Life as NBA Rookie (SlamDunk System)-Chapter 192 - 196-200

Chapter 192: 196-200
Chapter 196: The Young Archer Draws His Bow Again!
In the past, NBA coaches despised Phil Jackson with a passion.
Now, they feel the same way about Mike Malone—maybe even more.
Compared to the old Zen Master Jackson, "Little Zen" Malone takes smugness to a whole new level.
"Hand the ball to your star and wait for the win—how is that not a strategy?" Malone shot back at a press conference, responding to Alvin Gentry’s claim that he had no tactical game plan. "I know a lot of people are jealous that I get to coach Messiah, but why don’t they take a hard look at themselves? I get to coach Messiah, and they don’t. Instead of fixating on someone else’s luck, Coach Gentry should reflect on his own shortcomings. That’s the only way he’ll ever become a great coach like me."
Malone’s clapback hit Gentry like a truck.
But Malone, never one to waste words, wasn’t done.
To really drive home the gap between his coaching and Gentry’s, Malone pulled Zack aside after the next day’s practice. "Game 2, I want you to go all out. What do you think?"
Zack had no interest in getting caught up in Malone and Gentry’s post-Game 1 coaching philosophy spat.
But the idea of unleashing himself in Game 2 of the Finals? That got his attention.
Since coming back from injury, Zack had been smothered by teammates’ defense, and he could barely remember the last time he’d taken 40 shots in a game.
"What’s the Finals single-game scoring record?" Zack asked, curiosity piqued.
"67 points," Malone replied.
67 points? Who the hell set that insane record?
"You did!" Brown chimed in, jogging Zack’s memory. "Don’t tell me you forgot! Back in Game 4 against the Cavs, you dropped 67 points in just three quarters!"
Oh, right!
With all the records Zack had set in the NBA over the years, 67 points wasn’t exactly a number that stuck in his head. How was he supposed to remember he’d dropped that in the Finals?
Wait a second.
"Was I really that crazy back then?" Zack asked, baffled. "I was only 23 when we played the Cavs in the Finals!"
At that moment, though Brown suspected Zack was flexing a little, he played along. "No doubt about it, you were that crazy that night. If I remember right, your buddy was so shook he skipped the postgame interview and bolted."
Zack couldn’t believe that at 23, he’d left himself—now just half a year shy of 27—with such an impossible record to top.
It was a gut punch for Zack, who’d hoped to make a mark in this year’s Finals.
Everyone knows scoring in the NBA playoffs, especially the Finals, is a whole different beast compared to the regular season.
In Zack’s previous life, up until the moment he crossed over, no one had broken Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan’s Finals (61 points) and playoff (63 points) single-game scoring records.
Unlike the regular season, racking up points in the physically grueling playoffs is exponentially tougher.
With Brown’s help, Zack started piecing together memories of that Finals game. He knew this Celtics team was on a different level than those Cavs. And with the "Zack Rule" referees enforced on him now, trying to make history in this Finals was a whole new challenge compared to back then.
"You’re not thinking of breaking your own Finals scoring record, are you?" Brown asked, stunned, as he noticed Zack’s growing excitement after talking with Malone.
"Mike wants me to go off," Zack said confidently. "And I want to let loose with a scoring explosion to shake off all the frustration from my injury recovery."
Brown didn’t hesitate. "Trust me, if you break your own record, no one will ever bring up that ’you padded stats in the Finals’ nonsense again."
True, Zack’s 67 points at 23 was a jaw-dropping feat. But since those Cavs, led by a young LeBron, were widely considered one of the worst Finals teams ever, plenty of people still questioned the legitimacy of that performance.
Now, with Malone’s encouragement, Zack was ready to see if he could outdo his 23-year-old self.
He knew it wouldn’t be easy.
But isn’t challenging your own limits one of the most thrilling parts of basketball?
[Zack’s Dual Life] Mission Activated.
Difficulty: Nightmare.
You’re running as fast as you can, just to catch up to the unstoppable legend you once were.
Mission Objective: Break your own NBA Finals single-game scoring record before this year’s Finals end.
Mission Reward: One Legendary Random Skill Attribute Package.
---
Two days later, Game 2 of the Finals between the Celtics and Warriors tipped off at Oracle Arena.
After two days of rest, the Celtics looked sharper than they did in Game 1.
A fired-up Paul Pierce said in a pregame interview, "I know they’ve got the best player of our era, but basketball isn’t a one-man show. We’re ready to storm this place tonight!"
The Game 1 loss hadn’t shaken the Celtics’ resolve to break their runner-up curse with a championship this year.
Meanwhile, Zack, aiming to surpass his younger self in this Finals, hit a weird slump during pregame warm-ups, missing shot after shot.
"Uh-oh," Brown said, frowning as he picked up balls for Zack. "If you’re shooting like this in the game, we’re probably toast."
Usually, you can tell how hot a player is by their warm-up.
Zack, who’d been eating well and sleeping great during the break, was certain his body was in peak condition. Mentally, he was calm and ready.
But his outside shot in warm-ups? It was like Russell Westbrook had possessed him.
"No worries," Curry piped up before the game, always one to "brick" in warm-ups himself. "The worse I shoot in warm-ups, the better I am in the game."
Zack, unfazed by his warm-up struggles, nodded.
A few missed shots weren’t going to shake his resolve.
In his mind, if Malone gave him the green light, he’d carve out a path to victory, even if his shot wasn’t falling.
On the court, after warm-ups, both teams’ starting lineups took their places.
The Celtics stuck with their Game 1 starters.
To ensure the Warriors’ wings could protect Curry if Zack got trapped, Brown was back in the starting lineup for this game.
At the tip-off, Brown won the jump ball for the Warriors.
On the first possession, noticing the Celtics still trusted Al Horford to guard him, Zack attacked quickly, scoring a layup through Horford’s tight defense.
From the sideline, Celtics coach Gentry clapped for Horford. "Nice job, Al!"
After Game 1, Gentry had accepted that no one could fully stop Zack. As long as Horford could wear him down a bit, Gentry counted it as a defensive win.
The Celtics’ turn.
Tim Duncan, setting a high screen for Pierce, popped out to the wing and hit a long two.
This was the biggest difference between late-career Duncan and his prime. Aside from his final two seasons when his athleticism faded, Duncan’s long-two attempts kept rising, making up about a quarter of his shots.
