184: 092: Man, I’ve beaten him four times this season!
(Vote for monthly ticket!)_2 184: 092: Man, I’ve beaten him four times this season!
(Vote for monthly ticket!)_2 When Roger assisted O’Neal with that go-ahead dunk, the Knicks players were already feeling scared.
All they could think was, if the Magic could come back from a 17-point deficit, what could we possibly do?
Rather than feeling the pressure, Roger now had none.
This time, he broke past Starks by half a step before the double team came, and then pulled up for a mid-range jumper.
The basketball hit the mark steadily, and a fully confident Roger easily broke through the Knicks’ zone defense.
The lead increased to 3 points, the Magic were leading by more and more, the game time was getting less and less, and the Knicks were collapsing more and more.
In the following play, Ewing drew a foul from O’Neal under the basket.
The entire arena erupted in boos, as O’Neal hadn’t really made any rough movements; the fans thought this stupid referee simply wanted to make the game more exciting.
Roger stood at the edge of the paint, while Patrick Ewing was preparing to take his free throws.
As Ewing received the ball from the referee, Roger smiled and said, “Hey Patrick, you always get beaten by me at the last step.”
The first shot missed, and Starks complained to the referee about Roger interfering with the free throw.
The referee warned Roger, “Shut your truth, or I will let Patrick re-take it.”
Roger smiled, raised his hands, and nodded.
On the second shot, Roger indeed kept quiet.
He didn’t need to say anything anymore.
The Wrathful King was already out of sorts.
He kept thinking about how he absolutely couldn’t be defeated at the last moment today, but the more he thought about it, the greater the psychological pressure became.
“Two shots missed, Patrick Ewing has personally squandered the Knicks’ last chance!” even the NBC commentator Mike Fratello felt sympathy for Ewing, knowing what Ewing might go through when he returned to New York after missing both shots at such a crucial moment.
New York fans needed Ewing to help them win, but they never loved him.
Now, they probably only hated him.
After that, the Knicks had no choice but to resort to the Hack-a-Shaq strategy.
But O’Neal, who had been off his game the entire night, ironically made both free throws at the critical moment.
Simply because his state of mind was completely different from Ewing’s, it could be said they were at two extremes.
One extreme despair, one extreme excitement.
Reflected in basketball, two completely different results emerged.
These two free throws utterly killed the game, and in the end, the Orlando Magic were the last to laugh in this tumultuous decisive battle.
Roger finished the game with 28 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, while O’Neal had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.
After the game, the colorful commentator Sager interviewed both Roger and Shaq: “Was tonight a real test for you guys?”
“It was indeed a test, but not a final test.
In fact, there won’t be any ultimate test, I believe nothing else can test Shaq and me anymore.” Roger looked at O’Neal, realizing for the first time that this big guy was actually quite cute.
O’Neal’s answer was similar: “What kind of test is this?
For Roger and me, this is routine.
When the crucial moment for winning comes, that’s our time to shine.
We are the Big Aristotle and Plato, we make history!”
Roger and O’Neal probably didn’t mean to show off; they simply hadn’t realized that they had already transformed during the game.
Having said that, Roger and O’Neal walked off the court shoulder to shoulder.
Pat Riley watched the two men, his emotions a mixed bag.
Now, he couldn’t even face Michael Jordan.
His career in New York was utterly ruined.
In Game 6 of the series, although the game returned to New York, the Knicks had lost their spirit.
All the Knicks players felt “even if we give it our all, we will be destroyed by those two guys.”
Therefore, in Game 6, the Magic did not encounter much resistance, winning 88 to 73 over the Knicks.
O’Neal’s continual aggressiveness on the defensive end and Roger giving Shaq more and more scoring passes on the offensive end made the Magic even harder to restrain.
The total score was 4 to 2; the Magic safely crossed over the New York Knicks and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals!
This time, Roger took down Riley without even needing a seventh game!
At the press conference that evening, Pat Riley announced his resignation as head coach of the Knicks.
The champion coach, acclaimed from Los Angeles, ended his impressive but not quite glorious New York career.
The Pat Riley era with the Knicks officially ended; he ultimately failed to defeat Jordan and Roger.
Following Dominique Wilkins, another person was ousted from the torrent of the era.
Now, fans worldwide had only one question, a question they desperately wanted an answer to:
Would Michael Jordan be the next one to be eliminated?
They had completed their transformation, and from now on, like Magic and Skyhook, they could be included in the conversation for “greatest duo in history.” I’m not joking, and I’m not exaggerating.
When they crossed over the Knicks in the decisive battle of the Eastern Conference semifinals, they were no longer the same Shaq and Truth.
They were no longer individuals; now, they were the most terrifying combination.
— “USA Today” writer Sam Amick.
Everything changed because of that decisive game-changing alley-oop in the decisive battle, which ended the game, but it wasn’t an end—it was the magnificent beginning of Orlando’s great era.
We conducted a phone poll, letting fans name that fate-deciding alley-oop.
91% of Orlando fans were willing to call that alley-oop the Alley-Oop of the Century!
— “Orlando Sentinel.”
Patrick Ewing should take all the blame for this series’ defeat!
Once again, he let all of New York down!
Now Hakeem has won the championship, and Shaq is close to the finals, what about Patrick and David?
They might have the best fishing skills among the four big centers, which is simply a disgrace!
— “The New York Times.”
Pat Riley’s sudden resignation was not an impulse decision; it was reported that his rift with the Knicks began during the negotiations for a new contract.
According to James Dolan, the demands of the two sides were too far apart.
However, Riley was close to signing, and had he won the series against the Magic, the outcome might have been entirely different.
So, we can say, Rudd and Shaq crushed Pat Riley.
It was their first year together, and they already had a huge impact on the league.
— “Orlando Sentinel.”
“Michael, what do you think about the just-concluded Eastern Conference semifinal?”
“I feel honored to shut up a shameless bastard like Reggie Miller for good; I feel great.
Poor Reggie should have learned something a long time ago; don’t mess with Black Jesus; I told him so already,” Jordan thought of how Miller dared to oppose him during the All-Star game, finding the playoff victory incredibly satisfying.
No one can defy me; no one!
The fate of Reggie Miller is typical!
“No, I’m not talking about the Bulls’ Eastern Conference semifinal; I want your thoughts on the Knicks and Magic Eastern Conference semifinal.
The whole world knows that the turning point was the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, where Roger and O’Neal led the team to overturn a 17-point deficit against the Knicks.
“Only Patrick probably knows, maybe Pat Riley too, but that guy abandoned the team after the loss, and he will never give us an answer.
If someone can still be called great after such actions, it’s indeed a tragedy for the media.”
The fiercely powerful Orlando Magic are now heading your way.”
“I have nothing to worry about; Roger should worry.
He will soon realize that having him on a team or not means the difference between being champions and being the runners-up.”
— “Chicago Tribune” interview with Jordan.
Don’t mess with Black Jesus?
Man, I’ve beaten him four times this season!