Champion Creed
Chapter 322 - 322 136 The Gentlest Yet Most Terrifying Sentence Requesting Monthly Tickets!

322: 136: The Gentlest Yet Most Terrifying Sentence (Requesting Monthly Tickets!) 322: 136: The Gentlest Yet Most Terrifying Sentence (Requesting Monthly Tickets!) Magic and Bulls were at a crossroads of destiny.

The outcome of this playoff series would determine so much.

In the East finals, Magic didn’t have the home-court advantage, so the battle had to start in Chicago.

Even the Chicago fans probably didn’t expect such a smooth start to the East finals for the Bulls.

In the first two games in Chicago, the dominant 72-win Bulls took two straight victories, taking an early 2-0 lead.

In the first game, Roger blasted 38 points, and Shaq scored 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.

It turned out the rest of the Magic team combined for only 7 field goals!

In the third quarter, facing the Bulls’ oppressive defense, Roger and Shaq passed the ball to their teammates, but they failed to seize the opportunity.

Throughout the third quarter, the Bulls played a 26-13 run, directly securing their victory.

Warm-up in the first half, strangle in the third quarter, harvest the desperate faces of the opponents in the fourth quarter… Game 1 of the Eastern finals was a very typical Bulls-style victory.

The unbeaten aura of the Magic in the playoffs had been broken, and the Bulls also ended their losing spell against the Magic since the previous season.

In the second game, the role players of the Magic performed much better, but Michael Jordan scored 41 points with a terrifying shooting percentage of 59%—even O’Neal’s shooting percentage today was only 58%.

Today, Jordan’s touch was alarmingly hot; he always managed to hit jumpers right in the face of Harper’s defense as he caught the ball.

When he received the ball in the low post, he could quickly make a turnaround jumper before the double-team approached, or use his back-down moves to create space and then shoot.

In terms of the game’s feel, you might think Jordan was playing an ordinary game, not pulling off anything too outrageous, just basic moves.

But unconsciously, he scored 41 points.

If you carefully watch Jordan’s game tapes, you’d find that after returning from playing baseball, Michael Jordan played very simply in half-court offense, barely using any fancy one-on-one plays, and seldom dribbling more than three times in an offensive play.

He wouldn’t dribble for 20 seconds and then pass to Pippen or Dumars, nor would he unnecessarily hold onto the ball squandering his teammates’ energy under the guise of being the main ball handler.

Jordan didn’t dribble more than three times simply because he didn’t want to, not that he couldn’t.

Even if he slipped while dribbling, he could stand back up without traveling, continue dribbling, break through, and then score.

He rarely dribbled more than three times just because he didn’t prefer to play that way; he sought ultimate efficiency.

The style of being the main ball handler may sound impressive, but aside from being conducive to padding stats, it doesn’t have any other clear advantages.

This minimal ball-handling approach now actually allows Jordan to maximize avoiding double-teams, making his offensive power unmatched.

After returning from baseball, with diminished explosiveness, Jordan elevated his fundamental skills and understanding of basketball to an extraordinary level; he could kill your defense with just a couple of moves.

This game was just like that; Jordan used his straightforward offense to completely break through the Magic before they could even attempt to double-team him.

In a version of the game where zone defense wasn’t allowed, this simple yet efficient offense was utterly frustrating.

Many times, Roger was just preparing to double-team, and Jordan had already scored.

Of course, Harper wasn’t just there for show.

But Jordan’s offense had reached a level where it was basically uncontainable one-on-one.

Besides, O’Neal was forced into making 6 turnovers under oppressive defense, which was also one of the reasons Magic lost the game.

As a post player who doesn’t hold the ball long, having 6 turnovers is a rather ugly statistic.

Thus, Magic lost the first two games of the series.

A 2-0 lead boosted the confidence of Bulls fans massively.

Many Chicago fans were convinced that the Bulls marching into the finals was a done deal.

Rodman even brought a broom to the post-game press conference, “Last season they swept us, this season we return the favor.”

At the press conference, Roger kept his composure, “How do I feel right now?

Ask me again when we’ve lost four games or the Bulls have lost four games.

Until the series is over, I won’t have any feelings.

I’ll just keep fighting.”

Roger wasn’t blindly confident; although down 2-0, the margin of loss in both games against the Bulls hadn’t exceeded two digits.

Even with Jordan’s otherworldly performance tonight, the game was still tight.

This showed that the gap between the two teams was very close.

By the time Roger left the press conference, it was quite late, but as he walked out, he found Michael Jordan casually sitting at the entrance with a cup of coffee, waiting for him.

Seeing Roger come out, Jordan greeted him with a grin, extending his hand, “Hey buddy, how have you been?”

“I’m pretty good,” Roger also smiled, maintaining his composed demeanor as he shook hands with Jordan.

He knew Jordan wasn’t there just to greet him; that bastard just wanted to see him embarrassed, savoring the thrill of victory.

Roger wouldn’t let him have that satisfaction.

“This is going to be a brutal series, buddy, the kind that might destroy a team,” Jordan said with a smile, but his eyes were filled with a killer instinct.

“I know.

I knew from the start.”

“Good luck then, Roger.”

“Thanks, Michael, but I don’t need luck.”