Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 582 419: Will He Miss Those Times?

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The half-time ended with the Supersonics leading the Celtics by 19 points.

This was an all too familiar situation for supporters of the Celtics.

Being cautious not to provoke the referees away from home, their defensive prowess couldn't be displayed as it could be at home. As for offense? Although they clearly had a lineup capable of good offense, Rivers' pep talks gave players confidence, but on the offense, it all depended on their own shooting touch. Lead assistant coach Thibodeau, a defensive fanatic, wasn't adept at coaching offense.

"The Celtics have some problems that if not addressed, will make it difficult for them to be a convincing championship team," Jeff Van Gundy said bluntly, "Why does their defense fail on the road? Why does their offense lack versatility? Why can't a team with two excellent playmakers complete simple fast breaks? The first question might be related to home-court advantage, but the last two are the responsibility of the coaching staff. When your team looks disconnected on offense, it's the coaching staff that needs to make changes."

Van Gundy pointed out the deep-rooted issues of the Celtics.

But if Rivers could have solved them, he would have by now.

On the other hand, George Karl appeared somewhat relaxed during the mid-game interview.

When asked by an ABC reporter what he thought about the resurgence of the young players, he responded with a smile, "There's nothing surprising about it—they are all NBA players; they can't play badly in every game."

"Frye and Michael Reed had a conflict during the first half. Is there a problem between them?"

"I don't know," Karl said, "But when you put the names Frye and Michael together, I can vaguely hear the sound of artillery fire."

The final question was perhaps the most interesting.

"What do you think about the Celtics' inability to win away games during the playoffs?"

"I don't know, really don't know," Karl smiled, his smile tinged with a hint of mockery. "There's an old basketball adage that has been around for years—defense never betrays you. You know, the Celtics are a great defensive team, unique in the league, no other team can compare to them defensively, just as outstanding as the Detroit Pistons were a few years ago. But you won't see the Pistons struggle on the road like they do. Why doesn't defense betray us? Because defense doesn't depend on shooting touch, it depends on belief and execution. When you are empowered at home but lack strength on the road, there must be some problems that the players can't resolve."

Karl's criticism of Rivers was subtle.

He simply said this was an issue the players could not resolve, as for "what the Celtics' coaching staff is there for," that's a question for the media.

When Rivers had landed a coaching position directly from retirement and media work due to his good relationship with the media, eloquence, and the added benefit of his race, Karl had remarked that it was a stroke of luck brought by skin color, which led to an onslaught of attacks on him.

Accused of racism, Karl had to apologize, but his feud with Rivers had thus begun.

At first, Karl could still rough up Rivers' Magic in the first round. Then Tracy McGrady, who was prone to injuries, met with misfortune, suffered from injuries year after year, and sought a trade due to the lack of help in the Magic. By the time Rivers became the head coach in Boston, his team had no competitiveness at all, and Karl found even looking at him redundant.

Until this season.

All of a sudden, Rivers was coaching a great team, and with many veterans, like using high-quality ingredients that only required simple cooking, he didn't need to infuse complex concepts but merely had to keep instilling the same motivational speeches, and the veterans would become harmonious.

Thibodeau focused on the details of the defense, as for Rivers, during the games, all he needed to do was call timely timeouts and cheer the players on.

The Supersonics, as a team comprised of young players, were very likely to be thrown off balance by a team of old-timers like the Celtics, but with Rivers there, the Celtics couldn't maximize their depth advantage, and problems would also arise in on-the-spot arrangements.

Karl truly felt it was a blessing for Seattle.

When he walked into the locker room, he saw Yu Fei with a tactical board in hand, gesturing profusely at Durant.

"If they put pressure on you from the outside, find a way to screen for someone beside you and then drive into the paint," he said.

"But there's KG in the paint."

"That's where you come in. As long as you grab his attention, he won't have the energy to deal with others."

Durant thought, the Celtics' paint wasn't just defended by KG.

If they were serious about defense, it was very likely that Kendrick Perkins or PJ Brown would partner with Garnett in the paint.

Then Yu Fei said, "As long as they take notice of you, you can use your advantage to disrupt the paint and then move to the outside."

Durant had no issues performing tonight, but he still seemed a bit rigid.

He was completely in his comfort zone. What was his comfort zone? When nothing was happening, he'd stand on the perimeter catching a breeze, and every move was dictated by Yu Fei and Roy.

Therefore, Yu Fei wanted him to start moving on his own.

"It's not just about moving to the paint."

Suddenly, Karl spoke from the door.

Everyone looked at him and Karl walked up, saying to Durant, "If you get a mismatch, like if Rondo suddenly ends up on you, you can completely take him. If you face Kendrick Perkins or PJ Brown, or a switch from David Lee, you can also use your speed to win."

