Champions Creed

Chapter 417 Chapter 416: The most wrong decision (ask for monthly ticket!)

Gary Payton looked at the ESPN camera in front of him, a little dazed.

He can't remember the last time he was so in the spotlight in the playoffs.

Probably 1996?
And now?

It's already 2006.

Gary Payton always felt that his rivalry with Roger had only been over for a short time. He always felt that although he had temporarily lost to Roger, he still had a chance to catch up.

But before we knew it, this "temporary" period had already lasted for 10 years.

Over the past decade, Roger has gone from being "Michael Jordan's strongest challenger" to "the undisputed best in basketball history."

Over the past decade, the league's best power forwards have gone from Karl Malone and Charles Barkley to the Stone Buddha of the Holy City.

Over the past decade, the three-point shot has gone from being an optional skill to a standard feature for most outside stars.

Over the past decade, Gary Payton has gone from being the "most defensive point guard in history" to a "wandering, down-and-out knight."

Then, he returned here and became a master in front of the camera on the court.

"Gary, what did you learn from this reversal?"

"That's great." Gary Payton answered without thinking.

Just now, his roar at the Spurs fans was the most refreshing emotional outburst he had had in the past decade.

This was the first time in the past ten years that he truly felt that he was a winner.

Since leading his team to the finals in 1996, Gary Payton's career has been going from bad to worse, and failure has become the main theme of the past decade.

And today, he finally became a winner.

Gary Payton is Gary Payton again.

But the reporter's last question made Gary Payton realize that he is very different from the glove he once had.

"Gary, why did you hug Roger?"

The gloves from ten years ago, no, not even the gloves from a year ago, would never embrace Roger.

This question made Gary Payton come up with countless answers in his mind.

But in the end, he chose this answer: "I hugged the wrong person."

"what?"

"That's it, I hugged the wrong guy. I wanted to hug Monta, but apparently I was too excited."

This is as outrageous as a husband explaining his infidelity by saying "I was drunk and don't remember anything". As we all know, a truly drunk person cannot lift a gun and fight.

Likewise, the skin color of blacks and Asians can never be confused.

Gary Payton turned and left after he finished speaking. The ESPN reporter shrugged in front of the camera: "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you Gary for taking us so seriously."

Back in the locker room, Roger became the hero again, being poured with water by the whole team.

20 points in the fourth quarter alone, there is no more dominant performance than this, which is why the entire Warriors team trusts him. He never disappoints.

Gary Payton did not participate in the celebration. He just sat alone in his corner, enjoying the moment of victory that belonged to a role player.

15分3次助攻，这是加里.佩顿今天交出的全部数据。对于一个巅峰时期场均能够轰下24+6+9的球员来说，这样的数据本来不值一提。

In the final moments of the fourth quarter, he didn't even take many shots.

But Gary Payton was satisfied. At least tonight, he contributed to the victory to the best of his ability.

At this time, Monta Ellis sat down next to the glove and touched his head: "It's really cool tonight, old man."

"Just performing normally."

"Aren't you going to celebrate with the Boss?"

"What is there to celebrate? We didn't win the championship."

"But you killed those bastards. I heard what they said about you at halftime." Monta Ellis was referring to the San Antonio fans who taunted Payton.

Gary Payton stood up and pressed Monta Ellis's shoulders: "Remember, kid, there's nothing to celebrate before you win four games in the playoffs. Don't get excited about these insignificant victories. Stay hungry."

After saying that, Gary Payton walked towards the shower room to take a shower.

After stepping into the shower room and seeing that no one was around, Gary Payton clenched his fists and waved his arms wildly: "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

When a person is doing something very private in a place like a toilet or shower, the most frightening thing is to hear someone suddenly talking in your ear.

Gary Payton heard a voice that made him shudder.

"Didn't you say that such a trivial victory wasn't worth celebrating?"

The sudden voice startled Payton: "Monta! When did you come in!"

"I came in with you."

"Damn it, I never knew you liked to peek at men taking baths!"

"I would like to see women, but there are none here. And I'm not peeking, I'm here to take a shower." After saying that, Monta Ellis entered another cubicle.

Gary Payton said nothing more and turned on the faucet awkwardly.

Then, under the cover of the sound of water, he told Monta Ellis: "If you say a word about what just happened, you're done."

"This is the first time I've seen someone celebrate a victory while hiding something."

"Shut up."

"The team has already accepted you, and you have already accepted the team. You know it."

"Shut up!"

That inexplicable pride has already penetrated into Gary Payton's bones.

Game 1 felt like a perfect epic for Warriors fans, and it fits the descriptions of the Warriors by all sports media this season.

