The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 536 - 227: You will soon remember me, but this time I will be your nightmare! _2

Chapter 536: Chapter 227: You will soon remember me, but this time I will be your nightmare! _2

And tonight, facing the Celtics, he clearly had a more prominent presence than usual, fully suggesting what kind of performance he could deliver against the Lakers, a team with a similar style to the Celtics.

As long as he won the championship, the statement "Without Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe is nothing" would completely disappear.

Even...

If the Pacers won the championship by stepping over the Lakers, then the equation "Shaquille plus ’Kobe’ is greater than Kobe plus ’O’Neal’" would hold true. By then, Shaquille could mount a comeback in terms of reputation.

The only one left proving himself might be Chauncey Billups.

He was a system player in the Pistons, and still a system player in the Pacers...

Of course, apart from Billups, the "Redemption City" promo also featured Little Gasol who hadn’t proven himself yet, but being just a rookie, he had plenty of time to prove himself, whereas Billups had increasingly less time.

Yet even so, there were enough players on the Pacers who had undergone a "rebirth".

"Su Wan’s ability to make his teammates better is simply unbelievable!"

That’s what Barkley wanted to say.

Kenny Smith by his side showed a "Well, I knew it" expression.

As the game point difference widened to more than 10 points, Rivers finally sent back the Boston "Three Giants," but as he did, Rick Carlisle also sent in his other starters, keeping Little O’Neal on the court.

This positioned Zach Randolph to hold the ball under the basket and attack, with Little O’Neal helping to stretch the formation.

However, facing Perkins, although Randolph was not as restricted as last season, Kevin Garnett’s help defense still made him struggle on the offensive end.

Therefore, in this system, Randolph primarily played an "unexpected" role.

When the opponent, due to the Pacers extending the formation, left a "1v1" opportunity under the basket, he would then receive the ball and complete a quick attack.

And if the opponent condensed their defense, the Pacers would continuously shoot from the perimeter, with Randolph securing rebounds under the basket and focusing on "second chances."

This setup really tested the Pacers’ perimeter shooting ability.

But there was no other way; if Zach Randolph could truly replicate Shaquille O’Neal’s impact, then the Pacers wouldn’t have lost last year.

Fortunately, this year the Pacers’ perimeter shooting had improved by at least one notch; Su Wan plus Billups, no backcourt combination in the league could match their accuracy.

Another "8-0" run.

By halftime, the Celtics were nearly 20 points behind.

Pierce didn’t feel like shitting now...

With such a point difference, his heart was full of nothing but frustration; where could there be any nervousness!

They anticipated this season’s Pacers to be tough, but they didn’t expect to be so disastrously defeated just by halftime.

Last year, the Boston Celtics fell in the finals, some media thought they could make a strong comeback next year, while others said they had missed their best championship window.

Now it seemed...

Clearly, that part of the media was more accurate.

They indeed missed their best window for a championship.

But as dejected as they were, the old guys still knew how to adjust their mentality, and with Rivers, the "Chicken Soup Master," they found their momentum again in the third quarter, and with the Pacers experiencing a dip in their shooting, they managed to regain some points in the third.

By the end of the third quarter, they were only 10 points down.

Unfortunately, by the fourth quarter, Su Wan stepped up, and together with Shaquille O’Neal who had conserved his energy for the fourth, played a classic "inside-outside" game, widening the gap to over 18 points again.

Eventually, the game ended with the Pacers winning by a score of 118 to 99, a 19-point margin, completing their revenge.

Su Wan performed "poorly" in the final period, scoring only 13 points. His overall stats were decent with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The Pacers’ strategy differed significantly from usual; to mobilize the entire Celtics’ defense, the Pacers continuously switched between perimeter shooting and strong inside attacks.

And for the perimeter shooting, relying solely on Billups and Anthony Parker was definitely not enough.

Su Wan also needed to keep shooting.

Apart from leading the Pacers in personal offensive stats, Su Wan also had 3 steals and 1 block.

His one-on-one defense against Pierce wasn’t very effective tonight, but his help defense was excellent; two of the three steals came from quickly double-teaming inside.

The block also resulted from defensive help inside.

After the game, when reporters asked Su Wan if he had expected such a point difference in the game,

Su replied, "I believe in my teammates, we can do anything, so no matter what the outcome, I won’t be surprised!"

Defeating the Celtics was of great significance for the Pacers.

Naturally, the same was true for the public.

Following this game, bookmakers immediately adjusted the Pacers’ odds of winning the championship from the original 1 to 2.6, to 1 to 1.8.

It’s worth mentioning that the Lakers’ current odds of winning the championship were 1 to 1.6.

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