The rest is just noise

When the Lakers defeated the SuperSonics 4-2 and joined the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals for the third consecutive year, this season's playoffs also ushered in the final prelude.

Eastern Conference Finals and Western Conference Finals.

The Knicks are an "unfamiliar face". They were eliminated in the first round last season and ranked fourth from the bottom in the league last season. The changes Louis has brought to this team are visible to the naked eye.

However, now they have to challenge the Celtics, and few people are optimistic about them.

May 19, 1987

madison square garden

This game was a test of both sides' formations from the very beginning, and the Celtics came prepared.

In order to limit the Knicks' N.UCLA system, the Celtics' defensive idea is to have Bird and Sampson frequently come to the high post and let them walk more on the line to participate in the double attack; Harper enters and takes charge.

Just fill up the spot.

Their logic is that, as the core of the interior, Ewing is only the fourth offensive point of the Knicks, so his offense may not necessarily hurt people.

Mainly for Dale Ellis, the Celtics didn't want him to run dynamic offenses as he pleased, so they compressed the wings and kept him away from his comfort zone.

In the first few rounds, doing this really made the Knicks very uncomfortable.

The Celtics started 6-0.

Louis saw it, called a timeout, and asked Stockton to use the Celtics' expansion on the wing to pass the ball to Wilson, allowing Wilson to attack the basket. Then he took advantage of the Celtics' idle attitude towards Ewing.

, give the ball more to the weak side and let the gorilla attack the basket.

The Celtics' defensive arrangement was extremely extreme, preventing the Knicks from shooting comfortably.

This approach is against the times. Everyone is defending the pocket and shooting, but the Celtics leave the basket for you to attack and refuse to let you shoot.

This is where the Celtics are smart.

After all, K.C Jones is Louis' old partner. He is very aware of how "deviant" Louis is when constructing the offensive system. The Knicks are a team that relies heavily on long-range shots.

Since the Celtics generously gave up the basket, the Knicks will naturally focus on attacking the penalty area.

When it was the Knicks' turn to defend, Louis strictly required players to switch defenses when encountering pick-and-rolls. They would rather be misplaced by the Celtics than double-team, denying Thomas, Bird, and Sampson a chance to play the ball.

The Celtics' big three are very comfortable, and almost every round they face is mismatched.

The Knicks also easily hit the basket. The two sides traded points in the first half, each testing the ball.

One point was missed on both sides.

The Knicks have Wilson on their side, and the Celtics seem to have forgotten that this youngster averaged close to 30 points per game against the Celtics in five games during the regular season.

Here is Laimbeer for the Celtics. His three-point touch woke up that night. The Knicks' defense encouraged him to shoot, and he didn't hesitate. He shot from the start and scored five goals in one night.

Score three points.

Wilson's outbreak greatly changed the rhythm of the game.

The Celtics didn't give him a chance to shoot and opened up the penalty area for him to attack. It looked like he was looking for death.

When he scored 8 points in a row and dunked over Sampson's head, the Celtics took a serious look at this young man.

They began to allocate their hands to guard Wilson in the corner.

However, Harper failed to guard against Wilson's explosion, scoring 28 points in three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Knicks took a 7-point lead. The Celtics were in championship mode, with Sampson dominating the penalty area. Bird specifically looked for Wilson to back up, and told him in advance what he was going to do every time he attacked.

Isaiah Thomas ended the final six minutes with a hatred for Louie.

He first played a pick-and-roll with Laimbeer and fed the latter a three-pointer;

Then he broke through and beat Stockton, bumped into McHale and scored 2+1;

And when facing Wilson's defense change, he broke away from the defense and shot an arrow on horseback.

Coming back and attracting a switch of defense, the Knicks made a mistake that young people would make. They left Bird open in order to switch defense. Thomas immediately passed a ball to the G.O.A.T on the outside.

Bird almost killed the game with a three-pointer.

In the end, Thomas made a three-pointer that was left open. The 28% shooting rate does not mean that he cannot make three-pointers.

The game was killed.

129 to 119

The Celtics defeated the Knicks by 10 points and stole the opponent's home court advantage from their hands.

"The Knicks have a bright future, but they are facing a team that is first in the league, second in the league, and third in the league." Tom Heinsohn said about the result of this game.

Regardless of whether what he said is true or not, the Knicks will not back down.

In the second game, they insisted on switching defenses to compete with the Celtics on their individual abilities.

This strategy was Zhao Yuanzheng's opinion, and Louis adopted it, because he created the Celtics' four offensive systems, and they all took advantage of the characteristics of Thomas and Bird, two mismatched offensive monsters, to create mismatches for them.

