Champions Creed

Chapter 278 Chapter 277: Simply keen on dancing on the graves of opponents (asking for monthly tickets!)
Tracy McGrady finally saw the real Roger, a Roger he had never seen before.

He is no longer the good brother who motivates you to move forward.

He is no longer the always kind friend.

McGrady could feel that Roger had only one purpose on the court tonight: to completely destroy him!
Even though the team was leading by 22 points, Roger actually said that it was not over yet.

Maddie has a deeper understanding of Roger.

Roger is certainly a good man, and that won't change.

But he is competitive and tenacious, and is the backbone of this Terror Eagles team.

When he smelled blood, he didn't care if it came from one of his friends.

This reminded McGrady of the Smiling Assassin and Magic Johnson. Before every game of the 1988 and 1989 Finals, Isaiah Thomas would kiss Magic Johnson.

That's right, not just a hug, but a kiss, like the kind of kiss that two gay people kiss at a wedding.

But no matter how close they are before the game, once the game starts, both of them will become competitive, tough assholes.

A good guy like Magic Johnson would even commit a malicious foul against his old friend, the Smiling Assassin, and would not let him off because of his intimate behavior before the game or their daily private affairs.

When he was a child, he really didn't understand why Magic and Smiling Assassin had to fight each other in the finals. It even laid the seeds for Smiling Assassin to publicly mock Magic for contracting HIV because of Nan Tong.

But now McGrady understands that the playoffs are like a bewitching cult magic circle that can arouse a person's deepest desires and completely change a person.

In other words, let a person be completely himself and face his truest desires.

That's the difference between the playoffs and the regular season.

His slacker teammate Larry Hughes would become obsessed with winning.

And the good brother he had always admired turned into a blood-sucking devil.

After halftime, all the Magic players returned to the locker room in silence, because everyone knew they were going to be embarrassed tonight.

In any case, this will be an irreparable defeat.

The Magic didn't know how to make up for the 22-point gap in the second half.

This is what makes the Hawks so desperate in their playoff form. They will make opponents who are not as good as them completely lose confidence.

Doug Rivers is still using his "Lets Dog Tactics", but it is obvious that drinking chicken soup will not have any effect when a person is terminally ill, no matter how rich the nutrition is, it will not replenish the body.

The second half of the game was about to begin, and Bob Costa, who was commentating the game, felt as unbelievable as the fans.

"When Larry Hughes said he wanted to talk about the second round, we could probably guess what would happen today. Roger would destroy him, and he did. But what we didn't guess was that the Hawks would lead by 22 points in just halftime! We all guessed wrong, the Magic might lose by 30 points tonight, or even more!"

The Atlanta Constitution's article "Winning by at least 20 points" was already quite bold, but in the face of Roger's actual performance, the media still seemed too conservative.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Hawks still played with their entire starting lineup.

The defeat in the first game was irreversible, but Roger was certainly unwilling to admit defeat.

It's normal to lose a game in a series, but Roger is unhappy with this "normality".

Falling behind in the first round of the playoffs for the first time made Roger want to do something to make up for it.

So, he decided to double back in the second game.

Roger continued to defend McGrady and did not relax at all even though they were already leading by 22 points.

McGrady looked at Roger with a sharp gaze outside the three-point line. This was the first time he had a feeling that "I don't know how to deal with this guy in front of me."

In the regular season, most of the time, McGrady was unstoppable on the offensive end.

He can dribble past opponents taller than him in one step, but it is difficult for a center with a normal body type to really restrict a 206-cm tall player.

Roger has a typical two-position physique, but the difficulty in dealing with him is that he has a very good grasp of the timing of cutting the ball and interfering. This perfect timing control makes up for some of Roger's disadvantages in height and wingspan.

And because of Pierce's excellent performance today, the Magic couldn't double-team Roger, so McGrady had to defend Roger at full power alone, which made his already poor physical fitness even more stretched.

The consumption of physical energy will cause fluctuations in McGrady's jump shot accuracy.

This is the price of facing Roger on both offense and defense. You need to overcome one difficulty after another.

