122: 072: Easily Dominated Defending Champion (Requesting Monthly Votes!)_4 122: 072: Easily Dominated Defending Champion (Requesting Monthly Votes!)_4 After all, Roger was an outside shooter.
His likelihood of missing a shot was always higher than O’Neal’s of missing a slam dunk.
With Kenny Smith’s mid-range shot hitting the iron, the Magic regained possession once again.
The role players of the Magic Team had been diligent on defense, and Harper had just denied Kenny any opportunities.
After advancing, Roger quickly realized that Olajuwon had gone back under the basket to wrestle with Shaq.
This meant the Rockets had abandoned their previous defensive strategy, which also meant Roger would take over the offense again.
Shaq had no objections to this, he had just scored three himself, now it was Roger’s turn, and that seemed fair.
Maxwell guarded seriously, he too was catching the details about Roger.
This time, he successfully predicted the direction of Roger’s breakthrough.
He thought he had succeeded in defense, but after making contact with Roger, Maxwell found he couldn’t stop him!
Roger, having gained another three kilograms this summer, might not be strong enough yet, but his body was certainly not frail.
Maxwell’s slight build just couldn’t stop Roger.
After shaking off Maxwell, Roger used that bit of space to jump and shoot again.
22 to 15, the Magic led by 7 points!
People saw Roger’s evolution, his one-on-one defense had strengthened, he knew whom to pass the basketball to in the offense, and his body had grown much stronger.
He was ready to get revenge on the Bulls!
Maxwell had already started to doubt his life, without Olajuwon’s protection, he couldn’t defend against Roger at all!
Harper shrugged at Maxwell to the side, “I told you, buddy, you were going to be unlucky tonight.
Next time you speak with the future King, mind your tone and choice of words—that’s basic courtesy.”
Great, Roger finally had his own bullfighting joke.
Harper would help Roger bark at others, and if necessary, might even bite.
In the following game, the Rockets were completely unable to stop Roger and Shaq’s offense.
Tomjanovich wanted to gamble on Roger’s shooting touch, and he guessed wrong.
Today, Roger was holding his breath.
He kept flashing back to last season’s finals defeat.
So he got more and more excited as he played, and his shooting became hotter.
Hakeem appeared as a great mountain unbeatable in Roger’s eyes last season, and he had been frustrated all summer long because of it.
So tonight, Roger was determined to climb over that mountain!
In the end, the Rockets found themselves 10 points behind in the first quarter, showcasing a defending champion crushed in the opening quarter.
The Rockets had chances to shift the situation in the following three quarters.
Their best opportunity came in the second quarter when Roger and Shaq were resting, and the Rockets managed to cut the lead down to just 2 points.
But Olajuwon’s jump shot went awry, costing the Rockets a chance to even the score.
After that, Shaq and Roger returned to the court and ended all doubts.
The Orlando Magic, merely a first-round exit last season, brutally slaughtered the defending champion Rockets, ruining the Houstonians’ championship ring ceremony night.
Ferocious Roger scored 34 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals for the whole game.
Shaq scored 27 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, delivered 2 assists, and made 1 block.
Together they tallied 61 points, which was more than two-thirds of the entire Rockets’ score!
NBC commentator Steve Jones couldn’t help but comment, “See, this is Jerry Krause’s doing.
He’s not just made a mess for the Bulls but for the whole league!”
Krause was innocent because, to be precise, this was Michael Jordan’s doing.
The extremely arrogant guy said he could handle this kind of Magic?
Well, let’s hope he really can.
I discovered for the first time that Hakeem isn’t that unattainable.
Roger provided strong support for me, we’ve beaten the defending champions, and by more than 20 points at that.
Who can’t we beat now?
— Shaquille O’Neal discussing the first victory of the season.
I’m proud of the team’s performance, and I also hope people won’t overlook our excellent defense, don’t ignore those who work hard on the defensive side.
Today we limited Hakeem to 20 points, a 49% shooting percentage.
He averaged nearly 30 points in last season’s finals.
— Magic head coach Brian Hill talking about the team’s defense.
“Yes, I said that on the court, I called Roger the future king.
No, he has never self-proclaimed as the king in the locker room, I was the first to call him that, you can take that as Roger’s third nickname.
Is there any objection?
You all saw how great Roger is, he’s bound to become a champion soon.” — Ron Harper joked about his trash talk to Maxwell.
“Roger, how does it feel to crush the defending champions?”
“Exciting, this time, I finally did more than just leave some scars on Hakeem.
Sorry, Hakeem, I know I hurt you tonight.
Take good care, next time it might be more painful.”
“You and Shaq, the first time you teamed up in an official game, you scored 61 points together.
How did you manage such chemistry in your first game?”
“That just shows we’re not at all in sync, just 61 points.
We can do even better, right Shaq?”
Shaq saluted to the side: “Yes sir!”
“One last question, how do you evaluate the Chicago Bulls losing to the New York Knicks in the opener?”
“There’s nothing much to evaluate, now the whole world knows Michael Jordan is a big talker.
Look, he said without me the Bulls could win the championship, but look what happened when he took my place, they couldn’t even beat the Knicks, the difference is clear.”
“But Michael scored 28 points in that game; he performed very well.”
“I averaged 29 points in the finals, did Michael mention that?
He’s still always calling me garbage.
Losing is losing, why look for excuses with his mother.”
Brian Hill sighed nearby, it was painful, too painful.
Now, Jordan probably felt more pain than if his orbital bone had been smashed.