Historically, Duncan’s long-two shooting percentages over the next three regular seasons were 45%, 47%, and 43%. In the 2011-12 and 2012-13 playoffs, he shot over 40% from that range.
In this Finals, knowing Zack wasn’t the same pushover he used to be, Duncan didn’t bother battling him in the post.
As they jogged back on defense, Duncan flashed a sly grin at Zack. "Who said I only roll after a screen?"
Zack rolled his eyes. "Lucky guess!"
He knew Duncan wasn’t guessing.
But he couldn’t let his senior get the upper hand in the mind games.
Plus, if he didn’t call it a fluke, he’d have to take the blame for that defensive lapse.
Warriors’ possession.
Zack, eager to answer Duncan, didn’t get him switched onto him via a screen, but after a high double-pick from Brown and Wallace, he got a surprise.
Facing Paul Pierce—who famously survived being stabbed 11 times in a bar years ago—Zack, who loved picking on veterans, showed him an eternal truth:
Age catches up to your legs first.
No wasted movement.
Zack, like a spear piercing through, blew past Pierce in an instant.
Pierce, even resorting to grabbing, couldn’t stop the human tank.
Luckily, Horford had positioned himself well in the paint.
But Zack, unable to jump right away after gathering the ball, stepped to the side and slammed it home with his left hand.
Sure, the Eurostep is a common move for perimeter players in the NBA.
But Zack’s Eurostep-twisting dunk sent shockwaves through the Oracle crowd and everyone watching at home.
"How does he control that massive frame?" Gentry muttered from the sideline, losing it.
In Gentry’s eyes, Zack’s move was like assaulting the Celtics’ defense.
And if the refs called it straight, the Celtics might’ve been hit with a foul, too.
But the Celtics’ brief relief didn’t last.
Because Zack’s "foul magnet" struck again. On the next possession, Curry slipped to the basket, and Zack found him instantly.
Despite Horford’s lightning-fast rotation to block Curry’s layup, the refs called a foul on him, sending Curry to the line.
Gentry, knowing the refs were balancing out an earlier missed call on Zack, didn’t protest.
After all, letting Curry shoot free throws was better than letting Zack go unchecked under the NBA’s current defensive rules.
At the line, Curry sank both shots.
Meanwhile, Gentry noticed Malone on the Warriors’ bench, smirking like he owned the place.
Gentry couldn’t wrap his head around Malone’s arrogance.
Since tip-off, the Warriors’ game plan seemed to be: give the ball to Zack and trust he’d dominate.
Sure, Zack kept rewriting Gentry’s understanding of basketball.
But what did any of this have to do with Malone?
In the first quarter, during a timeout, Malone handed Zack a towel with one hand and the playbook with the other.
"Draw up whatever play you want," Malone said.
Across the court, Gentry nearly spat blood at the sight.
What Gentry didn’t know was that Malone had already sketched out a play on the board before handing it to Zack.
Was Malone really as clueless as Gentry thought?
Obviously not.
But since Gentry was so hung up on Malone riding Zack’s coattails, Malone leaned into it, even staging a little act with Zack to rub it in:
Yeah, I ride my star’s coattails. Got a problem? Try it yourself!
After the timeout, the game resumed.
The Warriors executed a perfect Flex play, with Zack popping to the top of the key for a long two.
This was a play Zack had made famous back in college.
So Gentry had no doubt Zack himself had drawn it up.
"Jealousy only clouds a coach’s ability to read the game," Malone said to assistant coach Lionel Hollins on the Warriors’ bench, glancing at a fuming Gentry.
"Lionel, now you see why I never get jealous."
Hollins thought to himself, If I didn’t know you so well, I’d almost believe that.
On the court, the Celtics attacked.
Vince Carter cut to the right wing, caught the pass, and drained a three.
With Allen Iverson retired and Tracy McGrady’s contract up in the air, only Carter and Kobe remained of the once-glorious "Big Four" shooting guards.
Carter’s drive had long been criticized.
But when he didn’t have to be the main guy, his flaws turned into strengths.
Like LeBron.
Zack had a hot take about his buddy: if LeBron was willing to embrace being a Pippen, he’d be the greatest No. 2 in NBA history.
Back at Oracle, Warriors’ ball.
Facing the Celtics’ tight defense, Zack, never one to back down from a one-on-one, bulldozed past Horford again.
Why did Zack think Carter and LeBron were better as sidekicks?
Because to be Jordan, you’ve gotta be ruthless.
In the Celtics’ paint, Carter, who’d rotated from the perimeter, thought he and Duncan had Zack covered.
But to Carter’s shock, Zack leaped, drew his bow in midair, and, ignoring both defenders, slammed the ball through the hoop!
The young archer draws his bow again.
Tonight, all Zack wanted was to score, and score he did for the Warriors.
This posterizing dunk didn’t just shake Carter, the former dunk king—it struck at his core.
It wasn’t the dunk itself.
It was Zack’s relentless, bloodthirsty heart.
A heart that, once stained with an opponent’s blood, only craved more.
---
Chapter 197: The Ultimate Dominance—When a God Descends to Earth
In the first quarter, thanks to Zack’s 16 points and 7 rebounds, the Warriors carried a 7-point lead into the second.
On TNT, Charles Barkley remarked, "Messiah practically took over the game single-handedly. The Celtics’ interior defense got shredded by him. I’d say he’s proving once again that he’s the most dominant player in NBA history, bar none."
That night, Zack’s relentless aggression on offense absolutely lived up to Barkley’s "most dominant" praise.
But here’s the thing—while Zack’s bulldozing style was a visual spectacle, it was also draining his energy at an insane rate.
No way around it. As long as Zack’s still human, battling through the Celtics’ high-intensity defense to carry the Warriors was bound to take a heavier toll than usual.
Mike Malone, noticing Zack’s outside shooting wasn’t quite there tonight, suggested, "This Finals series is just getting started. No need to go all-out right away."
Zack got the hint. Malone was saying that leading the Warriors to a win was his main job, not racking up points to prove a point.
He didn’t argue.
Still, Zack could feel his body buzzing with extra energy tonight and wanted to see if he could rediscover his shooting touch later in the game.
"Mike, I’m not gonna force it," Zack told Malone. "You know I’m not like Kobe, ignoring teammates just to get my shots up."
Malone’s reaction was identical to Hollins’ in the past. If he didn’t know Zack so well, he might’ve actually bought that line.