Their entire team is full of fighting spirit and tenacity. They have a strong leader. Their role players always stand out, and they win in adversity with a seemingly weak lineup.

This is a dream season for Bay Area fans. Before the season started, no one thought that the Golden State Warriors, who lacked a second player on the team, would reach this point. And now, when the Warriors encounter the powerful Spurs in the playoffs, the dream continues.

The miracle that fans and the media are expecting is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.

Bill Simmons said in his blog: "If the Warriors are not the final champion this season, it will be one of the greatest tragedies in NBA history."

After this game, Gregg Popovich has a new understanding of the Warriors' strength this season.

This team may not have a second player, but it has bottomless rotation depth.

The Warriors don't have a serious second player to raise the team's ceiling, but they have a bunch of outstanding role players who can support the team's lower limit.

Yes, the Warriors' role players can't be at their best every night, but it's also impossible for all of the Warriors' role players to be out of form in a given game.

If one fails, the other will step up, and each of them has a strong desire to win, which makes it possible for each of them to become an X factor in the game.

This is where things get really difficult for the Spurs.

Most teams that meet in the playoffs are actually playing with their cards open. Both sides know each other very well, so they can make many targeted deployments.

But this conventional practice in basketball games did not work for the Warriors.

You can't target the Golden State Warriors.

Maybe you can leave Boris Diaw open tonight, but maybe tomorrow night he'll kill you from beyond the arc.

You never know who will step up next.

Fortunately, in Game 2 of the series, the Spurs players stood out. In Game 2, the San Antonio Spurs continued to use the strategy of double-teaming Roger, and were more determined than in the previous game.

Even if Roger can still score without the ball, his output is limited after all. Unless you have the touch of peak Klay Thompson who can shoot from any position and hit the target once he gets hot, the output ceiling of without the ball is very low.

Even Klay could only carry the game when he was in great form. Everyone knew that the real core of the Golden State Warriors was the Slam Dunk King.

Excellent defense is nothing more than forcing the opponent to reduce efficiency or production. In many cases, it is not easy to curb the efficiency and production of top superstars at the same time. Compared with defense, if you want a star to reduce both efficiency and production, it is more likely that the star will have to play poorly.

So for the Spurs, as long as they can curb one of Roger's efficiency and output, the defense will be considered a success.

The Spurs are now holding back Roger's production, forcing him to play without the ball, which at least will not allow him to score 40+ points in a single game at every turn.

But the resolute double-teaming also made the Spurs pay other prices, such as allowing Jason Richardson to make 8 of 6 shots from beyond the three-point line.

This guy, who spent $10 of his own money to publish an apology letter in major newspapers in the Bay Area, this guy who would rather give up a higher position offered by other teams to stay with Roger and help him build a dynasty, knew that he had to shoulder his mission.

So he scored 31 points today and played like the Bay Area's own Vince Carter.

Unfortunately, Robert Horry, who had been fighting with Roger in the finals since 1994, once again became a stumbling block on Roger's road to victory.

Robert Horry is like a sweeping monk. The struggles in this league seem to have nothing to do with him at all, and most of the time fans will not even remember the existence of such a person.

But if you look closely at his resume, you will find that from 1992 to the present 14 years, he has appeared in almost all major nodes that have influenced the history of the league.

In the mid-90s, he and the Houston Rockets won the last championship before the Roger era.

In early 2000, he and the OK combination became Roger's biggest challenger.

Now, he is wearing the black and silver jersey again, trying to prevent the establishment of the Bay Area dynasty.

He may be the only opponent in the league who has been fighting with Roger since his rookie season.

At the crucial moment of today's game, when the Desperate Demon Sword was useless, Robert Horry, the sweeping monk, put down the broom in his hand again.

With 13 seconds left in the game, Manu Ginobili made a mistake that made Popovich yell "I'm going to trade him" off the court.

At that time, Robert Horry relied on his rich experience to successfully intercept Dio's pass to Roger, but he was unable to directly control it.

The basketball flew to the midfield line, and Manu Ginobili chased it, but was hit in the face by Matt Barnes who also tried to reach out to control the ball. Matt Barnes is indeed a habitual offender with a bad record, but this time he really didn't hit his opponent intentionally.

The referee did not blow the whistle when seeing this situation. In order to ensure the intensity of the game, the referee is always lenient in the final moments of this round of the series. In the last game, Raja Bell's behavior of frantically pulling Roger's jersey when he was defending against Roger without the ball was not blown.

