Boston's home stadium, TD North Shore Garden Arena.
The lights turned red, the timer buzzed, the basketball hit the frame, and a huge sigh sounded in the arena.
"Paul Pierce's buzzer-beater missed!"
"The Celtics lost again, another three-game losing streak. This time, they broke through the lower limit and lost to the Raptors, who are last in the Eastern Conference!"
"17 wins and 21 losses, this is too bad. No one expected that the Celtics, who were fourth in the Eastern Conference last year, would experience such a huge decline after retaining most of their main lineup."
"..."
After the game, the TD North Shore Garden Arena gradually became deserted. The media interview time had not yet come, and there were only players and coaches in the locker room.
From the moment he returned to the locker room, Pierce's face looked very ugly. He had a cold face, always glaring ahead, but not communicating with anyone.
The locker room was quiet, no one spoke. After losing in a row, the team's atmosphere was very bad.
Robert Lowell found Lin Yu in the corner and began to communicate with Lin Yu about the more conspicuous problems with Lin Yu's off-ball movement in today's game.
It seems that everyone except Pierce is normal.
"I'm tired of losing like this every night!"
The roar suddenly came from the center of the locker room. It was Pierce who was not normal. He finally couldn't help it and exploded.
"Who did we lose to today?"
This sound sounded like a question, questioning everyone present, but no one answered.
Pierce answered himself: "It's the mother-fxxk Toronto Raptors! It's the last-last Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference! We lost to a super bad team!"
There was a loud bang, and Pierce kicked the locker in the locker room hard, causing everyone to jump in shock.
Then, they saw Pierce lying on the carpet in the locker room, holding his right leg and growling in pain.
Then, Lin Yu heard Robert Lowell, who had been explaining to him the essentials of running without the ball, swearing: "holy-shxt!"
Lin Yu immediately made a judgment: "He seems to be injured?"
In fact, there is no need for Lin Yu to make a judgment, everyone has already realized this.
Doc Rivers was the first to rush over, followed by the team's doctor, and then by teammates such as Ricky Davis and Delonte West who were close by.
Lin Yu also stood up and gathered around.
Looking at Pierce in pain, Lin Yu realized that things seemed a bit serious...
"Hey, hey! Paul, calm down!" The team doctor first helped Pierce with a simple treatment, and then gave his judgment. "The injury to the toe, judging from the situation, there is a high probability that it is a fracture..."
The team doctor sighed and turned to look at Rivers: "If it's a fracture, you need to rest for a month. If it's just a sprain or dislocation, a week of rest is enough."
One month and one week later, Rivers became anxious: "Where are the assistants from the team medical team? Get the stretcher quickly and go to the hospital immediately!"
Lin Yu was speechless as he watched Pierce being taken to the ambulance. Everything happened too fast.
"We're screwed!"
Ricky Davis on the side shook his head, he knew clearly what Pierce's injury meant.
The Celtics' current record is 17 wins and 21 losses, and they are already deep in the lottery zone in the Eastern Conference. If they continue to lose, they are likely to fall into the abyss.
If Pierce is injured for a month, the Celtics may win less than 5 games and lose 10 or more games in the next month.
Simply and crudely converted, when Pierce returns, the Celtics' record will be 22 wins and 31 losses.
By then, even if Pierce returns, the gap of 4.5 wins from the 50% winning rate will put the Celtics into an embarrassing situation.
All is lost!
Now, they can only pray that Pierce's injury will only sideline for a week. After a week, the Celtics, who may have only lost one or two more games, still have a chance to recover the number of wins behind them under the leadership of Pierce.
.
Late at night, at Notre Dame Community Hospital in Boston, Doc Rivers was anxiously waiting for Pierce's CT test report.
Danny Ainge, wearing a messy formal suit, appeared in front of Rivers with steady steps.
Compared to the impatient Rivers, Angie acted very calm and expressionless.
"How's it going, Doug?"
Rivers didn't say hello to Anji either. He raised his hand and glanced at his watch: "The results will be available in a while."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a creak and the door in the passage was opened. A tired doctor opened the door and handed over a test report.
"My toe is broken and I need to rest."
After hearing this result, Rivers felt his mind went blank, but Angie, who also heard the bad news, did not behave like this.
Angie frowned and thought about something, and then suddenly asked: "How many wins has the team won now?"
Rivers is not stupid, on the contrary, he is very smart. He immediately understood the thoughts behind Angie's question.
He took a deep look at Anji: "17 wins."
"Fortunately, we still have time. It's a pity that this year's draft is a small year."
"So, Danny, you mean, just let it go and screw it up?"
Rivers obviously doesn't want to mess up. For a coach who is ambitious, every time he messes up, it will hurt their career.
Danny Ainge frowned: "What else? When Paul was here, we were all in the lottery. If Paul is injured, can we still make the playoffs?"
"Stop joking, Doug, and face reality!"
"No, Danny, it's impossible to mess it up, not even in this life!"
Rivers shook his head and showed his cards.
Danny Ainge guessed what Rivers was thinking: "Do you want to rely on Rickey and China Lin to gain hope for the playoffs when Paul is not around?"
"Why not? Ricky can replace Paul, and China Lin has been improving. His three-pointers are getting more and more accurate. We just need to find a flexible and experienced big man. The playoffs are not
impossible."
Seeing the naive Rivers, Anji smiled: "That's really unlucky. Ricky has been traded. Maybe the only one you can rely on is China Lin."
"What?!" Rivers looked shocked.
"I just finished a call with Kevin (McHale). The deal has been reached. I got a three-point shooter and an experienced big man in exchange, which are all you need."
"But I don't need it now. I just need a flexible and experienced big man."
Rivers was furious. He didn't expect Danny Ainge to move so quickly.
"Sorry, we have no chips, unless you want me to trade China Lin."
"No, China Forest is not for sale."
Danny Ainge nodded: "You are right, China Lin is not for sale for the time being, but I have to talk to him about renewing the contract in advance."
Bad things came one after another, and Doc Rivers felt tired. Could it be that he had no choice but to give in to Ainge, sacrifice his career, and help the Celtics have a bad season?