But then, the second quarter hit, and the game took a sharp turn.
Even if Malone wanted Zack to conserve energy for the rest of the Finals, he had no choice but to lean on him.
The Celtics, fresh off Game 1, showed they hadn’t lost their hunger to break their runner-up curse. Under former coach Doc Rivers’ grinding style, they’d become a team known for their toughness, thriving in adverse situations.
At Oracle Arena, as the Warriors’ shooters went ice-cold, Paul Pierce, leading the second unit, sparked a furious Celtics comeback. Before Zack could check back in, they’d flipped the score to 45–44.
That’s the Achilles’ heel of a jump-shooting team. When the Warriors’ shooters can’t find their rhythm, the sound of clanging shots can make them lose their way.
Worse yet, even when Zack returned, he couldn’t magically fix his teammates’ shooting woes.
On the court, with Curry and Bell missing wide-open threes, Celtics coach Alvin Gentry switched to a zone defense. With the Warriors’ shooters in a rare slump, Gentry saw a chance to lock down the paint and stop Zack’s first-quarter rampage. To him, the Celtics had a real shot at stealing a win at Oracle.
On the perimeter, watching Al Horford sag off him, Zack’s blood boiled. Without hesitation, he pulled up for a three right after gathering the ball.
Zack’s from the future. He knows exactly how fans roast a star who passes up open shots. So, even with his shot off earlier, if Horford dared to sag, Zack was letting it fly.
But as he released the ball with a chip on his shoulder, watching its smooth arc, Zack froze for a split second.
You’re not gonna believe this, but the moment that ball left his hand, he knew it was going in.
Swish!
On CCTV, seeing Zack finally break the Warriors’ outside scoring drought, commentator Zhang Weiping wiped the sweat off his brow and said, "Man, that was tough. The Warriors’ offense still runs through Zack!"
Next possession, noticing the Celtics sticking with their zone, Zack called for the ball and fired another shot almost the instant he caught it.
Though Horford, learning from the last play, got a hand up to contest, once Zack found his rhythm, Horford’s interference became more like a guide for his shooting angle.
Swish!
Zack’s back-to-back threes forced Gentry to burn a timeout.
At that moment, Malone, who’d been worried the Celtics’ shrinking defense would limit Zack’s ability to attack, regained his cool, confident demeanor.
While Gentry stood anxiously at the Celtics’ bench, scribbling on his clipboard, Malone, high-fiving his players with a smug grin, was the picture of composure.
"Everything’s going according to plan," Malone told assistant coach Hollins at the Warriors’ bench. "I knew Messiah would knock down those damn threes!"
Hollins nodded enthusiastically, but his face screamed, "Yeah, right. I don’t buy it."
After the timeout, the game resumed.
Every time the Celtics started to build momentum, Zack seemed to step up and rewrite the script. Gentry, frustrated, switched back to man-to-man defense, instructing Horford to stick to Zack like glue, no matter where he went.
On CCTV, Zhang Weiping couldn’t help but quip, "What’s this? The Celtics are acting like Horford’s gotta follow Zack to the bathroom!"
On the court, Horford was all over Zack. Under the "Zack Rule," he even got away with straight-up holding him off the ball.
Zack, half-laughing, said, "Yo, can we not be this close? I’m not into dudes."
Horford didn’t respond, but the next second, he clung even tighter.
Still, when Zack used his long arms to snag a teammate’s pass, Horford’s tight defense gave him a chance to muscle through with physicality.
Bang!
On the left side of the court, as Zack collided with Horford, he powered through to the Celtics’ paint.
Facing Zack’s brute-force, almost football-like style, Tim Duncan, tasked with help defense, couldn’t help but think of LeBron James.
But unlike LeBron, Zack—another master of fundamentals—hadn’t mastered the crab dribble.
Spotting his chance, Duncan pounced as Zack rose to attack the rim.
Under Duncan’s heavy contest, Zack didn’t rush his shot. He waited until Duncan landed.
With the ref’s whistle blowing, Zack, still airborne, casually tossed the ball off the glass.
Bang, swish!
"Too bad," Zack said to Duncan after landing. "If you were a few years younger, you might’ve had me."
Duncan nodded. "You’re right."
In that moment, Father Time handed Zack a golden assist.
Zack didn’t waste the and-one, hitting the free throw to bring his game total to 25 points.
"We’re only at halftime!" Gentry groaned at the Celtics’ bench. "Someone tell me how the hell we’re supposed to stop this guy from scoring!"
Gentry’s frustration defined the entire first half.
At halftime, the score was 60–63.
Thanks to Zack’s 14 points after checking back in, the Warriors had forcefully reclaimed control of the game.
During the break, Malone told ers, "I know you’re all thinking we’d be toast without Messiah. You’re right. But guess what? We’ve got Messiah."
Malone returned to the locker room all smiles.
With Zack finding his shooting touch in the second quarter, combined with his electric energy tonight, Malone knew his job as head coach was simple: build a lineup that lets Zack cook.
Gentry, on the other hand, had a lot more to figure out.
First, how to keep the Celtics’ offense humming as their energy waned. Second, whether to double-team Zack if he stayed unstoppable.
After the short halftime break, the game resumed.
The Celtics, pushing the limits of what the refs allowed, racked up two quick fouls, escalating the game’s physicality to a fever pitch.
They hoped the rough play would keep the Warriors’ shooters off-balance, and it worked. In the third quarter, no matter how Malone tweaked the lineup, the Warriors couldn’t hit their usual open shots.
But Malone stayed calm as ever.
Because this quarter belonged to Zack.
On a Warriors’ possession, facing Horford’s aggressive defense—his arm draped over Zack’s ball-handling hand—Zack exploded off the dribble, used a quick hesitation to pull the ball back, and fired a shot despite Horford’s reckless lunge.
It was a clear three-point shooting foul.
But as Zack’s shot miraculously banked in, he not only ignited the crowd but earned a four-point play opportunity.
Horford didn’t argue the call, silently stepping aside.
At the line, Zack sank the free throw.
On the next play, the Celtics, also rattled by the physicality, found Vince Carter open in the corner after some crisp passing. Carter’s shot, though, clanged off the rim—straight into Zack’s hands.
Seizing the moment, Zack pushed the ball upcourt himself.
Pierce, trying to foul and stop the break, was a step too slow, left in the dust by Zack’s slippery moves.
