825: 276: When He Tasted the Flavor of Blood (Vote for Monthly Ticket!)_2 825: 276: When He Tasted the Flavor of Blood (Vote for Monthly Ticket!)_2 “Enough, Roger, I know I was wrong.”
If you really knew you were wrong, you wouldn’t still be scoreless in practice.
Pick up the ball, try to beat me, you weakling!”
Sitting on the bench resting, Jeff Hornacek shook his head: “Looks like Roger is really angry, poor Paul.”
“Have you thought about something, Jeff,” Lenny Wilkens looked at Hornacek, “If he’s with Paul, imagine how bad the Orlando Magic must have it.”
“Hey, don’t tell me we really have to win by 20 points to cool Roger’s temper.”
Lenny Wilkens just smiled and said nothing.
That would be lucky for the Magic Team.
The second match of the series continued at Philips Arena, and before the game started, a reporter asked Roger a question that surprised him.
Steve Belkin hasn’t come to watch any games in the second half of the season?
He hasn’t shown up in the playoffs either; where has he gone?”
During the first half of the season, he was all over the place pulling Roger to sideline Bruce Levenson, but in the second half, he seemed to lose interest in team management.
Belkin hasn’t contacted Roger for a long time and hasn’t come to watch any games in ages.
To be precise, after promising Big Ben a maximum contract renewal, he seemed to vanish from the basketball world without a trace.
“I don’t know, but I believe Steve is still focused on the team; let’s keep our attention on the game.”
Roger didn’t want these distractions affecting him; he just wanted to dispose of the Magic as soon as possible and avenge the previous game’s loss!
Before the game started, T-Mac, as usual, hugged Roger.
But after this hug, Roger asked T-Mac a question: “Tracy, tell me, is Larry Hughes always this brave?”
Roger didn’t say anything else, but T-Mac got nervous.
Roger’s gaze, his demeanor, the aura he exuded were completely different from the regular season.
He seemed like he was out to kill!
The game started quickly, with the Hawks gaining possession.
Roger controlled the first attack, with T-Mac primarily defending Roger.
This is why T-Mac seemed amazing in the last game; he managed to score 33 points while mainly defending Roger.
T-Mac’s height and wingspan are indeed advantageous at the second position, but what he didn’t expect was Roger taking one step and shooting directly in front of T-Mac!
T-Mac immediately jumped to interfere, but because Roger’s physical size isn’t as favorable as T-Mac’s, unlike T-Mac’s straight-up shooting, Roger slightly leaned back in the air, managing to find space to shoot.
Despite T-Mac’s long-arm interference, he steadied and made the shot!
“Damn it!” Doc Rivers began to get anxious.
Roger used a pull-up shot against T-Mac right from the start, which was a provocation, and also a signal for his rampage!
“Tracy, that move isn’t so difficult.”
“Roger, I don’t want trouble.” T-Mac smelled danger, but he’s not like Kobe, who would bull-headedly clash with Roger.
“Alright, then let that useless Larry Hughes come face me.”
Larry Hughes heard what Roger said, but he didn’t respond.
Magic Team’s attack, their strategy wasn’t anything special, the starting move was to give T-Mac an isolation play.
Look at the person sitting on the Magic Team’s coach bench, and you’d probably know the level of their strategic arrangement.
T-Mac prepared to continue dealing with Pippen but saw Roger standing in front of him!
Previously against the Magic, Lenny Wilkens never had Roger defend T-Mac.
During the regular season, it was because the Hawks didn’t want to push themselves too hard; in the first playoff game, it was because Lenny Wilkens was hoping to conserve Roger’s energy.
But after losing the first game, there was no need to conserve energy anymore, indicating that it was time for a real, tough battle.
T-Mac was a little nervous; Roger coming to defend him in the first round meant what?
It meant Roger was going all out, willing to fight to the end.
T-Mac saw no help defense from the Hawks, so he boldly went for the isolation play.
He dribbled between his legs repeatedly, searching for rhythm, then found a gap and suddenly gathered the ball and jumped!
But just as T-Mac’s feet left the ground, he saw Roger easily intercept the ball!
At that moment, T-Mac felt very desperate, because it seemed Roger was waiting for this moment to intercept the ball; everything was under his control.
As Roger intercepted the ball, Paul Pierce already rushed forward.
His positivity today contrasted sharply with the previous game; Roger pushed the ball with one hand, effortlessly assisting Pierce in a slam dunk.
But this score was quickly rewritten, as Mike Miller’s three-pointer missed under Pippen’s interference, and Big Ben protected the rebound.
Pippen might not be able to suppress T-Mac now, but guarding Mike Miller was relatively easy.
Moreover, you can’t expect Mike Miller to have a sensational shooting touch every game.
The Magic Team retreated quickly, not giving the Hawks a chance for a counterattack.
This time, when Roger received the ball to continue challenging T-Mac, Larry Hughes came up for a double team, and Pierce was ready for a catch-and-shoot.
He wouldn’t waste any opportunity today.
But Roger didn’t pass the ball; before completely killing his prey, he wanted to toy with them first.