Champion Creed-Chapter 1002 - 325: Let them hate us! (Requesting monthly tickets!)_5
The score became tight, the Warriors couldn’t pull ahead, but the Pistons couldn’t catch up either.
Big Ben and Roger each led their teams in a fierce battle.
Big Ben’s blocks and steals on the defensive end always managed to boost the Pistons’ morale, while Roger’s difficult shots kept the Warriors’ bench erupting in cheers.
People should be grateful that the Hawks’ shareholder team is crazy enough; otherwise, no one dares to imagine what the sharpest spear and the strongest shield working together would create.
In the final 55 seconds of the game, Roger and Stoudemire, as usual, began their offensive with a pick-and-roll. Big Ben first blocked Roger’s breakthrough and shooting space, and then returned to Stoudemire’s side the moment Roger passed.
Stoudemire faked a shot and made a real drive, but Big Ben followed his steps, staying close as they entered the paint, blocking Stoudemire’s drive to the hoop.
Even the evolved Stoudemire could not score easily under Big Ben’s defense.
The basketball was slapped out of bounds, and Big Ben raised his arms high, roaring with an angry expression.
"Once again, Ben Wallace guards Detroit’s honor! The Warriors are only ahead by 4 points, Ben hasn’t allowed the lead to expand! The game isn’t over yet, who will be victorious is still uncertain!" Mike Breen shouted while clapping. This is definitely an epic showdown.
But regardless of victory or defeat, the Warriors have already proven one thing — they absolutely have the ability to arm-wrestle with the reigning champions!
However, Roger is not just thinking about arm-wrestling with the reigning champions; he wants to take them down completely.
Stoudemire is sweating profusely, having scored 21 points today, yet in these crucial possessions, he’s been blocked by Big Ben.
"Sorry Roger, I was trying to draw a foul."
"We haven’t lost, who are you apologizing to? In the next play, continue with the pick-and-roll and then break away."
"I will score, I promise."
"No, I will shoot, do you think I would avoid responsibility at critical moments? But I need you to draw away that damn wild hair."
After Roger finished speaking, Big Ben’s ears twitched, and then he looked at Roger, sneeringly muttered: "Hah, men."
The game continued, Tayshaun Prince threw the sideline ball, successfully passing it to Allan Houston.
Allan Houston then transferred the ball to Roger, who controlled the time, then waved his hand and called for another pick-and-roll!
Big Ben had already defended several pick-and-rolls between Roger and Stoudemire, and he was equally confident about this defense.
Roger broke through using the screen, Stoudemire immediately split. After taking a step, Roger turned his head towards Stoudemire, seemingly intending to pass again.
Big Ben moved half a step towards Stoudemire’s direction, which was exactly the gap Roger was waiting for, as he accelerated to break through Big Ben’s obstruction.
But the last season’s DPOY immediately saw through Roger’s intention, quickly restored his position, and continued to block Roger’s breakthrough route.
The strongest shield still didn’t collapse!
At the same time, Hamilton and Billups were also tightly guarding Allan Houston and Prince, leaving no chance for Roger to pass.
Roger resolutely charged towards Big Ben, facing this most fearsome defender directly, he jumped to shoot. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Big Ben also timed his leap, knowing Roger’s stop-and-pop ability was exceptional, but having faith in blocking his good brother once again.
Because he wasn’t just going to interfere, but directly block Roger!
However, Roger did not perform a stop-and-pop, he raised the ball with one hand, gently flipping his fingers.
This was a Finger Roll layup, Roger’s secret weapon laid bare!
Due to its arc being higher than a shot, the basketball soared above Big Ben’s fingertips and dropped behind him.
As Big Ben landed, he heard the sound of the net swishing.
Roger scored even with flawless defense from Big Ben, widening the gap to 6 points in the final 43 seconds!
Roger formed a narrow gap between his thumb and index finger: "Just a little bit more, DPOY."
Tonight, Roger will lose the South Korean market.
The reigning champions are teetering, about to fall in the opening match.
Rick Carlisle called a timeout, after Big Ben finished outlining the tactics and gave the whole team some motivational words: "Another superstar thinks he can win here, we can’t let these guys succeed! Show our fighting spirit and bury those bastards!"
However, that’s all he could do. On the offensive end, what Big Ben could do was very limited.
The Pistons prepared to attack, while Mike Breen introduced the new rules for this year.
Because last season’s finals between the Spurs and Pistons involved excessive hacking of Big Ben and Duncan, making the crucial moments of the game dreadful, David Stern decided to introduce a new rule to counteract the hack-a-Shaq tactic that should be thrown into the trash.
The new rule states that in the last two minutes of the game, if there is an intentional foul on an off-ball player, the opposing team will be awarded 2 free throws and ball possession.
The fouled side will shoot free throws and still retain possession.
So as long as your weakest free throw shooter doesn’t hold the ball in the last two minutes, the hacking strategy can’t be executed.
This undoubtedly gives the Pistons a bigger chance of winning in crucial moments.
The game continued, under the old rules, the Warriors merely needed to hack Big Ben to stall the game.
But now, they must earnestly confront the Pistons’ offense.
The referee blew the whistle, Richard Hamilton started moving, bypassing three screens, eventually running in front of Rasheed Wallace, who was responsible for inbounding.
It turned out Hamilton was just a decoy, Rasheed Wallace bypassed Hamilton and passed the ball directly to the Pistons’ clutch player Chauncey Billups!
