Chapter 29: The Roaring Green Giant

  The Lakers substituted Kobe, Odom, Bynum and Fisher, while the Celtics also substituted Perkins, Ray Allen and Rondo. Only one substitute player, James Posey, remained on the court. Fisher walked up to Posey and said: "You guard Pierce at the three position."

  Jackson was satisfied with Ye Feng's cover on Pierce, although this defense was judged to be a foul, but the deterrent force was great, and the Celtics would not make arbitrary breakthroughs. The Lakers were in high spirits, and the starting players were unwilling to see Ye Feng perform, especially Kobe, who rubbed his fists and prepared to show off his skills.

  Lakers ball, Fisher dribbled past half court, Celtics also made adjustments, Pierce and Ye Feng one-on-one. He's uncomfortable seeing Ye Feng now, vowing to defend him for not a single point. Ye Feng has already scored 8 points in a single quarter, the Celtics need to prove the power of the league's number one defensive system.

  The Lakers' high-positioned defender was replaced by Odom, and Kobe's offense was not as loose as Farmar's. Garnett was fully focused on defense.

  Jackson didn't ask Yefeng to do anything on the offensive end, he wanted Yefeng to self-adjust, which is one of his major characteristics as a coach. Self-adjustment makes it easier for players to build confidence, and when things are going particularly badly, he corrects their mistakes.

  Kobe and Odom are back, and Ye Feng is clear that he can no longer get a lot of outside shots, nor can he shoot three-pointers. The only area left for him is the low post, where he needs to cut empty to the basket and fight for rebounds in the frontcourt.

  Kobe changed direction with the ball and created some distance from Garnett, then jumped up and shot. Kobe's biggest characteristic is that he can often make high-difficulty shots while being defended, his shooting arc is also very flat, just dodging Garnett's block, eyes almost unable to see the hoop, but the ball still went in. 28-38.

  Maxwell immediately ridiculed Kobe's shot, laughing: "This is a typical Kobe shot, the arc is too flat, fans friends must not learn. After this ball, the Lakers trailed by only 10 points."

  "Watching the game, Garnett said: "If it wasn't for Ye Feng's super performance, they might be trailing by more than 20 points now. He was unbelievable today and he's staring down Pierce again. Look... doesn't this defensive foul deserve a whistle?"

  Yue Feng started to defend Pierce with a hair-level defense, as if he had become Pierce's shadow, opening his arms and keeping in physical contact with Pierce at all times, even Rondo didn't dare to pass the ball to Pierce easily.

  This attack was completed by Ray Allen, who received a pass from Rondo and made a three-pointer from the bottom corner, but Bynum grabbed the rebound.

  "On his way back on defense, Pierce asked: 'Aren't you tired?'"

  Ye Feng responded: "If you're afraid I'll get tired, then come at me with that dunk again!"

  His words stung Pierce's nerves, and Pierce thought Ye Feng was a bastard, but he really had two skills. In the Celtics, there is also someone who likes to defend in this way, that is Tony Allen, who was knocked down by Ye Feng with a basketball. This defense is extremely physically demanding, and if Ye Feng can keep defending like this for the whole game, it would be too awesome.

  On the attacking end, Garnett just got around Odom's supplementary defense on Kobe, and then ran into Ye Feng. Kobe used two blocks to bring the ball forward, and at a 45-degree angle on the right side, he faced Pierce with his back to him. Both of them are 198CM tall, and their one-on-one defensive ability is similar. It was much easier for Kobe to defend against Pierce than against Garnett.

  This misplacement caused the Celtics' defense to become disordered. Ye Feng blocked Garnett and ran to the basket, if he was allowed to succeed with an empty cut, it would be a dunk. High-position Odom misplaced against Ray Allen, with a clear advantage. However, Kobe didn't pass the ball, he used a high-difficulty turn on the baseline and jumped out of his hand, Pierce couldn't cover, but the shot was biased.

  Kobe's scoring ability is among the best in history, yet he still faces criticism and dislike from some people, mostly for being too selfish and not smart enough on the court. When given a one-on-one opportunity, even if his teammate has a better position, he rarely passes the ball; his self-confidence is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

  Garnett grabbed the rebound, and the power of a three-time rebounding champion is not to be underestimated. On the defensive end, Pierce also relied on screens to shake off Ye Feng and receive the pass, and the defender on him became Odom, but Pierce's shot was an air ball.

  Both sides started a defensive war, or a iron-making war. Gan Jiang, Mo Ye and Ou Zhi Zi were all possessed by their souls at this moment, the court turned into an iron workshop. The only happy person was Baynam, Ye Feng and Odom both put their energy on defense, leaving the task of protecting the basket to him. Against Perkins who is 208CM tall, he grabbed 7 defensive rebounds in just half a quarter, with a total of 11 rebounds in the first half.

  The Celtics led by 8 points at halftime with a score of 35-43.

  Maxwell said at halftime: "It's common for the Celtics to hold opponents under 20 points in a quarter, but the Lakers also looked like a defensive team today. Yefeng played the whole quarter and got 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 block, his role on defense was crucial."

