After defeating the New York Knicks led by "Little Melon" Anthony, "Little Overlord" Amarestoud Meier and "Lin Crazy" Jeremy Lin, the Hawks' record finally surpassed the Chicago Bulls and became second in the East, second only to the Miami Heat.

At present, the Hawks' goal is to stabilize the top three.

However, the Hawks' next schedule is not easy.

The Hawks are not easy to play in the next two games, with their opponents being the Boston Celtics led by the Big Four and the Oklahoma City Thunder led by the "Twins".

The Celtics and Wu Feng are old opponents. In the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season, it was Wu Feng's Magic team that defeated them and ruined their dream of winning.

So next time, we will meet the Hawks and Wu Feng. The Celtics are particularly concerned about them, especially Rajon Rondo.

There is no need to say anything about the Thunder. They are currently the second best team in the West, second only to the experienced Spurs.

Therefore, it is quite difficult for the Hawks to keep second, especially after Derek Rose's return, the Bulls' record has steadily increased.

However, even so, Atlanta people will not give up. Although their goal is the top three, they are quite coveted by the first place.

However, Hawks head coach Larry Drew considers the physical condition of the players and will not squeeze the players' bodies for victory in some difficult games.

In other words, from now on, Larry Drew has considered reducing the playing time of some main players. After all, more than half of this season has passed and the playoffs are coming soon.

As early as a week ago, the Hawks had already secured the playoffs ahead of schedule. Now they are ranked second in the East, so Larry Drew sets the goal for the players only in the top three.

Larry Drew doesn't want to be like his next opponent, the Celtics, whenever the playoffs approach, one of the three giants will be absent due to injury.

This has happened to the Celtics almost since 2009.

Of course, this is also related to the physical factors of the three giants. After all, they are all in their thirties and can no longer withstand such a large amount of physical energy consumption.

After defeating the Knicks, the Hawks finally got a two-day break.

They took advantage of the two days to adjust their state in order to deal with the next Bostonians.

The Celtics also attach great importance to this game. In addition to Wu Feng's reason, it is also related to their current record.

Now, the Boston Celtics have dropped from the previous second in the Eastern Conference to fourth. If they don't make any efforts, they may be pulled down by the fifth-ranked Pacers, thus losing their home advantage in the playoffs.

Therefore, in every next game, they have to do their best. If they can move forward again, it is naturally good. If they cannot move forward, they must at least maintain the fourth place.

However, for this home court advantage, they had to do their best, and Kevin Garnett and their bodies were not easy to withstand such consumption.

So, for this issue, Celtics head coach Doug Rivers has a headache.

…………

Time passed like a flash of time, and in a blink of an eye, two days have passed.

It's six o'clock in the evening. In another hour, the Hawks will accept the challenge from the Boston Celtics at their home Phillips Arena.

In this game, the three old giants were there, and none of them were absent.

Of course, Wu Feng's old rival, Rajan Rondo, is also on the list.

Apart from these four people, the other player who played for the Celtics is Jermaine O'Neal.

On the Hawks, there is no Cockshinrich on the list. He is replaced by the 'answer' who has performed well recently.

This is not surprising. Koksinridge has not been in good condition recently and his physical condition is not very optimistic. Iverson is different. He has played a lot recently and performed very well, so it is natural to be mentioned in the position, especially Iverson fans are the most supportive.

However, what shocked everyone was that Wu Feng was not on the list, and Jeff Teague replaced him.

In an interview before the start of this game, Larry Drew had already stated that he would reduce the playing time of the main players.

Now it seems that Wu Feng is the first player to be reduced in playing time.

In fact, this is not difficult to understand. Wu Feng is the absolute core of the Hawks. Larry Drew must ensure his health. What's more, Wu Feng had too much playing time before, and there was another example of injury.

So Larry Drew put Wu Feng on the bench, first to reduce his playing time, and second to try to stagger the match with Rajon Rondo as much as possible, so as to reduce physical strength.

Al Horford and Jermaine O'Neal jumped the ball to kick off the game.

The 'Chef' easily won the jump ball and moved the ball to Jeff Teague's hand very accurately.

Jeff Teague took the ball and came out of the three-point line and handed the ball to Allen Iverson's hands.

After Allen Iverson received the ball, Josh Smith actively came up to make a cover, and the former successfully got rid of Rajon Rondo's follow-up defense.

After Josh Smith brought it up, Kevin Garnett naturally followed, and the space under the basket was immediately pulled apart. Jeff Teague gave Marvin Williams another no-ball screen and directly threw away Paul Pierce from the middle and tangled towards the basket.

"Swish", Allen Iverson made a good goal very easily, assisting Marvin Williams to make a layup easily, leaving the Hawks with the first two points.

"Good ball." Wu Feng, who was sitting off the court, couldn't help but clench his fists and shouted.

"Marvin...William...S!" DJ at the scene shouted Marvin Williams' name loudly.

Marvin Williams well implemented the tactics that Larry Drew had arranged before the game and cut the basket with long and short cuts. Under his leadership, the Hawks made a good start and scored a 9:2 start, forcing Celtics head coach Doug Rivers to request a timeout.

After the timeout, the Celtics replaced Jermaine O'Neal with Brandon Bass.

When Wu Feng saw Brandon Bass appear on the court, he showed a smile on his face.

Last season, the two were teammates.

However, after Wu Feng transferred to the Hawks, Brandon Bass was traded to the Celtics without staying with the Magic for long.