If the opponent tries to misplace the opponent, you cannot prevent it. You must dare to hand over the misposition.

Once the move was effective, the Celtics continued to use it, once again using expanded defense to press the Knicks' perimeter, still handing over the penalty area for you to flog.

Wilson's attack was elbowed by Laimbeer.

Oakley stepped forward and pushed Ranbir to the ground with a slap, and the two sides almost started fighting.

The smell of gunpowder arose. Wilson wanted the ball to hit Bird alone, but missed the jumper.

In turn, facing the Knicks' man-to-man marking, Bird faced Ewing, who was a head taller than him, and took a strong shot; Ewing's interference with the ball was almost flawless, but he made the shot.

"Rookie, welcome to the NBA."

Bird's trash talk made Wilson angry.

In the next round, when Wilson tried to challenge Bird again, Thomas behind Bird squeezed through the screen to compress the space. Wilson just shook his hand and was copied by the eagerly watching Bird.

When it was the Celtics' turn to attack, Bird was also pressed by Ewing and made a mistake, but he clearly saw the Knicks' intention to continue to use Ewing to improve the position and try to increase the intensity of the game.

This time, it's Harper to defend Wilson.

Wilson relied on his left waist, and Harper completely let Wilson's right shoulder go, which means "you can use your right shoulder to turn over, but don't even think about using your left shoulder in the middle."

Louis is not worried about Wilson's skills, but as a rookie, he is prone to problems if his mentality is not adjusted well.

Sure enough, Wilson, who was not feeling online, missed again.

In the next round, Ewing also held the ball and challenged Sampson. The game was occasionally competitive.

As a result, Ewing's offensive line was seen through by Sampson, and the way forward was blocked. Ewing passed back to Stockton, and Thomas quickly closed in to defend.

This defensive method is very close to what Louis saw with his own eyes, when the stag with the Greek monster was defended to death.

This kind of defense tests the players' tacit understanding and cooperation, and can turn passivity into initiative, making the opponent unable to concentrate during a one-on-one duel.

Bird used a pick-and-roll to give Harper a layup: until Ewing reached the high post, the basket was empty.

Sampson then caused McHale's second foul.

Wilson challenged Bird to a one-on-one challenge, but still missed the shot on horseback. In turn, Sampson made a sensational dunk; then Dale Ellis missed another three-pointer.

At this point, the Knicks' offense was unable to do anything. Louis changed the lineup, but the young man's mentality began to collapse.

In the regular season, Wilson averaged nearly 30 points per game against the Celtics, causing the Knicks' coaching staff to misjudge his immediate ability.

Zhao Yuanzheng proposed a short rotation strategy of fighting with the Celtics, using the players' personal abilities to compete with the Celtics, and then using the depth of the lineup to suppress K.C. Jones.

If the Knicks' three main offensive points, McHale, Ewing, and Wilson, can open up one of them, it will be worth playing.

As a result, Wilson's mentality was unbalanced, Ewing was blocked by Sampson, and McHale had difficulty catching the ball.

What made Wilson's mentality unbalanced was Bird's trash talk; what made Ewing's offense powerless was Sampson's superb defense; only McHale was restricted by the Celtics' tactics.

After all, the Celtics are invincible due to the individual abilities of their players and the effective performance of their role players, such as Laimbeer and Danny Ainge. Once they see anyone in the Knicks having explosive momentum, they will change their mentality.

At this time, the arrangement of the coaching staff is no longer important. If the players' mentality cannot be adjusted, the game will be over.

2 to 0

Another double-digit victory for the Celtics.

In NBA history, no team has ever been able to complete a comeback after losing two consecutive home games.

Tom Heinsohn, as a die-hard Celtic supporter, said very relaxedly: "As I said, the Knicks have a bright future, but now, they are not a match for the Celtics at all. Basketball games sometimes fail.

It's very simple, but sometimes it's very difficult. Your opponents who are on par with you in the regular season will suddenly change in the playoffs."

"The Celtics in the regular season gave New Yorkers hope, but in the two games at MSG, they brought deep despair."

When Lou arrived in the visiting room, his only friend at the New York Times, Dave Anderson, relayed Isiah Thomas' trash talk: "Isiah thinks this series will be over in four games. Coach Lou

,What do you think?"

"I," Louis said with a smile, "I hope Boston is ready to roll around at home."

It doesn't matter if the strategy fails, what matters is that you can adjust it back.

The Knicks are not as good as the Celtics, but they will never be swept.

Thomas wants to sweep the Knicks? Louis sneered inwardly.

Let's see who is more ruthless!