826: 276: When He Tasted the Flavor of Blood (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)_3 826: 276: When He Tasted the Flavor of Blood (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)_3 Roger heads towards the baseline, with T-Mac and Larry Hughes closely following, like a wall blocking the direction of the hoop.
But Roger doesn’t break through; instead, he drifts back under their defense.
Larry Hughes presses up to block his view while T-Mac jumps up fully to try and block the shot.
The net makes a pleasant sound, rendering their efforts futile.
6 to 0, the floor of Philips Arena trembles.
Doc Rivers begins setting up his “dogfight strategy” from the sideline: “Let’s go!
Don’t be afraid, we must not fear!
Fight, fight, hut, hut!”
Doc Rivers’ skill lies in the fact that he is the coach least worried about other teams listening in on his tactics.
Because even if his tactics are overheard, they cannot be cracked.
Under the guidance of the comeback genius, the Magic Team’s offensive attempts unsurprisingly failed again.
This time, T-Mac calls his teammate Andrew DeClercq in the post to set a screen for him, bypassing the screen with a direct jump shot.
But Andrew DeClercq’s thin frame is easily surpassed by Roger, so by the time T-Mac is ready to shoot, he sees Roger’s hand blocking the ball path.
T-Mac has no time to stop his shot motion, the basketball is shot, then grazed by Roger’s fingertips, completing the block!
This young man, who was poetic during the regular season, is now made a fool by Roger’s defense.
Big Ben grabs the ball and returns it to Roger.
Roger rushes with the ball, T-Mac clings to his side.
Yet, he decisively charges into the paint, confronting T-Mac’s defense mid-air, scores with a scoop.
Roger roars to the sky and then delivers a fierce punch to the soft pad of the hoop.
Atlanta fans feel relieved at this moment because Roger has finally tasted blood.
Once Roger tastes the first sip of blood in the playoffs, he will continue the carnage!
The game has just begun, but Lenny Wilkens is already confident it will turn into a slaughter.
The Magic Team won the Hawks twice this season, yet they couldn’t suppress Roger; it was by collective firepower countering Roger’s individual power.
But today, as Roger disables the Magic Team’s strongest offensive point on defense and continues outputting, the Magic Team has no way to break the situation.
They can only watch helplessly as the score widens in the following time.
Sure enough, the following game completely went one-sided.
When Paul Pierce dared not relax, when T-Mac was defended to only score 6 points half-court, Mike Miller and Darrell Armstrong’s distant shots lost their magic, the Hawks led by 22 points in the half!
T-Mac couldn’t believe he’d lose by 20 points before, yet Roger accomplished all this in half a game!
The most terrifying part is, after the first half, Roger even reminded Larry Hughes: “Hope you’re still on the court in the second half because it’s not over yet, Larry.
Want to play the second round?
Come on, let’s continue in the second half!”
T-Mac’s head buzzed; what did he mean by ‘it’s not over yet’ with a 22-point lead?
Is this the real Roger?
Back in the locker room, Jeff Hornacek thought Roger’s anger had subsided: “You completed the task early, Roger.”
“You’re ahead by 22 points, as the media said.”
“Yes, today’s game, I’m ahead by 20 points, but how about the last game?”
After hearing these words, even as a teammate, Jeff Hornacek felt a chill down his spine.
This is the true Roger, the most real Roger.