Champion Creed
Chapter 743 - 743 254 The Hawks have a better duo Soliciting monthly tickets!_2

743: 254: The Hawks have a better duo (Soliciting monthly tickets!)_2 743: 254: The Hawks have a better duo (Soliciting monthly tickets!)_2 Shaq’s whims, made Big Ben with his cornrows look just like Allen Iverson.

Honestly, over the years Big Ben had grown accustomed to the feeling of staying under Shaq’s crotch.

As long as Shaq got the ball comfortably, Big Ben was his plaything in his hands.

All he could do took place before Shaq got the ball.

After Shaq showed off, Kobe was not to be outdone.

A round later, Kobe fired from beyond the three-point line and hit it, Lakers leading 5 to 0.

Marv Albert was delighted with the Lakers’ condition because it ensured that this year’s finals would not be boring, “The best Kobe Bryant, can he and Shaq revive the glory of the most formidable duo again?

Can they hand the Hawks their first loss in the playoffs?”

However, the Hawks quickly responded.

Pierce took the lead in shooting, scoring against Glenn Rice in a one-on-one.

Then, Roger hit a jumper amidst the double team of Kobe and Harper.

The tone of the game had been set from the start: this was a war between the strongest duos!

In the following game, Kobe, Shaq, Roger, and Pierce all made their presence felt.

Kobe still controlled his wolf nature, not shooting recklessly on a whim.

But as long as the opportunity was there, he could firmly grasp it.

O’Neal attacked ferociously inside; today, Shaq’s touch near the basket was very good, with a high efficiency of hooks and soft tosses.

On the Hawks’ side, Roger consistently took charge of too many rounds when the tactics didn’t work out.

Pierce lived up to expectations; when Roger was resting, he led the team during the bridging phase with vibrance.

The scores of both teams spiraled upwards in alternation, and the performance of the dual cores was neck and neck.

At halftime, the score was tied at 53 apiece, with neither side able to gain an advantage over the other.

Although the score was tied, Marv Albert still had high praise for the Lakers at the end of the first half, “Looking at the situation now, the Lakers are indeed the only team that can compete with the Hawks in terms of talent.

If anyone can put an end to the Hawks’ winning streak in the playoffs, it must be the Los Angeles Lakers!”

This statement was not wrong; the Lakers’ talent was no less than the Hawks’.

This might be the first time in the playoffs that the Hawks could not overpower their opponent by talent alone.

Roger could score crazily, and so could Shaq.

Pierce could play offense and defense, and Kobe could do the same.

The third quarter was still tense.

The turning point came in the fourth quarter when Paul Pierce, long awaiting the finals, had the first legendary night of his career.

In the last three minutes of the fourth quarter with the Hawks ahead by 6 points, Pierce went for a pull-up three over Glenn Rice, stretching the lead to 9 points.

A round later, with Harper assigned to defend Pierce, Pierce still landed a three-pointer.

Seeing Pierce’s hot hand, Roger pointed at Pierce on the third offensive possession and signaled Pippen to continue feeding him.

So, Pierce took the ball to attack for the third consecutive time in clutch moments.

This was the privilege Roger gave to Pierce, as well as his trust in him.

The Lakers could no longer take it lightly, and this time they sent out their strongest perimeter defender, number 8.

Seeing that it was Kobe defending him one-on-one, Pierce started to lose control of his mouth, “Wasn’t last year’s beating miserable enough for you?”

“Weren’t those 13 slashes in Los Angeles painful enough?” Kobe retorted.

“13 slashes can’t scare me, let alone you.”

“Come on, I’m going to make you hurt all over.”

Pierce continued trash-talking with Kobe as he started his offensive move.

He didn’t use too many moves to shake off, just a sudden stepback near the three-point line, then a direct pull-up three!

Kobe’s defense was on point, even though he couldn’t block the shot, he still caused significant interference.

But the basketball still went straight into the net as Pierce hit three three-pointers in the clutch, widening the gap to 13 points!

Paul Pierce pumped his fists excitedly, then spread his arms wide.

Marv Albert too applauded along with the fans, “We’ve spent a lot of time being disappointed because our most anticipated players did not become the people we hoped they would be.

Clippers fans were disappointed with the Kandi Man, former 76ers fans were disappointed with Shawn Bradley, Celtics fans were disappointed with Chauncey Billups.

But with Paul, he’s become everything we hoped for!”

That’s why Roger told Pierce he didn’t need to calm down.

The Eastern Conference Finals were just a stepping stone; he needed to keep Pierce fighting with that passion!

The consecutive clutch shots by Pierce saved Roger a lot of energy, which he could then spend on defense.

On the next defensive play, Pippen and Roger employed double-teaming pressure.

No matter who had the ball, Roger or Pippen would join the original marker to push up and force the opponent to pass the ball.

This kind of defense would leave holes open, but Roger and Pippen used their quick movement and excellent judgment to repeatedly block those gaps.

Big Ben also did his best to prevent Shaq from getting the ball, even though his side had been heatedly pained by Shaq’s knee, he spared no effort.

The Zen Master felt tense, always thinking that a mistake would happen.

Murphy’s Law: When you think you’ll make a mistake, you will.

Under the pressure from Pippen and Pierce, Kobe laterally passed the ball to Harper, who had been left open, but Roger rushed out in time and snatched the ball away.

With Pippen and Roger covering the entire court, any pass was extremely dangerous.

After the steal, Roger quickly broke away and ultimately punctuated the game with a thunderous dunk.

The Zen Master conceded that in terms of teamwork, Roger and Pierce were more mature.

When one was on a hot streak, the other would reserve energy for defense.

They were a true “duo”.

But Kobe’s performance wasn’t bad either; he still managed himself today, without turning into a werewolf.

Will Pierce have this kind of touch every night?

Impossible.

But Kobe will deliver every night like he did today.

The Lakers would win, the Zen Master still believed so.

At the final buzzer, the Lakers fell to the Hawks 98 to 109.

The Lakers not only failed to become the first team to defeat the Hawks this postseason, but they also lost by a double-digit margin!

The Lakers’ duo performed superbly, with Kobe scoring 21 points and O’Neal with 38 points and 15 rebounds.

But the Hawks’ duo was even better, with Pierce scoring 30 points and Roger 37 points.

After the game, O’Neal was clearly unconvinced.

“What’s this?

Roger was completely carried over the river by his little brother; otherwise, he would have drowned here today!

And those three by Paul were ridiculous, let him shoot it again, and he won’t make it!

Damn Hawks, they just got lucky!”

But Pierce responded to Shaq with that line, “Luck?

I could make you question life again even while holding in a crap!”

The showdown of top talents had concluded, at least for tonight, Pierce and Roger proved they were the best duo.

But it was an undeniable fact that Pierce’s performance was outstanding.

His three consecutive three-pointers in the final moments instantly lowered the difficulty of the game.

But before that, the fight between both sides had been very tense.

Roger wasn’t taking things lightly; the battle was far from over, dealing with the OK duo wouldn’t be that simple.

He had to be fully prepared, ready to face the OK duo at the most challenging times.

A true superstar can’t only play when the wind’s in their favor.