Zack, with a clear path, threw down a thunderous one-handed dunk.
Oracle Arena erupted with "MVP! MVP!" chants echoing through the rafters.
At the scorer’s table, as Gentry called a desperate timeout, his eyes stayed locked on the Warriors’ No. 77.
When Zack switched to the No. 77 jersey, he’d said it was because God gave 23 to Jordan, so 77 was his. But tonight, Gentry thought, Zack’s impact was way beyond any number.
After the timeout, the Celtics went on offense.
Duncan, under Zack’s tight defense, missed a spinning bank shot.
Zack secured the board and brought the ball up himself.
Vince Carter tried to trap Zack early to force a pass, but Zack, laser-focused, saw it coming.
Anticipating the double-team, Zack powered through Horford’s defense at the top of the key and hit a long two from the right side.
On TNT, Barkley marveled, "The Celtics finally figured out they need to double-team the god, but his response? He doesn’t care!"
Kenny Smith chimed in, "Messiah’s ability to break doubles is top-tier in NBA history. He can muscle through for a shot or zip the ball to an open teammate on the weak side."
The Celtics, who’d cranked up the physicality in the second half, didn’t find their shooting touch until late in the third. By then, the score gap had ballooned to double digits.
In the final moments of the quarter, Duncan’s and-one over Brown brought the Celtics within 9 points.
But with the last possession, Zack, facing a double-team from Pierce and Horford, fired one final shot under the watchful
eyes of the crowd as the clock ticked down.
As the ball arced through the air, every Warriors fan held their breath.
Swish!
"Messiah just scored his 21st point of the quarter! The Warriors head into the fourth with a 12-point lead for the final showdown with the Celtics!"
End of the third: 84–96.
At that moment, Gentry’s eyes were glazed, almost lifeless.
"We’re up against a god," he said, voice trembling, during a break interview. "Right now, we need a miracle to take down this deity tonight."
...
Chapter 198: A Legendary Performance, An Immortal Record
Alvin Gentry’s postgame interview echoed the feelings of countless Celtics fans.
On this historic night, as the fourth quarter unfolded, Green Army faithful could only pray for a miracle to topple the god on the court.
And the Warriors fans?
They were praying too.
But their prayers were for the divine spectacle unfolding at Oracle Arena to keep crushing the spirits of the "heretics."
After the quarter break, the Celtics kept four starters on the floor, swapping out Dooling for Eddie House.
Based on Mike Malone’s usual strategy, Zack typically rests at the start of the fourth quarter.
So, in Gentry’s eyes, this was Boston’s golden window to claw back into the game.
But as both teams lined up, Gentry noticed something: the Warriors weren’t pulling Zack for his usual breather.
"The game’s at a boiling point now—it’s all about who’s willing to burn, who’s not afraid to get scorched," Zack told Malone before the fourth quarter began. "Mike, we’ve gotta seize this moment and close it out."
Malone, well aware of Boston’s resilience, nodded. "You’re right. We can’t give them any chance to fight back!"
If the Warriors’ role players were on fire tonight, Zack might’ve trusted them to hold the fort while he rested and re-entered to take over later.
But after three quarters, Zack knew his teammates weren’t clicking. No way was he dumping the pressure and responsibility on them in this do-or-die moment.
That’s just not who Zack is.
On the court, Warriors’ ball.
After Nash brought it up, Zack, positioned at the top of the key, deliberately slowed the pace.
Holding the ball, he patiently scanned Boston’s defensive alignments. As the shot clock ticked into single digits, he pounced on a gap in the Celtics’ overeager chase for points, threading a surgical pass to Jaylen Brown, who’d been lurking near the left baseline.
In the Celtics’ paint, Brown caught the ball, rose, and feasted on an easy two.
84-98.
"I’m done praising Messiah’s poise and smarts," Charles Barkley said on TNT, voicing the despair of Celtics fans watching at home. "Honestly, Messiah might just be the best clutch performer I’ve ever seen."
Unlike past superstar big men who often struggled to get the ball in crunch time, Zack—who can dribble coast-to-coast if he wants—not only has the ability to deliver game-sealing buckets but can also impact the game like a guard, breaking down defenses with drives, pull-up jumpers, or setting up teammates.
And the scarier Zack’s arsenal gets, the deadlier he becomes in clutch moments.
His toolbox is so vast, you can’t even predict how he’ll finish you off.
Celtics’ possession.
Seeing Nash switched onto him, Vince Carter knew it’d be rude not to attack. After a quick crossover to create space, he pulled the trigger on his Barrett sniper rifle.
Swish!
87-98.
Carter’s clutch three breathed new life into Boston’s hopes, and fans at home screamed, "Defense! Defense!"
Then, Zack, still milking the clock, sliced through Horford’s defense from the perimeter.
Despite Duncan’s quick lateral slide to cut him off, Zack didn’t flinch. He pulled up abruptly and softly lobbed the ball toward the rim.
When a 6’11" (in shoes) player with a near-7’6" wingspan pulls off a floater in your face, even a rim-protecting legend like Duncan can only turn and pray the ball rims out.
Too bad for Duncan—God wasn’t answering his prayers tonight.
Swish!
At Oracle Arena, as Zack’s floater dropped clean through the net, nearly 20,000 Warriors fans erupted into a frenzy.
Riding the tidal wave of noise, Eddie House, finally finding an open look, clanked a three.
Zack snagged the board and raced the ball upcourt.
Boston’s players scrambled back, spooked by Zack’s sudden fastbreak.
But once they retreated to their half, Zack slowed the tempo again.
With a 13-point lead, no way was he speeding up the game to give the desperate Celtics more possessions.
This time, on the right side, Zack called for Nash to run a handoff.
House tried to fight through the screen but couldn’t, forcing Horford to step up higher than he wanted.
Seeing his chance, Zack barreled toward the heart of Boston’s defense.
Next moment, a helpless Duncan had no choice but to wrap up Zack, who’d caught Nash’s pass, under the basket.
A necessary tactical foul.
If Duncan were a few years younger, he’d have gone toe-to-toe with Zack.
But with Zack’s blend of talent and skill shredding Duncan’s experience, age had become Duncan’s biggest enemy.
At the line, Zack sank both free throws, pushing the score to 87-102.
The next few possessions saw both teams, gassed from exertion, trading bricks.
