The Boston Celtics, one of the two most powerful teams in NBA history, have the most 16 championships in NBA history.

After nine years since Larry Bird and other superstars of the 1980s retired, the Celtics have returned to the top four in the Eastern Conference.

There are now 10 games left. As the new core of the Celtics, Pierce looks at the second place in the Eastern Conference within easy reach, but seems to be out of reach.

The schedule is too tough!

The Celtics have no chance to be the one to pick their opponents. They have to fight hard in every remaining game to have a chance to win 50 games again after 9 years. And it seems that they will win six games in the remaining ten games.

A victory is not easy!

Almost all of their opponents are playoff teams. The Celtics were not a seeded team at the beginning of the season. When the summer first arrived, the top four seeded teams were the Magic, Raptors, Nets, and 76ers.

Before the start of the season, Grant Hill was reimbursed for the season and became the Raptors, Nets, 76ers and Hawks.

Who knew that the Eastern Conference would suddenly change this year, with the Raptors and 76ers collapsing. The Celtics, who were ninth in the Eastern Conference last year, were firmly in third place. The Pistons were tenth in the Eastern Conference last year, and this year they are fourth and second.

Now that he has reached this position, Pierce cannot give up the pursuit of the second position.

Try your best to win every game!

After coming to Atlanta and resting for a night, Pierce got up early this morning to watch the Hawks' recent game videos. After lunch, he rented a gym in the hotel and reserved the space to conduct simulated running without the ball and other training.

After a day of full preparation, Pierce felt that it was probably enough and tried his best to prepare as best as possible.

This game was not broadcast live across the United States, but in Georgia, there was a live broadcast by Time Warner Cable. After the NFL season ended, Time Warner's live broadcast focus shifted to the NBA. Their biggest feature is that they like live broadcasts of regional games. After the All-Star Weekend,

They broadcast all the Eagles' home games that were important and not broadcast live nationwide.

The game between the first place in the East and the third place in the East is very interesting for fans. Time Warner decided to broadcast the game in Massachusetts and Georgia.

The game started at 6:30 in the evening. At 4 p.m., Pierce went back to his room to pack his sneakers and other things. The team was cleaning the jerseys and was about to go to Phillips Arena to warm up before the game. He habitually turned on the TV.

Next sports news.

Pierce was stunned when he saw the host on the TV talking about the Eagles news.

"According to the latest news, multiple people in the Atlanta Hawks suffered acute gastroenteritis, which is said to be related to the food they ate during the celebration after the last game against the Trail Blazers. According to sources, the Hawks' Sharif Rahim

, Jason Terry, Nazr Muhammad, Theo Ratliff and many others are unable to participate in the game against the Boston Celtics..."

…

…

Seeing four of the five Eagles wearing suits talking and laughing behind the bench, Pierce was so angry!

A feeling of deep humiliation!

Pierce is not stupid, he is very smart. He was a little skeptical at first, but seeing the dark faces of the Eagles in suits, how could he not guess what the Eagles were thinking.

He wants to be used as a gun, he wants to be used as a gun to snipe the Nets!

But Pierce couldn't refuse this kind of thing, they needed this victory very much!

Angry and unwilling, but I have to accept my fate...

"Paul, do you think you are sure to win? Hum, it won't be that easy with me here!" Liu Mang suddenly appeared from beside Pierce.

Pierce was frightened and looked left and right, where did this guy come from?

The relationship between the two is not bad. They were comrades in the All-Star Game and fucked Kobe together. It was the first time for both of them to enter the All-Star Game. It was the same as winning the championship for the first time. It felt like a friendship between classmates.

It may be different from many of the partners in the All-Star Game later.

"Why Ace, you didn't suspend the game due to illness?" Pierce said jokingly.

"They didn't ask me to go to the party. It's not like you didn't know that I was isolated." Liu Mang was so angry!

This group of guys won’t take him to play during the rest this time!

When Liu Mang said this, his expression really looked like it was true, because it was indeed true. Coach Kruger said that it would be good to take turns and Liu Mang could go up and hone his ability to lead the team alone.

Liu Mang also wants to take a rest!

The two leading scorers are not here. If you go up there, why don't you be defended to death by the opponent? You still have to keep averaging points per game! What if you don't get 20 points?

Coach Kruger wanted to let Liu Mang go up and fight, and the loss might not be so ugly...

Seeing Liu Mang's expression filled with hatred, Pierce wondered if he had made a mistake.

Pierce's head was a little confused, and he said with a rare smile: "Isn't this just right? They can't fight, Ace you can."

"No, no, no, I'm still a substitute." After Liu Mang said that, he ran back to the half court of the Hawks bench and started practicing shooting.

Pierce looked at Liu Mang in astonishment, with ten thousand questions in his head: What on earth is this guy here to do?

