648: 227: Shaq’s blood became the fuel for Roger’s burning anger (Seeking monthly tickets!)_4 648: 227: Shaq’s blood became the fuel for Roger’s burning anger (Seeking monthly tickets!)_4 After the goal, Roger pointed aggressively at Kobe and bellowed, “Gods never need a Plan B, you’re trying to teach me how to do shit, Motherfxxker!”
At this moment, Paul Pierce also understood what true toughness meant.
Toughness is not just endlessly spewing trash talk, not just fierce confrontations.
Taking out the opponent’s two strongest players at the most critical moment, never letting the team down during the kill stage of the game.
That’s what being tough is all about!
The lead had reached 7 points, with less than 1 minute left in the game.
The Los Angeles Lakers started to panic, and Kurt Rambis immediately called a timeout.
Kobe and Shaq didn’t blame each other because they both knew that both of their defenses had problems, and both were responsible.
But the fans didn’t see it that way.
They had just seen O’Neal fail again to protect the rim.
So, sitting on the bench, O’Neal heard Lakers fans behind him bursting into curses.
“Get lost, Shaq, you piece of trash will never beat Roger in your life, never!”
“Damn it, you should’ve just rotted in the swamps of Orlando!”
“Roger’s f**king dancing on your head again, I’m so sick of this!”
The Lakers fans were frustrated with their team, imagining the OK duo would contend for the championship, only to be let down time and again.
Being swept by the Jazz last year was acceptable, after all, the Jazz was indeed strong.
But what about today?
This is still a crippled Hawks team!
This Hawks doesn’t have Stevie Smith, doesn’t have Alan Henderson and Scottie Pippen!
And Paul Pierce’s performance today was utterly crap, nearly negligible.
They had just traded for the Hornets’ star of the past three seasons.
In such a case, the Lakers were actually being beaten so that they were 7 points behind with only 53 seconds left!
O’Neal was fed up with the insults, and the fans’ jeers, along with Roger’s recent scoring drive, refueled Shaq’s anger to the max.
Shaq couldn’t stand it anymore; he was ready to start biting!
Time-out over, the game continued, and in a crucial possession, Kobe missed his solo attempt against Roger.
But O’Neal grabbed the offensive rebound, only to be violently shoved out of bounds by Big Ben, as the Hawks deliberately fouled.
Big Ben was venting his rage too, having been holding his breath since he was toppled over by O’Neal at the start of the game.
O’Neal wanted to explode but wanted to win the game even more.
So he held back, stepped up to the free-throw line.
In the end, O’Neal made one of two free throws, and the Lakers were still 6 points behind, with only 41 seconds left on the clock.
Kurt Rambis didn’t want to foul prematurely; he wanted to play tough defense.
Even if the Hawks drained 24 seconds, the Lakers would have more than 10 seconds left to chase 6 points.
They could try to catch up by making three-pointers.
Therefore, the game entered the deciding round.
If the Hawks scored in this possession, the game would be over.
If they didn’t, the Lakers would still have a glimmer of hope.
The whole arena tensed up, only the referees were relaxed.
The game, which had nearly spiraled out of control before the tip-off, was finally nearing a safe conclusion.
Roger controlled the time outside the three-point line, consuming as much as possible.
But with the last 10 seconds of the offense ticking down, Roger passed the ball out to Pierce.
Was he letting Pierce take the last shot?
After passing to Pierce, Roger started winding through screens to shake free, aiming to play off the ball in the final move.
Eventually, Roger caught the ball on the left mid-range successfully.
With only 4 seconds left, Roger still didn’t shoot, making a very cool pump fake.
After shaking Kobe, he charged straight at O’Neal under the basket and took off!
Everyone’s eyes widened; besides Jordan, it seemed like no other guard had ever dunked on Shaq.
O’Neal, seeing this, rushed at Roger with all his might.
But he wasn’t going for the ball; he never intended to make a successful block.
The intense smell of blood had already made it impossible for Shaq to suppress his predatory instincts.
Then, people saw O’Neal brutally slam Roger to the floor in mid-air, committing a malicious “clothesline” foul!
All the players on the court heard the dull sound of a heavy fall; the foul was so shocking that even the referees were alarmed, as O’Neal had just caused Roger to experience the acceleration of gravity in mid-air freefall!
Even the referees sensed the smell of a gas leak and immediately blew the whistle, trying to eject the “fire source” Shaq from the game to prevent an explosion.
Shaquille O’Neal had lit a match in a room full of gas.
And then blew up everything!
“Motherf**ker, you bastard!”
Big Ben, who had harbored resentment for a long time, was the first to roar and charge at O’Neal, knocking him down.
Pierce also ran towards Shaq; he too needed an outlet to vent the frustration of the evening.
With Big Ben holding Shaq down, all he had to do was punch, as easy as Dr.
But just as Pierce charged in, O’Neal had already pushed Big Ben away and stood up.
Looking up at the towering Shaq, Pierce swallowed hard.
O’Neal slapped Pierce down with one palm, and by this time players on the court had entered a frenzy, everyone instinctively trying to protect themselves.
Several players had already grabbed hold of Shaq, and just when Shaq thought it was over, Roger charged up to him again!