Finally, Paul Pierce, summoned from the depths, faked out Wallace on the right wing and nailed a tiptoe three, breaking the stalemate for Boston.
"Defense!!"
Clapping to fire up his teammates, Pierce roared, "We’re not done yet!!!"
But maybe he roared a bit too hard. With a loud thud echoing through the arena, Zack, holding the ball and reading Boston’s defense, noticed Pierce suddenly clamp his legs together, his face a mix of three parts pain and seven parts embarrassment.
Coming from the future, Zack had a pretty good guess about what just happened to Pierce.
Still, no sympathy here.
Seeing Pierce, still trying to hold it together, lose his defensive position, Zack lobbed a pass to Wallace, who’d snuck in for an easy cut to the rim.
Bam!
In the Celtics’ paint, Wallace threw down an alley-oop slam.
Meanwhile, a mortified Pierce hit the deck, pulling off an Oscar-worthy "old injury acting up" face.
Gentry, spooked by Pierce’s fall, rushed to the scorer’s table to call a timeout.
After a quick chat with the team doctor, Gentry got news that left him torn between laughter and disbelief—news he knew had to stay buried.
"Paul’s fine, that’s what matters," Gentry said, covering his face. "But we all keep this quiet!"
After a brief check from the medical staff, Pierce, "injured," was wheeled off the court.
The little drama had Celtics fans watching at home sweating bullets.
If Pierce was seriously hurt, who’d carry Boston’s perimeter scoring in this Finals series?
Thankfully, in just a few minutes, Pierce limped back from the tunnel.
Zack couldn’t believe how fast Pierce handled his business.
Even crazier? Wallace, the self-appointed FBI agent off the court, had already sniffed out the truth behind Pierce’s "injury" exit.
"Paul, you can’t rush a bathroom break like that," Wallace teased on the court. "What if you didn’t finish and end up with a mess in your shorts later?"
Pierce’s face was a masterpiece of emotions.
Yup, Pierce’s "injury" exit was because pregame diarrhea, combined with that overzealous roar, had accidentally opened the floodgates.
Everyone knows when you gotta go, you gotta go.
Even the mighty Truth couldn’t hold back the tidal wave of, well, you know, crashing toward the exit.
But for Pierce, who values his pride above all, admitting he’d been "blown out" mid-game was never gonna happen.
"Stop spreading lies!" Pierce snapped at Wallace. "I twisted my ankle, alright?"
Wallace just shrugged. "Just don’t let it happen again in your shorts."
Pierce: "..."
He’d thought his quick bathroom break had taken care of things.
But now, fuming, Pierce felt his stomach start to rumble again.
Warriors’ possession.
Zack, steadily snuffing out Boston’s last hopes, blew past Horford’s defense from the perimeter.
On the wing, Pierce slid over to help, trying to buy his teammates time to recover.
But as Pierce lunged, Zack’s silky, Dove-chocolate-smooth pull-back nearly broke his aging back.
Worse, that move left Pierce’s already gurgling stomach in full revolt, his face betraying that unmistakable "I can’t hold it" look.
Swish!
At Oracle Arena, Zack’s pull-up jumper went down, all but sealing the game.
96-112.
Pierce, clamping his legs together, showed unreal grit in the next possession, rising for another tiptoe three.
Swish!
99-112.
Sure, Pierce getting "blown out" on the court was a bit comical.
But no denying it—his performance tonight deserved respect.
So, in a show of ultimate respect, Wallace, during Zack’s next high-post possession, steered Pierce right into Zack’s path.
Pierce: "..."
The next moment, the Truth crumbled.
Zack, with no hesitation, blew through Pierce’s defense, indirectly opening that floodgate again.
In the Celtics’ paint, Zack finished with a reverse layup.
99-114.
Merciless as ever, Zack, under the hopeless gaze of Celtics fans watching on TV, dropped his 14th point of the fourth quarter for the Warriors.
No matter how Boston fought, Zack had an answer every time, becoming the insurmountable wall they couldn’t climb.
As for "Splash Warrior" Pierce?
Just when Zack thought the game was in the bag, Pierce—his shorts now suspiciously yellowish—gutted it out, drilling another three over Wallace’s defense.
102-114.
Despite admiring Pierce’s courage to play through that, Zack was over the "aroma" messing with his game vibe.
To end things quick, as soon as Nash crossed halfcourt, Zack popped out to the perimeter, caught the ball, and fired over Horford.
Swish!
102-117.
With three minutes left in the fourth, Zack’s conviction-filled three finally forced Gentry to start waving in Boston’s bench.
Pierce, knowing the game was slipping away, stubbornly launched one last tiptoe three.
Lucky for Gentry, that shot, which could’ve delayed his substitutions, rimmed out under Zack’s silent curse.
In the Warriors’ paint, Zack secured the board with a Herculean effort.
Then, deciding to treat himself with a fastbreak, he charged toward Boston’s half like a meteor.
Duncan, who could’ve fouled to stop him, didn’t.
Positioning himself early, Duncan, fighting the weight of time, wanted to test his old college buddy’s terrifying gifts one-on-one.
When Zack took flight, swinging his arm with full force, the jaw-dropping hang time and powerful, graceful form reminded Duncan he wasn’t young anymore.
Still, in that moment, Duncan felt that long-lost fire in his chest.
Bam!
At Oracle Arena, as the god who’d dominated all night capped his scoring clinic with a windmill dunk over Duncan, the Celtics called timeout and subbed out.
On TNT, Barkley, buzzing with excitement, said, "What a performance! Messiah’s new Finals scoring record perfectly shows why he’s surpassed Michael Jordan in our eyes."
—70 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocks, 1 steal.
Tonight, Zack broke his own Finals single-game scoring record and the playoff single-game scoring mark.
The gritty Celtics finally fell to this relentless tyrant.
"Messiah’s stat line tonight will make him immortal!" Barkley declared.
As the timeout ended and both teams sent in their benches, Barkley added, "A 70-point Finals game—how epic is that? This game will be dissected forever, and Messiah will get the praise he deserves. For now? I’ll just say this is a number even Michael Jordan couldn’t touch, not even in the regular season!"
Chapter 199: When Blood Stains the Crown
Final score: 106-126.
The Warriors clinched Game 2 of the Finals, pushing the series score to 2-0.
Zack’s 70-point explosion for the Warriors, unsurprisingly, became the hottest topic in the sports world postgame.
