Milicic sent a text message to LeBron James before the game and chatted for a while. Despite this, both of them attached great importance to this game, especially James. He lost to Milicic in the Olympics and he was in the international competition.
The poor performance on the court also made James blame himself. Therefore, James worked hard in the offseason to practice his skills and improve his mid-range shooting ability and post-up singles ability. After the start of the season, James' condition has made great progress compared with his rookie season.
, averaging 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. The Cavaliers have also improved a lot from last season and are expected to make the playoffs this year.
Milicic returned to the North Shore Garden Stadium again. He is no longer the big man who only supplements the team's inside height. Now he is regarded as Pierce's best helper. When Milicic walked from the tunnel
In the stadium, fans on both sides cheered and reached out to give him high fives. At this moment, Milicic felt that he had never been so real in his life, but it was like a dream and he couldn't believe it.
After the introduction of the previous players, it was Milicic's turn to appear second to last. The DJ shouted loudly: "The next person to appear is, Darko Mi-Li-Si-Ci!" Milicic!
Cic came out and high-fived every player on the team.
When Pierce came on the court, the crowd was extremely excited. All the fans stood up to welcome the Celtics, who had returned from the away game with a complete victory. Even some old fans who had been disappointed with the Celtics in recent seasons also came back here.
, vaguely recalling the glory of that year, it was these fans who believed that Milicic could replace Bias to revive Boston.
There were a hundred times more banners and slogans in the North Shore Garden than that night in Philadelphia. People on the sidelines were neatly wearing green Celtics jerseys, but the numbers on the jerseys were all 34 and 99. Milicic was so good because of his good looks.
His image is also liked by female fans, which has nothing to do with his strength, and Pierce has nothing to do about it.
Before the game, Milicic took the initiative to greet James. Although this brother was his opponent, he struggled with the Pistons and his performance was unsatisfactory. He always supported him when he challenged O'Neal. He was an enemy on the court.
, but the two of them felt some sympathy for each other on the court.
"Darko, I'm sorry, I have to stop your winning streak in this game. Don't say I'm unkind then!" James was joking with Milicic, but it always seemed like this guy was serious.
"LeBron, wait until you have a chance to beat me. The person you should deal with in this game is Paul, not me. You'd better pray that your big man can move faster! Don't be beaten by me."
What Milicic said is exactly what James is worried about. James played against Pierce last year and did not get any advantage from Pierce. Pierce is the kind of star with relatively little hype. In terms of media alone,
His appearance rate is not even as high as that of James, a sophomore, but he has allowed James to see how to use his body to the extreme. Although his running and jumping ability is much worse than that of James, he can beat him up a little bit.
None. Originally, James disdained Pierce's style of play, but after returning from the Olympics, he also clearly realized that his physical and technical combination was really poor, and he was even severely beaten by Bodiroga, who was in his thirties.
I was bullied a lot, and it was because of this that I was able to achieve some results.
This game was broadcast by ABC TV station, and the three guys who came to the scene were still Bill Walton, Steve Jones, and Mike Harmon. The centers on both sides of this game were both admired by Bill Walton.
In contrast, Bill Walton has a deeper affection for Ilgauskas. Both of them are centers who have been tortured by injuries. Although Ilgauskas is not as strong as Bill Walton,
But he is also a center who can reach the All-Star level, but injuries have made him mediocre. His already huge body and a glass leg have limited his jumping and lateral movement.
The Cavaliers' starting lineup is:
Point guard Eric Snow
Shooting guard Alexander Pavlovich
Small Forward LeBron James
Power forward Deron Gooden
Center Zaydrunas Ilgauskas
Celtic's starting lineup is:
Point guard Gary Payton
Shooting guard Eddie Jones
small forward Paul Pierce
Power forward Al Jefferson
Center Darko Milicic
At the beginning of the game, the Cavaliers did not use Ilgauskas or Gooden to compete for the ball, but James stood in front of Milicic. Such a strange phenomenon made the commentators on the scene exclaimed, Bill Walton
He smiled and said: "LeBron's competitive spirit is so strong that he wants to tell Darko directly that he is the best player among the 2003 generation of rookies."
The referee threw the ball into the air. James was obviously not the kind of player who always fights for the ball. He jumped a little early. Milicic slowed him down and jumped up a little. The moment the ball was about to fall in the air, Milicic jumped
Sic reached the highest point in the air, but James had already fallen. Milicic turned the ball towards himself, and Eddie Jones received the ball.
The Celtics under Rivers' training mainly focused on positional offense. Every ball was played through the inside and the inside and outside were combined. Therefore, the ball was handed over to Milicic at the beginning. Milicic pulled the ball.
When they reached the free throw line, Big Z failed to follow up, and other players failed to switch defenses in time. Milicic directly made a jump shot and hit the first goal of the opening game.
After the shot, Milicic pointed at James. This cheering move made the fans cheer. Some fans even put up a slogan, "Kill the Cavaliers like you did Natalie Portman!"
Bill Walton laughed loudly on the sidelines and said: "Darko's ability to deal with women is no worse than basketball, and his type is also very restrained by Big Z. If the Cavaliers insist on using Big Z to defend Milicic,
You might lose a lot of points on this."
Sure enough, Milicic then made the Cavaliers suffer with a three-pointer and a dunk after a breakthrough. The audience on the sidelines shouted in unison: "Len! Len! Len!"
This is a nickname for Len Bias. Some spectators on the sidelines held up a sign that read: "Len, I know you have not left Boston! Welcome back!"
Milicic looked at the actions of Celtic fans and was not only infected by this historical atmosphere. After Goodon completed a dunk on Gooden's head, the Cavaliers called a timeout and Milicic also pointed his arms to the sky.
