The current starting lineup for the Celtics is center Knight, power forward Walter McCarty, small forward Antoine Walker, shooting guard Ron Mercer, and point guard Billups.
Of the five starting players, three are from last year's draft: Knight, Walter McCarty, and Antoine Walker. Two are from this year's draft: Ron Mercer and Billups. This lineup is indeed incredibly young.
The Celtics, as a team, are sometimes quite bold. They either meticulously accumulate draft picks, or they go all-in. When they make a move, it's earth-shattering.
This season, the green and white team has directly thrust a group of rookies into the starting lineup, clearly aiming for a "survival of the fittest" approach. They throw their rookies into the league's brutal coliseum without any buffer time or opportunities, letting real game experience test their mettle.
Frankly, this approach has its pros and cons. Among these five players, Antoine Walker quickly proved his worth. Billups, however, carried the stigma of being the "bust" third pick, drifted through five seasons and five teams before finally proving himself with the Pistons and being reborn.
Any player with less mental fortitude might have given up entirely during those five years...
Billups is one of the prime examples of a late bloomer in the league.
Before the game officially began, Knight walked over to the Lakers' half of the court to greet his former teammates.
Knight hadn't formed particularly strong friendships with core players like O'Neal and Eddie Jones.
However, his relationship with He Ximeng and Kobe was quite good.
After all, the three of them joined the Lakers around the same time last year, fighting side-by-side on the bench for a season. They trained together, played together, and sat by the water cooler cheering for their teammates... Of course, among the three, He Ximeng improved the fastest, followed by Kobe, and then Knight.
But during O'Neal's injury period, Knight was fortunate enough to be discovered by Coach Harris, playing several good games in a row, which allowed many teams in the league to see his potential. It was precisely for this reason that Knight was selected by the Celtics and became a bargaining chip in the trade for Fox...
This game itself didn't hold much suspense.
With O'Neal's return, the Lakers' interior strength increased significantly. Although Knight had made significant progress last season, he was clearly outmatched against O'Neal, his "big brother" from last season. It's not shameful to lose when you're outmatched. Among active centers in the league, there are plenty who can't beat O'Neal. Those who can match him are few and far between. Those who can beat O'Neal one-on-one are practically non-existent...
O'Neal dominated the Celtics' paint at will, while He Ximeng on the perimeter picked on the newly drafted Billups.
Billups is a representative of late bloomers in the league. This means he was quite raw when he first entered the league.
Despite having a mature face and a very steady demeanor, Billups truly struggled to adapt to the game's rhythm in his early days.
In this game, during his matchup with He Ximeng, Billups played 21 minutes, shot 1-of-3 from the field, scoring only 3 points and grabbing 1 rebound, with no assists but 4 turnovers...
He Ximeng, on the other hand, recorded a near double-double with 15 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
He Ximeng himself hadn't expected that one day he would be "bullying scrubs" on the court! And the person he was bullying was the future "Mr. Clutch" and championship point guard, Billups...
Hmm... After this game, He Ximeng gained a new insight, a new pleasure from playing: he could take the opportunity to bully players when they were young... He'd do it as many times as he could... In the future, these would be glories that couldn't be bought with money...
"Back then, when we were all rookies, I completely dominated Billups..."
If he boasted about this, wouldn't it be amazing? Even more importantly, when someone questioned him, he could pull up the game footage!
Hey! It's really like that! I wasn't bragging, I was just bullying a scrub!
...
However, as a friend from his previous life, He Ximeng still sought out Billups after the game, telling him not to rush, to be patient, to hone his skills, and that he would eventually prove his worth...
Because if history didn't change, Billups' experiences in the next few seasons would still be quite challenging...
Billups never quite understood why He Ximeng was so "enthusiastic" towards him, as if they had known each other for a long time... But as a representative of a player with high emotional intelligence, despite his confusion, Billups immediately accepted He Ximeng's goodwill, treating it as making a new friend.
The Lakers' third regular-season game was also played at home, welcoming the challenge of the Timberwolves!
The current Timberwolves team is still centered around small forward Tom Gugliotta, but power forward Kevin Garnett and point guard Stephon Marbury have gradually grown, starting to crowd out Gugliotta's unlimited shot attempts.
Buoyed by the satisfaction of bullying scrubs in the previous game, He Ximeng wanted to bully his old rival Marbury in this game!
However, Marbury was not the rookie Billups. Although Marbury hadn't reached his career peak yet, with his tough defense and gradually developing chemistry with Garnett, Marbury didn't let He Ximeng do whatever he pleased.
Over the course of the game, Marbury shot 4-of-13 from the field, including 1-of-6 from three-point range. While his shooting percentage was low, he made 6-of-9 free throws, constantly attacking the Lakers' defense to draw fouls, ultimately scoring 15 points and dishing out 7 assists with 2 steals, but also committing a high of 8 turnovers.
He Ximeng played more steadily than Marbury, with only 1 turnover, but it wasn't a complete blowout. He shot 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, scoring 17 points, 8 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.
The Lakers, with their overall superior strength, defeated the Timberwolves 118-93.
Garnett showed flashes of brilliance, recording a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but it couldn't compare to O'Neal's 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Moreover, besides O'Neal and He Ximeng, the Lakers also had Eddie Jones scoring 31 points and Kobe getting 20 points...
In the last three games, although Kobe hasn't started, his playing time has consistently exceeded that of starter Derek Fox.
Fox is the de facto starter, while Kobe is the de facto backup.
He Ximeng couldn't quite grasp Coach Harris's deeper intentions behind this arrangement, but he had to admit that the current Lakers team was filled with healthy competition. Apart from O'Neal, everyone was training diligently, trying to perform well to gain the coaching staff's favor and earn more playing time...