McGrady tried every way to overcome the difficulties in the first half, but 6 points at halftime was all he could get.

But no matter what, the Magic now needs McGrady to step up.

This is how the playoffs are, stars must shoulder their responsibilities, only in this way can they advance to the next round.

But McGrady did not choose to take responsibility. He chose to pass the ball to Larry Hughes.

Is Tracy McGrady a wimp? Yes and no.

If you know about the 2008 playoffs, how McGrady had to play in every game with a closed face and drain the fluid in every game, just to fight the Jazz. If you saw the red-robed No. 1 player burn the last bit of his career in Game 6 and score 40 points, just to keep the hope of victory. Then, you will never say that Tracy McGrady is a softie.

Unfortunately, many media writers, in order to save trouble, always make a one-sided and stereotyped description of a player. The simplest word to stereotype McGrady is "softie".

People are more complicated than basketball. This is Roger’s biggest feeling after playing in the NBA.

McGrady is also a complicated person. The McGrady in 2008 and the McGrady in 2001 cannot be generalized.

The 2008 McGrady was burning like a true leader, but the 2001 McGrady was a young man who didn't know how to take responsibility.

When he was in high school, he often quarreled with his coach because he did not train seriously and did not have a strong enough desire to win on the court.

When he had the opportunity to transfer to Zion Christian Academy, a famous basketball school in his senior year, he was often late for practice and often asked himself, "Why did I run so far away, away from my mother and grandmother who loved me," instead of thinking, "I finally have a chance to become famous in the United States."

The absence of a father figure and the careful protection of his mother and grandmother made McGrady accustomed to freedom and laxity, and also made him lack the competitive genes.

Maybe many years later, Tracy McGrady will learn to be a real man.

But in 2001, even though he was already an All-Star, even though he had led his team to the playoffs, even though he was already a beloved son of Orlando.

But McGrady is still the same McGrady, the free and easy-going big boy.

He is not yet able to fight tough battles, and cannot stand the pressure from a superstar like Roger.

Larry Hughes was fearless after receiving the ball and rushed towards Pierce with the ball. His speed was very advantageous and hit Pierce's weak spot.

However, his weak shooting ability forced him to go to the restricted area to challenge the DPOY favorite Ben Wallace.

Needless to say, Big Ben ruthlessly rejected Larry Hughes with a bloody shot.

The Magic's offense failed again. Roger took the basketball from Ben and quickly pushed across half court, ready to kill McGrady again.

As a result, the Magic changed their matchup strategy in the second half, and the person responsible for defending Roger became Larry Hughes.

Doug Rivers wanted to pull McGrady away from the defensive end so that the Magic would at least have a scoring point to compete with Roger, so he made this adjustment in the second half.

At that moment, Doc Rivers was simply the undisputed GOAT in the position of head coach in Roger's mind!

Whoever calls him Pig-head Roger again will get angry!
Doug Rivers is so talented and understands players so well!

He actually knew that Roger had long wanted to kill Larry Hughes, so he took the initiative to send him to Roger like a brothel owner.

Which opponent doesn’t like this kind of coach?

Larry Hughes immediately made a steal when Roger approached, and he was confident in his steal.

But Roger easily let him go with a behind-the-back switch. Larry Hughes' hands were indeed fast, but for a top offensive player who could win the scoring title for six consecutive years, their reaction speed to avoid steals was even faster.

Larry Hughes lost his position due to a steal. Roger let him pass and quickly rushed into the penalty area, ignoring the two useless inside players of the Magic team and dunked directly!

The Magic have top-notch perimeter talent, but their inside may be the worst in the league.

As long as Roger can break through the blockade on the outside, he can attack the basket at will.

In the last game, because of Pierce's poor performance, Roger was easily double-teamed and his breakthroughs were not so smooth.

But now no matter who between McGrady and Larry Hughes is responsible for defending Roger, Roger can easily defeat them.

