The rest is just noise

The Celtics met the Chicago Bulls, who eliminated the Knicks, in the semifinals.

Louis didn't expect the Bulls to crush the Knicks in the playoffs before Jordan arrived.

What's even funnier is that because Knicks center Bill Cartwright was ineffective when facing Artis Gilmore, the New York Times actually called him a "mummy."

Team owner and team president Sonny Werblin publicly declared that the team had no soul.

After losing only one series, the Knicks were stepped on by their own family.

But if the opponent is the Celtics, the Bulls' style of play will no longer work.

Bird was finally bored with his game, but Sampson was looking forward to his NBA career playoff debut and wanted to score more points.

So Bird made an agreement with him.

Bird promised to feed him into the team's scoring leader, and in return, Sampson had to pay for his drinking for the next six months.

Even if Bird drank Heineken every day, it was only a small expense for Sampson, so he agreed.

As a result, Bird had triple-doubles in all four consecutive games.

Sampson became the scoring leader in the semifinals with scores of 28, 30, 34 and 32.

In particular, Bird's passing was astonishing, allowing Sampson to score as if out of a bag, with a hit rate as high as 65%, which completely made Gilmore look like an antique from the previous era, and should be buried in the ground.

The more exciting Sampson's performance, the more embarrassing Cartwright became.

The Knicks' media is notoriously venomous.

They thought he was a mummy before, but after seeing Sampson's performance, they began to openly discuss a plan to trade Cartwright.

This kind of thing only happens in New York.

Whether you are good or bad, they will let you know clearly and will never play tricks with you.

The Celtics easily swept the Bulls after a bye in the first round and reached the Eastern Conference Finals without pressure.

Last year, they stopped there.

But their opponents are still uncertain.

The 62-win 76ers played a close game with the 60-win Bucks.

In the west, something even more outrageous is happening.

After the defending champion was eliminated by the Rockets in the first round, the Kansas Kings, who belong to the same Midwest Division as them, also eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers, who were third in the Pacific Division.

It must be said that both the Rockets and Kings only have 40 wins.

Due to the relationship between wins and losses in the regular season, the Kings are ranked ahead of the Rockets.

In the semifinals, these two inferior horses faced off against the Phoenix Suns, the first place player in the Pacific Division, and the San Antonio Spurs, the first place player in the Midwest Division.

Louis had nothing to do and was following the two rounds of the Western Conference semifinals in real time.

In order to understand the specific situation, he applied to Auerbach for a business trip.

Originally, Auerbach did not agree.

Because they may not be able to break out of the east.

"Oh, it turns out that you don't even have the confidence to play in the Eastern Conference. Okay, forget it, forget it. It's okay. I'll say goodbye."

Louis' eccentric provocation successfully reached Auerbach's sensitive area.

He said angrily: "Who the hell doesn't have the confidence to rush out of the east? Get back here!"

Louis' funding was successfully approved.

Moreover, Louie's business trip was widely advertised: the trip was to scout potential finals opponents.

His business trip has been given another meaning, that is, the entire Celtics team is confident of defeating the 76ers, avenging last year's defeat and reaching the finals.

What interests Louis most is not the Rockets and Spurs, the rivals in the same region who are fighting from the East to the West.

It's a series between the Kings and the Suns.

Just like Louis himself, he didn't pay attention to the 40-win king at first.

The 1981 Kings were a great grassroots team buried in history.

Killing the Trail Blazers in the first round can be said to be a counterattack when the difference in strength is not big. The semifinals against the Suns should be a showdown without any suspense.

Especially in the first game of the semifinals, they were defeated by the Suns, and the team's chief commander Phil Ford was injured (Phil Ford PG).

In the first game with Ford, they lost by 20 points.

Then, in the second game, they got their wish and dragged the Suns into a slow-paced game. With the outstanding performance of the wing trident Ernie Grunfield, Reggie King, and Scott Weidman, they defeated the Suns 88-83.

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Game 3, exactly the same script, was slow-paced and ground-breaking. With the Trident’s excellent confrontation and each player’s output of 20 points, they won the meat grinder battle by 1 point, 93 to 92.

In the fourth game, the Suns were cornered.

The result was another slow tempo. The Kings' wing trident seemed to have a force of faith, scoring 80 points together. During the playoffs, the team's No. 2 player who was demoted from the starting lineup to the bench due to poor performance during the playoffs was the "Blackbird"

Otis Birdsong SG, known as Otis Birdsong, made a key shot despite a serious left foot injury. In the last few minutes, the Kings gained momentum and sealed the victory.

