Champions Creed

Chapter 60: You take this shot

Roger's two tough goals at the beginning sounded the alarm for all New York fans.

In fact, Roger had warned them long ago.

In the third match between the two teams in the regular season, when Roger failed to make the buzzer beater, the New Yorkers should have been alert.

Unlike Pippen, that useless guy, who lost by 20 points when he was the main attacker, Roger pushed the Knicks into a desperate situation when he was the main attacker.

But Roger didn't get in at the last moment.

So, New Yorkers have always been a little too optimistic.

Ever since Zen Master pushed Roger to the position of offensive core, the Knicks have never had an overwhelming advantage over the Bulls.

Roger's dagger was actually only a millimeter away from them.

As expected, this game became quite tense.

In the first quarter, Roger's superb off-ball offense made Derek Harper unable to cope.

Scott Pippen made it very difficult for Starks to attack, and with several shoves and never-ending trash talk, Starks made 3 of 0 shots in the first quarter.

Roger scored 13 points in the first quarter, plus Kerr's two three-pointers, the Bulls led 28-20 in the first quarter!

Live commentator Steve Jones has already given New York fans a heads-up:
"We have to understand why New Yorkers are so eager to get over the Bulls. The Knicks' championship journey has been interrupted by the Bulls in the past three seasons.

In 92, the Knicks were 3-3, and last year, they led 2-0. But in the end, they all became losers, bearing all the pain and watching Michael and Pippen become the masters of the dynasty.

They have already suffered too many setbacks on the Bulls, and their best years were ruined by MJ, it's like they were cursed.

Now, with the nightmare MJ gone, this is truly their best chance to surpass the Bulls.

But judging from the first quarter, even without MJ, they still have to be careful! "

The No. 14, who was ridiculed by New Yorkers, despised by Riley and regarded as a child by Knicks players, made the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden heavy again.

The Knicks had a tough season. They were plagued by injuries during the regular season, but still managed to win the first place in the Eastern Conference. In the last round, they played the Pacers to a tiebreaker, but they still made it through.

They finally took a bite of the big apple of the American dream, but after taking it they found that there was still half a worm in the apple.

Of course it is impossible to throw away the apple now, so the only option is to pull out the worms.

So in the second quarter, the Knicks pressed Roger hard and forced him to pass the ball.

But Roger still used his excellent off-ball offense to break through this iron wall of defense time and time again.

Well, in that case, let's use Starks, who has faster feet, to chase and defend Roger who is playing without the ball.

But when Starks went to defend Roger, Roger turned back into that terrifying one-on-one hitter.

He used his height advantage to continue scoring over Starks, accompanied by trash talk such as "Who's guarding me?", "Pat, take this piece of crap out, please" and "I'm just doing shooting practice."

Starks' mentality collapsed. He was beaten up and verbally humiliated by a rookie.

The only resistance he could offer was to push Roger under Roger's trash talk attack.

The referee blew the whistle immediately. Because the Knicks are a famous MMA team in the league, Stern had already ordered to pay special attention to their game.

After being pushed away, Roger stood there arrogantly, with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at Starks: "Do you think this will make me afraid of you? What can you do to me when I'm standing here? You are not a threat to me at all!"

Starks was held back by the referee and his teammates, unable to get close to Roger, and could only yell helplessly and furiously.

Knicks fans simply couldn't believe their eyes. Roger was even more arrogant than usual in the feared Madison Square Garden!
In the second quarter, Roger scored 10 points in the quarter and 23 points in the half, helping the Bulls maintain their lead.

Roger, who can play with or without the ball, gives Pat Riley a headache.

Phil Jackson adjusted Roger's main resting time to the third quarter. Because he was resting most of the time, Roger only scored 5 points in the third quarter.

But the performance of 28 points in three quarters still allowed the Bulls to maintain a 6-point lead.

The Knicks were suppressed.

Patrick Ewing realized that the Chicago Tribune was not exaggerating and that Roger was very likely to become New York's new nightmare.

He had to stand up. In the 90s NBA, there was no such excuse as "at least we won the mid-season championship." So the violent gorilla went completely crazy in the fourth quarter, performing a good show of the rise of the planet of the apes.

The entire fourth quarter was Ewing's personal show of beating Cartwright.

Cartwright and Ewing were teammates for three seasons. When Ewing first entered the league, he tortured Cartwright on the training ground to the point that he lost his direction in life.

Ewing, who is now in his prime, is even more adept at dealing with Cartwright.

As Ewing put on his crazy performance, Roger's touch began to slip.

The frenzied confrontation with the New York gangs finally caused his hit rate to fluctuate.

So he had to attack the basket, which left a lot of claw marks and palm prints on his body. He had tried his best. But a missed jump shot and a missed layup in the final moments allowed the Knicks to seize the opportunity and narrow the gap to 1 point.

