Chapter 126: The Cage
The atmosphere in the home locker room at TD Garden was not relaxed.
“Memphis only has one real scoring point! One! And now he’s got 16 points in the half!” Rivers’s gaze swept over every Celtics player, finally settling on Pierce, “P.P, I don’t care what that kid said to you, forget it! Speak with basketball. Use our defense to shut him up!”
Then, Rivers’s work was done. He gave his capable assistant a look, signaling him to begin.
Tom Thibodeau stood up, his face expressionless, walked to the tactical board, picked up the pen, and heavily circled “Xu Ling”‘s name. Then, in a raspy voice devoid of emotion, he said: “In the first half, we made many mistakes. Our biggest mistake was giving that No. 1 too many one-on-one opportunities. You have to remember, Memphis’s No. 1, once he finds his shooting touch, even a full-throttle Kobe can’t suppress him. He’s got a great touch tonight.”
“Another mistake we made was underestimating their role players. But from now on, the mistakes end here.”
Thibodeau quickly drew lines on the tactical board and said rapidly: “In the second half, we’re bringing real defense. Against No. 1, whenever he’s on the right side, our defense has to apply strong proactive pressure, and weak-side help defense has to come early. Whenever he receives the ball inside the three-point line, KG, you need to step up to here,”
Thibodeau’s pen pointed near the free throw line.
“I want you to stand in front of him like a wall, forcing him to stop dribbling!”
Thibodeau methodically laid out the Celtics’ second-half defense. When he finished, Rivers clapped his hands and stepped forward to rally the players, bringing an excellent halftime locker room mental adjustment session to a close.
The Grizzlies returned to the court for warm-ups earlier than the Celtics.
As the visiting team, they had no prior grudge with Boston. But pre-game media hype had shaped the green team into the “Eastern Conference defenders,” making the already disliked Celtics fans feel they had a mission to antagonize all Western Conference teams.
And Xu Ling’s casual pre-game “amnesia” remark precisely poked the sensitive nerve of the city of arrogance.
When Celtics fans realized someone was better at showing off than them, they immediately felt their authority challenged— so young and already loves showing off, what will it be like in a few years?
As a result, the entire Grizzlies team received special treatment, with Xu Ling treated like a Lakers player.
Even if he was just doing the most ordinary warm-up shooting, the stands would erupt in various weird calls and boos.
But Xu Ling remained completely unmoved, keeping the original rhythm in every movement.
This detached state left the basketball experts on the sidelines amazed, and even teammates couldn’t help but be curious.
“Eli,” Darko Milicic, who was passing to him, couldn’t help asking, “you really can’t hear these fans’ voices at all?”
Xu Ling gave the Serbian a strange look, feeling the question was a bit insulting to his intelligence.
“Darko.” Xu Ling said, “I’m not blind, and I’m not deaf.”
Milicic laughed: “So you’re just deliberately ignoring them?”
“I just want to focus on the game.” Xu Ling didn’t deny it.
Milicic found it hard to imagine someone could truly ignore the arena noise, but after being teammates with Xu Ling for most of the season, he realized that’s exactly what he did.
So, the Serbian had no choice but to believe that there really are people in this world who can block out the noise of tens of thousands.
Xu Ling hit a three-pointer and casually asked: “Did you pray tonight?”
“No.” Milicic said righteously, “I’m not in the mood to pray today.”
Not sure if it was psychological, but Xu Ling felt that every game Milicic prayed for him, he performed better.
Maybe this should become a necessary pre-game ritual for the Grizzlies, like the end of 《Hacksaw Ridge》, where the whole unit waits for Desmond Doss to finish praying before heading to the battlefield.
Xu Ling said: “You should pray.”
“Next time, Eli.” Milicic said, “You don’t need my prayers tonight.”
But Xu Ling insisted: “No, I need it. Pray now, Darko, for victory.”
“But I’m not in the mood today” Milicic was interrupted by Xu Ling before he finished.
“No, you have to pray,” Xu Ling pointed upward, “chat with God for a few minutes, say a Chinese guy desperately needs firepower support tonight!”
Milicic was forced to pray publicly on the spot and couldn’t help muttering aggrievedly: “If God asks why the last-minute cramming, I’ll say you forced me.”
The idle chat time soon ended.
From the third quarter’s situation, Milicic’s prayer might have had the opposite effect.
The Grizzlies had the ball first.
Kidd dribbled across half-court and immediately felt pressure completely different from the first half.
Rondo no longer gave him time to observe leisurely, sticking to him like a shadow, arms constantly interfering.
Kidd tried to call a pick-and-roll with Xu Ling, but as Xu Ling started from the corner, Ray Allen used near-violent physical confrontation to prevent him from easily receiving the ball.
