Champions Creed

Chapter 244 243: You are only worthy of looking me in the eye at this height (asking for monthly tickets!)

Allan Houston and Alonzo Mourning's outstanding performances on offense ensured that the Heat stayed in the game.

You have to admit that this Miami Heat team has strong hard power.

Even though Sprewell and Jamal Mashburn have been beaten to a pulp, there are still people on the Heat who can stand up.

Alan Houston's touch was really good today. At the beginning, he only shot in the sweet spot of mid-range and long-range.

But as the game went on, he took more three-point shots and his hit rate was very high.

Pippen didn't just take the back door. His active defense interfered with most of Alan Houston's shots.

But with Alan Houston's hot hands, Pippen's interference seemed somewhat pale and powerless.

Mourning's close-range jump shot today was also very accurate, it was like Duncan himself.

Sprewell's last bit of dignity was entirely supported by Houston and Mourning.

Because of their efforts, the madman still has the illusion: I haven’t lost yet!

Not losing yet, this is the last straw for a basketball player who is performing poorly.

No matter how he performs on the court, as long as the team wins, he will benefit from it.

For example, no one cared about Joel Embiid's performance of 1 for 0 shooting and only 2 points in the Olympic final, because Stephen Curry's three-pointer made the US team the champion.

Even if you are a clown who can only mess up the show's effects, no one will question your gold medal.

So as long as the Heat can win, Sprewell's miserable night can still be salvaged.

After the start of the fourth quarter, Alan Houston continued to increase his scoring data.

PJ Brown's perfect off-ball screen allowed Alan Houston to get rid of Pippen again and again and get the chance to catch the ball.

Pippen tried every time to squeeze Alan Houston's shooting space, but most of his efforts were in vain.

Sprewell simply gave up attacking and devoted himself to defense.

In fact, Sprewell made great progress in his defensive skills during his time with the Heat.

Since Riley took over the Heat, he has created a team culture of "defense wins."

In the atmosphere and system of the Heat, no one doesn't work hard on defense.

The same is true for Sprewell, whose defense is not even bad compared to when he was in the defensive lineup.

Especially the one-on-one biting is very advanced.

But because the chokehold incident was so notorious, Sprewell never received any defensive honors again.

What coach would vote for a jerk who almost killed his colleague?
So in a way, Sprewell's defense was underrated during this period.

Sprewell's serious one-on-one defense made it difficult for Pierce to get scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter, and the offense completely turned into a competition between Roger, Alan Houston and Alonzo Mourning.

The same was true in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Roger had to take a lot of shots and rely on his personal firepower to support the team's offense.

The difference is that Roger's offensive environment is obviously much better this season.

The Heat didn't dare to let go of Marion, didn't dare to let go of Pierce, and didn't dare to relax their vigilance against Pippen.

Roger will never again be trapped in the tight siege like last season.

Now, it all depends on who among Roger, Alan Houston and Alonzo Mourning will make consecutive mistakes first.

The final outcome was that neither side made any mistakes.

They always maintain a high hit rate, and even if they miss occasionally, they can immediately continue firing in the next round.

Roger easily achieved the goal of "50 points with 40% shooting rate", and Jamal Mashburn's title of "Roger Killer" will be completely removed from now on.

But the game was not won yet. With 1 minute and 13 seconds left, Alan Houston made an ultra-long-range three-pointer to narrow the gap to 3 points.

Alan Houston just swung his fist lightly after scoring the goal, but Sprewell, who didn't even touch the ball in this attack, jumped up and yelled at Roger: "Don't think you can beat me easily!"

At this moment, Sprewell is quite the team player.

My teammates’ scores equal my scores, we are equal!
But Sprewell was disappointed, Roger still ignored him.

Even at this critical moment, Roger remained calm.

He felt like a clown, jumping around like crazy trying to attract Roger's attention, but Roger wouldn't even look at him.

The Hawks paused the game so that Lenny Wilkens could make some arrangements to ensure that he could maintain the advantage.

Of course, this timeout also gave Pat Riley the opportunity to arrange his defense.

The next defense is the key. As long as the Heat can contain Roger, they still have a chance to win.

To achieve his goal, Pat Riley made a bold defensive arrangement.

The game resumed and all Miami fans were unable to take their seats.

They expect the team to be able to deal with Roger on this night. Roger is a thorn in the hearts of all Heat fans and a symbol of the team's powerlessness in the past few years.

Last season, Heat fans got their wish to beat Roger.

But that is not enough.

Because the whole world knows that the Eagles last season were an incomplete Eagles. You could even say that it was an Eagles that was undergoing a soft reconstruction.

The team's second-leading scorer was suddenly replaced by a first-year kid. If this isn't a soft reconstruction, what is it?
Whether or not the Heat can stop this season's Hawks is the key to whether they can dominate the Eastern Conference.

Pippen dribbled the ball across half court, and the field was filled with the passionate shouts of "Defense! Defense!" from Miami fans.

As if it were a routine, Pippen immediately passed the ball to Roger after approaching the three-point line.

Jamal Mashburn has stopped talking, after all, he has allowed Roger to score 43 points.

However, as long as his defense is successful this time, his dignity can be restored.

Like Sprewell, he can only rely on winning games to cover up his personal incompetence.

In fact, in this defense, these two people who needed to regain their dignity were closely linked together.

