The Paper's reporter Ma Zuoyu
Tatum beat the Nets.
Every year in the NBA playoffs, there are always some "grudges" full of highlights.
On April 18, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA playoffs played out four more games, and the focus of the battle was undoubtedly the nets and Celtics' group of showdowns. The two sides fought fiercely until the last second , when the home Celtics played a team attack, with Tatum's turn to the basket, the game was 115-114.
Owen (left) became Tatum's backdrop.
Just before Tatum scored his final goal, the defender he turned around and swung was None other than Irving, who had been booed by Celtic fans for an entire time.
Throughout the night, Irving not only slashed 39 points, but also did not forget to fight with the Celtics players, which can be described as "busy and happy". Unfortunately, after the Nets' defeat, all his "responses" in the game became a joke in the eyes of Celtic fans.
Smart found Tatum under the empty basket.
Angering the fans, Irving is only close to winning the "success of the X"
When the Nets officially entered the playoffs as seventh in the East in the previous playoffs, their first-round showdown with the Celtics was destined to be more topical and interesting than any other group of showdowns.
A season ago, the seventh-placed Celtics in the East met the second-placed Nets in the East in the first round, and in five big games, the Nets eventually beat the Celtics by a big score of 4-1. Today, the records and rankings of the two sides are just interchangeable, and even the American media revealed in the pre-game forecast analysis that after the form of the East is basically determined, they expect the Nets to fall in the seventh position in the East.
The reason for this is not only the "elimination revenge" of last year's playoffs, but also the grudges of the Celtics and Irving.
Irving gave the fans the middle finger.
In this game, from the time of Irving's pre-game admission, the Celtics' home fans have no ambiguity about his "hospitality". The boos that reverberated through the pitch were mixed with all sorts of insults... It not only fully demonstrates the true color of the Celtics' "Devil's Home", but also releases the resentment of Celtic fans towards Irving.
However, Irving, who is stubborn and even dares to live with his own team management, "enjoys" this away atmosphere.
In the game, Irving shot 12 of 20, including 6 of 10 three-pointers, with 39 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, especially in the key game in the fourth quarter, Irving alone scored 18 points.
If you just look at the data, Irving is like a "European fairy", in the high-pressure atmosphere of the Celtics home, he will show his former "away advantage" to the fullest.
It is also because of his strong performance that Irving, who is happy to play, has also begun to hate with the Celtics' home fans.
More than once, Irving raised his middle finger at Celtic fans and changed his posture — first with his hands behind the back of his head, a slightly "graceful" comparison of two middle fingers, and then after scoring, he "strongly" raised his middle finger during the return defense.
Just by giving up his middle finger, Owen wasn't satisfied. Just in the third quarter of the game, the broadcast camera also caught Owen making a crying expression. As for what message Owen wants to convey through this move, different people must have different interpretations, but the purpose is ultimately to respond to those provocative fans.
Owen put his hands behind the back of his head and pointed his middle finger.
If it weren't for Tatum's final kill in the following moments, this whole game would really have been "successful" by Irving. Unfortunately, the Nets eventually lost.
Before leaving the stadium, there were aggressive fans who "spat on Irving", and Irving also responded with garbage, but responded with a loser's posture, and finally no longer had the same momentum as in the game.
In the end, it was the Celtics who won.
Is it advisable to settle the knot? Owen didn't believe it
Sitting in the post-game press room, most of the questions that reporters threw at Irving were also related to his interaction with fans.
"They have the same energy for me, and I have the same energy for them. Not every fan is like that, and I don't want to attack every Boston fan, but when they start yelling and swearing and stuff like that, we're not docile, humble, humble people. It's the playoffs, and that's the way it is. ”
After Owen's answer, he "advised" reporters to turn their questions back to the game.
But the reporter was clearly not satisfied with such an answer, and then another reporter asked "did you think the Boston fans would let him go", and Irving's answer was simple, "I don't care." ”
Irving in the game.
Indeed, when Irving got into a series of conflicts with the team that season in the Celtic jersey, he must have thought about how Celtic fans would treat him in his future career.
Fast forward to more than three years ago, when Irving led the Celtics to the playoffs, before their fourth game against the Bucks was over, Irving left early, and the reason he gave was very direct, "The game is over." ”
Not only that, but that season, Irving even had a conflict with Coach Stevens during the game. You know, the Celtics are originally players who have always focused on the team, which is why when contradictions arise and Irving shows that he "doesn't care about the team", Jaylen Brown can't help but speak up:
'Instead of criticizing each other and pointing fingers at each other, we should support each other, and if we don't do that, the team will fall apart.
The moment the whistle sounded, Owen looked helpless.
In the words of Washington Post reporter Tim Pontex, Irving is not a "cancer" of the team, but he destroyed the original chemistry of the Celtics.
This is the root of Irving's and Celtics' "feud", and in addition to the Celtics' elimination by the Nets last season, Boston fans have now seized the opportunity and naturally will not let Irving go easily.
"The fans just want to stop Irving from their boos as much as possible, and that's the way it is." After the game, Durant also understood the boston fans' reaction, "That's part of the sport. ”
The Europa field is already unstoppable on the offensive end.
"We want to help Owen"
Irving and Durant have been "groping" in the league for so many years and naturally adapted to this atmosphere. Somewhat similar to Irving's story, whether it is from the Thunder to the Warriors, or from the Warriors to the Nets, Durant has also been treated by fans with this "evil" image.
And the only way to really "respond" to Boston fans is to win.
In the first playoff game against the Celtics, no matter how fiercely Irving and the fans fought each other, in the end the Nets could not win the game, and it was Irving who was at the bottom of this mutual intimidation.
But Irving has almost done it to the extreme, and the only thing missing is the help of his teammates.
The next game, durant needs to stand up.
Throughout the game, even Durant, who has been playing steadily, was out of order, let alone his teammates.
Durant hit nine of his 24 shots and made 1-of-5 shooting from outside the three-point line for 23 points and four rebounds. On the defensive end, his loss has also become one of the important reasons for the Nets' loss.
Looking back at the last offense that decided the game, after Jaylen Brown passed the ball to Smart, Durant's attention was on Smart, ignoring The originally guarded Toum, which is why the latter could easily cut in, and after receiving the ball, he faced the completely "misplaced" Irving, completed a gorgeous turn to the basket, and killed the game.
"Even though I've played a lot of playoffs, losing still stings me." Durant said after the game, "We have to forget about the loss of this game as soon as possible. ”
How can you get out of the shadow of failure? That is to find a solution to the problem.
Can Nash (right) and Durant adjust in time?
Comparing the performance of both the Nets and the Celtics, although both four people scored in double figures, when the Celtics' starting four people scored more evenly, and in the last moments, the Celtics completed the kill with the team attack. In contrast, Irving's prominence in this game is more like a lone soldier, lacking the help of the team.
"Basketball is not an individual battle, we have to play as a team, especially on the defensive end." After the game, Dragic, who scored 14 points off the bench in the whole game, said in a post-match interview, "Irving has been leading us forward today, he has done his job, and we have to help him. ”
According to one statistic, the Nets' previous 14 previous series losses in the first round of the playoffs have only 2 promotions in the end, with a promotion rate of only 14.3%...
However, the data can only provide "guidance", no matter what the final result of this series, Irving and Celtics fans' "grudge game" is still continuing, such a wonderful showdown will also be staged.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Yan Zhang