The rest is just noise

In the eyes of the Boston media, Louis looked like he was going to break with the Celtics.

Since he doesn't intend to admit his fault for what happened today, there is no point in further questioning.

Finally it was the out-of-town reporter’s turn to ask questions.

A reporter from the Brooklyn Star, a New York media that likes to report on sports, asked: "Coach Lu, you once managed the defending champion. Now that you have been in New York for two years, do you regret your decision?"

"I don't regret it at all."

"Especially today, when the fans who once supported me booed me for a purple suit, I felt very lucky." Since the matter is irreversible, and Louis, who regards the Celtics as his biggest opponent, sooner or later will

Break with the city's fans and media, so why not today?

Is there any better time than today?

His team fought a bloody battle with the Celtics until the last minute. Ewing used the Knicks' ancestral starburst tactic to score an alley-oop, a perfect script.

Now he is the winner, and winners should be proud.

"Why?"

"I made some contributions, but they can still hate me for a piece of clothing. This reminds me of Bill Russell. He won 11 championships for the Celtics in 13 years. When he retired

At that time, he didn’t notify anyone. His jersey retirement ceremony was also held behind closed doors. He doesn’t need fans, and he doesn’t like the fans here. I didn’t understand him in the past, but now, I understand him.” Louis

With one sentence, he angered every Bostonian present, "This city does not deserve such good players, nor does it deserve such a good coach like me."

Louis made the Bostonians present so angry that their mouths trembled.

"Now that I'm the coach of the Knicks, my goals have been clear from the day I took charge of this team."

Louis looked at the Starlight reporter.

"I hope that the Knicks can be respected by fans like the Lakers and Celtics in the future. I hope that when others mention this team, they think of strong competitiveness and countless glory."

"I hope to turn the Knicks into a respected team, just like the Knicks in the early 1970s."

He expressed his feelings straightforwardly, which made the Starlight reporter excited.

The Boston media has since turned negative on Louis fans, and Stockton, as Louis said, was ignored by reporters.

Except for a few reporters who asked him a few symbolic questions, everyone else mainly besieged Louis.

When Louis and Stockton returned to the locker room, everyone else had basically finished cleaning up and were waiting for them to come back.

Ewing, Oakley and Stevens are out.

The remaining eight people looked at Louis together.

"I believe that some of you will always remember this game tonight." Louis said proudly, "You should also remember this game. This is a memory shared by all of us. It is not just our end.

The losing streak against the Celtics was not that we ended the Celtics' 39-game winning streak at home. It was that we worked together and united to defeat an invincible team."

"Be proud of yourself!"

The victory over the Celtics brought the Knicks' record to 49 wins.

With three games left in the regular season, they have a chance to win 50 games.

But it's not that easy.

Injury reports for the three injured players were released the next day.

Oakley suffered a second-degree sprain on his right ankle and a first-degree sprain on his left knee. He will need to be sidelined for about 7-10 weeks.

Ewing injured his knee and is out indefinitely.

Stevens suffered a facial fracture and is expected to be sidelined for 6-9 weeks.

Ewing's injury looks the most scary, but the Knicks internally believe that his injury is not serious.

A desperate guy like Stevens wanted to come back wearing a mask, but Louis vetoed it.

Louis insisted that they recover from their injuries before returning.

Because the Knicks are already certain to make the playoffs this year, it doesn't matter even if they lose the remaining three regular season games.

Moreover, if Ewing cannot recover in the playoffs, Louis will not let him come out to play.

He can't be a hero at this time, he has to be realistic.

The reality is that even if all the Knicks are healthy, the ideal situation is to break through the first round and go to the semifinals to face the Celtics.

After yesterday's game, the team the Celtics want to play most now is definitely the Knicks.

If they meet again, the tricks the Knicks tried before may not be effective.

Like the full-court press in the third quarter, if it hadn't happened suddenly, the players were in good condition, and the referee allowed the confrontation without blowing the whistle, it wouldn't have had the same effect.

For various reasons, the Knicks' performance last night was destined to be a swan song.

If we meet again, we will definitely be happily sent away by the Celtics.

Since you can't beat the Celtics no matter what, the possibility of winning the championship is 0.

So, it doesn't matter to the Knicks whether Ewing and the others come back or not.

The goal set at the beginning of the season to return to the playoffs has been achieved.

Moreover, the Cleveland Cavaliers rank fifth in the league this season.

The Knicks have the right to exchange first-round picks with them, so they can enter the playoffs while seeing if the Cavaliers' luck can be better.

When Ewing and Stevens proposed to play through injuries to set an example for the whole team, Louis cursed them on the spot.

"You two, get as far away from me as you can! I don't need you to set an example. You have to set an example for the injured. The only thing you can do to help me is to lie on the injured list and recover from your injuries."

, don’t try to play with fucking injuries, I won’t allow it, it’s useless for you to kneel down and beg me, I would rather lose all the games than let my players force themselves to play with fucking injuries!”

Louis' temper and his dominant position in the team made Ewing and Stevens instantly lose the idea of ​​playing with injuries.

Sometimes, Louis likes this era when everyone regards it as a glorious tradition to stay in the line of fire for minor injuries.

Once this happens to his team, he doesn't like it.

Bernard King is still lying down. He was still in his prime. After suffering an ACL, how much better will he be when he comes out?

Louis would not allow his young men to play with such risks.

Therefore, he changed the status of Ewing, Oakley, and Stevens to season reimbursement.

Madison Square Garden, April 7, 1986

It was the Knicks' 80th regular season game this season. Even though Ewing, Oakley and Stevens, who suddenly emerged as the team's most popular player in the final stage of the season, were out for the season, MSG was still full of fans.

Because, this game may allow the Knicks to win 50 games.

In the past 12 years, the Knicks have only won 50 games in the 1980-81 season.

That was the peak season of the famous drug dog Michael Ray Richardson, and then it was gone. Drug bastards always end up badly.

Fans like this team better than the 50-win Knicks, which had many regrets.

The Knicks, who have lost two big men, will start with A.C. Green and Manute Bol tonight.

The Pacers didn't want to lose and fought hard with the Knicks all the way.

The two sides fought to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter with neither side deciding the outcome. The Knicks relied on Bol's incredible performance in protecting the rim and Tony Campbell's ability to steal points quickly through defensive counterattacks. 108 to 104, it was difficult.

Defeat the Pacers.

So, they got 50 wins.

Stockton had a double-double with 10 points and 14 assists, and Campbell scored 36 points and 4 rebounds.

Statistically, the most eye-catching person is Boll.

He only played 28 minutes and scored 6 points, 7 rebounds and 9 blocks.

It looks like Bol and A.C. can fill Ewing and Oakley's shoes.

The idea only lasted in the minds of the fans and the New York media for three days.

The 81st game of the season is at home, and the opponent is the Pistons who are destined to meet in the first round of the playoffs.

Rick Mahon had 18 points and 20 rebounds in a single game, Robert Parish scored 30 points and 11 rebounds, and Worthy had 35 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

This was a bloody massacre.

"Now let's think about how many games the Knicks can last in the playoffs and it will be considered a success." When it comes to adapting to the wind, no New York newspaper can compare to the "New York Times".

When the Knicks are doing well, they will still brag.

Some sensational and outrageous headlines are all written by them.

After losing their character, they were the first to withdraw when the situation was not good, and then pretended to be objective in analyzing the reasons why the Knicks lost.

This kind of behavior of being crazy about winning together and taking care of the losses alone made Louis very suspicious whether the editor-in-chief of the sports section of The Times was of French descent.