"Roger really has no intention of stopping. He is still trying to prolong the pain and make the score difference bigger! He wants Larry Hughes to understand one thing: there is no second round!" Bob Costa understands Roger. He knows that this guy enjoys the feeling of making his opponent despair.

He will savor the pleasure of toying with his opponent, and then continue to increase his intensity!
In the opening offense and defense of the third quarter, Roger was still as aggressive as ever.

Orlando Magic fans thought the future was coming, but their hopes for the future were dealt a heavy blow the first time they made the playoffs.

The game was still going on, and McGrady seemed to have lost his will to fight. Facing Roger's defense, he chose to pass the ball again and again.

Doc Rivers couldn't believe his eyes. He removed McGrady from the pressure on the defensive end in order to let him attack.

As a result, McGrady kept passing the ball on the offensive end, which made his adjustments and arrangements meaningless!

Larry Hughes still wanted to fight, but this time he couldn't even break through Pierce.

Pierce didn't know any fancy fake moves, but he did know a little bit about confrontation. He was good enough in confrontation even on the front line, so he could easily control the skinny Larry Hughes.

As for how to make the extremely fast Larry Hughes crash into his arms again and again? It's very simple, just let him shoot but not drive.

This is a defensive move with a very high ceiling and floor on the defensive end.

He can defend fringe All-Star players like Larry Hughes, and he can also defend superstars at the GOAT level.

Pierce's decision to shoot but not to break through completely locked down Larry Hughes, preventing the Magic from even closing the gap in a decent manner!
The Magic's offense failed again. From the third quarter to now, the Orlando Magic has been beaten throughout.

Throughout the third quarter, because McGrady was inactive on the offensive end and Larry Hughes was not capable enough to carry the team, the Hawks widened the gap faster in the third quarter than in the first half.

With only 52 seconds left in the third quarter, the camera turned to the Magic substitutes.

They were like the audience who walked into the cinema to watch "Jurassic Park" for the first time in 1993, with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

Because at this time, the score had become 58 to 97, and the Hawks scored almost 100 points in three quarters!
The Magic lost 17 points in the third quarter alone and were behind by 39 points for the entire game!
And the gap is likely to widen because Roger is still on the court. He is like a lion that has been hungry for three days and three nights, tearing apart and devouring all the Magic players he sees.

He didn't look full yet.

McGrady's mind was completely blank. He had never experienced such a game since he started playing basketball. He participated in the entire process of the game, but he still asked himself a question in his heart: How did the team lose by 39 points! ?

All he knew was that Roger raised his knife again and again, chopping down all the members of the Magic Team in a pool of blood.

This was the Magic's offensive turn, and only Larry Hughes was still trying hard.

He cut in and tried to break free, but McGrady just couldn't pass the ball to him.

Because Roger was desperately pressuring McGrady, it seemed that the team was no longer leading by 39 points, but was trailing by 9 points.

His defensive attitude was not affected by the score difference at all, and it was difficult for McGrady to pass the ball safely under Roger's pressure.

McGrady and the entire Magic team were in despair, but Roger was still oppressing them cruelly.

McGrady originally thought that the Roger in the first half was the real Roger that Kobe mentioned, but it was not until now that McGrady knew what true cruelty was.

In the end, Larry Hughes had to pass the ball to McGrady, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get the ball.

At the moment when the two sides completed the ball possession change, Roger gently pushed Pierce who was defending Larry Hughes.

As Roger's good partner, Pierce instantly understood what Roger meant, stayed with McGrady, and completed a completely seamless switch of defense with Roger.

Larry Hughes was heartbroken. He went through so much trouble to finally get the ball, but ended up having to face the most terrifying defender!
Roger opened his arms and stared at Larry Hughes arrogantly: "Larry, what do you mean by discussing the second round? You don't really think you can make it to the second round?"

Larry Hughes didn't have the courage to respond to Roger. He wanted to pass the ball back to McGrady, but McGrady did not try to run out of the open space as he was completely blocked by Pierce.

He had completely lost faith in the game and chose to lie down completely.

