NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 395 Thomas and the Young Marshal

February 6, TD Garden, Boston.

A large number of fans showed up at the stadium. Just like at Staples Center, even when a powerhouse team is in a slump, a significant number of die-hard fans still come to support the team. The heritage of a powerhouse team is indeed different from that of a newer team; with a larger fan base, there are relatively more loyal fans.

The Clippers are currently ranked 4th in the Western Conference, while the Celtics are ranked 1st in the Eastern Conference. In fact, the two teams have similar records, but overall the top teams in the East have not performed as well as those in the West.

This match was broadcast live across the United States and on Tencent Video in China. The commentators were host Wang Meng and guest Ma Jian.

Wang Meng looks a lot like Isaiah Thomas, and he likes Thomas quite a bit. Whenever he talks about Thomas, it's as if he's playing in the NBA himself.

Many NBA players resemble people we are familiar with, such as Wang Meng and Isaiah Thomas, Yu Hewei and DeAndre Jordan, Karen Mok and Andre Miller, Chang Chen-yue and Running Man, Liang Qichao and Stephon Marbury, Jay Chou and Kyle Korver, Jike Junyi and James Harden, Song Xiaobao and Ray Allen, Daniel Wu and Rudy Gobert, the "Silver Horn King" and Dirk Nowitzki, and the "Bright Sword Company Commander" and Corey Brewer...

Practice before the match.

Al Horford, Jia Fei's former teammate, now plays for the Celtics, and they inevitably exchanged pleasantries upon meeting. While Horford's fame may not be as great as DeAndre Jordan's, there's a reason he's called a "basketball illiterate detector"—his on-court impact is greater than Jordan's. Some people just can't see it from the stats; even an All-Star like Kevin Love, who has won rebounding titles and 20+10 averages, doesn't contribute as much to his team as Horford. In the playoffs, both Jordan and Love will be heavily targeted by opponents, while Horford will be a headache for them, a perfect piece of the puzzle.

Horford is really good, the only downside is that it's a bit expensive...

Isaiah Thomas grinned as he compared shooting skills with his teammates before the game. Jia Fei estimated that he was actually less than 175cm tall, but he had long arms, a strong body, and especially that sexy, perky butt that contained boundless energy.

Those guards with big butts are strong and explosive, like 58, Marbury, and Davis of the Warriors back in the day.

"Mr. Ma, the Clippers are visiting Boston's TD Garden. What are your thoughts on this game?" After finishing his advertisement for a certain company, Wang Meng began to give Ma Jian a pre-game commentary.

"The Clippers and Celtics have different characteristics. The Clippers' core is Jia Fei, and their inside players basically don't participate in the offense; the Celtics' core is Thomas and Horford, and they have a lot of inside-outside connections, making their game more complex." Ma Jian gestured, trying to demonstrate his professionalism as someone who had played in the United States. He and Wang Meng have one thing in common: neither of them is bald, which makes them look very suitable for playing in the NBA.

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Celtics' starting lineup, playing at home, consisted of Horford, Amir Johnson, Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, and Isaiah Thomas.

With Avery Bradley sidelined due to injury, third overall pick Jaylen Brown got the chance to start.

The Clippers' starting lineup consists of DeAndre Jordan, Tobias Harris, Wesley Johnson, Jia Fei, and Patrick Beverley.

As the head coach of the 08 champions, Lao Li received a warm round of applause from the fans. He stood up and waved to the fans. Winning the championship here was the most glorious achievement of his coaching career, which made him a champion coach and allowed him to reach the pinnacle of his life.

In fact, Li has never lacked work since then, partly because he had led his team to a championship. Even if he did benefit from the support of the "Big Three" in that championship, he was undeniably the head coach! That will never change!

DeAndre Jordan and Al Horford are preparing for the jump ball near center circle; the game is about to begin.

The jump ball began, and DeAndre Jordan easily won against Al Horford, officially starting the game.

Jia Fei noticed that since joining the Clippers, his team has rarely lost jump balls; DeAndre Jordan is truly impressive in jump balls. However, winning an NBA jump ball doesn't offer any real advantage; it simply means going on offense first, and the total number of possessions is the same. Is there a significant difference between the winning team going on offense first in the first and fourth quarters, and the losing team going on offense first in the second and third quarters?

Beverley dribbled the ball over and passed it to Jia Fei.

The player guarding Jia Fei was the third overall pick, Jaylen Brown.

Jaylen Brown is 21 years old and comes from the University of California, Berkeley—yes, Berkeley, the one where you study music, not UCLA. He's 198cm tall but weighs 100kg, making him incredibly strong and physically explosive. As the third overall pick in this season's draft, he's highly anticipated by the team.

Having a future star like him guard MVP-caliber superstar Jia Fei is a testament to the team's trust in him and also a way to develop his defensive skills.

On the sidelines, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens rested his chin on his hand, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

Jia Fei and Stevens have a history. Back in the 2011 NCAA Finals, Stevens was the head coach of Butler University, the opponent of Jia Fei's UConn school.

Stevens is not yet 40 years old, making him a true young coach in the NBA. As a representative of young coaches, he is by no means inexperienced. On the contrary, he is experienced in coaching and adept at adjusting the lineup. He is one of the key figures in the rise of the Celtics.

Jia Fei and DeAndre Jordan set a pick-and-roll, causing a delay for the Celtics. He passed to the weak side, but Crowder, who was rotating to help, stole the ball!

Jia Fei couldn't help but laugh. This Stevens really had some skills. He knew that he liked to pass to the weak side, which showed that his plan was very well done.

Isaiah Thomas brought the ball over, faced Beverley's defense, used a screen to drive in, and then passed to Crowder in the corner.

Although Isaiah Thomas is the absolute core of the Celtics, they still play team basketball, which is somewhat similar to the Hawks, where Jia Fei played before, and the Spurs now.

A team with a well-structured offense and defense is likely to take off once it acquires a superstar.

Both sides had a poor start and made several mistakes, failing to score any points.

The Celtics relentlessly double-teamed DeAndre Jordan, not completely leaving the rest of the team open, and used targeted pressure and quick rotations to pressure the Clippers' ball movement. On offense, they constantly used handoffs and cuts with Al Horford in the high post, exploiting Jordan's weakness of not being able to get out of position and attacking the Clippers' perimeter defense. Once Jordan reached the perimeter, they would attack through the backdoor with high-low cuts, very specifically targeting the Clippers. If their offensive plays didn't work, they would give the ball to Isaiah Thomas for a tough challenge. Thomas faces mismatches against everyone because he's simply too short.

Jia Fei exclaimed that Stevens was truly talented, his coaching of both offense and defense was very methodical. In contrast, Old Li… well, let's not even talk about it, comparisons are odious!