246: 111: Roger goes all out (asking for monthly tickets!)_3 246: 111: Roger goes all out (asking for monthly tickets!)_3 This time he was brimming with confidence, a man can’t possibly fall in the same spot twice!
However, when Payton dribbled to the spot where he had just attempted a shot, he mysteriously broke into a street dance floor move in the complete absence of any defense, successfully falling in the same place for the second time!
The floor had become quite slippery from the sweat Payton left during his first fall, and ultimately, Payton ended this key offense in a rather comical fashion.
Roger received the ball from McKey in the mid-range after making a cut.
Payton, who had lost all face by falling twice, immediately double-teamed with Schrempf, determined to capture Roger together.
But Roger, even against two defenders, decisively turned and made a jump shot.
Schrempf didn’t react in time, he didn’t expect Roger to shoot directly, so he didn’t even jump.
Payton did leap forward, but Roger’s spin move had created distance between them, and at 193 centimeters, Payton simply couldn’t interfere.
This was undoubtedly an outrageous offense, by any reasonable standard, Roger should have passed the ball.
However, you may not believe this.
It was the coach who told him to do so.
The ball went through the net, and in just two and a half minutes of play in the fourth quarter, Roger racked up 11 points, propelling the Magic to a 9-point lead!
Roger’s personal score also shot up to 45 points in an instant!
The whole world swallowed hard, it seemed that only Shaq could stop Roger.
Roger looked at Payton and cocked his head, “The one who keeps shooting and doesn’t score, or dribbles and falls on their own is the real cancer, Gary.
They all call me ‘The Truth’!”
Gary Payton was completely broken by Roger.
After that, the SuperSonics adopted a more aggressive double-teaming strategy, but this led to a lot of missed assignments and rebounds.
Harper and McKey found their shooting touch again and began to pick up easy points, and Horace Grant seized the opportunity to grab a considerable number of offensive rebounds, allowing the Magic to completely suppress the SuperSonics.
The final score was 108 to 98, with the defending champion Magic overwhelming the visiting SuperSonics by a double-digit margin on home court!
Roger finished the game with 48 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals, easily achieving the second-highest score of his career in the very first game, making the entire league shudder at the season opener.
That’s how Roger operates when he’s firing on all cylinders.
You guys know me, Roger wouldn’t have scored 48 points if it were me because the game would have been over in three quarters.
Big Plato is great, but Big Plato plus Big Aristotle is the strongest.
— O’Neal laughed as he responded to the reporters in his suit.
That weak European w**** ruined everything.
If he lets a player recklessly score 48 points over his head, then he should be out of the NBA!
— George Karl lashed out at Schrempf in front of the reporters.
48 points isn’t Roger’s limit, it’s the Seattle SuperSonics’ limit.
Roger broke the SuperSonics in just two and a half minutes, leading to a complete defensive collapse in the latter part of the fourth quarter, otherwise, Roger would have scored even more.
Hmm, I might be the most relaxed coach in the league because my tactic is simply to let Roger shoot.
— Brian Hill joked when speaking about Roger.
Roger is an incredible player, I’ve never seen such a powerful scorer.
If he showed up on the FIBA court, maybe he could beat the Dream Team.
I don’t even know what went wrong, maybe it really is time for me to leave.
— Marciulionis was very downhearted in an interview, the only Magic player to feel this way today.