Ginobili saw that there was still a chance for a fast break, so he chose to continue chasing the ball without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Roger succeeded in overtaking and taking the ball back. Ginobili suddenly had an idea. After being hit in the face by Matt Barnes and running several steps away, he suddenly covered his face and wanted a whistle. For this reason, he did not return to defense immediately, allowing Matt Barnes to easily hit an open three-pointer.

This poor performance caused Popovich's blood pressure to soar and made Roger shake his head. He thought only LeBron of the Lakers would give such a poor performance.

Matt Barnes' three-pointer gave the Warriors a one-point lead with 2.1 seconds left, but this time the Spurs were hurt.

However, with 2.1 seconds left in the game, Robert Horry received the ball and calmly made a long two-point buzzer-beater, which ultimately helped the Spurs secure the victory and tie the series score.

Jason Richardson's outstanding performance and Matt Barnes' key goal pale in comparison to Robert Horry's buzzer-beater.

In the stands, Spurs fans screamed wildly.

The most thrilling roller coaster in the world is not as exciting as those last few seconds.

After the game, Robert Horry told reporters with a smile: "That's what I do. I don't have any pressure. Because I'm not a star, so if I lose, people will only blame Tim, Tony or Manu. So I have nothing to worry about, just shoot."

This is a joke, but it is also true.

Robert Horry enjoys the role he has always played.

He won and people sang his legend.

Losing seemed to have nothing to do with him.

He has never been a top star in the league, but he often sends top stars home.

Thanks to his big-hearted character, Robert Horry has been able to survive to this day as a hot commodity for every championship-contending team every summer despite his mediocre regular season statistics.

Today, at the age of 36, he averages only 5 points and 3 rebounds per game, but he can still earn an annual salary of 300 million from the Spurs.

What Gregg Popovich bought was his ability to make the final shot.

Robert Horry only needs to make some harmless shots in the playoffs to maintain the status quo, so he enjoys this role.

Roger had a feeling as if he was in another world. It was as if Robert Horry would never age and would always appear on his path to success.

The Spurs won the game, but the Warriors have proved with two consecutive tough games that they are fully capable of defeating the Spurs, who had the best regular season record in team history.

In Game 3, the Warriors, who were back at home, had a burst of shooting. The Warriors would have a collective burst of shooting every few games, like a volley of arrows on an ancient battlefield. You couldn't stop it at all, and could only watch as countless arrows pierced your body.

In Game 4, Manu Ginobili, as the sixth man, exploded and scored 28 points, including 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, helping the Spurs tie the total score again.

2 to 2, no one can predict the result, after all, the Spurs have triggered the buff that "if you want to beat the Warriors, you must win at least one of the first two games in the series."

The decisive battle is extremely important for the Spurs. If they fail to win it, the Warriors will have the opportunity to win the game at home.

For the Spurs, the decisive battle cannot be lost.

But two days later, Tim Duncan sat on the bench in despair.

At this time, the fans in the ATT Center were shouting that the San Antonio Spurs, second in the Western Conference, were on the verge of death.

With 11 seconds left in the game, the Spurs were trailing by 2 points.

The most important thing is that the Warriors will have the ball next.

Unless the Spurs can steal the sideline ball directly, there will no longer be any suspense about the victory in Game 5.

Duncan had a blank expression on his face, but this time he was not calm, but desperate.

He had never won a full season and had always been eager to prove himself with a real ring.

But the huge mountain No. 14 stands in front of the champion and is difficult to climb.

"Coach Gregg Popovich is only 11 seconds away from becoming the LeBron of the coaching world!" The on-site commentator almost believed that if the Warriors win the decisive game, the Spurs will be doomed.

Gregg Popovich also knows that the team is on the verge of death, and now he can only win in one way.

He called Robert Horry and said, "Go harder in the tactical foul later."

Robert Horry nodded, and Bruce Bowen stopped him again, because he knew what Popovich wanted to do.

Two years ago, when the Spurs and Warriors met in the playoffs, Popovich thought of this approach.

But at that time, the executioner Bruce Bowen refused to execute because he knew Roger better than anyone on the Spurs.

The team couldn't risk losing Tim Duncan to do that.

But now, Gregg Popovich has no choice.

Without taking a radical approach, he and his team will die tonight.

Their 63 wins, their best record in franchise history, will be worthless.

"Shut up Bruce, just because you don't have the courage doesn't mean others don't have it either," Popovich yelled.

Bowen glanced at Tim Duncan, but he said nothing and let it all happen.

After the timeout, Robert Horry took a deep breath and walked onto the court, ready to follow Gregg Popovich's orders.

"Damn it."

Bruce Bowen cursed inwardly.

This is definitely the worst decision Gregg Popovich has made in his coaching career.

(End of this chapter)