"I’ve got nothing to say," Celtics coach Alvin Gentry said in the postgame presser. "After Game 1, Coach Mike Malone told me to reflect on myself. So, in a game this crucial, when a God drops 70 points on you, how am I supposed to reflect? Should I question why I’m not coaching a deity because I’m not devout enough?"
If Zack’s 67-point, three-quarter outburst against the Cavs years ago was a perfect result marred by a weak opponent, tonight’s performance—both in outcome and execution—was pure perfection, winning over every fan except the most diehard Zack haters.
"His offense just never stops," Al Horford, tasked with guarding Zack, said in frustration. "I know I’m mostly to blame for him dropping 70, but I swear I gave it everything. Check the tape if you don’t believe me—see how absurdly unstoppable this guy is."
Horford knew Zack was playing under a different set of unwritten NBA rules tonight.
Yet, the God answered everyone with his scoring clinic: So what?
"When he hit his 70th point, it finally clicked," Tim Duncan said with a wry smile during his interview. "I should’ve gone harder to match him score for score in earlier games. That way, I wouldn’t look this bad in comparison."
Duncan finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks for the Celtics.
By his own math, if he’d just worked a bit harder and dropped 52 more points, he could’ve gone toe-to-toe with Zack. And, as the math genius quipped, the Celtics might’ve even blown out the Warriors by 30.
At the press conference, Warriors coach Mike Malone and owner Joe Lacob teamed up for a theatrical moment, practically bowing at Zack’s feet.
"What else is there to say?" Malone said, leading the worship. "After tonight, Messiah has shown you all that Michael Jordan is yesterday’s news!"
"No matter what anyone says, Michael Jordan doesn’t hold a candle to Messiah in my book," Lacob added. "I’m no basketball expert, but I know even in the regular season, Jordan never dropped 70. The numbers don’t lie!"
Malone and Lacob’s tag-team praise wasn’t just about hyping up Zack’s historic night—it was about cementing his case in the GOAT debate against Jordan.
In the looming battle for basketball’s greatest, they were seizing every chance to sing Zack’s praises, pushing him toward undisputed GOAT status.
"Seventy points in the Finals? Listen, he was straight-up superhuman," Brown said at the presser, never one to be outdone in hyping Zack. "I’m just glad I’m his teammate. Otherwise, I’d be like Paul Pierce out there, getting my ass handed to me."
Shortly after the game, the always-honest Gerald Wallace let slip in an interview that Pierce’s brief exit in the fourth quarter was because he’d, well, soiled himself. The Celtics, desperate to keep Pierce’s secret, could only respond with silence.
But in American media, silence often equals admission. So, while ers admired Pierce’s grit for "playing through the mess," the story of him getting "beat so bad he crapped himself" grabbed just as much attention.
"I did not crap my pants!" Pierce, red-faced, defended himself later. "Okay, my stomach was acting up, but I swear I only let a little out before I got it under control!"
"No, no, I mean I didn’t let it out—I caught it before it happened!"
"As for why my shorts looked yellow? Damn it, I said it was just a little! I absolutely did not crap my pants, no way!"
After Game 2, Pierce, humiliated, was seething at Wallace, the straight-shooting "honest boy."
Before leaving Oracle Arena with his teammates, Pierce, still fuming, trashed the visitor’s locker room, but it didn’t ease his anger.
The next day, The San Francisco Chronicle ed on the destruction of Oracle’s visitor locker room, noting, "Given Paul Pierce’s heroic effort to play through his ’accident’ in Game 2, which won over every Oakland fan, the Warriors will not hold Mr. Pierce liable for the damages."
Reading the , Pierce wished the Warriors would just send him a bill.
Money? Sure, Pierce’s marketability wasn’t sky-high, but as the Celtics’ star, he wasn’t exactly broke.
"They’re doing this on purpose!" Pierce fumed, recalling the humiliating fourth quarter. "I said I didn’t crap my pants! Why won’t anyone believe me?"
His Celtics teammates, fully aware Pierce did have an accident, didn’t know how to console their star.
But they had to keep up the act.
With the series at 0-2, the Celtics needed Pierce to bounce back more than ever.
Zack’s 70-point Finals game had cemented him as basketball’s "Yellow Jesus."
But just as the 2008 Celtics used team basketball to topple the "Black Jesus" Jordan, this Celtics squad, refusing to quit, planned to channel their predecessors. With the Finals’ 2-3-2 format, they aimed to turn things around in their next three home games.
The media largely agreed: if the Celtics could take Game 3, a series comeback was entirely possible.
After all, Zack couldn’t drop 70 every night.
Plus, the Celtics had shown in the first two games that they could disrupt the Warriors’ outside shooters with physical defense.
As the series shifted to Boston, Zack addressed his team in Oakland before heading east. "I know we’re up 2-0," he said, his expression serious. "But the next three games on their turf are the real test."
Every Warrior knew the stories of how the Celtics historically used home-court tricks to gain an edge.
This was a team that’d do anything to win.
Adjusting the rim’s tension to mess with missed shots’ trajectories? Child’s play for Boston.
Before Game 3, a "power outage" at TD Garden cut the Warriors’ shootaround to under 30 minutes.
At their hotel, Celtics fans banging drums and gongs outside kept the Warriors up all night.
During pregame warm-ups, the visitor’s locker room had only hot water, no cold.
And Zack noticed the TD Garden floor—uneven in its firmness.
Just like how pitch conditions and watering affect soccer, an uneven basketball court can cause costly turnovers.
After dribbling around their half, Zack gathered his teammates. "This game, we’ve gotta cut down on unnecessary dribbling."
"Exactly," Nash nodded. "I noticed some spots where the ball bounces back faster, and others where you’ve gotta slap it hard to get it where you want."
So, did the Celtics’ tricky floor mess with their own rhythm?
Sure did.
Even with home-court advantage, the Celtics weren’t immune to their own floor’s quirks.
But since the Warriors relied more on dribble-drives compared to the Celtics’ lower-dribble offense, Boston was less affected.
---
Before the game, a furious Pierce, still stewing over Wallace, trash-talked him. "You wait! I’m gonna sweep you into the trash can myself!"
Unfazed, Wallace replied, "Just don’t crap on me during the game."
Pierce: "..."
Wallace wasn’t great at trash talk.
But when this honest guy kept hitting Pierce with the embarrassing truth, no trash talk could’ve broken Pierce’s spirit more.
