The rest is just noise

Knicks team reporter Dave Anderson said emotionally: "This is the greatest Knicks game I have watched since 1973!"

"Coach Lu, how are you feeling now?" Anderson asked hurriedly.

Feeling?

When Louis was distracted, he smoked the cigar instead of a cigarette, and immediately choked and coughed.

"Coach Lu, are you okay?"

Louis had finished pretending to be "fine" and stared at his cigar.

How many cigarettes does that old man Auerbach have to smoke in a day? Sooner or later he will choke to death on this stuff.

"How are you feeling now?"

"My most exciting moment has passed." Louis said with a smile, "I am only proud now. These guys performed really well!"

Anderson asked: "Did you ever think a regular season game would be so brutal?"

"I never thought about it, but this is the game. When you are determined to win and the opponent is determined not to lose to you, the game will gradually escalate. We sustained it in the showdown with Boston. These guys are really amazing.

, they beat a team that was almost impossible to beat."

Anderson quickly jotted down Louis' words.

Finally he asked: "Why did you smoke a cigar before the game? Were you paying homage to Reed Auerbach?"

"Homage? I don't like that set, I'm not paying homage to anyone." Louis explained, "I don't like imitation, because it's hard for an imitator to do better than the original. Once you fall into it, it's hard to do it again.

It’s my own style.”

"I chose to light my cigar at that moment for the simple reason that I believed from the bottom of my heart that my players could win this game."

Anderson jokingly asked: "What if we lose in the end?"

"I'll probably stick a cigar up my butt to apologize."

Anderson laughed and Louis walked away alone.

Bird came over to "say hello" on behalf of the rest of the Celtics.

"You'd better make it to the second round of the playoffs!" Bird said reluctantly, "It's not over between us!"

"Excuse me, Larry, you said you were going to beat us by 40 points, why did you lose us by 1 point?" Louis asked shamelessly, "Larry Legend, what happened?"

Bird had nothing to say, he could only keep saying harsh words: "Don't be complacent, we will have many opportunities to get back the debt today!"

"Haha, let's see you in the future."

In New York, teasing Ewing was an indispensable spice in Louis' life.

Before Ewing, the victim's name was Larry Bird.

Now that we meet again, Louis can still use a few words to make Bird furious. In the past, he could repay Louis' team by beating him violently, but today, they lost.

Louis hugged the players on the field one by one. He did not expect that a regular season game would reach this level.

After greeting his family, he walked up to K. Jones and shook hands.

"Where did the cigar come from?" K. asked.

Louis replied: "Reed gave it to me before I left."

"You haven't finished smoking yet?"

"Actually, this is my second time smoking."

K. smiled and said: "Reed will be very angry."

"If I did something wrong, I will apologize."

Meaning, if what he did was not wrong, even if Auerbach was angry, he would not apologize.

In this matter, Louis felt that he had done nothing wrong.

Then there are the on-site reporters, bs is excited about tonight’s game.

They didn't expect that a game that was supposed to be one-sided would be so exciting and unforgettable.

"Coach Lu, you ended the losing streak against the Celtics. Do you want to say something about this game?"

Louis said confidently: "I have nothing to say, this is a great victory."

He knew the real difficulty was not here, in the post-game press conference.

Given the ungrateful style of the Boston media, there will certainly be some discussion about his "provocative behavior" of wearing a purple suit to the game tonight and lighting up a cigar at the last moment.

After Louis returned to the locker room, he learned some bad news.

Oakley's foot injury seemed to have worsened, Ewing felt some discomfort in his knee after returning, and Stevens was badly injured by Bird's elbow and was sent to the hospital.

The three players who should attend the press conference with Luigi tonight are unable to go.

For this victory, the Knicks paid a heavy price.

Simply, Louis brought only Stockton to the press conference.

Without his teammates by his side, Stockton was far more nervous than usual.

"Don't worry, you are not their target. The media has more questions to ask me than you."

Louis enlightened him, and when he and Stockton walked into the media interview room, many reporters immediately took pictures.

Louis explained the reason why several key players did not come: "Charles, Patrick and Alex are all injured and they will not be able to attend tonight's press conference."

