Champion Creed
Chapter 485 - 485 181 You know very well how I am going to deal with you later asking for monthly votes!

485: 181: You know very well how I am going to deal with you later (asking for monthly votes!) 485: 181: You know very well how I am going to deal with you later (asking for monthly votes!) The Finals Game 4 was an ugly defensive battle.

Upon close recall, you’d realize that before the era of no Handchecking fully set in, whenever two closely matched teams faced off in the Finals, regardless of their styles, the series would inevitably turn into a defensive war.

Today’s game epitomized that ultimate confrontation.

The Magic warriors, ignited with passion on the defensive end, pulled and dragged relentlessly, full of energy.

Jerry Sloan thought, if I can’t score from the outside, then you sure as hell aren’t going to either.

Give me toughness, get your hands up, and make sure to knock them down every round!

As a result, both sides’ offensive efficiency was greatly affected.

On the Jazz side, Karl Malone was double-teamed as soon as he got the ball, never having an easy shot.

And Hornacek, he once again lost himself amidst Roger’s tight defense and his own daughter’s sweet blow of “Daddy can’t make a single shot.”

What’s worse, his daughter was wearing a mini version of the Magic’s No.

14 jersey.

His daughter was only three years old, but Hornacek already felt the blood pressure-spiking sensation of his daughter running off with another man.

Every time Roger successfully defended Hornacek’s shot, he would smirk slightly, “Old man, you don’t want to disappoint your daughter, right?

As her idol, I must guard you.

You don’t understand her!”

“You don’t understand her” was probably the most blood pressure-rising trash talk in NBA history.

Of course, Roger and Shaq weren’t faring any better on the offensive end.

The Jazz Team employed a brutal double-teaming strategy against them, preferring to leave others open rather than give Roger or Shaq an easy time with the ball.

This naturally involved various shoving, bumping, and dragging.

Inevitably, there were stealthy elbows and attacks on each other.

In such intense conflicts, if you were unlucky, you might even get injured by your own teammate.

In the third minute of the second quarter, Roger took a jumper between Bryon Russell and Malone that hit the iron.

After the ball bounced off the rim, Karl Malone immediately ran back to the basket, leaped high to grab the rebound, and in the air, his elbow accidentally smashed Hornacek’s head.

In these games, rebounding isn’t as simple as jumping and grabbing the ball.

The real process is jumping up, clashing fiercely in the air with a bunch of tough guys, and somehow trying to snatch the ball amidst the collision.

Poor Hornacek became the one who was knocked away.

In this Finals series, regardless of the outcome, Jeff Hornacek was the one who sacrificed the most.

He was hit by opponents, hit by teammates, and even mocked by his daughter.

No one could be more miserable than him.

The ferocious close-quarters battle kept the score incredibly low, with the score at an exasperating 56-56 after three quarters.

During the halftime break, everyone was gasping for breath.

37-year-old Wilkins had to breathe oxygen on the bench after three quarters of high-intensity defense.

Harper clutched at his knees, feeling as though his legs were about to break.

Roger also felt as if his body had been hollowed out, and in the fourth quarter, it would be very difficult for him to maintain his usual shooting touch.

Everyone felt like they were in hell.

When the fans at Delta Center saw this, they became even more excited, screaming at the Magic Team players from the stands:

“Suffocate here, you bastards!”

“Hahaha, now there’s going to be a Game 6, right?

As you wished!”

“Roger, glad to have filled your regret!”

“The Magic Team will disband right here in Salt Lake City!”

The terrifying atmosphere at Delta Center was still shocking, but the fire that the Magic Team had ignited in the conference room yesterday burned even more fiercely than the fans’ passion.

Nevertheless, the entire Magic Team would grit their teeth and persist, determined to make their last dance end perfectly.

In the fourth quarter, the close combat continued.

It was still hard for both sides to score, and the Jazz Team started using the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy on O’Neal.

Although to control fouls, the Jazz waited until O’Neal had the ball before hacking, this still severely limited Shaq’s offensive threat.

On the Jazz side, there were hardly any decent field goals in the set plays.

The fast breaks launched by Stockton’s long passes were the only steady offensive method for the Jazz.

The score remained tense, both sides resolutely keeping the game ugly.

Continuous turnovers, continuous bricks, continuous sprinting back and forth.

But the fans of both sides enjoyed every bit of it, every score deservingly eliciting their loud cheers.

Finally, with 56 seconds left in the game, Roger, amid a double team, made a jump shot to score his 24th point of the day.

By that time, the Magic Team only had 76 points altogether.

The Utah Jazz took a 2-point lead into the timeout.

Jerry Sloan was still focusing on defense, “Don’t give Roger any space to shoot, today the referees are very lenient on illegal defense, we can double-team him a little earlier!”

Jerry Sloan was going to strangle the Magic with defense today.

Offense?

To be honest, now we can only rely on occasionally catching a break.

In set offense, every shot feels like a gamble with life.

After the timeout, on the first possession, as expected, Karl Malone’s jumper hit the iron.

Malone had been moving between Roger and Shaq all day, filling the gaps on defense, so his exertion was massive, having lost his touch long ago.

Roger had a chance to tie or even take the lead.

This time he shook off Bryon Russell and then shot over the defending Stockton who had come up to help.

But Stockton, cunningly elbowing Roger in the stomach as he closed in, affected Roger’s jump shot.