At center court, the infamous Joey Crawford walked up with the ball.
When Zack saw Crawford’s name on the referee list, he’d had a bad feeling.
Usually, Crawford showed up with a mission from David Stern.
Sure enough, early in the game, Crawford’s double standards were glaring.
The same contact drew fouls on the Warriors but got ignored for the Celtics.
On the sideline, Malone protested repeatedly. "If you call it like this, we can’t even play!"
Under Crawford’s bias, the Celtics racked up 18 free throws in the first half of Game 3.
The Warriors? Just 4.
Worse, with their defensive trio in foul trouble, only Zack could defend normally by the second half.
"This guy’s making it clear he doesn’t want us to win!" Brown, who picked up 4 fouls in just 12 minutes, fumed. "Is the league that desperate to stop us from winning?"
Wallace, also at 4 fouls, was equally pissed. "I didn’t even touch Pierce, and he still got the call. This isn’t a real basketball game."
The Warriors had braced for a "road whistle" in Boston.
But Crawford’s officiating was so blatant it stunned them.
Especially in the third quarter’s second half.
When Pierce tripped over his own court while driving, Brown and Wallace couldn’t help but crack up, grinning at his "eat dirt" moment.
But to their shock, Crawford sprinted to the Warriors’ bench like he was running the 100-meter dash and ejected both of them!
His reasoning? He thought they were mocking his calls.
"This is hands-down the darkest game I’ve ever seen in the NBA!" TNT’s Charles Barkley, risking the league’s wrath, declared. "Joey Crawford’s calls are a disgrace to refereeing!"
At TD Garden, even Zack, who rarely complained about refs, couldn’t hold back.
"Remember what you’re doing today!" he shouted, glaring at Crawford. "I hope you sleep well every night from now on!"
Too scared to slap Zack with a technical, Crawford silently endured his verbal onslaught, which lasted until the final buzzer.
"I’ve always sympathized with how tough refereeing is," Zack said postgame, firing at the NBA’s officiating class for the first time. "But if the league doesn’t want us to win, they should just tell us upfront so we can skip the game!"
With Crawford’s help, the Celtics clawed back a win in Game 3.
In response, David Stern, stunned by how poorly Crawford executed his "extend the series" directive, had to step in. He announced Joey Crawford would not officiate another game in the Finals.
"We’ll conduct an internal review of Joey," Stern said. "I know many of his calls in Game 3 were questionable, but we absolutely did not rig the game. The NBA is, and always has been, a fair, open, and just league."
To quell Zack’s fury, Stern personally instructed Dan Crawford, set to ref Game 4, "No matter how much he yells at you in this series, you can’t give him a technical."
Dan Crawford, who had a good rapport with Zack, replied, "I’m not worried about him cussing me out. I’m just scared that if we don’t make it up to him, the fans will roast us alive."
Stern sighed. "You control the whistle. I never expected Joey to call a game that bad."
Stern knew that after the infamous Game 3, Joey Crawford and his family had received death threats from Bay Area fans.
His attempt to stretch the series had backfired, earning him a wave of venomous backlash.
And Zack?
For a guy who just wanted to play ball, he never imagined that from this day forward, the NBA’s refereeing class would grant him a GOAT-exclusive privilege.
Dan Crawford even spelled it out before Game 4. "If you’re unhappy with our calls, feel free to let us have it on the court. My colleagues and I will take your criticism in stride."
Zack, pushing his luck, asked, "Can I shake my finger to celebrate?"
Crawford nodded. "I guarantee you won’t get a tech for wagging your finger."
That put Zack in a much better mood.
Deep down, he still despised Joey Crawford’s Game 3 officiating.
But right now, leading the Warriors to conquer TD Garden was his top priority.
"Do the Celtics really think they beat us fair and square in Game 3?" Zack said before Game 4, eyeing the fired-up Celtics ready to even the series at home. With a cold smirk, he made up his mind.
In this Finals, he’d stain his crown with the Celtics’ blood.
---
Chapter 200: Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain!
The game tipped off with Kwame Brown winning the jump ball for the Warriors.
In the frontcourt, as Zack signaled for a 1-4 pick-and-roll, his teammates quickly cleared out one side of the floor.
Seeing this, Al Horford, as usual, draped his arm over Zack’s ball-handling hand while defending him—a classic move from the pre-hand-check era.
Before the NBA banned hand-checking, defenders could use their arms to disrupt a ball-handler’s drive and shrink their shooting space. Back then, even the best perimeter stars struggled to get clean looks whenever they wanted.
Except for Michael Jordan.
In that defense-first era, Jordan’s freakish ability to shoot whenever he pleased—and still be the most efficient perimeter scorer of the ’90s—set him apart.
While some younger fans argue Jordan wouldn’t be Jordan in today’s game, Zack, the only player still getting the hand-check treatment under the "Zack Rule," begs to differ. He thinks if he and Jordan played under modern rules, the real competition would be who could average 50 points a game more times in their career.
On the court, knowing speed was the key to shaking off hand-checking, Zack exploded laterally, whipping the ball from his right hand to his left with a wind-like spin. As Horford’s balance shifted, Zack snapped the ball back to his right.
That’s the terrifying thing about facing this god in the Finals. Even with hand-checking allowed, when Zack moves like the wind, cutting through the Celtics’ defense, a shaken-off Horford could only chase helplessly from behind.
Bang, swish!
In the Celtics’ paint, conserving energy, Zack glided in for an elegant layup to give the Warriors the first points.
"Your help was late," Zack said, glancing at a tardy Tim Duncan. "Even if this guy gets to put his hands on me, you can’t expect him to stop me one-on-one."
Duncan nodded. "You’re right. I’ll do better next time."
Trading barbs with Duncan might be the most boring thing in the world. No matter how you provoke him, he defuses it with his calm, matter-of-fact style.
The Celtics’ turn. Rasheed Wallace, finally able to defend Paul Pierce under the same physicality, locked him up on a wing isolation that carried a hint of personal beef.
To create space, Pierce led with his elbow, but Wallace’s relentless pressure nearly forced a turnover.
"That’s a foul, Dan!" Pierce fumed at referee Joey Crawford after a missed shot clanged off the rim.
Unlike the Crawford from Game 3, this one—known for calling games straight—replied, "You sure that was a foul?"
"Of course!" Pierce shot back, indignant. "He clearly hit my shooting hand!"
