This possession, Artest is going one-on-one against Pierce, back to the basket!
He Xi Meng signals for his teammates to spread out completely, no help defense, letting Pierce guard one-on-one!
Pierce's one-on-one defensive ability is indeed top-tier among small forwards in the league. So, He Xi Meng's arrangement is not wrong.
But in Artest's eyes, the Celtics' arrangement is underestimating him!
Artest was already holding a grudge, wanting to give the Celtics a tough challenge. Now, with He Xi Meng clearing out his teammates, making it seem like Pierce can easily handle Artest, it only angers Artest further!
What's more infuriating is that Pierce is actually holding his ground against Artest's back-to-the-basket drive!
No matter how Artest pushes, Pierce steps back, leans forward with his torso, and presses his weight down on Artest, maintaining his balance and preventing Artest from gaining any ground!
One aggressively attacks, the other aggressively defends.
The collision of their muscles makes loud "thwacking" sounds, evoking a sense of vintage basketball.
Seeing this, the "Chairman" on the sidelines immediately starts clapping, shouting "Defense!" and rousing the entire Boston crowd to join him.
"Does this feel like the rhythm of our games back in the day?"
Larry Bird agrees, "Indeed! The league today is lacking more and more of this passionate offense and defense..."
Artest, amidst the crowd's "Defense!" chants, battles Pierce for nearly 10 seconds.
His movements become more aggressive, the collisions more intense, yet he's still unable to gain his desired position.
Artest, getting carried away, decides to go for it. Without sufficient space, he chooses to forcefully turn and shoot over Pierce.
As the defender, Pierce can't help but feel frustrated.
Artest's toughness is clearly beyond his expectations.
But he's in too deep to back down now!
The entire crowd, including the Chairman and Larry Bird, are cheering him on. At this moment, he can only fight to the end, defending with all his might...
Fortunately, Artest doesn't use the full 24 seconds and attempts a shot over Pierce.
Pierce, of course, doesn't go easy on Artest. He lunges forward and blocks Artest's shot with his fingertips!
Artest immediately shouts for a foul from the referee!
But the league doesn't have the concept of the cylinder violation yet, and furthermore, this is the Celtics' home game!
The referee signals no foul, and the game continues!
Pierce seizes the opportunity to grab the loose ball and turns to push for a fast break!
Enraged by the "unfair" treatment from the referee, Artest unleashes a death drive, crowding Pierce's space mid-run, attempting a forceful steal!
Pierce didn't expect Artest to be so reckless, to dare to commit such an obvious foul! He stumbles, falling to draw the referee's attention!
The referee, not letting Pierce's effort go to waste, immediately blows his whistle, calling Artest for a charging foul!
Artest throws his hands up in a gesture of helplessness, responding to Pierce with a mocking expression: "Exquisite performance!"
Pierce ignores him. Artest, still not satisfied, retorts to the referee: "You've been fooled by an actor!"
The referee also ignores him and turns to signal the Celtics for a sideline inbound.
On this possession, He Xi Meng gives the ball to Pierce as soon as they cross half-court, as a reward for his hard defense!
Honestly, this pass catches Pierce a bit by surprise.
However, now that the ball is in his hands, Pierce has no intention of passing. He has at least ten different ways to score in his arsenal!
But Pierce chooses the most aggressive option, to counter Artest's taunt: a back-down!
Yes, Pierce wants to return the favor, to show Artest what a real back-down fadeaway jumper looks like!
As a result, after another collision of muscle against muscle, a needle-point to needle-point showdown between Artest and Pierce, Pierce's final fadeaway jumper, amidst Artest's intense interference, miraculously goes in!
"Bullshit!" Artest can't help but curse.
"No, no, no! Skill!" Pierce flexes his bicep and then provocatively gestures towards Artest.
Artest falls for the bait and turns, continuing to drive against Pierce!
This time, however, Artest adds a bit of technique, opting for a frontal drive instead of backing down, using his momentum to force his way past Pierce for a layup!
Pierce could have stayed put, as Yao Ming's help defense is already in position.
With Artest leaning on Pierce, it's difficult for him to jump with full force, and thus hard to avoid Yao Ming's block.
But Pierce, wanting to showcase his toughness, goes all out as Artest rises, attempting to swat the ball down with his own strength!
Pierce clearly underestimated Artest's core strength!
In a flash, Artest shifts his grip on the ball and tightens his muscles, firmly securing it...
Pierce's attempt fails to dislodge the ball from Artest's hands. Not only does he commit a foul, but he nearly gives up a three-point play!
"Shit!"
"Shit!"
Both players begin to curse.
Pierce curses because his steal attempt failed, and despite disrupting Artest's rhythm, he ultimately came up short and was called for a foul.
Artest curses because he absorbed Pierce's attempt to steal, successfully nudged the ball towards the basket, but it rimmed out, costing him a potential three-point play.
These two hot-tempered individuals have truly gone head-to-head!
Artest steps to the free-throw line and sinks both shots. He then makes sure to show Pierce his forearm, which is red and swollen from Pierce's defense!
Pierce cocks his head, looking disdainful, and retorts without hesitation, "Just a little gift, no need to thank me..."
He Xi Meng hadn't expected such a fiery spark to ignite between these two!
Less than two minutes into the game, and they look like they want to devour each other!
But it's truly impressive!
Since Antoine Walker was traded by Ainge last season, Pierce has essentially been leading the Celtics as a solo act.
Pierce's playmaking ability isn't bad, averaging around five assists per game. For a small forward, he's quite versatile. This is a key reason why Rivers insisted on building the team around Pierce.
But today, Pierce, provoked by Artest, is clearly getting carried away. He doesn't want to orchestrate; he wants to score! Score against Artest and blow him out...
Throughout Pierce's career, he has often played this role. His scoring average isn't always exceptionally high, but when the opposing team's star player is in peak form, Pierce will self-ignite, transform into a killer, and go shot-for-shot with the opponent!
He did this against Iverson in the playoffs against the 76ers!
He did this against Kobe in the regular season against the Lakers!
Now, Pierce wants to do the same against Artest!
"Give me the ball this game! I'll take down Artest!"