Champion Creed
Chapter 552 - 552 199 He still has to wait for monthly passes!_3

552: 199: He still has to wait (for monthly passes!)_3 552: 199: He still has to wait (for monthly passes!)_3 It’s not about the level, but about courage, determination, and the desire to win.

On the other side, even though the score was tied and Roger’s firepower was fierce in the second half, Popovich remained calm.

Since the start of the third quarter, the shots Roger had made were all highly difficult.

Moreover, he had no chance to catch his breath on either offense or defense.

So, it was okay.

Playing like this, his shooting touch could not possibly last until the end of the game.

In the end, Roger could only rely on driving to the basket to score.

But the Spurs’ twin towers wouldn’t let him succeed!

After the third quarter, the game was completely a solo scoring show by Roger.

He dominated from mid-range, tormenting Sean Elliott and Spurs’ substitute forward Chuck Person.

But inside, Duncan was also controlling the game.

Every time Duncan scored inside, the live broadcaster would give Hawks fans in the stands a close-up.

Their faces showed not anger, but helplessness.

It was as if they were saying, “Damn, why does such a perfect player exist in this world?

We can’t handle him at all!”

Steve Jones shook his head and applauded after the third quarter, “This is a great show!

This is the star matchup we’ve been waiting for!”

Three quarters down, Spurs led by 3 points.

Roger had already scored 40 points in three quarters!

Duncan, expressionless, had taken 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The game still hung in the balance, Stevie Smith wanted to play, but Lenny Wilkens did not call him.

This made Stevie Smith feel humiliated.

He finally understood what true humiliation was: watching idly while his team struggled.

And that’s exactly what he had done in the first two games.

He deeply realized how foolish that was.

Pippen was also sweating heavily, his eyebrows furrowed, “Damn, did that guy really used to swim?

Is he really a rookie?”

“Don’t relax, Scott, the pressure on Tim that bastard must be maintained for 48 minutes!” Roger shouted while drinking water.

“I didn’t say I would relax, I’d do it without you telling me!

But we can’t fix him just with defense, can your hands last till the end of the game?”

“I can’t, but I will find other ways!” Roger admitted honestly, his mid-range shooting percentage had already started to decline towards the end of the third quarter.

This was why Popovich was not worried at all about Roger.

In the past, Roger had instances of killing games from mid-range, but the Spurs’ defense was different, they hardly made any mistakes.

That meant Roger couldn’t rely on chance balls, and every one of his baskets had to be made against strong defense, draining his energy immensely.

Moreover, he had to work hard to cover the inside on defense, which caused even greater physical depletion for Roger.

In previous seasons, Roger seldom needed to participate in protecting the rim.

But this season, especially today, Roger was literally running all over the court.

So in the fourth quarter, Roger only had one method.

Lenny Wilkens knew it too, this was the only way: “Set screens for Roger, then pop out, create opportunities to drive to the basket!”

He had to drive to the basket!

Stevie Smith swallowed his saliva, facing the Spurs’ twin towers in such an exhausted state?

Does this guy really know no fear?

The fourth quarter was extremely brutal.

Roger drove to the basket time after time, getting knocked down again and again.

He occasionally had chances to pass the ball to Alan Henderson or Kurt Thomas who popped out, but that was hardly a stable scoring tactic.

Because Duncan and the Admiral would not lazily watch as Shaq did, doing nothing as the opponent shot.

The Spurs’ twin towers would actively jump out to disrupt the shot, so Hawks’ offense was not stable.

However, the Spurs also began to encounter trouble; intense double-teaming made Duncan increasingly struggle, disrupting their flow.

Crucially, in the fourth quarter Lenny Wilkens took a risky move to handle Duncan: “Foul him!”

This was effective, Duncan’s “perfect player” image fractured in Atlanta.

Because in the fourth quarter, Duncan went to the free-throw line four times, scoring only 3 out of 8, three times making one of two, one time missing both.

When drafted in 1997, Duncan’s scouting report had only one weakness: free throws.

Today, this weakness was fully exploited.

The defensive intensity on both sides intensified, every fan watched sweating, as the game was truly of a playoff-level conflict.

While Duncan wasted several free-throw opportunities, Roger was not idle.

Even though knocked down repeatedly, his drives were still resolute.

Through free throws and driving, with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Roger scored his 50th point of the game!

And also, he helped the Hawks gain a 5-point lead!

Popovich thought that wearing down Roger’s touch would stop his scoring.

No, he thought too simply.

Ironically, Duncan specifically missed five free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs were precisely 5 points behind.

In other words, Duncan was contained, but Roger was still not contained!

O’Neal gritted his teeth, he was used to Kobe, but watching Roger play, Shaq suddenly felt…

damn, how could that guy be so strong!

Men might look at someone else’s wife through rose-colored glasses, but not at another man.

Shaq profoundly realized just how terrifying Roger was.

Popovich called a timeout, if Roger’s strong performance in the third quarter was still within his expectations, the fourth quarter was completely unexpected.