Crawford shook his head. "If I called it by your standard, I’d have to give Messiah 50 free throws tonight."
Pierce went silent. No matter how tough he talked, he wasn’t about to argue against the fact that Zack was constantly on the wrong end of the whistle.
If he pushed the refs too far and got them to strip Horford of his "Zack Rule" protection, the Celtics would face an unleashed god. Pierce knew Zack wasn’t some hyped-up, media-made star. So, he wisely shut up.
Back to the 1-4 set.
This time, Zack showcased his devastating one-handed triple-threat. With the poise of a forest, he calmly sized up Horford, who felt as helpless as a child. Horford could only watch as Zack rose for a smooth, mid-air jumper that swished through.
"I’m such an idiot," Horford muttered to himself. "I knew it was a fake, but I still jumped."
Duncan, stepping up to console him, said, "It’s not your fault, Al. His fakes are so good, they’re practically the real thing."
If James Harden’s every body hair came with a cylinder in the future, Zack’s every twitch was a trap, baiting defenders into mistakes.
Celtics’ possession. Pierce, trying to get his revenge on Wallace, got stuffed again. Though Pierce’s hip-thrusting post-up was slick, Wallace bullied him back, throwing off his rhythm and forcing a fadeaway that bricked.
Clang!
In the Warriors’ paint, Zack snagged the rebound over Duncan’s head, who was poised for a putback. As Duncan turned in shock, Zack, moving like wildfire, was already charging downcourt, claiming the Celtics’ half with a thunderous dunk.
BOOM!
In the Celtics’ half, Vince Carter, the fastest to retreat, could only throw up his hands to his teammates. "I couldn’t stop him," Carter said. "If I’d gone for the hard foul, I’d have just handed him an and-one."
"You’re right, Vince," Pierce said, owning the mistake. "That one’s on me. I rushed it."
You’ve got to hand it to the Celtics—their resilience comes from their tight-knit communication.
After two scoreless possessions, Pierce didn’t keep forcing shots against Wallace. Instead, he and his teammates worked to set up Duncan for a post-up against Zack.
But unlike the 21-year-old Zack, Duncan, despite his full bag of tricks, couldn’t shake the mountain-like Zack with his footwork.
In the Warriors’ paint, as Duncan forced a tough shot, Zack swatted it away instantly. Brown secured the loose ball and handed it back to Zack.
The Celtics hustled back, denying the Warriors a fast break.
Zack brought the ball up, carefully reading the defense before calling Brown up for a high pick-and-roll.
On the court, Brown’s roll drew the Celtics’ attention, but the elusive Zack, like a shadow, slipped to the wing, screening for Curry to shake free from Ray Allen.
With the Celtics’ bigs unable to step up, Curry, wide open thanks to Zack’s screen, had time to set his feet before firing.
Swish!
9–0 run to start!
At the scorer’s table, facing the Warriors’ opening offensive surge in Game 4, Alvin Gentry called a quick timeout.
After the break, Carter finally got the Celtics on the board with a long two.
But on the next play, as Pierce moved to trap Zack early, Zack, like a thunderbolt, powered through the gap between Pierce and Horford, leaving Celtics fans groaning in despair.
Swift as the wind, steady as a forest, fierce as fire, immovable as a mountain, mysterious as shadow, striking like thunder!
The Eastern overlord, in just a few possessions, turned TD Garden into the biggest library in America.
As Zack dunked over Duncan, drawing a whistle, the broadcast zoomed in on the legendary jerseys hanging in the rafters.
On TNT, Barkley decoded the moment for viewers: "Only a legend can surpass a legend! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Messiah Era!"
In the first quarter, an unstoppable Zack racked up 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. The scoreboard read 36–24.
During the break, Warriors coach Mike Malone told ers, "After the Michael Jordan era, every fan dreamed of a player who could surpass him and wondered how they’d dominate. No doubt about it—Messiah’s fulfilling that dream. His dominance has already eclipsed Jordan’s."
To close the gap, the Celtics kept Pierce and Carter on the floor to lead the second quarter.
At the bench, watching Pierce bully Warriors backup forward Harrison Barnes, Rasheed Wallace couldn’t help but grumble, "So, the ’Truth’ is just about picking on the weak?"
Wallace nailed it.
In Zack’s previous life, Pierce made waves in 2008 by dropping 41 points on LeBron in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, leading the Celtics to victory in Cleveland. But Pierce’s career was more about feasting on weaker opponents.
Even against LeBron, Pierce’s head-to-head record wasn’t exactly convincing.
The American media once summed up their rivalry: "It’s like someone passing Eliud Kipchoge mid-marathon but not mentioning they finished half an hour behind him."
In the second quarter, when Wallace checked back in, Pierce’s hot streak fizzled. Wallace, the straight-shooting vet, called him out: "Didn’t you say you were gonna trash me? What, you can’t play without a whistle?"
Pierce snapped back, "Shut up! I’ll deal with you later!"
But Wallace, Pierce’s kryptonite, wasn’t fazed. A few possessions later, he taunted, "Just checking—when exactly are you dealing with me?"
Pierce: "..."
In the second half of the quarter, Pierce went 0-for-3 under Wallace’s tenacious defense, sinking into a mental and shooting slump.
Zack knew Wallace and Brown, ejected in Game 3, were the Warriors’ most frustrated players. So, he focused on setting them up.
If you want the horses to run, you’ve got to feed them.
With Zack’s playmaking, the braided duo combined for 14 points in the second half of the quarter.
The Celtics’ defense crumbled under Zack’s orchestration. That night, wary of whether Zack could go god-mode like in Game 2, they amplified his gravitational pull on the court.
Halftime: 64–51. The Warriors carried a 13-point lead into the second half.
The third quarter opened with the Celtics, under the Warriors’ stifling defense, coughing up turnovers left and right. Only Carter seemed to keep his head.
Every NBA team has off nights, but the Celtics’ struggles stemmed from Game 3, where they’d grown used to getting calls in the paint.
When the refs went back to a neutral whistle, the free-throw-dependent Celtics lost their swagger.
Final score: 128–94. At TD Garden, the Warriors blew out the Celtics, securing a 3–1 series lead and match point.
Post-game, Zack, who finished with 38 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists, 4 blocks, and 1 steal, said, "No offense to Celtics fans, but I’d rather wrap this up next game and lift the trophy than go back home to do it."
...