After defeating the New York Knicks away from home, the Lakers took a day off in New York and then flew to Boston to challenge Boston's green giants, the Boston Celtics.
The battle between yellow and green will always be the focus of NBA media attention.
But today's Celtics are no longer the invincible Hulk! Like all dynasties in history, after prosperity, they must decline.
In the 1956-1957 season, the Celtics acquired Bill Russell and Tom Hainsohn. The Celtics had a tidy lineup and entered the playoffs with the league's best record of 47 wins and 28 losses and went smoothly.
Reached the finals. The Celtics and St. Louis Hawks were tied in the first six games, and Game 7 became one of the most classic battles in the NBA. Before the end of the second overtime, the Hawks' Bob-
Pettit's shot at the last moment bounced off the rim a few times, but ultimately missed. The Celtics narrowly defeated 125-123 and won the team's first championship.
After winning the first championship, the Celtics were unstoppable. From 1959 to 1966, the Boston Celtics won eight consecutive championships.
In the 1966-1967 season, many Celtics veterans retired, and Cousy, Heinsohn, etc. all left the team. Auerbach also resigned as head coach and assumed the administrative management position of the team, and Russell succeeded him.
The team's head coach, thus becoming the first black coach in NBA history. This year, the Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers led by Chamberlain met in the Eastern Conference Finals. In Game 7, they were 106 to 108.
They lost the championship to the Philadelphia 76ers. However, in 1968 and 1969, the Celtics won the NBA championship twice in succession.
Entering the 1970s, the original main players of the Boston Celtics retired one after another. Relying on the support of John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, they only won the championship twice, in 1974 and 1976.
In 1978, Auerbach had a unique vision. The Celtics selected "Big Bird" Larry Bird through the draft, and the Celtics ushered in a new round of glory. That was Kyle
The lineup of the Special Team is luxurious. In addition to "Big Bird" Bird, it also has "Chief" Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, and "Red-haired Giant Ape"
All-star players such as Bill Walton. The NBA in the 1980s was an era when the Celtics and Lakers took turns taking charge. The confrontation between "Big Bird" Bird and "Magic" Johnson became the biggest attraction of the NBA at that time. Kyle
The Jets won three championships, the last time in the 1985-1986 season. In 1987, they entered the Finals and lost to the Lakers 2:4.
Starting in 1986, the Celtics began to decline. In 1992, Larry Bird retired, and the Celtics became an underdog in the Eastern Conference. Starting from the 1995-1996 season, the Celtics failed to win for six consecutive years.
Entering the playoffs, it was not until the 2001-2002 season that the Celtics entered the playoffs again under the leadership of Pierce and Anthony Walker. That year they reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to the New Jersey Nets 2:4.
.But then the team went downhill again. This season, it set an unprecedented humiliating record in the history of the Celtics with an 18-game losing streak, ranking last in the Eastern Conference.
Adrian was not prepared to attack in this game. In addition to appeasing Kobe, the more important reason was because Phil Jackson gave him the heaviest task, which was to defend Paul Pierce!
The current Boston-Celtics is Paul Pierce's team. If Paul Pierce is in good condition and performs well, they still have the ability to fight. But if Paul Pierce performs poorly or is troubled by injuries,
The Celtics are a team that anyone can pinch.
The Celtics' humiliating eighteen-game losing streak this season was completed when Paul Pierce was injured and sitting in the stands.
If you want to defeat the Celtics, as long as you kill Pierce, nothing will be difficult!
The task assigned by Phil Jackson is not an unbearable one.
Adrian once again has to become the Lakers' sharp perimeter defender. But this time the challenge he faces is more severe than before.
Looking at the super scorers on the outside that Adrian has defended before, Tracy McGrady has slipped from his peak state due to injuries. Artest is strong in defense and weak in offense. As long as he can withstand him on the defensive end
With the impact of strength, his only threat is his ineffective three-pointer. Although Carmelo Anthony is versatile, he is not mature enough and is often a little reckless in his offensive choices.
But Paul Pierce?
Nicknamed "Truth", he is 29 years old this year and is in his prime age as an outside player. His style of play has matured to the extreme. In terms of all-round offensive capabilities, even Carmelo Anthony is one step behind him.
For the first time, Adrian felt the power of the top outside player in the league. The methods he had devised to defend Anthony could not be used on Pierce.
In the end, Adrian suffered six fouls and left the game for the first time in an official game. He only scored 9 points and 7 assists in the game. All statistics were almost a season low, but he grabbed 15
rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. This is also because Adrian put almost all his energy on the defensive end.
Paul Pierce forced him to do this!
However, under Adrian's meticulous care, Paul Pierce's performance was also greatly affected. He made six of fifteen shots. Although he scored 25 points, his shooting rate had just reached 40%, which was far from
His field goal percentage is lower than his own average, and he also has as many as five turnovers. Paul Pierce, who is accustomed to using his strong body to bully thin defenders and his flexible footsteps to bully strong defenders, in
When facing Adrian, who was stronger than him, but even a little faster than him, he was also greatly suppressed.
In the end, he relied on his full experience to cause Adrian to commit too many fouls, but 'truth' could no longer reverse the Celtics' fate of defeat.
Even after the game, no newspapers made a fuss about Adrian's low data. Instead, they mostly reported on the game with the headline "Adrian Freezes the "Truth"".
After defeating the Celtics in the away game, the Lakers continued their road trip and challenged the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors in consecutive away games. They achieved three wins and two losses in five games.
record, especially in the away game against the Atlanta Hawks, Kobe Bryant, who is addicted to playing the Hawks, played his most efficient and best game this season.
In just thirty-five minutes of playing time, Kobe took 41 crazy shots, hit 25 goals, and scored 73 points. If it weren't for the disparity between the two sides in the last quarter, Kobe would have had time to sit back.
On the bench, maybe he once set a career-high scoring record of 81 points with the Eagles!
It is said that Kobe really clashed with the Eagles, whether it was the Eagle County or the Atlanta Hawks...
Adrian also took advantage of Dongfeng to enjoy his addiction to assists!
This time Adrian is really getting assists. As long as he passes the ball to Kobe, there is a good chance of getting assists. This makes Adrian even have a feeling that it is too easy to get statistics in the Lakers.
illusion.
In the end, Adrian recorded 26 assists in the field, once again setting a new career high for assists in a single game, and almost breaking the Lakers single-quarter assist record he had just set.
That was when Adrian passed the ball to the open Luke Walton at the end of the second quarter. Before that, Adrian had received sixteen assists, thirteen of which were obtained in the second quarter.
Walton made an open shot, and Adrian's assists in a single quarter will rise to fourteen, breaking his own record that he just set not long ago.
As a result, Luke Walton very selflessly passed the basketball back to Adrian Kewert, who was released in the air because he attracted the defensive attention, allowing Adrian to pick up the basket in a depressed mood.
He missed two points and missed the best chance to break the record.
In the back-to-back away games against the Detroit Pistons on the second day, maybe it was because the Pistons' defense was so good, or maybe it was because yesterday the Lakers had used up all the touch they had in the past two days.
The Lakers started in the middle of the fight and ended in the middle of the fight, almost smashing the basket of the Palace of Auburn Hills. In the end, with the sound of the hammer, the Lakers scored the lowest score of the season so far, 81 points.
Helplessly lost the game in front of the basket at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
After defeating the Toronto Raptors in an away game, the Lakers boarded the plane again and flew to Cleveland, preparing to face the last opponent of this road trip, the Cleveland Cavaliers led by "Little Emperor" LeBron James.