"So, if you have any questions, just ask John and I." Louis said with a smile, "We will tell you everything we know."

Louie's old acquaintance, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, looked gloomier than ever.

"Coach Lu, don't you think it's inappropriate to come to the garden wearing those clothes?"

Louis' expression remained unchanged: "What's wrong?"

"You should know that what Celtic fans hate the most is purple. During holidays, every household in Boston rejects purple." Ryan explained.

Louis smiled sarcastically.

"It's really weird, why do you hate purple? The Lakers didn't beat the Celtics once in the Finals, and then you don't even like purple? Have the Lakers brought you any painful memories? No, right?

The Celtics have won every game in history, so why do you act as if the Lakers have done something to severely hurt Boston?"

Louis also complained about the Lakers.

"I have seen many flowers, plants and trees in Los Angeles, and they all have a bright main color, which is green. If Lakers fans are as sensitive as you, I'm afraid the entire California will be barren, right?"

Louis was not polite at all, and his displeasure was obvious.

Ryan found that he couldn't find the loopholes in Louis' words. In comparison, the fans were really cautious.

But Louis is really big-hearted. Don’t you know who he is? Doesn’t he wear such clothes to make the fans unhappy?

"I'm very satisfied with my outfit. This was a gift from my players for Thanksgiving last year." Louis announced, "I will not only wear it today, but I will try my best to wear it every time we come to Boston to play a game in the future."

Wear this suit."

Louis not only did not admit his mistake, but also made more mistakes.

This situation was unexpected by the Boston reporters at the scene.

They thought that Louis would admit his mistakes like other coaches who have made mistakes, apologize, and ask the public to supervise and ensure that he will not do it again.

He acted like he didn't care about the feelings of Celtics fans.

Next, they asked about the frequent court conflicts in this game.

Louis is impartial on this issue.

"Our people made mistakes, and the Celtics players also made mistakes. I don't want to say who is more responsible. This is a scene created by both of us." Louis said an old Chinese saying every day for a long time, "There is an old saying in China,

A fly can't get through a seamless egg, and there's an old saying, a slap can't make a sound. If we don't cooperate, or if the Celtics don't respond, this game won't be as good as it will be later."

The next question is also of concern to many people.

The Knicks' full-court press that nearly defeated the Celtics in the third quarter.

Louis said modestly: "First of all, I would like to thank the referees tonight for their strict enforcement. They allowed us to achieve the best defensive effect within the limits allowed by the rules. Without good referees, there would be no classic game. If the whistles were stricter,

, our full-court press couldn't last a whole quarter."

As for why the full-court press was used to defend the whole quarter, Louis's idea was of course to test the team's defensive upper limit.

He decided before the game started that if he had a chance to beat the Celtics, he would take advantage of the Celtics' tendency to play short rotations in stalemate games.

But we can see the results. The Celtics' main force was still very energetic until the fourth quarter.

However, the full-court press must have worked, otherwise their last three three-pointers would not have missed the first two.

If one of the first two goals had been scored, the outcome of this game might have been different.

Next is the most sensitive issue and the one that everyone is most concerned about.

"Little Lu, why did you light the cigar before the game was over? Did you want to provoke the Celtics, or were you trying to pay tribute to Reid?"

The person who asked this question was a female reporter, Kate Morton from the Boston Herald.

"I just want to show the Knicks' determination to win this game. I have no other intention, and I am not paying tribute to Reid."

If they didn't get entangled, Louis' answer would be nothing more than that, ambiguous.

Morton pressed: "Don't you think this is an insult to all Celtic fans?"

"Insulted? Do you really think so?"

"The fans' reaction speaks for itself."

"If you say this, I have a different opinion." Louis sat up straight and tapped his fingers on the table inadvertently. "I can tell you what is insulting. After I helped Boston build the current team, after a few years I

After leading the Celtics back to the championship two years ago, I left here. And then, just because I was wearing a purple suit, the fans booed me, which was insulting. Those who booed me did not

A person's contribution to the Celtics can be compared to my superficial contribution, and they have no right to point fingers at me."

"If some people think that I insulted them by lighting the cigar before the end of the game, then so be it." Louis paused and said, "But, in my opinion, I just paid back all the insults they gave me.

That’s all.”