  "His dunks left a deep impression on people, and his speed was too fast. In the second half, Coach Jackson will definitely let him play more."

  Maxwell laughed: "The protagonist of the second quarter is Ye Feng. With those few beautiful defenses, he's already worth $440,000 a year. He's now at odds with both giants. As soon as he came on the court, he and Garnett kept muttering to each other, definitely exchanging trash talk. Garnett even got a technical foul on him, giving people a fearless feeling."

  Gundy said: "After that foul on Pierce, the Celtics' interior defense was clearly not as resolute as in the first quarter. I feel dangerous watching Ye Feng defend here, he just moves and it feels like someone is going to get hurt. Too fierce, no wonder his nickname is Hungry Wolf."

  During the break, Jackson praised Ye Feng's toughness.

  Radmanovic's mind was like a five-flavor bottle turned upside down. If Yefeng was "hard", he was the synonym for "soft". The 208CM tall player had been wandering around the perimeter all the time. After missing three shots in the first quarter, he never appeared on the court again, and Yefeng would replace him in the second half. Yefeng's ferocity shocked him. In this league, there were few newcomers who dared to exchange trash talk with Garnett, let alone fight him. Yefeng was number one. He had a feeling that maybe Yefeng would become a superstar in the future.

  The second half of the game began, and the players on both sides were different from the starting lineup at the beginning. Poci was replaced by Pierce, Ye Feng was replaced by Radmanovic, and the big screen on the court gave him a close-up shot, from near to far, finally staying on the wolf head with bloody fangs on his right arm.

  The Lakers attacked first, and the Celtics set up a 32-person defensive formation. Against this formation, it's not easy to break through without a shooter on the team, as it consumes physical strength and is easily trapped in the interior line. This was a targeted defense against Ye Feng.

  Today, under the Celtics' player rotation restrictions, Kobe's shooting percentage was very low, with 14 shots made only 5 goals, 3 three-pointers and no hits, relying on free throws to get 14 points. However, Kobe is still the main attacker, he found a block in the perimeter, Odom pulled up to the high position, and the defender was Posey. After the swap, Posey defended against Kobe, which can save Garnett's physical strength. Garnett defended against Ye Feng under the basket, Rivers judged that the Lakers' main force was all above, and the possibility of attacking Ye Feng was zero.

  Not being the main attacker doesn't mean he's useless, Ye Feng has experience, Kobe found a screen, he immediately turned around and made a run without the ball into the paint, taking an early position, blocking Garnett behind him. Sure enough, Kobe released the ball the next second, it bounced off the rim.

  Ye Feng also judged the falling position accurately, but he couldn't jump up because his left arm was pulled from behind. Just as he hesitated, Garnett jumped up from behind with a small movement and single-handedly passed the ball to his teammate.

  The referee put the whistle in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and still didn't blow the penalty.

  "Hey! He pulled my arm from behind like that, and you don't even blow the whistle?" Ye Feng shouted at the referee while running back and forth. As soon as he finished speaking, the whistle sounded, and the referee actually called a technical foul on him.

  In the 2006-2007 NBA regular season, before the start of the game, the NBA introduced a law enforcement policy called "zero tolerance". With this rule, players cannot talk back to referees. If they say one more word or speak too loudly, they may be given a technical foul. Zero tolerance is just that way, even if you're facing a black whistle!

  The referee, Steve Javie, has been enforcing the law for 20 years and is a very famous referee in the NBA. He became notorious because of his dislike for Iverson. Whenever he refereed an Iverson game, no matter how many times Iverson was knocked down, there was no way he would get to the free throw line. At that time, the 76ers' general manager Billy King almost knelt at the league office door begging Stern for mercy. Iverson had been fined $25,000 for scolding Javie after a game. Now Javie has set his sights on Ye Feng. In this game, three times when Ye Feng was involved in a call, he blew it in favor of the Celtics. Ye Feng fought hard against Garnett and Pierce, but was repeatedly ruined by the referee's bad calls. He hated that hunchbacked old bastard so much he wanted to kick him to death!

  Ray Allen made a technical free throw, 35-44. The Celtics still had possession of the ball.

  Ball was sent out by Posey, Rondo received the ball and faced Fischer suddenly broke through with the ball, without any fake movements, just slapping the ball forward with force, accelerating at full speed. He seemed to pass through Fischer's body, shaking Fischer off balance. Odom left Garnett open for defense, Rondo passed the ball to Garnett in the middle of the road while running.

  Garnett cut to the basket, Ye Feng made a full-force defensive supplement, but he was too far away and could only jump up from the side to block the shot. Garnett's long arm stretched out completely in mid-air, dodging the block and slamming the ball into the hoop. 35-46.

  The score was widened to 11 points, and the North Shore Garden Stadium heard the roar of "Green Giant" Garnett again! He also lightly patted Ye Feng's head with his hand during the retreat, and this insulting action was ignored by the referee.

  When Baynam made a low pass, he passed by Ye Feng's side and was startled by his eyes. His eyes had almost no pupils, only the whites of his eyes were visible, and the hungry wolf was thoroughly enraged!

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