Moreover, this near-foul action clearly wouldn’t be called a foul at TD Garden.
When the ball finally reached Xu Ling on the right wing.
As soon as he caught it, Pierce was right on him, giving no space to start.
Xu Ling tried a triple threat, but Pierce’s stance was very steady. Xu Ling dribbled toward the middle, wanting to drive hard with speed, but as soon as he took a step, he saw Kevin Garnett already like a green mountain, blocking his driving lane in advance.
Xu Ling was forced to stop dribbling, trapped in a double team.
He tried to pass to the open Warrick, but at the moment he passed, Ray Allen, who had been defending Howard on the weak side, somehow moved a step, his fingertips just grazing the basketball, altering its path.
The basketball flew out of bounds.
A desperate pass just before the 24-second shot clock expired, nearly stolen.
“Celtics defense! Their rotation! Their communication! Simply flawless!”
After that, the Grizzlies achieved nothing in the remaining offensive time.
Where there’s comparison, there’s a gap.
After being handled like that on defense, the Grizzlies naturally wanted to hold the Celtics to one possession.
But after fifteen minutes of halftime rest, Pierce had clearly adjusted his mindset.
Now it was the Celtics’ turn to offense. Pierce used Garnett’s screen to shake off Josh Howard’s defense, caught the ball, and hit a mid-range jump shot.
The score was instantly tied.
Same position at power forward, the Grizzlies’ Hakim Warrick could run and jump, a rare athletic forward, but aside from athletic talent, he had nothing else.
On the next Grizzlies possession, the offense stalled again.
Kidd and Milicic pick-and-roll, but Perkins firmly stayed in the paint, while Garnett agilely switched onto Kidd, long arms covering, and Kidd’s floater rimmed out.
Garnett grabbed the rebound, pushed forward himself, dribbled to the frontcourt like a guard, drew defense, then passed to the trailing Rondo, who scored a layup.
42 to 40
Celtics take the lead!
Though the Celtics only led by 2, the situation seemed increasingly grim for the Grizzlies.
Moreover, the cage-like defense Thibodeau designed for Xu Ling in the locker room was starting to work.
This was the toughest defense Xu Ling had faced since crossing over.
Every time Xu Ling had the ball in a threat area, he faced sticky defense like taffy, plus Garnett’s lurking help defense.
Moreover, even receiving the ball became difficult; once he got it, he was immediately surrounded, passing lanes cut off, individual offense space compressed to the limit.
Xu Ling tried another hard drive, but under double pressure from Garnett and Ray Allen, the ball was stolen before he could even pass it out. The Celtics transitioned into a fast break, with Ray Allen hitting a pull-up three-pointer.
45 to 40
Moreover, the Celtics weren’t just targeting Xu Ling well; their defensive discipline and chemistry were impeccable. On every screen, someone would yell “switch,” and the big man primary on the screen would loudly alert the ball handler’s offense and direction.
Their rotation speed was astonishing, always someone filling the spot the instant the Grizzlies had a gap.
Before tonight, Kidd could still orchestrate the team with his individual awareness, but against a team like the Celtics skilled at disrupting opponents’ offensive systems, even Kidd himself had issues.
To start the third quarter, the Grizzlies were hit with a 9-0 run by the Celtics!
During this stretch, Xu Ling had almost no good offensive opportunities.
The Celtics used their historic team defense to school this hotshot super rookie.
This was the kind of plight Xu Ling might face in the playoffs.
How much have the Grizzlies changed after the four-way trade? Quite a lot. Kidd is undoubtedly a veteran who stabilizes the team and a beneficial mentor for Xu Ling’s growth.
But if your opponent is a team like the Celtics, Kidd’s limited offensive firepower becomes a big problem.
And the Grizzlies’ bigger issue is that, aside from Xu Ling, their most reliable scorer is the inconsistent Josh Howard—enough for the regular season, but way too easy to target in the playoffs.
Marc Iavaroni called timeout.
The Grizzlies needed adjustments, needed subs.
“The Grizzlies are suffocating! This is Boston Celtics defense!” Mark Jackson said excitedly from the commentary table. “They’re like a pack of hungry wolves, tearing at every offensive attempt by the opponent. Eli Xu is completely trapped, he can’t find any breathing room.”
Xu Ling supporter Jeff Van Gundy had to admit: “This is indeed the most challenging defense Eli has faced. Maybe he can find a way out under Kobe’s pressure, but in the face of great team defense, he needs help—he needs it more than ever!”
The help Van Gundy mentioned wasn’t about needing another 20-points-per-game player, but someone who could punish them when the Celtics threw unrestricted defensive resources at Xu Ling.
