The Darkest Moment of the Celtics Madison Garden Burial Defending Dream

Celtic assistant coach Amir Jefferson walked through the porch of the locker room and walked straight to Jason Tatum's mother Brandy Cole-Barnes. The coach, who has been in the same fraternity as Tatum since Duke, stretched out his long arms and brought Cole Barnes into his arms.

If Tatum had not been injured and retreated in the end of the fourth quarter of the fourth battle, his close relative would not have appeared in the locker room. Mother, stepfather Marcus "Jack" Barnes and trainer Drew Hanlun are all gathered here at this moment. As everyone walked out of the examination room, their faces were full of fatigue and worries. Although coach Mazula said the severity of the injury was not yet known, the solemn atmosphere before the MRI had said it all.

The teammates hesitated whether they should visit. "He was surrounded by people," Porzingis explained why he had not visited. "Now is probably the most turbulent moment. "

This surging swept across the entire Celtic army. They came to New York with a determination to regroup, but left with a 1-3 desperate situation and the bad news of core injuries. Three minutes before the end of the game, Tatum suddenly lost control of his right leg while competing for the floor ball, and was helped away by the staff after rolling in pain. ESPN footage captures the scene of him sitting in a wheelchair covering his face. At this moment, the Celtics' path to defending the title and future plans are in fog.

"Losing is a foregone conclusion," Horford said in a deep voice, "I am more worried about Jason himself. "

This serious injury may rewrite Tatum's career trajectory. Even if he wins the championship this season, the Celtics will face the pressure of a luxury tax of $500 million in the offseason, and now the core may be out of the game for a long time, making the lineup restructuring urgently. Horford, 39, is about to become a free agent, and Ju Holiday's defensive value will decrease with age. If Tatum is injured for a long time, the management may start a more drastic reconstruction than expected. In the locker room, the rustling sound of equipment sorting is mixed with the sound of Porzingis taking out skin care products. Brown was almost out of control at the press conference: "I can't speak now... It seems that things are not good. "

Since joining in 2017, Tatum has created an iron man image with his league number one attendance rate. Even though he suffered heavy falls in the first round, he returned from the front line only after missing one game. Because of this, the whole team was heartbroken when witnessing him being taken away. "He is the kind of person who will get up immediately," Mazula's voice was hoarse, "but this time he didn't. "

Tatumben has a chance to turn the tide in this game. He scored 11 points in the last quarter at 1 minute and 44 seconds to establish his advantage. Facing Towns' single defense, he dribbled the ball under his crotch and took a three-pointer and entered the net. The performance of 42 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks in the game seems to be a recurrence of the life-and-death battle against the Bucks in 2022.

When the Knicks eroded the 14-point difference in the third quarter, Tatum took the lead in stepping into the stadium and nodded to the music of the venue. In the last quarter, he scored two key three-pointers and forced Anunobi to score 2+1 to extend his life. "To be honest," said Dons frankly, "Tatum shot too many fairy balls. "

But the collapse of the Celtics had long been omens. After White's three-pointer expanded his advantage to 72-58 in the third quarter, he missed his defense for three consecutive times, allowing Brunson to lead the team to a climax of 11-0: communication errors after the timeout, missing open three-pointers, switching to a chaotic defensive layup, Brown's three-point foul upgraded to malicious intentions - in just 90 seconds, the lead 14 points shrank to 5 points.

"Frankly, the defense was terrible tonight," Brown blamed himself, "No resistance. "

The collapse of the defending champion may have been on the rise. Since the Warriors completed their consecutive championships in 2018, no team has been able to win the championship again. Physical overdrawn, mental fatigue, and fateful reincarnation... When Anunobi dunked 3 minutes and 3 seconds before the end of the game, the cracks in the Celtics were no longer repairable.

Although Horford emphasized that "the fifth battle in Wednesday will still win", the Celtics, who lost their core, knew that the situation was hopeless. The "18 Crown" flags hung on the wall of the locker room cast shadows, reflecting the darkest moment of the night of dynasty change.

(Text/Kong Yang)