Champion Creed
Chapter 585 - 585 210 Reverse the Heavenly Gang Vote for monthly tickets!_2

585: 210: Reverse the Heavenly Gang (Vote for monthly tickets!)_2 585: 210: Reverse the Heavenly Gang (Vote for monthly tickets!)_2 As long as they tightly marked him, the Hawks’ stable offensive point was essentially limited to Roger.

Roger had just crossed half-court when he was double-teamed by Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin.

Roger didn’t hesitate, and passed the ball to Pippen, who also lacked confidence in his shot and thus accelerated towards the basket.

But he was no longer the athletic kid who could dunk over Ewing and step over him, now Pippen’s driving force was clearly weaker, and the pain in his back also impacted his ability to finish in confrontations.

In the end, Pippen’s layup was blocked powerfully by Dale Davis.

The Pacers’ defensive strategy succeeded, by limiting Roger’s independent attacks and restricting Stevie Smith’s receptions, the Hawks’ offensive threat significantly declined.

Reggie Miller didn’t miss the chance to hit at Pippen, “Scottie pup, got a headache again today?”

The headache in ’90 against the Pistons in game seven and refusing to play during critical moments in ’94 against the Knicks were the two biggest blemishes in Pippen’s career, and also the points where he was most vulnerable to attack.

But facing Reggie Miller’s provocation, Pippen didn’t say anything.

Because soon, he let his actions do the talking.

In the second quarter, Pippen started to pull at Miller’s jersey.

Seeing Reggie Miller entangled and hardly able to receive the ball, Bird got a bit anxious.

Seeing that Miller still had no hope of receiving the ball and Smits being embarrassed by Kurt Thomas’s front defense, Mark Jackson decided to find another shooter, Mullin.

But his pass was directly intercepted by Roger.

At 35, Chris Mullin, whether in terms of running frequency or speed, was far inferior to Reggie Miller.

So for Roger, guarding him was quite easy, and he didn’t need to waste much energy to closely mark him.

Roger, after completing the steal, quickly counterattacked, scoring with a one-handed slam.

2 to 2, the tone of the game was set from the start.

This is going to be a defensive battle!

The Pacers couldn’t easily pass the ball to Miller, and the Hawks’ offense was highly dependent on Roger.

Sure enough, in the following part of the game, both teams had low shooting percentages.

But Roger still led his team to gain the lead.

For Roger, the pinch by Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin wasn’t fierce enough.

Mullin never was a good defender his whole life, and although Mark Jackson had played well in the Knicks, he was traded because Riley disliked his defense for not being fierce enough.

Although the double-teaming by these two put a lot of pressure on Roger, it wasn’t enough to stop him from scoring.

Roger dismantled Mullin and Mark Jackson’s double teaming with a brilliant scoring display, but relying solely on Roger, it was hard for the Hawks to pull away.

No matter how talented Roger was, it was very difficult for him to keep scoring while being double-teamed.

And to drive an offense to a climax, what was needed was powerful and continuous output; intermittent output couldn’t climax.

With 17 seconds left in the second quarter, the Hawks led by 7 points, with a chance to extend the lead to double digits before the half.

But Roger was clamped down in mid-range by Mark Jackson and substitute Jalen Rose.

In that situation, Roger had no choice but to pass to Pippen, who was completely open.

With no one guarding him beyond the three-point line, Pippen took the shot, but the basketball bounced out.

Dale Davis secured the rebound and quickly passed it up to Reggie Miller, who chased and shot a three-pointer at the buzzer, the ball dropping in as the whistle blew.

At halftime, the difference was only 4 points.

If Pippen’s shot had gone in, the Hawks would now be entering the second half with a 10-point lead.

But one missed shot completely changed the course of the match.

After scoring, Reggie Miller pointed at Pippen’s head, “I understand, cowards always get headaches at critical moments, no blame on you.”

In the first half, Pippen performed very well defensively.

But limited by injuries on offense, he only made 1 out of 5 shots, scoring just 4 points.

Reggie Miller precisely used this point to mess with Pippen’s mind.

As a professional at disparaging Pippen, Roger knew too well how to taunt.

People always say he and Pippen were teammates since 1993, but in reality, they had only been teammates for two seasons.

Yet, Roger has actually been taunting Pippen since 1993, with a lot of experience.

So, he knew that talking about headaches was extremely hurtful to Pippen.

Roger to this day doesn’t know why Pippen cares so much about that headache incident, yes, scoring only 2 points with 1 out of 10 in that game was indeed a disgrace.

But honestly, how often had Pippen scored in the single digits in critical games?

And the following season, the Bulls immediately avenged the Pistons and won three straight championships.

That game’s loss did not affect Pippen’s career as deeply as Barkley’s failure to block Stockton’s three-point shot last season, leading to a lifetime without a championship.

Thus, the loss in that game did not greatly impact Pippen’s career success.

So, it’s quite puzzling why Pippen cared so much about that game.

But whatever the reason, bringing up the headache will definitely affect his mental state.

This time, Pippen didn’t respond to Reggie Miller and instead just turned and walked toward the tunnel, looking quite disheartened.

Roger didn’t want Pippen’s mental state to be blown up by Reggie Miller.

Because when it comes to defense, psychological state is very important.

Once someone becomes mentally unstable, they will start standing with hands on hips, having a vacant look, and spreading out their hands on the defensive end.