Champion Creed
Chapter 172 - 172 088 Silent Roger the Most Terrifying Presence Two in One! _5

172: 088: Silent Roger, the Most Terrifying Presence (Two in One!) _5 172: 088: Silent Roger, the Most Terrifying Presence (Two in One!) _5 Horace Grant grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to Roger, who was facing Hardaway and Spree, already retreating.

Roger took off just one step inside the three-point line, making a long-distance layup to score, catching both of them completely off guard.

15 to 9.

All of Magic Team’s 15 points since the start of the game had been scored by Roger!

The Warriors were forced to call a timeout, as a sense of inexplicable fear spread through Oracle Arena.

During the timeout, teammates walked up to Roger to high-five him, and Roger didn’t refuse.

But when O’Neal said to Roger, “Nicely done,” Roger just nodded.

Still, he said nothing.

He refused to communicate with anyone.

Throughout the entire timeout, Roger was unnaturally quiet.

Nobody on Magic Team bother Roger with further conversation anymore, as they tried not to disturb the man who had already entered a certain state.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time Roger displayed this state on the basketball court.

Jordan had seen it.

It was during Roger’s rookie season, on the night Michael Jordan challenged Roger to a one-on-one.

A frustrated Jordan deliberately elbowed Roger in the face while defending him and mouthed off arrogantly, calling him a “bastard, bastard.”

Before that, the trash-talking between Jordan and Roger was quite lively.

But after that elbow, Roger suddenly fell silent.

Right after, Jordan paid a painful price for it.

Of course, Penny was still unaware of this, Larry Miller knew nothing of it, and neither did the players of Magic Team, or the fans at Oracle Arena.

They all thought that today was the day the Warriors would march into the playoffs.

As the game restarted, Roger, who hadn’t spoken a word, was the first to stand up and step onto the court.

O’Neal swore it was the first time he felt scared because of a player.

If Roger were his opponent tonight, it would be very troublesome.

And what followed couldn’t just be explained as “troublesome.”

Penny was still in excellent form; he played very well.

But Roger was on another level.

If Penny’s scoring was like walking a tightrope, then Roger’s performance was utterly at will.

Yes, a show.

The speed at which his score rose far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

He hit long-range shots from beyond the three-point line; he entered the paint and finished with a layup.

He could finish off cuts and catch-and-shoot plays, or he could pull up for a jump shot after a quick drive.

Roger was like the protagonist of the GTA game, choosing his weapons at will, mercilessly annihilating everything in front of him.

Everyone knew that the Warriors had the worst defense in the league that season, but even so, the momentum of Roger’s scoring was too exaggerated.

NBC commentator Bob Costas’s most repeated phrase during the first half was, “He scores again, my God!”

Penny tried hard, really hard.

Everyone could see that he truly wanted to lead his team into the playoffs.

But it was equally clear to everyone that he was completely losing this decisive battle!

On this terrifying night, as Penny tried hard to catch up, he watched helplessly as Roger’s offense easily tore his team’s defense in two.

The man scored again and again, walking off without saying a word each time, like a killing machine that wouldn’t stop until its opponents were thoroughly dead!

Penny was scared.

The Warriors were scared.

They were intimidated by Roger’s attacking prowess.

Their shooting percentage began to fluctuate, and they started to look discouraged.

In front of the TV, Kobe Bryant had lost track of time, completely absorbed in this terrifying scoring performance.

He was reluctant to admit it, but Roger’s words echoed in his mind: “Kid, even Michael Jordan can’t win against me.”

Perhaps he was telling the truth.

With the last 25 seconds of the second quarter left, Penny had control of the final possession of the half.

He continued to call for Gatling to screen, which had been Penny’s most reliable way of scoring that night, given that O’Neal had yet to show any respect for Penny’s jump shot after the screen.

After the screen, Penny took a step and shot.

But as soon as the ball was raised, it was swatted away by Roger, who had come up to help on defense.

Then, Roger picked up the ball himself and pushed forward like crazy.

At this point, the entire Warriors team was chasing after Roger, nearly forming a circle around him as they moved together.

Up in the stands, Larry Miller clenched his fists and silently urged, “Stop him, stop him!

Dammit!”

Surrounded by Warriors players, Roger continued to charge into the paint, intentionally colliding with Hardaway ahead of him to create space, then leaping, faking a shot in the air only to pull the ball back, avoiding the block attempts of the four players around him.

As he descended, he gently lobbed the ball into the hoop with a soft touch.

The arena was silent; it was an effortless one against five.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was Roger’s stats at that moment.

As the buzzer sounded, O’Neal looked up at the big screen and saw Roger’s stats.

Then, a bewildered Shaq turned to Harper and exclaimed, “Buddy, are you kidding me?”

In the stands, Larry Miller was so frustrated that he stood up and left his seat, mumbling, “Excuse me, excuse me!”

He couldn’t bear to watch anymore; he could no longer stay in this arena filled with a sense of shame.

In this half of the game, it was as if Roger was declaring to the whole world that Larry Miller, this old man with failing eyes, had given up on a shining nugget of gold and instead signed a piece of trash.

Neither O’Neal nor Larry Miller’s reactions were exaggerated, because by the end of the half, the number next to the score column for Roger was 40.