Champion Creed
Chapter 729 - 729 249 A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf Request for Monthly Votes!_4

729: 249: A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf (Request for Monthly Votes!)_4 729: 249: A Pack of Wolves is the Real Wolf (Request for Monthly Votes!)_4 The loss was etched in his memory, as, except for his rookie season, Roger had won consecutively for four years in the playoffs.

Orlando’s third championship and the first championship for saving Atlanta elevated Roger to the peak of his career.

But in 1999, he suddenly fell from the summit.

The departure of Stevie Smith made him question whether he was indeed a good leader.

The loss in the Eastern Conference Finals meant his declaration of a dynasty had to start all over.

Yes, everyone believed Roger would come back quickly, everyone was confident that Roger would return to the winner’s circle, there was no doubt about it.

But each agonizing day, each hour, each minute waiting to reclaim his throne, Roger had to endure with patience.

He had suppressed his emotions for too long.

Now, the opportunity was right in front of him.

Thus, Roger could no longer hide his emotions, emotions that ached to draw his sword and pierce the heart of the Heat.

Having said that, Roger got up and left, concluding today’s press conference.

He didn’t return to the locker room but prepared to head straight to the team bus to go back to the hotel.

The equipment manager would pack everything in the locker room, so the players didn’t need to worry about it.

But when he reached the parking lot, Roger stopped in his tracks.

He saw that everyone from the Hawks was standing outside the bus, waiting for him.

“What?

Is the bus broken?” Roger approached the bus curiously, as it was unlikely for the team bus to have any issues, since it was always checked before use.

But no one answered his question, and everyone stood in a circle, encircling Roger like a group of cultists.

Roger looked up and saw that the TV on the team bus was showing a sports news broadcast.

That meant what he had just said at the press conference was already broadcast on TV and heard by his teammates.

Immediately, everyone crowded around Roger and placed their hands on his shoulder.

Paul Pierce stood right in front of Roger, looking serious.

It was the first time everyone learned that Roger had been hiding his emotions for the past year.

Everyone was used to being led by Roger, protected by Roger.

He would solve any problem, defeat any formidable enemy, and shoulder any loss.

But everyone had overlooked the fact that he was also human.

“This year I won’t let you wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, nothing can stop us now, not even if they shoot a fourteenth hole in me!

Hey, we are going to take everything back!

Roger, we are with you, a pack of wolves is a real pack!” Pierce squeezed Roger’s shoulder even harder.

Then, Pippen led the chant: “power, power, power!

Let’s go!!!”

“Whoosh!”

Roger felt like Goku in the first major climax of “Dragon Ball Z”, gathering the spirit bomb fueled by everyone’s strength.

He felt the power transmitted to him from everyone.

It had always been Roger who gave strength to his teammates, from Marciulionis to Wilkins, to that guy riddled with holes; he always powered others, keeping them under his protective wings.

Now, his team reciprocated, giving him endless strength.

They became each other’s shields.

Roger looked around at everyone, raised his head: “The past is a ghost, intangible.

Only the future weighs something.

Let’s go, let’s do the next thing!”

“Take down the Heat?”

“No, pray that those from Miami don’t die in a cornfield!

They can only die in one place, and that’s the hell forged by the fury of Atlanta!”

The following day, Reggie Miller responded to Roger: “I hate to disappoint you, but the team advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals this year will definitely be the Indiana Pacers.

No matter how much you love that utter fool Latrell, it’s going to be me who comes to see you.”

The Pacers and Heat are indeed playing fiercely, the current score tied at 2-2.

On the Pacers’ side, Reggie Miller was experiencing his final peak while Jalen Rose’s rise had reopened the team’s championship window.

However, the Heat clinched the victory in the decisive Game 5 of the series.

In the original 2000 playoffs, the Pacers eliminated the Knicks, who had Sprewell, Allan Houston, and the fading star in a 4-2 series.

Today’s Heat roster still includes Sprewell and Allan Houston, but the declining star has turned into MVP candidate Mourning, and they’ve added a revitalized Jamal Mashburn.

You could say this is a team that combined the best of the 2000 Heat and Knicks, resolving the pain points each team had initially.

The Knicks’ pain point was their weak inside game; in 2000, Ewing could only manage an average of 14 points and 7 rebounds with a shooting percentage of 44% against the Pacers.

That year, the fading star was hardly star-like at all.

The Heat’s pain point was Mourning’s lack of perimeter support, and his inability to dominate the inside like the other four major centers, resulting in a lack of competitiveness deep in the playoffs.

Now, Sprewell and Allan Houston have a top inside player who was an All-Star last season, plus a one-time defensive player of the year and block leader.

Mourning also had strong perimeter firepower support; Sprewell and Allan Houston might not be top scorers on their own, but you can’t overlook that both positions are All-Star level.

So, the Pacers struggled hard and lost by 13 points in the decisive G5.

In Game 6, the Heat exploded, with Sprewell scoring 19 points, Allan Houston 18 points, Mourning 21 points, and Jamal Mashburn 17 points; each delivered an outstanding performance.

Specifically, Mourning, eager to win a championship in Miami, pumped out 21 points while grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists, and blocking 4 shots as if he were injected with adrenaline.

On the Pacers’ side, Old Miller gave it his all knowing it was Larry Bird’s last year coaching the team, blazing to score 41 points, setting a new franchise playoff record for most points in a single game.

But under the Heat’s stellar defense, no other Pacers player could stand out, and Miller ultimately couldn’t carry his team into the Eastern Conference Finals.

Larry Bird took a deep breath at the moment the game ended.

Three years had ended.

So too had his coaching career.

During these three years, one-time Coach of the Year, one Eastern Conference Finals appearance, his achievements were already quite remarkable.

But they could barely create even a slight ripple in that era.

Larry Bird said what he did, he wouldn’t coach the Pacers again.

The remaining path, the Pacers would have to walk on their own.

Thus, the Miami Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, the team’s last dance reaching its most critical step.

Roger’s career also reached a critical step.

This year’s 72-win team must not stop at the Eastern Finals!

Latrell Sprewell faced the camera, kissed his fist, and then thrust it at the camera: “Roger will get a taste of this.”

He certainly wouldn’t forget Pierce’s slap, nor the moment Roger straddled above his head.

Filled with hatred, he was ready to fully unleash it in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“And this,” Mourning moved close to the camera, showing off his muscles.

They were very confident, although this season’s regular matchups against the Hawks had ended with 1 win and 3 losses, and each game was decided by single digits, the Heat were not without a chance.

Clearly, this group of muscle men didn’t grasp the concept of beating an opponent by double digits in seven consecutive playoff games.

Nor did they understand how Roger, who had waited so long for this, would punish them.

Seeing Sprewell and Mourning posing in front of the camera, Roger and Pierce sitting on the couch watching the TV, showed expressions as flat as Michael Jordan’s meme.

Good, congratulations on advancing.

Because only your blood is fit to stain the crown of the new century!