The experienced Danny Ainge controlled the rhythm on the court and trash-talked Petrović, trying to provoke him to handle the ball more and go for more one-on-one attacks, aiming to speed up the game pace.
"You're about to get past me, come on! Croatian? Or should I call you Yugoslavian?" Ainge kept provoking Petrović both defensively and offensively.
At that time, Yugoslavia was already clouded by the shadows of war, filled with racial confrontations and secessionist sentiments.
With big Serbian nationalists like Milošević taking power in the country, the secessionist forces within Yugoslavia were getting restless.
In July 1990, Kosovo declared independence, and the Yugoslavian civil war was on the brink of starting.
Ainge, notorious for his sharp and even malicious tongue, named Dennis Johnson "Chemotherapy" when Johnson was first traded to the Celtics.