Therefore, when Wu Feng saw his old teammates on the court, he still felt a little intimate.

However, he is sitting off the court now. If he is on the court, he might want to face the previous pair head-on with him.

After the Celtics called this timeout, they strengthened their defense, allowing the Hawks to have two 24-second offensive violations in two minutes. They themselves also scored a 6-0 climax. In a blink of an eye, the gap narrowed to 1 point.

And Larry Drew had to request a timeout to adjust the lineup.

After the game started again, Wu Feng replaced Josh Smith, and the Hawks' lineup suddenly became a small lineup.

"Hey, Rajon. Your old friend is here." Paul Pierce bent over and reminded Rajon Rondo.

Rajon Rondo wiped the sweat beads on his face, nodded, and replied to Paul Pierce, "Haha, my blood is burning."

"Do you defend him or I defend him?" Paul Pierce asked Rajon Rondo.

"I am in the same position as him, of course I have to guard against him myself!" Rajon Rondo replied without hesitation.

Looking at Rajon Rondo's firm look, Paul Pierce nodded and said, "Okay. He led the Orlando guys to eliminate us in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. We must take revenge today."

Rajon Rondo did not speak, but expressed his thoughts with his actions. When Wu Feng just arrived at the Celtics halftime, he stuck it up with a quick step.

"Rajon, are you so anxious to fight me?" Wu Feng avoided Rajon Rondo's temptation and asked with a smile.

"The last time it was my carelessness. This game must be guarded against you."

Wu Feng smiled slightly, stepped forward and then started to break through from the right wing. Rajon Rondo's defense against Wu Feng was indeed more skillful than in the previous few matches. Obviously, he was already familiar with his skills.

Pulling back a little, Wu Feng changed direction and broke through from Rajon Rondo's left. Immediately afterwards, there were continuous changes and fake moves. Rajon Rondo was suddenly a little overwhelmed, and was shocked by Wu Feng's footwork of breaking through.

Wu Feng accelerated again and directly got rid of Rajon Rondo's defense. However, in order to break through Rajon Rondo, Wu Feng spent a lot of time. Paul Pierce, who had been observing Wu Feng's side, quickly made up after seeing his partner being broken by the opponent.

Not only Paul Pierce was observing Wu Feng, but Marvin Williams was also observing Wu Feng. When Wu Feng attracted Paul Pierce's backup defense, Marvin Williams immediately accelerated, circled around for a half circle, and slipped down the bottom line on the right towards the basket.

During the breakthrough, Wu Feng observed his teammates' running status. When Marvin Williams cut from the baseline again, he quickly passed the ball with a hit. The ball passed through Brandon Bass' crotch and came to Marvin Williams's hand.

"Bang", after Marvin Williams received the ball, he dunked his personal sixth point with both hands.

"Wu...Feng, Marvin...William...S..." DJ at the scene roared again to celebrate Wu Feng and Marvin Williams.

The home fans cheered excitedly while beating the cheering stick in their hands.

Paul Pierce's face was filled with anger after allowing his opponent to cut easily to the basket several times in a row.

Ray Allen dribbled in the frontcourt, and after Rajon Rondo lifted the ball from the bottom line, he handed the ball to his hands.

Rajon Rondo did not stick too much to the ball. He handed the ball to Paul Pierce just after halftime. After receiving the ball, the latter got up and threw it. The ball drew a beautiful arc in the air and fell into the basket with a "swish".

Wu Feng organized the offense with the ball, and passed the bottom line to Allen Iverson at the top of the arc. Allen Iverson faced Ray Allen's defense, and made a mid-range jump shot. The ball made a "swish" sound and hit the net.

Transposition of offense and defense.

Paul Pierce forced a breakthrough, but was double-teamed by Wu Feng and Marvin Williams. So Paul Pierce divided the ball into Ray Allen on the outside. Ray Allen took a step back and jumped, but was disturbed by Allen Iverson, and the ball hit the basket and bounced.

Wu Feng pressed Kevin Garnett and forced the rebound, then passed it to Allen Iverson's hand.

Allen Iverson's recent performance has made the Hawks coaching staff more and more satisfied, so he has gained more offensive action.

When he first joined the Hawks in the first half of the season, Allen Iverson's performance was not recognized by the Hawks coaching staff.

After Allen Iverson stabilized the rhythm, he passed the ball to Wu Feng.

Facing a player with speed and physical fitness like Rajon Rondo, Wu Feng naturally got a twelve-point spirit and slowly dribbled the ball through the half.

As the two gradually approached, Rajon Rondo's expression became more and more serious.

In the previous few matches, he won less and lost more. Especially last year's defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals, he suffered a significant blow.

Therefore, in this game, he and captain Paul Pierce decided to take revenge.

However, just as he was planning to regain his face in this game, he suddenly realized that Wu Feng's strength had become stronger than before.

Wu Feng's continuous change of direction and false action did not deceive Rajon Rondo, and he failed several times in breakthroughs. Wu Feng was not depressed at all, because these were expected.

Rajon Rondo is a top outside defender in the league. Before this season, he has been selected into the All-Defensive Team three times and two times in the All-Defensive Team first.

From this we can see that Rajon Rondo's strong defense is by no means a joke.

Suddenly, Wu Feng's right shoulder shook back. The ball and the person turned 180 degrees. The center of his body moved slightly back, and his whole body suddenly pressed against Rajon Rondo.
To be continued...