Mashburn glanced at Sprewell, then took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Roger started to break through, and Jamal Mashburn used his body to hold back Roger's attack. At the same time, Sprewell attacked from the side at the right time!
Roger's breakthrough route was blocked instantly, and he had no space to shoot at all.

He jumped up with the help of two people and passed the ball to Paul Pierce who was left open.

But in fact, Pierce was not left open, because Sprewell and P.J. Brown both pounced on him at the first moment.

Riley's strategy just now was to let Sprewell double-team Roger, and then use quick rotation to interfere with Pierce's shot.

He was betting that Pierce's gun had no bullets.

The Eagles fans were in a trance, as if the scene was replaying a nightmare.

In the final moments of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Hawks were trailing by points. Roger had to pass the ball to Pierce when he was double-teamed. As long as he made that shot to tie the score, there would still be hope for the game.

As a result, Pierce missed the key shot and finished 9 of 1 in the game.

Now, the Hawks are leading by 3 points. But if Pierce fails to make this shot, the balance of victory will tilt towards the Heat.

Pierce received the ball and looked at Sprewell and P.J. Brown who were pressing towards him, but he was not nervous.

He would not allow himself to fall in the same place twice.

He didn't want to disappoint someone who had tolerated him twice.

He didn't want Roger's tolerance anymore.

He wanted Roger's praise.

A light of "I will never lose like this again" flashed on Pierce's face.

He was ready to be part of a dynasty.

Pierce shot steadily, the basketball passed over the fingertips of P.J. Brown and Sprewell, and then fell into the basket.

"Goal! Paul Pierce did not repeat the tragedy of last season! This three-pointer gave the Hawks a 55-point lead in the last 6 seconds! There is no chance, the Heat have no chance! I'm not talking about this game, I mean that the Miami Heat will never, ever be able to beat the Hawks again!" What Magic saw was not a goal, but a key to open the door to a dynasty.

This three-pointer, yesterday's live broadcast, all of these are the process of the door to the dynasty slowly opening.

Roger's best helper is in place, and he won't hold Roger back anymore.

This team has everything in place for greatness.

Roger high-fived Pierce and gave him a thumbs-up. "Great. If being stabbed 13 times makes you stronger, I can serve you every summer."

"Fuck you, Roger!"

The competition venue was dead silent.

God and his apostles successfully spread fear in Miami.

But the Heat haven't given up completely, and Sprewell hasn't given up completely.

He didn't want to lose his big contract, and even more so, he didn't want to lose his dignity.

In this round, he wanted to make a quick two-pointer, so after getting the ball, he leaned against Pierce and went straight to the basket.

Mourning helped him block Big Ben, and Marion was also dragged down by PJ Brown.

But Sprewell still couldn't escape his fate, because Roger, who had a keen defensive sense, rushed into the penalty area and pressed the basketball that Sprewell was holding high to the ground.

The huge impact force also knocked Sprewell out of the baseline.

Sprewell fell to the ground, and after Roger landed, he couldn't stop due to inertia and rushed forward.

then.

Roger deliberately spread his legs and "staggered" forward a few steps, straddling Sprewell's head!

"Latrell, you are only worthy of looking me in the eye from this height." Roger looked down at Sprewell with an emotionless voice, completely crushing his self-esteem.

The man who openly defied the Kings in summer league was met with a foregone conclusion.

The annoying wild dog finally stopped barking, and when the hand of fate grabbed his throat, he couldn't even scream.

Faced with this extremely humiliating action, Sprewell did not resist, but just waited for the referee's rescue.

Because he knew that Pierce and Roger were different from Kevin Garnett.

They really beat you up.

Now Sprewell only feels regret. If he had not gone to Boston that day, had not gone to the summer league, and had not said those stupid words in the stands, perhaps none of this would have happened.

At this point, Sprewell remembered Roger's warning at the time: I can guarantee that next season you will repent for everything you did today.

He does what he says.

This is a symbol, symbolizing that Roger has completely defeated Sprewell who disrespected him.

It also symbolizes that Roger is back on top of the Heat.

Pat Riley sat back on the bench, sighed, then turned to look at his assistant coach Spoelstra with a pale face.

Spoelstra was frightened by Riley's expression, he looked like Count Dracula in the movie: "What's wrong Pat!? Are you feeling unwell? Team doctor!"

"No, don't be nervous," Riley waved his hand. "I just think we may never win a championship in Roger's prime. If this guy retires one day, I will call on the entire league to retire the No. 14 jersey. His legend deserves to be honored in every arena."

Spoelstra was surprised Riley would say such a thing.

This iron-fisted godfather has always pursued victory, but he thinks he may never be able to win the championship in Roger's era?

There is only one explanation - he was truly defeated by Roger.

From New York to Miami, from the Knicks to the Heat, all of Riley's efforts will eventually become Roger's foil.

98 to 90, the Atlanta Hawks won the last Christmas game of the 90s on the road.

罗杰45分6次助攻5个篮板3次抢断2个盖帽，用一场极具说服力的胜利干掉了上赛季淘汰自己的对手。

So far, within two months of the start of the new season, the defending champion Spurs, the Lakers who had won 16 consecutive games, and the Eastern Conference champion Heat have all suffered from the vicious attack, and no one has been spared.

After the game, Steve Jones said with emotion: "Roger's era will come again!"

But the magician corrected that statement: "No, Roger's era never ended."

(End of this chapter)