"Damn it!" Larry Hughes cursed in his heart. He didn't expect that McGrady would back down at this moment!
"What are you looking at?" Roger's voice continued to linger in Larry Hughes' ears like a death knell.

"what?"

"I say, what are you looking at in a panic? Do you want to seek help? Do you want Tracy to save you? Forget it, you can only face me, your nightmare! Come on Larry, you can't play in the second round of the playoffs, so you should thank me for letting you experience the pain of losing two rounds at once!"

It was like a voice from hell, taking away Larry Hughes' soul.

Larry Hughes took a step forward when he was desperate and then made a quick stop and jump shot.

Roger almost blocked Larry Hughes' face. Although he failed to complete the block, the basketball shot by Larry Hughes drew an abnormally high arc and flew directly out of the baseline.

Roger looked back at the basketball that flew out of the baseline. He couldn't help laughing as if he had seen something particularly funny. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, second round? You know, Larry, you and Tracy may never know what the second round looks like in your lifetime."

Larry Hughes had a hollow look in his eyes, while McGrady's hair stood on end.

This small-town kid from Auburndale didn't think Roger was kidding!

Roger completely defeated McGrady and Larry Hughes in his own way.

He used a score difference that was beyond everyone's expectations to tell the world that the Magic's victory in the last game was purely accidental.

Maddie sighed, this night was particularly long, but thankfully, it all ended here.

It's over, it's all over.

Those torturous times are all over.

Roger should be satisfied, right? As a punishment for winning the last game, 39 points should be enough, right?
What did Maddie see?
He saw that Roger did not leave the court, but picked up the basketball that flew out of the baseline and handed it to Kurt Thomas: "Tee off."

Roger wants to fight again!
He wants to finish the third quarter!

He hasn't tasted enough blood yet!
Maddie simply didn't recognize the person in front of him. Was he really Roger?
This is no longer just a desire to win, because he has clearly already won.

He literally loves dancing on his opponents' graves!

Roger, doesn't he care that as his younger brother, he will be humiliated because of this?

Doug Rivers did not replace the main players at this time, so the poor Larry Hughes, who had already collapsed, had to face Roger on the defensive end again!
When Roger approached, Larry Hughes felt that the person approaching him was simply Satan himself.

Larry Hughes, who had lost confidence, naturally failed to put up a decent resistance. Roger easily broke through, turned around, and made a jump shot. This iconic turnaround shot went smoothly. Roger scored his 43rd point over Larry Hughes' head, and the score difference was widened to 41 points!
Roger was not greedy, he just wanted to win back the 20 points he owed from the previous game.

The Atlanta Police Journal was right, the Hawks won by at least 20 points.

If one game is won by 20 points, then two games are won by 40 points.

Just right.

The ball went in. Roger finally smiled contentedly as he looked at Larry Hughes, whose soul had been sucked out of him. "Okay Larry, now the reporters don't have to talk about your opponent in the second round."

Lenny Wilkens looked at Roger, who had completely silenced the entire Magic team, and felt confident about the upcoming playoffs.

It's just a pity for McGrady, who became the sacrifice for Roger to regain his bloodthirsty form after a relatively relaxed regular season.

Anyone who stands in his way will bleed, and this will be the fate of anyone who prevents him from establishing a dynasty.

McGrady just had the misfortune of being the first.

In the fourth quarter, Roger did not continue to shamelessly go on the court to score points.

Although he was only 50 points away from 7 points in the playoffs, the real king would not care about these picked-up fortunes.

Although Roger was not on the court, the Hawks' substitutes still kept the Magic on the ground.

Michael Redd performed like an all-around guard in garbage time, combining shooting and dribbling very smoothly.

However, because he is the last player the Hawks can send out in the starting lineup, no one will say that he is cheating on the points.

After all, it is impossible for the leading side to just stand there and do nothing during garbage time.

On the bench, Scott Pippen looked at the increasingly outrageous score difference on the big screen and recalled some unpleasant memories.

The 1997 playoffs, the year Michael Jordan left Chicago for New York.

Pippen, leading the team alone, dragged the Bulls to eighth in the Eastern Conference, where they unfortunately met the Magic, led by the strongest duo in history.