…

…

After the game started, the Eagles sent out a super water cooler lineup of Dean Grove, Emmanuel, DeMarre Johnson, Reggie Slater, and Hannah Mottola, with three water cooler guards.

player of.

After the opening kickoff, the Eagles challenged the defense and defended the basket.

Not to mention, it is rare for the water cooler manager to get stable playing time, so he has to defend desperately. The opening of the game made many fans at the scene who were originally disappointed because the star couldn't beat him brighten up.

However, as the game progressed and the Celtics became familiar with that kind of active confrontation, the gap in strength became apparent.

Antoine Walker's outside shots, Pierce's steady singles, and the Gemini's indiscriminate bombing firmly controlled the initiative.

The Eagles called a timeout.

Let four, this is the established strategy for losing, but in the game, you still have to try your best to win!

This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Coach Kruger replaced Liu Mang, Emmanuel, Chris Crawford, Newbell, and Strickland.

Try to field the strongest lineup possible.

Liu Mang's goal today is to score at least 20 points. It would be great if he could score 27 points. It would be good to have his scoring average exceed 20, but it's really hard to say in this situation.

The Celtics also brought on board their mid-season signing, Rodney Rogers.

As the Sixth Man of the Year in the 1999-2000 season, he was once a strong player. Last summer, he received a 2-year, 10 million contract from the Suns and went to substitute for Penny Hardaway.

, couldn't fit in at all, and then was robbed by the Celtics and came back. Of course it looked like a robbery. No one could have imagined that Joe Johnson would average 9 4 3 per game when he arrived in the Suns.

However, even after seeing Joe Johnson's performance in the Suns, the Celtics are not at a loss at this stage. Rodgers has returned to the top when he arrived with the Celtics, averaging 13 points and 5 rebounds per game to support the bench.

It may seem like 13 points and 5 rebounds is not much, but in fact, in the season when Rodgers won the Sixth Man of the Year award, he only averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds per game. The so-called sixth man these days, even the best sixth man, only has less playing time.

Not too many, because most of the playing time is extremely high, the stars are scattered, and there are very few star players who can come off the bench.

Just like now, Rogers replaced the Celtics' pseudo-Eric Williams, Antoine Walker moved to the power forward position, Kenny Anderson, Rogers, Pierce, Walker, Tony Batty

Appearing together, Pierce and Walker continued to average over 40 minutes per game.

After the two sides rotated their lineups, Liu Mang worked hard and sadly on the court, constantly shooting to score points with a shooting percentage of less than 40%.

Coach Kruger did not stop Liu Mang from shooting. Instead, he kept calling timeouts to arrange tactics for Liu Mang. Everyone used pick-and-rolls for Liu Mang. This tactic was similar to the college tactic that the Celtics used for Isaiah Thomas more than ten years later.

With his tactics, everyone picks and rolls for him, and he uses his speed to get rid of his opponents and then shoots or breaks through the paint to score.

But there are differences between people, and there are differences between teammates.

Liu Mang's current strength is definitely far behind that of Isaiah Thomas, even if he triggers the bench gangster.

My teammates are not on the same level either.

What Liu Mang is best at is taking advantage of his teammates' restraint and then shooting in isolation or attracting defense and passing the ball in isolation. The prerequisite is to have a one-on-one opportunity.

This kind of pick-and-roll play that serves the whole team...Liu Mang thinks it's pretty good. If he had the ability of Isaiah Thomas and he was so high, he wouldn't be the scoring champion. The key is that he doesn't have that strength.

After more than two quarters of banging, halfway through the third quarter, after the Eagles trailed the Celtics by 20 points, 51-71, Coach Kruger said we couldn't hold it anymore and surrendered!

As a result, Liu Mang left the game with super blacksmith statistics of making 25 shots in more than two quarters, making 7 of them, and scoring 22 points.

If he hadn't rushed in shamelessly and picked up two fouls in the third quarter, 20 points would have been hanging.

Seeing Liu Mang's miserable end, Pierce was so angry!

As promised, are you thinking that winning won't be that easy? You guys are fighting so hard, and you surrender like this?

Depend on!

Pierce really wanted to score 40 or 50 points. He knew before the game that the Eagles had deliberately rested, so he was ready to play easily. But when the game was about to start, the rookie came over and said that the game would not be so easy.

They won, and he became wary.

Although the opponent was missing four players, it seemed that the Celtics would have no problem winning, but Pierce was still very serious. Walker shot wildly, and he went in to hit the rebound. Liu Mang continued to pick and roll to find open spaces, and he went crazy to interfere with the shot.

, blocking breakthroughs. Pierce scored 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals in less than three quarters today, showing his strength on both offense and defense.

but……

That rookie surrendered like that!
Chapter completed!