As a result, in the subsequent games, He Xi Meng, who had originally planned to coast and play a "health-preserving" style of basketball, was so infuriated that he shot several more three-pointers. Before the third quarter ended, he had already broken down the Knicks.
112:99, the Celtics easily defeated the Knicks at home.
He Xi Meng unintentionally scored a game-high 32 points and 14 assists. 32 points was also He Xi Meng's highest individual score of the new season.
After the game, Marbury left the court without looking back, not even saying goodbye to the Celtics.
He Xi Meng's good intentions were apparently wasted on Marbury.
After seeing Marbury off, the Celtics' second home game was against the Bobcats.
The new team, the Bobcats, without the leadership of "Jumpman," had very little presence in the league and their strength remained as poor as ever.
In the new season, the core players for the Bobcats were Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor.
Besides them, there were basically no outstanding role players.
"Such a weak team, there's really no need for them to exist..."
Before the game started, "Jumpman," seeing the Bobcats' six-game losing streak, couldn't help but lament.
"Didn't you once consider investing in the Bobcats?" He Xi Meng didn't hesitate to expose "Jumpman's" past thoughts.
"If I were in charge of the Bobcats, would they be this pathetic?" "Jumpman" said with disdain.
He Xi Meng took a deep breath, not engaging in a verbal sparring match with "Jumpman."
In fact, the Bobcats' current core lineup was essentially no different from when "Jumpman" was in charge in the original history...
The subsequent game was uneventful.
No one provoked He Xi Meng in this game, and He Xi Meng had no intention of provoking the Bobcats.
Yao Ming exerted his dominance in the paint, single-handedly overwhelming the young Okafor.
Carter's shooting touch was not good in this game, and he missed many shots.
However, Monta Ellis off the bench had a small breakout game, scoring 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, second only to Yao Ming on the team.
Monta Ellis took another solid step on his path to becoming the Celtics' super sixth man.
After defeating the Bobcats, the Celtics' third home game was against the Trail Blazers.
This season, the Trail Blazers had completely rebuilt. Apart from Randolph, there was basically no one reliable to use on the team.
However, on the bench, He Xi Meng spotted an Asian face, the Korean player Ha Jin Sung!
In the eyes of Koreans, Ha Jin Sung was an inside beast comparable to Yao Ming.
But on the Trail Blazers, Ha Jin Sung only got 5 minutes of playing time in garbage time and didn't even get a chance to guard Yao Ming.
Gortat, part of the Celtics' third lineup, could make Ha Jin Sung look completely lost, let alone the starting lineup's Yao Ming.
After winning three consecutive home games, the Celtics were about to embark on a road trip.
He Xi Meng was in the rhythm of his "health-preserving" basketball, training the rookies, helping Carter improve his personal statistics, and helping Yao Ming control his game intensity. Everyone got what they needed.
In the blink of an eye, the game arrived at the annual Christmas Day battle.
For this year's Christmas Day game, the league had arranged the Celtics' opponent to be the Purple and Gold Lakers!
The Yellow-Green battle, unseen for many years, was once again staged in the league.
However, led by He Xi Meng, Carter, and Yao Ming, the Celtics' record in the Eastern Conference was second only to the Five Tigers Pistons, ranking second.
The Lakers, under Kobe's single-core leadership, barely ranked eighth in the Western Conference.
The two teams were not evenly matched, but the fans were still highly anticipating this matchup.
This was because in the 25 games that had concluded, Kobe was averaging 36 points per game! Even more ferocious than Iverson in his prime.
Facing such a fierce Kobe, how would He Xi Meng respond?
Both Lakers and Celtics fans were full of curiosity.
Before the game, even Kobe was full of curiosity and asked He Xi Meng, "Let's break the rules for once, have a big battle?"
"No! For this Christmas performance, your opponent is Carter, maybe Yao Ming will join, but definitely not me!" He Xi Meng resolutely denied.
"That's no fun! You can slack off against other players, but you dare to slack off against me? Do you know how many points I've been scoring recently?"
"I know."
"Then do you believe I'll blow your team out?"
"That, I really don't believe!" He Xi Meng shook his head with sincere expression. "How many points can you score alone? 35 points? 45 points? 55 points? Have you seen Carter's and Da Yao's average points per game this season?"
Kobe frowned and remained silent.
"Carter is averaging 28 points per game in the current season! Da Yao is averaging 22 points per game. Even if you manage to score 55 points against me, you're only 5 points ahead of Carter and Da Yao. I won't score just 5 points, will I?"
"I'm not fighting alone either!" Kobe said stubbornly.
"Who do you have around you? Odom? Brian Cook? Smush Parker? Chris Mihm? Andrew Bynum? Oh, sorry, Bynum seems to be injured! It seems like the only reliable person around you is Odom?"
"This is no way to talk! You keep poking at my weak spots. I invited you too! But you refused to come to the Lakers and team up with me."
"Going to the Lakers is a bit difficult..."
"Listening to you, it's possible to go to other teams?" Kobe keenly caught the loophole in He Xi Meng's words.
He Xi Meng originally didn't want to discuss this issue with Kobe so early, but since Kobe had brought it up to this point, He Xi Meng followed up by asking Kobe, "Are you interested in owning a team?"
"What?" Kobe thought he misheard. "Isn't owning a team something to consider after retirement? I remember the league doesn't allow active players to hold shares in a team."
"The league doesn't allow it! But the league also doesn't say you can't have a proxy hold it?"
"Really? Is it reliable?"
"As far as I know, someone is already doing it," He Xi Meng replied in a low voice.
"Who?" Kobe's interest was immediately piqued. "Are they familiar with me?"
"This involves others' privacy, so I won't spread it around casually." He Xi Meng acted as if he was keeping a secret. "Anyway, you can consider this suggestion. If you have the idea of owning a team after retirement, then find someone to hold it for you now, acquire a team, and then play for them to expand the team's influence... I guarantee that buying a team is only profitable and never a loss! Acquiring a team now costs around four hundred million, and in ten to twenty years, it will be at least twenty hundred million..."