Given that the two teams were sworn enemies at the time, Scott Pippen gave it his all in that game.

As a result, the final score was 131 to 84, and the Chicago Bulls made history.

They tied the record set by the Spurs in 1986 and became the second team with the most points lost in a single game in NBA playoff history.

Scott Pippen was ruthlessly nailed to the pillar of shame by Roger.

That game was similar to today. Roger was still unyielding even after the score was widened. He would not be satisfied until he had completely torn his opponent apart.

The Magic today are in a worse situation than the Bulls back then.

127 to 76, with Roger's unyielding rampage in the third quarter and Michael Reid's beating of Roger in garbage time, the Atlanta Hawks created a 51-point massacre at home!

The Magic completely surpassed the 86 Spurs and the 97 Bulls a few years ago tonight and became the second team with the most losses in a single game in NBA playoff history!

The Hawks players were celebrating wildly, only Pippen was sitting on the bench and shaking his head. Fortunately, fortunately I am Roger's man now, and I will never have to experience this kind of pain again in my life.

Has Roger changed? Yes, he has changed a lot.

But in some ways, Roger has not changed at all and is no different from 1997.

He was much kinder to his teammates.

He was always cruel to his opponents.

And this nature of his may never change.

will never.

McGrady and Larry Hughes were about to enter the player tunnel when they saw Roger standing at the entrance waiting for them.

Roger didn't say anything, just put his hands together and put them on his cheeks. Good night, Tracy. Good night, Larry.

The Orlando fans in front of the TV stared at Roger, who celebrated his victory in this special way, with dull eyes.

That No. 14 once wore an ice blue striped jersey to create greatness for Orlando.

But now, he has committed the most shameful tragedy on magic.

This is a lesson: Never, ever let Roger go.

Because he is unique.

Because he is irreplaceable.

No matter where Steve Belkin is right now, he should understand one thing - the Atlanta Hawks must not make the same mistake again.
-
Yes, I said in the 1997 Magic vs. Bulls series that, considering the modern basketball environment, it is almost impossible to lose by 50 points in the playoffs, so no team will ever break the embarrassing record set by the Chicago Bulls. And now, you all saw that Roger broke his own tragic record, and once again broke my understanding of modern basketball. - NBC commentator Steve Jones commented on this 51-point massacre.

It's great to see Roger and the Hawks come back to full strength. Although the Hawks' 68 wins in the regular season are already excellent, remember, that was not the best Hawks. Tonight, the Hawks really stretched out their claws. Ladies and gentlemen, the playoffs have begun! ——Hannah Storm concluded after the interview.

Losing by 56 points in the playoffs? It's really hard to break that record. You see, even if Larry, that rubbish, couldn't defend me at all, the Magic only lost by 51 points. But I believe that record will be broken sooner or later, even within ten years. Me? No, no, no, I have always advocated stopping at a certain point. I won't be that person, someone else will shoulder the responsibility of breaking that record. - Roger talked about the score difference in today's game.

Just enough? Maybe, if he didn't just stop and continue in the fourth quarter, we might lose by 60 points! -- McGrady helplessly responded to Roger's statement "I just stopped."

"Hey Larry, the score is now 1-1, you still want to talk about your next opponent?"

"roll!"

"what?"

"Get lost! Haven't I been humiliated enough on the field? Why are you humiliating me again?"

"You were the one who asked us to talk more about your next opponent during the interview. Have you forgotten?"

"No, of course I haven't forgotten, because that was the beginning of all the nightmares! So please spare me and let me end this nightmare!"

"Okay, let's change the question. Do you have any advice for the Eagles' second-round opponent? Sorry, although the total score is still 1-1, we are indeed already thinking about the Eagles' second-round opponent."

"No matter who it is, don't fantasize about winning against him. This way you won't be so disappointed when you lose. This is my advice from the bottom of my heart. You think you won't lose? Oh, God can't bless you either."

——Larry Hughes was interviewed by Sports Illustrated.

(End of this chapter)