In the last 25 seconds of the game, the Knicks patiently rotated the ball, and the ball was finally passed to Ewing, who dominated the fourth quarter. AC Green and Pippen immediately went to support Cartwright, who was already exhausted.

Facing double-teaming, Ewing passed the ball to Starks at 45 degrees on the right side at the last moment.

Pippen looked at the New York No. 3 on the outside in despair, and his whole body turned cold.

It was too late. Even Pippen couldn't jump from the three-second zone to the three-point line in an instant.

Starks jumps, takes aim, and is about to strike.

In desperation, Roger rushed to Starks and interfered with his jump shot.

"boom!"

Didn't make it!

But the Knicks have never been a team that relies on guards to solve problems.

Patrick Ewing, Georgetown University's eternal bulldog, jumped in the restricted area. Cartwright, who was tortured to exhaustion, was completely overtaken in the air, allowing Ewing's finger to touch the basketball first.

Patrick Ewing continued to add to the scoring with his dominance in the fourth quarter.

"Patrick! Tip-in! The Knicks are ahead by 1 point!"

"The Giants eventually dominated the game. I know Roger is very good and I know he wants to replace MJ. But there is only one MJ after all, and not all defenders can break free from the shackles of the Giants!"

All the players of the Knicks rushed towards Ewing, and the New York fans who thought he was stupid, not flashy enough, and not tough enough at the critical moment, also "gave" Ewing the warmest applause.

92 to 93, 2.8 seconds. NBC began to replay the final moments of the third regular season match between the two teams, the one in which Roger's buzzer-beater failed.

NBC commentator Steve Jones asked the question that everyone was concerned about: "Okay, after the last buzzer-beater failed, who is Phil going to let take this shot?"

The entire Bulls team returned to the bench. Roger had scored 34 points today, but his shooting percentage was not good in the fourth quarter and he missed his last two shots.

Pippen's shooting percentage in the fourth quarter was also not ideal, making only 4 of 1 shots.

The Zen Master took the tactical board and prepared to arrange the tactics. He squatted in front of Roger and said, "Roger, you will..."

As soon as Phil Jackson opened his mouth, Pippen suddenly slapped the tactical board and said, "Give me the damn ball! Do you want to repeat the tragedy of the regular season? That bastard can't even score at the critical moment!"

The entire bench was stunned.

Roger raised his head, and Cartwright, who was standing beside him, quickly put his hands on Roger's shoulders to prevent further conflict.

This scene has happened to the Bulls before. Cartwright still remembers the series against the Cavaliers in 89. In the fifth game, the Cavaliers were leading by one point in the last three seconds and the Bulls were on the verge of elimination (before 3, the first round was a best-of-five series).

At that time, Bulls coach Doug Collins was going to play a surprise and let Dave Colzin take the last shot. Then, Jordan slapped Collins' tactical board.

Everyone knows what happened next. One of the most classic scenes in NBA history was born.

This scene also happened to Larry Bird. He once said to head coach KC Jones, who was arranging tactics, during a timeout at a critical moment: "Why bother? Just pass the damn ball to me."

KC Jones was tougher than Collins: "Shut up Larry, I'm the head coach now, so you have to listen to me, understand? Hey, when you serve the ball, just pass it to Larry."

In short, it is only natural for a superstar to get the winning ball at a critical moment.

At this moment, Scott Pippen thought he could replicate Michael's myth.

He was not content to be just a deputy, and he had been fighting against this fate for many years.

He finally got such an opportunity this season, but was suppressed by a rookie.

He endured it throughout the regular season. He was not the only person with decisions to make in the locker room, he could not publicly express his dissatisfaction with Roger, and he was even deprived of the right to shoot.

Now, he doesn't want to endure it anymore. This is his team, this is his series!
After Roger missed the buzzer beater last time, he couldn't bear Phil Jackson giving Roger the buzzer beater opportunity again.

Pippen even threatened the Zen Master: "Phil, I'm not kidding. If you don't give me the ball, I won't play!"

Roger was also angry. If Cartwright hadn't held him back, he would have rushed up and beaten up Pippen. He was not angry because Pippen wanted to shoot the buzzer-beater, but because that bastard actually threatened the coach with not being able to play at such a critical moment.

Where did he put the victory that everyone had worked so hard for for so long?
Just when the entire bench was in a stalemate, Phil Jackson calmly picked up the tactical board.

Pippen got two things wrong.

First, he is not Michael Jordan.

Second, the team's current head coach is not Doug Collins.

After picking up the tactical board, the Zen Master's expression did not change, and his tone remained calm, as if he did not take Pippen's threat seriously at all. He gave an answer that made Scott Pippen lose face:
"Roger, you take this shot."

(End of this chapter)