Champion Creed
Chapter 98 - 98 064 The Bloodiest Slaughter Roger Repeatedly Seals the Throat!_5

98: 064: The Bloodiest Slaughter, Roger Repeatedly Seals the Throat!_5 98: 064: The Bloodiest Slaughter, Roger Repeatedly Seals the Throat!_5 What’s important is that the officiating standard stays consistent.

You can’t be strict with one team and loose with another, or loose in the first half and suddenly tight in the second half.

And today’s referees have maintained a consistent standard from start to finish; they’ve been encouraging physical play all day, so there’s no issue with Roger knocking down Harper just now.

As Riley was getting hot under the collar, he saw Roger waving at him from a short distance away: “Pat, I’m really sorry.”

This was in response to Riley having said the same thing to Roger after winning twice before, “Kid, I’m really sorry.”

“I’m going to kill that bastard, I swear I’m going to kill him!” Riley lost his composure for the first time on the court, his suit and hair now a complete mess.

Jeff Van Gundy continued to pull hard on Riley: “Let it go, Pat.

You don’t want to have titanium alloy planted in your eyes, do you?”

That calmed Riley down.

Jeff Van Gundy has always been a master at mediating conflicts.

The game continued, and the cheers of the Knicks fans in the arena had diminished considerably.

Partly because many had already left, and partly because they could no longer cheer.

Their throats were choked with blood.

Little Melo grabbed a handful of popcorn in his hand, but forgot to put it in his mouth.

He had not expected the game to turn around in such a brutal manner by Roger.

Let’s review what just happened: Roger first hit a very difficult catch-and-shoot three-pointer, then stole the Knicks’ baseline ball, and after that, he dribbled out beyond the three-point line, turned around and made a three-pointer shot.

The probability of these three things happening at the same time is extremely low, but Roger turned each one into reality!

Even Old Winter hadn’t expected everything to go so smoothly; tactics are one thing, but executing them is another.

What Roger had just done was to execute the theoretically best outcome with perfection!

Phil Jackson remained calm; he had always said that Roger was not the kind of person who would just watch others climb on top of his head.

Yes, they just needed him.

Right now, the worst thing for the Knicks wasn’t that the score was tied.

The worst thing was that Pat Riley could no longer use timeouts to disrupt Roger’s rhythm.

He had no more tricks to restrict Roger.

Against that number 14, he was powerless!

There were 13 seconds left in the game, the Knicks were down by four points.

New Yorkers plunged into an indescribable despair; even though Roger was exhausted, he still managed to bring despair to New York.

This time, the Knicks successfully inbounded the ball from the baseline, and Starks took control of the ball and quickly ran past half-court.

Pat Riley’s voice was hoarse; now Jeff Van Gundy was taking over the sideline directions: “Look for a three, a three!”

The Zen Master also blew his whistle: “Don’t foul!”

However, as Starks crossed half-court with the ball, his mind was blank; he couldn’t hear what Riley was shouting at all.

Just seconds ago, he had been celebrating victory.

And now?

They were about to be eliminated.

This huge disparity left Starks completely unable to react.

For the New York Knicks, their formation was disrupted and they had no timeouts left to catch their breath.

For the Bulls, Roger’s 6 points in 5 seconds greatly boosted the team’s morale.

There was now a gap in momentum between the two teams.

The scales of victory were rapidly tipping!

Pippen had been defending Starks all game; without a post-timeout tactical arrangement, Starks was like a headless fly, running chaotically all over the court, not knowing who to pass the ball to.

Starks was a sharp tweaker on the nerves, but controlling the game wasn’t his forte.

He dribbled the ball, dodging Pippen’s pressure, who fought fiercely, but the referees remained unmoved.

This was the intensity Pat Riley craved, this was the violent defense Pat Riley loved.

But now, he loathed it all!

Starks couldn’t find anyone to pass to, nor could he shake off Pippen.

Dribbling, he found himself trapped on the narrow wing, walking into a dead end.

In this position, he simply couldn’t find anyone to pass to.

“Dribble out of there, you idiot, dribble out!” Riley yelled, his voice already hoarse.

Under Pippen’s intense pressure, Starks, dribbling at a zero-degree angle, tried to turn and step beyond the three-point line to escape the cage.

But as he turned, his feet slipped.

Starks’s balance was disrupted, he desperately wanted to regain stability using his core strength, but he was simply too tired.

Seven games of bloody battle plus Riley’s devilish extra training had already drained his body.

He fell down, much like T-Mac in his infamous moment, tumbling with the ball and offering a classic bewildered meme, just like the unfortunate Devean Brown.

As he fell, the ball escaped Starks’s control.

Pippen pounced on the ball the instant it slipped out of Starks’s hands, scooping it up.

Because he charged so fiercely, with such a low center of gravity, Pippen also lost his balance.

But in the second before he fell, he pushed the ball towards Roger, who was already sprinting forward.

Pippen still despised Roger to this moment, but…

let the damn New York Knicks go to hell first!

Roger received the basketball, charging past the halfway mark as the leader.

Everything happened so suddenly that the Knicks had no chance to react.

By the time Derek Harper caught up, Roger had already reached the three-point line on the other side of the court.

Then, came the most iconic moment.

After running up, Roger didn’t fix his eyes on the basket but instead turned around, staring intently at Pat Riley on the sidelines.

Neither side spoke a word, but their meaning was clear — Roger wanted to look Pat Riley in the eyes as he plunged the dagger into his heart!

Roger wanted to make that damn fool repent for his arrogance in the face of defeat!

“Boom!”

“Tomahawk dunk!

Roger puts the Bulls ahead by 6 points with 0.4 seconds left in the game!

He’s killed the game, he’s killed the game!

The New York Knicks stand no chance now, once again, they fall before the bloody horns!

Once again, they collapse just outside the finals!”

Little Melo’s popcorn fell straight to the ground.

He had only wanted to stay in the stands, to finish his bucket of popcorn.

But what had he now witnessed?

He had witnessed one of the bloodiest slaughters in playoff history!

In the final 18 seconds, Roger repeatedly struck at the throat, completely tearing apart the Knicks’ defense!

“Beeeep!!!”

The shrill buzz of the buzzer pulled Melo back from his thoughts, the game was over, 84-78.

The New York Knicks, leading by 2 points in the last 18 seconds, suffered a devastating reversal!

Every detail of this game, every maneuver, every action, was etched deeply in his mind.

He resolved to become a young superstar like Roger!

“Carmelo, let’s go home, the game’s over,” said the black mother, stroking her child’s head.

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

“One day, I’m going to be a player like Roger!”

“You will, Melo.

You definitely can,”