”

You think Jordan is just talking about this game, but in fact he has already vaguely declared his victory.

After that, Jordan's old friend Dick Stockton showed up, a member of the media who was qualified, serious and friendly, and wanted to get the latest information on and off the field here at Jordan.

"I'll show you something."

Jordan reached into the locker, took a jar out of his suit pocket, opened it, and took out two cigars.

Stockton's face lit up. "Good stuff. Where did you get that?"

"Cuba."

The word seems to have been hovering in the air, but it has not landed.

Stockton laughed, "That's why you're back, Michael, can we do a short interview?" ”

"You can ask a few questions." Jordan replied kindly.

"How are you feeling?" Stockton didn't know if he was asking about Jordan's current situation, or if it was his joints. "How do you feel—"

"I'm happy with myself."

"Of course, I can see that."

"In this last moment, I want to be happy, to be happy, all the time."

"Where's Pierce?"

"Nice player, but."

"But what?"

"How's your golf going, Dick?"

(End of chapter)