258: 114: Believe me one more time!
(Requesting monthly votes!)_4 258: 114: Believe me one more time!
(Requesting monthly votes!)_4 Before halftime began, Sarunas Marciulionis was the first to take the ball onto the court for a warm-up, having no idea whether he would play today, but he knew he had to be ready at any moment.
He had opportunities before but missed them.
If chance happened to come knocking once again, he couldn’t let it slip through his fingers so easily.
In the third quarter, Roger’s touch showed some signs of revival, yet still not reaching the level from the season opener against the SuperSonics when he had repeatedly scored over Schrempf’s fingertips.
He was forced to take those high-difficulty shots, a level of efficiency insufficient to kill the game.
Derrick McKey also began to find his touch, starting to hit mid-range shots.
But one McKey wasn’t enough; even if the Cavaliers dedicated a man to mark McKey, they still had enough manpower to restrict Roger’s breakthroughs.
More than halfway through the third quarter, the Magic were still down by 5 points, in a very passive situation.
On the bench, Brian Hill was discussing personnel choices with lead assistant Rich Adubato.
“Why not let Saru have a try?” Adubato suggested, “He’s been in good form recently, didn’t he hit 6 threes in yesterday’s practice game, right?”
That idiot would ruin the game!” Brian Hill’s temper flared at the mention of Saru.
The irritation stemmed from expectation; Hill had once had high hopes for Saru, and what now?
Now, Hill only felt that George Karl wasn’t wrong in his criticisms, Saru was just a soft European.
At that moment, Spoelstra, who was sitting at the end of the bench, also leaned forward and ran to Brian Hill, “Boss, I have an immature suggestion.”
Still, Spoelstra went ahead, “I think we can let Saru try.
Right now, we don’t have a better solution, and you don’t want to watch the team lose four straight, do you?
As long as Saru can hit a few shots, draw the Cavaliers’ attention, Roger will be able to dominate!
The Cavaliers are weaker than us; we shouldn’t lose this game just because we’re in a shooting slump!”
“Go back to your spot, Eric.
You’re just a video coordinator!
Do you think you’ll be a head coach in this lifetime?
Otherwise, shall I let you command?” The title of champion coach made Brian Hill lofty.
At that moment, there was a stir in the arena.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, slow as a tractor, had just managed a fast break, ending with a slam dunk from Chris Mills.
The Cavaliers’ players were laughing and celebrating, throwing punches, clearly convinced they had the defending champions in their pocket tonight, and had probably even thought about what they would say in the post-game interviews to play it up big.
Their spirits were visibly high.
Earlier, the media had hyped up Roger’s comeback game, speculating on how many points Roger would score and how he would win, completely treating the Cavaliers as a mere backdrop.
This had infuriated them.
Therefore, their defense today was actually even more stable and outstanding than usual.
Every player on the Cavaliers was giving 120% today, determined to take Roger down!
The difference increased back to 7 points, and Brian Hill called a timeout.
After the players came off the court, Hill, though verbally reluctant, finally glanced at the guy who had been dribbling at the end of the bench.
Realizing the coach was looking at him, Saru stood up and walked over to Brian Hill.
Brian Hill gripped the marker tightly, still hesitating.
But at that moment, Saru spoke up—he didn’t want to wait passively anymore; he had to seize his own opportunity.
He had already wasted too much time, and now he couldn’t afford to waste another second!
Saru bent down with sincere eyes, clutching the basketball in both hands, “Coach…
I really want to play!
Believe in me one more time!”
“You have only two chances to shoot, if you miss both shots, then get off the court!
If you make 2 turnovers, then get off the court!”
Then, Saru looked toward Roger and smiled, “Let’s go, champion.”
It seemed like Roger’s words had indeed gotten through to Saru.
Roger had never thought he could inspire someone to regain their confidence.
It appeared that his influence on this timeline was far greater than he had anticipated.
When the timeout was over, the Cavaliers walked onto the court, brimming with confidence.
They were handling the defending champions; they were letting the whole world see their might.
Today’s primary defender on Roger was Chris Mills, who couldn’t resist teasing last season’s Finals MVP, “Everyone’s talking about how grand your comeback game would be; well, you won’t score 40 points tonight, huh?”
Mills felt he was on his game tonight.
Roger didn’t laugh along, “Don’t jump to conclusions about anything before the game is over; that’s the first lesson I’m giving you.”
Then, the Cavaliers noticed the Magic had made a substitution.
They replaced Harper with Sarunas Marciulionis.
The NBC commentator shook his head, thinking this was precisely a sign of the Magic’s desperation.
How desperate must Brian Hill be to put in that washed-up guy?
The Cavaliers didn’t take the substitution too seriously, believing that as long as they kept up the defensive intensity, they would definitely have the last laugh.
As the baseline inbound pass was thrown, Saru rook the ball and headed to the opposite half-court.
At that moment, no one realized that the heavily-armored Cleveland Cavaliers were already encircled.
The champions’ counterattack had begun, quietly and without notice.