Like a studious pupil, Durant asked, "What if KG is mismatched against me?"

"Pass it (shoot it)..." Karl hadn't finished speaking when Yu Fei intervened.

So everyone looked at Yu Fei again.

Yu Fei naturally said, "If just seeing KG makes you think of running away, you will never be able to beat him. Your shot, even KG will have a hard time blocking, I think it's worth a try."

"Really?" It wasn't until that moment that Durant felt he wasn't just Yu Fei's puppet.

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Yu Fei then looked at the other young players, "Not just KD, you all need to step up, don't forget we're leading by 19 points, isn't this big advantage meant for you damn young brats to waste? Shoot boldly! No matter if it's KG or someone else from the Celtics guarding you, take them down!"

The youngsters in the locker room were all invigorated.

Kwame Brown laughed, "So you're saying, I can ask to go one-on-one against Kevin Garnett in the low post?"

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"That..." Yu Fei said, "Be careful!"

"Big Fei, don't you trust me?"

"I trust you, just not completely..."

The locker room became joyful.

Karl just smiled, feeling like he was Rivers at that moment. No, he wasn't even up to Rivers' level.

Right now, Rivers was probably force-feeding his players chicken soup like feeding ducks, but his own locker room work had already been done by Big Fei.

In the second half, the Celtics unsurprisingly increased their defensive intensity, especially ramping up their defense against Yu Fei and Roy.

But what the Celtics didn't expect was that the main offensive force at the start of the second half for the Supersonics was neither Yu Fei nor Roy.

With the green light to initiate the offense, Durant was oozing confidence. With the team leading by 19 points, he had no psychological burden on his offense.

What a veteran player fears most when playing against a rookie is letting the young player gain momentum.

And the momentum of the Supersonics started right from the beginning of the second half.

Durant boldly dribbled and charged at Michael Redd, who was guarding him, pulling off a move that made him look like a rookie version of Yu Fei, surprising everyone.

Redd was never an exceptional defender, and despite his willingness to defend, the effect was not good.

To everyone's surprise, Durant shook him off, gathered the ball, and jumped to shoot.

This was the Durant that Yu Fei remembered.

For Yu Fei, this was how Durant should play.

Durant scored first, and then, in a defensive counterattack, he went on a fast break dunk. The Supersonics quickly extended the lead to 20 points.

After that, chaos ensued.

With Durant daring to go one-on-one, Brown, not considering himself any less, repeatedly got mauled by the Western Conference's top big men in a series of previous games which severely affected his reputation as the self-proclaimed best big man in the league. He boldly asked for the ball and forcefully backed down Garnett in the post. Why forcefully? Because Garnett was not originally guarding him, but Brown insisted on backing him down.

However, compared to Durant going one-on-one against Redd, Brown's difficulty in backing down Garnett in the low post increased geometrically. After transferring to the Celtics, Garnett had chosen to gain weight so he could switch to the center position at any time. During this period, he could even defend Yao Ming one-on-one in the low post, so shutting down Brown was effortless.

But Brown hadn't forgotten who he was; when his strong play didn't work, he chose to pass the ball to Marion at the last moment, indirectly proving why he was once called Webber II, despite it being a wobbly pass. But as long as he insisted it was part of the plan, who could say it wasn't?

Marion leaped high, stretched out his long arms, and slammed the ball home.

The Celtics' chance was being extinguished; there would be no comeback tonight, and every professional in the arena knew it—the big scoreline was about to come to 2-2.

When Durant began to play one-on-one, when Brown clumsily pretended to be Chris Webber, and when the two strongest players on the Supersonics were idling on the sidelines watching the show, you knew the Celtics had lost their composure.

Driven by two cores, the Supersonics had suddenly become a multi-core team. From Yu Fei playing as the main core in the third game, to now using his own core strength as a lead, guiding his teammates to bring out their real strength, George Karl's ideal Supersonics were fully awakening.

Then, amidst the chaos, the Celtics continuously made errors and ended up offering Michael Redd like a sacrifice before Yu Fei.

"Where are you going to run now?"

Yu Fei roared, attacking Redd's strong side with the ball. Redd merely attempted to resist and was knocked to the ground; the impact was almost as if not slightly less than that of James.

As Redd looked back, that haughty jerk had already stormed into the paint and thundered down a dunk over Garnett that set the Key Arena ablaze.

"In this moment, does Michael Redd recall that the invincible No. 44 used to be his teammate?" said ESPN's Mike Breen. "Does he miss those days?"

Not at all, Breen, Redd despised those times.

Especially at this moment.

When Yu Fei triumphed overwhelmingly, when he lay defeated and disgraced.

It was as if it proved the media's assessments of him were correct.

"Without Frye, Michael Redd is just an average player."

How profound, how terrifying, how unbearable?

But take it, Redd, because tonight you can't win.