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Chapter 302: Celtics vs Knicks End
🕑 Added 2025-08-14 19:19:08 +0000 UTCThe Knicks came in tonight looking sharp, and from the opening tip, they had the Celtics pinned down in every phase of the game. Honestly, the only way they were losing this one was if Lin Yi suddenly forgot how to shoot and went completely cold — the dreaded “0-for-the-night” kind of cold.
But that wasn’t happening. Lin had been grinding away at his shot these past few weeks, and it showed. The man’s daily work ethic was becoming a kind of rhythm in itself.
By the final stretch, Boston couldn’t hold the line anymore. Watching these young Knicks run at them in waves, you could almost see the moment the Celtics veterans decided, Alright, fine — you got us tonight.
Final score: Celtics 96, Knicks 112. Another statement win.
And for Lin Yi, it was more than just a W. Tonight was the night he officially claimed his token victory over Kevin Garnett — the league’s old “fight, trash talk, retire you” specialist. Lin spent the fourth quarter going right at him, scoring in every way imaginable.
Stat line? Lin clocked 38 minutes, went 12-for-20 from the field, hit 5-of-11 from deep, and knocked down 11-of-11 at the stripe. Game-high 40 points, plus 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks.
Garnett? 34 minutes, 5-of-14 shooting, no free throws, 10 points, 7 boards, 2 assists. Still a warrior, but at 34 years old, he’s not in that top-tier power forward conversation anymore.
Meanwhile, over in the West, 32-year-old Dirk Nowitzki had an off night against the Spurs — just 12-of-24 shooting, “only” 26 points and 10 rebounds. For Dirk, that’s considered soft.
And the Celtics’ steadiest hand tonight? Coach Doc Rivers’ trusted vet Ray Allen — 28 minutes, 8-for-12, 20 points, and a single rebound with a couple of assists. Reliable as ever, but it wasn’t enough to swing the game.
For the Knicks, this win left just one more opponent before Christmas: the Cavaliers. Beat them, and it’s straight into the marquee Christmas Day showdown against the Heat. Lin couldn’t shake the feeling that Commissioner Stern had planned it this way — setting him up as a kind of holiday challenge to LeBron.
In Lin’s mind, he could almost hear Stern muttering: “Perfect. Two birds with one stone.”
After the game, Rivers was gracious in defeat.
“We’ll definitely look to strengthen mid-season,” he said. “Right now, the Knicks are the best team in the East in my eyes. They’re legitimate championship contenders.”
One reporter tossed the big one at him:
“Do you think Lin can win MVP this year?”
Rivers didn’t hesitate.
“His play is MVP-caliber. If he stays healthy all season, I don’t see why not.”
When Lin saw the interview later, he just sighed. He knew how this league worked — too much praise, and the media would twist it into pressure, or worse, a target. In his head, he could already hear the headlines loading: “Is Lin Yi the MVP frontrunner?” followed quickly by the inevitable pushback.
So when it was his turn in front of the microphones, Lin steered away from MVP talk and title predictions. Instead, he turned the spotlight elsewhere:
“To me, the Heat are the team to beat in the league this season. They’ve got LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, and their roster depth is better than any of the other 29 teams.”
Let the Heat take a round of the league’s trash-talk heat. No need to paint a target on your own back when someone else can take the fire.
After all, staying humble in public isn’t just about manners — it’s about survival in the NBA’s shark tank. And if the Heat wanted to walk into that storm with their trades preseason, Lin Yi was more than happy to step aside and let them.
...
December 19, 2010
The announcement came in like clockwork: Lin Yi had been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week yet again. Sixth time this season. Sixth! The New York press couldn’t resist poking fun at it.
“We might as well rename it the ‘Lin Yi of the Week Award,’” one headline joked.
Derrick Rose’s Bulls were winning plenty, but when you stacked the numbers side by side, Rose’s production was two steps — maybe three — behind. Quietly, Lin Yi was overshadowing the guy who’d been the 2010–11 MVP in the original timeline.
Then came the other big reveal: the first round of All-Star voting results. With Lin slotted as a forward this year, the East’s center spot had opened up — and Lin wasn’t just leading forwards. He was leading everybody, period. More than 2.7 million votes. Madison Square Garden was buzzing.
The East’s top five vote-getters: Rose, Wade, LeBron, Lin Yi, and… Shaquille O’Neal.
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Somewhere in Orlando, Dwight Howard stared at the numbers, clenched his jaw, and very nearly sent his brand-new computer flying. Last season, Lin hadn’t even gotten this level of fan love. Now? O’Neal — who was supposed to be past his prime — was back as an All-Star starter, while Superman was coming off the bench.
But even Dwight wasn’t foolish enough to air that frustration publicly. O’Neal’s reputation was carved in stone, and the younger big man could only take out his feelings on an unfortunate computer.
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Shaq himself? Sentimental. Returning to the All-Star starting five had him feeling nostalgic — though lately he’d been playfully warning Lin Yi:
“Big fella, save the ‘Shaq Splash’ for special occasions, huh?”
Lin had helped the big man’s campaign, posting plenty of Shaq-related content on Weibo and Twitter. O’Neal, always a showman, took to the social media spotlight like a natural. Too bad it wasn’t the TikTok era — a dancing Shaq in 2010 would’ve broken the internet.
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Out West, the first five were Chris Paul, Kobe, Durant, Carmelo, and Yao Ming.
Durant’s relentless online hustle — hopping onto burner accounts to hype himself — was paying off, as was the Oklahoma City fanbase’s enthusiasm. Teammates like Westbrook and Harden pitched in with praise during interviews:
“It’d be a shame if one of the game’s best scorers wasn’t starting,” Harden told reporters.
And then there was Yao. Back healthy, back dominant, and with the altered timeline firmly in his favor, the Western Conference center spot was his without question. The 2011 All-Star Game in Los Angeles was guaranteed to make history.
But not everyone was thrilled. The Lakers’ own Phil Jackson knew that, unlike last season, there’d be no convincing Kobe to sit this one out. Last time, Kobe had played through and grabbed the All-Star Game MVP, aggravating his injuries in the process. At 32, even Kobe’s iron will couldn’t completely ignore his body’s warning signs.
The Zen Master had trimmed his minutes to around 34 a night, reluctant to burn his star out before the playoffs. Deep down, Phil knew this Laker squad was already at its limit.
...
December 21, 2010
Knicks vs. Cavaliers at the Garden. And this one? Over before halftime. New York’s defense smothered Cleveland, and by the end of the second quarter, it was garbage time. Without a few prideful veterans fighting to keep things respectable, the Cavs looked like they were gunning for a place in “Worst Record in NBA History” territory.
When the buzzer sounded, the Knicks had moved to 25–4.
Nobody outside of New York had predicted this kind of start back in October. ESPN’s latest power rankings had the Knicks sitting alone at No. 1. The city’s fans were giddy, and belief was spreading fast: this could be their first No. 1 seed in the East since the 1992–93 season. Eighteen years ago — so long ago that plenty of today’s Knicks fans hadn’t even been born.
MSG was electric. The Christmas Day game against the Miami Heat was coming, and the buildup felt like a holiday in itself. Fans were already prepping banners, posters, and chants to light up the Garden.
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December 25 — Christmas Day
Somewhere in the tunnel, Lin Yi was tying his sneakers, blocking out the noise, but he could feel it — the weight, the buzz, the city leaning forward in anticipation.
Christmas had come to Madison Square Garden, and so had the Heat.
