118: 071: Michael, You’ve Changed!
(Vote for Monthly Ticket!)_3 118: 071: Michael, You’ve Changed!
(Vote for Monthly Ticket!)_3 But upon his return, the media were still talking about Roger, as if nothing had changed!
At that point, Jordan’s greatest desire was to destroy the damned Orlando Magic.
And the Magic’s greatest desire was to destroy the Chicago Bulls.
It could be said that they were both eagerly heading towards each other.
Yet neither could have their wish, as for the opening game, the Magic faced the Houston Rockets, and the Bulls were up against the New York Knicks.
Stern believed that such crossover matchups would better whet the fans’ appetites.
Well, as for the opponent Olajuwon, Roger was excited too.
The agony of last season’s Finals remained vivid in his mind, he had tried every trick in the book, but in the end, he could only inflict a mere scratch on the Dream.
Over the summer he had worked hard, not just for Jordan, but also to cause more pain to the Dream.
The game would take place in Houston, where Olajuwon’s opinion of Roger was still very high:
“I believe he has improved a lot, he’s the worst possible opening game opponent.
This game, we have to play it like it’s the Finals.”
Olajuwon was friendly, but Roger would not let his guard down.
Because he knew what happened in the ’95 Finals, where the Magic couldn’t win a single game against Olajuwon.
Moreover, O’Neal was actually severely restricted.
At first glance, his stats weren’t bad, but 5.3 turnovers were really disheartening.
To win the game, Roger would have to show a stronger takeover ability than Hardaway in ’95 when Shaq was troubled.
What were Hardaway’s stats in the ’95 Finals?
50% shooting and 25 points per game, already not bad.
But Roger had to do even better!
When he got to Houston, O’Neal was very happy.
He felt he could make a big impact.
For this, he even deliberately spun Thomas on the floor five minutes before the start of the game, momentarily stealing the spotlight from the championship ring ceremony.
But five minutes after the game started, O’Neal began to complain.
“Dammit, I can’t even get a shot off!
Hakeem that coward, if he’s got the guts, face me one on one.
What kind of skill is double-teaming, he doesn’t dare face me one on one!”
That’s Shaq for you, laughing one second and raging the next.
He may be a big guy, but he’s got the temper of a child.
Brian Hill had originally wanted O’Neal to start off the game strong inside, to attract the Rockets’ defense and then let Roger comfortably go one on one to kill the game.
But with Shaq struggling inside, five minutes into the game the Magic were already down by 5 points,
It seemed that the strategy had to be reversed.
“Roger, you take over on offense now.
If Olajuwon doesn’t come out to help, beat them hard.
If Olajuwon helps out, give it to Shaq, got it?”
“No problem,” Roger nodded.
In that moment, Shaq, who was just throwing a tantrum, suddenly smiled again, “Hit them hard, Roger, just shoot, I’ll grab the rebounds, knock them out, let’s show the reigning champions what we’re made of!”
O’Neal was naturally excited; in the past two seasons, when he was in trouble, all he could rely on were softies like Nick Anderson and Chris Webber.
But now, he had Roger.
The teammate he had longed for.
The timeout ended, and the game restarted.
Chris Webber’s good days had just started, but the defending champions’ good days were already over.
The performance by the historic duo had officially begun!