It was this game that made Louis decide to go to the front for reconnaissance.

He has selfish motives, and is nominally scouting his opponents in the Finals, but deep down, his purpose is to understand the story behind the scenes. He wants to know why the Suns, ranked first in the Western Conference, are in such a mess, and why the 40-win Kings are so miserable.

Then he transformed into a water ghost and dragged the fine horse into the water and drowned him.

"No one knows us."

Sam Lacey PG, the substitute defender who was appointed in critical situation, said after this game: "No one knows our characteristics. We have the slowest defender in the league, the rudest forward, and the most unbearable way of playing——

I bet our game will drop the ratings by 30%." His worries were clearly unfounded, because CBS wisely decided not to broadcast any of their games.

"But we won't give up hope moving forward," Lacey said.

Before the Game5 game, Louis arrived at the game site.

The Suns decided to change the way they played and took more vicious measures than the Kings to fight against them.

Moreover, they decided to reduce the playing time of ace player Walter Davis (SF/SG).

It would be fine if it was just Davis who did not perform well. Another core player, Truck Robinson (PF/C), also used the court disappearing technique.

The king's iron tactics shattered the sun that was making a quick whirlwind.

It turns out that as early as decades ago today, the sun was beaten so violently.

Robinson's "disappearance" and Davis's "slump" have forced the Suns to make adjustments to their lineup.

The result is to reduce the playing time of these two core players.

On the surface, they knew they were playing poorly, were willing to sacrifice, and turned their heads. Robinson had an "I'm not happy" look on his face, and Davis complained everywhere that he didn't have much playing time.

As a result, the Suns won two games in a row, dragging the game into a suffocating tiebreaker.

The pressure Davis put on the Suns forced the coaching staff to give him 35 minutes to prove himself in Game 7.

By taking a step back, the coaching staff buried an entire season of Phoenix and Dennis Johnson's great but inadequate performance.

Louis was sitting in the front row, accompanied by Blazers scouts.

Together they watched the No. 1 team in the West fall.

Davis scored 18 points, shooting 50% from the field, which looked good, but 14 of his points came in the first half.

He likes to score, doesn't like to defend, and complains at every turn. His pride as a star makes him unable to accept sitting on the bench for a long time, but he is not suitable for this level of competition. He should sit on the bench.

On the other hand, the Kings, as they said themselves, played an ugly game and lowered the rhythm at all costs. Everyone else served as green leaves for the flanking trident. Eight people defended with all their strength, and three of them split their attack.

At the last second, the desire to prove themselves and the belief in fighting for teammates who couldn't play made the Suns, No. 1 in the Western Conference, pay the price.

Reporters on the scene found Louis.

They knew Louis' identity, so they came to interview Louis and ask him what he thought of this series.

Louis smiled slightly: "This is the ugliest game I have ever seen." His straightforward words made it difficult for reporters to continue asking. But he put away his smile and his relaxed expression turned serious. "But it is precisely this ugly 48

Minutes hide the secret of victory."

Louis saw a pure victory.

A pure victory from a not-so-great team that understands how to win, why they win, and what they are willing to do to win.

They deserve to win this game.

Like the teams of the future, the teams that Louis knew.

The Rockets in 1995, the Pistons in 2004, the Celtics in 2008, the Lakers in 2010, the Mavericks in 2011, the Spurs in 2014 and the Lakers in 2020. They are that good and they should win.

They were the perfect team at the right time, in the right place, in the right arena during those seasons.

Louis saw good teams falling apart in the playoffs, and teams playing wonderful games, and his ambition and desire grew simultaneously.

He no longer just wants to be a scout, and he cannot be limited to an assistant coach in the future.

Sooner or later, he will become the head coach of a team, but he will not be limited to the position of head coach. He is eager to control the operation of a team, build the lineup according to his ideas, and design the most suitable offensive and defensive system.

And accurately grasp the context that could destroy the team.

This is not as easy as it seems. Onlookers know that once deep into the situation, how to balance the needs of all parties and how to find the optimal solution in a situation where no one is willing to back down is the ultimate test for the people behind the scenes.

Maybe Louis will stumble here one day, so he's now trying to figure out why these teams collapsed.

After watching the Western Conference semifinals, Louis had to prepare to return to Boston to help the team cope with the upcoming big test-the Philadelphia 76ers who eliminated them last year.

They had just eliminated the 60-win Bucks 4-3 in the semifinals, and Dr. J threatened: We are far better than last year.