บท 147: Knicks v. Celtics V
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~~~(POV: Ulysses Kennedy)~~~
~~~(Date: October 20th, 2026)~~~
~~~(Location: Madison Square Garden, New York)~~~
~~~(Time: 8:16 PM)~~~
The start of the second quarter marks the shift in mindset for us. The game plan has shifted to making Boston feel pain and show them New York hospitality. It's Boston's ball, and I'm still guarding Tatum. Neither of us has taken any time off.
Jalen Brown starts his isolation and begins to dribble. Brunson is the one guarding him, and he follows the advice I gave him about making Jalen pick up the ball.
He's forced to pass it, and as it comes to Tatum, I pick it off in the passing lane and actually get a steal. No foul calls since I didn't have any contact with anyone. Barret is already on his way down the court, and I pass it down from where I'm at.
He gets a quick two-handed dunk, and now we're back on defense. It's 33 to 29 in our favor. I've gotten my first steal with that move.
Tatum is given the ball on the inbound and he's planning to isolate me. Instead of playing the way the refs can call fouls, I make sure I play at a distance. Not too far, but just far enough to do what I need to do.
After a couple of hesitations and crossovers, he goes for a fading shot on the elbow. Instead of straight up blocking him, I block his vision of the basket with my palm.
It's the next best thing I can do since I'm getting so many foul calls on me. It rims out, and Jericho gets the Rebound. I'm running down the floor, and the pass makes it to my hands. They make sure to stop me with physical energy, and I dribble back out to the three-point line.
"You're in for a sore day after this."
Tatum is guarding me, and he takes my words for everything their worth. I make my way to the left elbow of the key and put my back to the basket, backing Tatum down with great force. In a show that I'm not playing, I spin fast and land a clean elbow on his right cheekbone.
It's a perfect flowing movement as I elevate. I sink the shot for 2 points, and no fouls are called. There are different reactions from everyone. The Knicks crowd is cheering, and I see Hannah jumping up and down. Ellie is trying to hide how happy that made her.
"That's some fucking bullshit, you dirty ass bitch!!"
Smart is bumping chests with me as we transition back on defense, and the refs have to blow the whistle to stop the game. What I did wasn't a part of the plan, but hey. I'm not going down without a fight.
If they want to play this way, I can too.
"Get the fuck over it, bitch."
My response is concise and to the point. This is NBA basketball. If you don't want to be rough-housed, then don't rough-house. If you want to bitch, go play somewhere else.
"Man, you're gonna get rocked if you keep talking to me like that."
Smart points his index finger at my nose, and this gets the attention of the refs as they're trying to settle down other players. Soon, they're on their way over along with everyone else on either team. They pull Smart and me away from each other.
"That was cold, bro. But I think we really needed that."
Barret sounds happy as he tells me this. After a minute or so, the game resumes, and I'm back to guarding Tatum. I continue to block his sight of the basket every time he takes a shot. Most of the time, he's missing.
The second quarter comes to an end, and the game is now 59 to 54 in our favor. We've been going back and forth with the score of the last 3 minutes, but in the final 40 seconds before half time, I scored 5 straight points.
I've got 23 Points, 8 assists, 8 Rebounds, 2 Blocks, and 1 steal so far this game. With so much basketball left to play, I'm excited to keep playing the game like this.
Both teams have been taking hard fouls on each other. I've been getting elbowed in the ribs and hard-fouled since my elbow to Tatum. But the refs are letting us battle it out the hard way. Seems what Rob said to them at the end of the first quarter helped.
We're in the locker room now, taking the half time break. I look around, and my teammates are exhausted. It's good since Boston is just as tired as they are. It's moments like these I'm glad for my stamina.
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