Champion Creed
Chapter 984: 321: This won't be the craziest time (asking for monthly votes!)

Chapter 984: 321: This won’t be the craziest time (asking for monthly votes!)

On the first night of the 2003 playoff journey, Roger made big news.

A bloody 51-point single-game performance signified that Roger’s relentless dominance over Shaquille O’Neal continued.

This dominance was particularly significant because both Shaq and Roger had switched teams, proving that Roger’s dominance over Shaq didn’t depend on where Shaq was, or where Roger was. It was a complete and flawless domination.

If your own strength isn’t enough, changing teams won’t solve the problem.

Shaquille O’Neal did everything within his power; he completely crushed Amar’e Stoudemire and led by example by not trash talking Roger throughout the entire game.

The latter was obviously more difficult than the former. Just look at how Raja Bell slammed the ball into his own face, and you’ll know how much the Mavericks’ players were holding back.

However, all the efforts of the Mavericks ultimately ended up in vain.

They still became a mere backdrop to Roger in the playoffs, becoming a part of Roger’s glorious career, a part trampled under his feet.

Charles Barkley still remembered saying during the game, “God, save Amar’e Stoudemire.”

Now, he had a new understanding of it: “God couldn’t save the poor Amar’e, but Roger could. That bastard played like this and still enjoyed victory, just because he had a good big brother.”

A Shaq with 43 points turned into useless effort walked into the player tunnel, with an unexpectedly calm expression.

But inside, he wasn’t calm at all; cold sweat trickled down his back, even worse before the game.

Any mentality of “I’m afraid I’ll never beat him in this lifetime” surfacing in a superstar is enough to make that superstar feel terrified.

The NBA is a place of wins and losses, where superstars’ competition creates those thrilling stories.

So Shaq couldn’t help but wonder if his and Roger’s could even be called a competition since he only lost and never won.

Tonight he couldn’t have done better, yet he still couldn’t win the game. He was ensnared tightly by Roger’s curse, unable to escape.

This terrifying thought accompanied him into the shower, where the hot water washed away the chill on Shaq’s back, calming him down a bit.

Is it really time to accept fate?

Yes, he couldn’t do any better.

But Dirk Nowitzki could!

Tonight, the Grand Teuton’s performance was just like a second-hand German tractor, completely out of place on the NBA court filled with high-performance vehicles.

He took 16 shots, hitting only 4, with a mere 25% shooting percentage and scoring just 14 points. In him, Shaq saw the beauty that belonged to Kobe Bryant; he never thought he’d get to appreciate such beauty in Dallas.

Were it not for smartly drawing some fouls, Nowitzki might have only scored 8 points tonight.

This was not the performance expected of a top ten scorer.

Shaq couldn’t understand why just a Stephen Jackson could so instantly make such a dominant regular-season Dirk Nowitzki look like he forgot how to play, or why these power forwards who liked to shoot from the outside were all like this.

Chris Webber was like this, Dirk Nowitzki was like this too.

No, this was even worse than Chris Webber. At least Webber only failed at crucial moments, but Nowitzki? He failed from start to finish.

If he had performed just a little better, Roger’s curse could have been broken.

But Shaq was not the type to criticize his teammates harshly; he wouldn’t shout, “Dirk, you played like crap,” nor would he go off on his teammates in the locker room.

He would have when he was younger, like when he chewed out Nick Anderson for missing crucial free throws.

But now, Shaq had mellowed.

After coming out of the shower, Shaq calmly told Dirk, “We’ve only lost a quarter, so pull yourself together.”

Starting this season, the first round of the NBA playoffs was also moved to a best-of-seven series, reducing the element of chance in the first round.

Therefore, Shaq particularly emphasized “a quarter,” meaning they still had a great chance, hoping Nowitzki could gather himself together.

Dirk Nowitzki nodded silently, knowing full well that his performance in this game was even more outrageous than Stoudemire’s. Stoudemire was just a rookie; not being able to defend the league’s top center wasn’t too unacceptable.

But Dirk Nowitzki, as a top ten scorer in the league, performing like this in the playoffs was an absolute disaster.

On the other hand, Amar’e Stoudemire sat idly in front of his locker after taking off his clothes.

He was covered in bruises; even though he was black, the bruises on his skin were still noticeably visible.

Of course, the bruises on Troy Murphy were even more apparent.

These were the marks you must bear when battling with Shaq.

Today’s result was indeed too cruel for Stoudemire; his defense against Shaq wasn’t a question of how much it limited him—it had no effect whatsoever.

If it weren’t for Troy Murphy’s help, O’Neal might have scored the first 50-point playoff game of his career.

After showering, Roger prepared to attend the press conference with Hubie Brown; he glanced at the dazed Stoudemire, who was also supposed to attend the conference.