Chapter 1044: Chapter 336: Just You Wait, We’re Back!

Six years later, Roger finally understood the value of that brief moment to Dominique Wilkins.

However, tonight is not Roger’s tribute ceremony.

After the touching ceremony ended, the game was about to begin, and this was something Hawks players dreaded.

After losing key players like Paul Pierce, Bruce Bowen, and Roger, the Hawks’ current competitiveness is not very strong.

Although they still have Michael Reed, Shawn Marion, and Scottie Pippen, and they are excellent championship pieces, even the best tires cannot fully perform without a strong engine.

Thus, the Hawks can only hover around playoff contention. With good luck, they might make it; with bad luck, they’ll dive into the lottery.

After Scottie Pippen hugged Roger, he shrugged at Roger, “I feel like I’ll never escape the grasp of you and Michael in my lifetime.”

This season, the Cleveland Cavaliers won five games, one of which was a victory against the Hawks, meaning Pippen lost to Michael Jordan once again.

“Not necessarily,” Roger replied with a smile, “This season, only one of you will likely make the playoffs, and that person might not be him. So you still have the chance to escape his grasp and let him experience being under you for once.”

“Speaking of Michael, I saw what you did to him in that last game, and that’s not going to happen to me, right? This is my last year, Roger.” Pippen, due to the timeline, did not win six championships with the Bulls and decided to stay with the Atlanta Hawks for a retirement season after his max contract ended.

“Relax, Scottie, what I did to Michael was a 60-point game in three quarters. Do you really think scoring 60 in three quarters is that easy? All these years, it’s just me and Wilt who’ve managed it; it’s no small feat.”

Hearing Roger’s words, Pippen relaxed back into his half of the court. Honestly, he didn’t want the final moments of his career to be as ungraceful as Michael Jordan’s.

Just as Pippen was breathing a sigh of relief, Roger added, “But scoring 30 in a half is not out of the question.”

“Roger, damn you…”

After the half, the Hawks were trailing by 17 points, Roger having scored 32 points in the half.

What could Scottie Pippen say? He might be able to surpass Jordan and Larsa, but he could forget about surpassing Roger in this lifetime.

In this game, the Hawks assigned Pippen the task of guarding Roger, with results difficult to describe. Nowadays, the only commendable aspect of Scottie Pippen’s defense is his experience; his confrontation and mobility do not even reach half his peak level.

Frankly speaking, with Pippen’s physique, it’s understandable why Larsa took a liking to young, strong men.

Shawn Marion? He was already struggling to guard Stoudemire, so he had no energy left to handle Roger.

Thus, Roger easily scored 30 points in the half.

Roger admitted that he played somewhat individually this half, even deliberately so. Normally, he wouldn’t score so many points in half a game.

After the half ended, Roger explained his good intentions to Scottie Pippen: “Although I was just casually saying it, I still hoped to fulfill my promise to you; it’s my principle.”

“Get lost, Roger! I wish you were LeBron James!”

“Wow, you’re now using Michael’s ‘little brother’ as a replacement term for ‘reneging’? You’ve really got style.”

“Michael’s ‘little brother’? Ha, I have a feeling that the Cleveland Cavaliers are heading towards trouble soon. I don’t know why, but I sense some falseness in Michael and LeBron’s friendship. Remember those days, Roger, remember how unruly you were in the Bulls. LeBron might not directly rebel like you did, but he surely will rebel.”

“Me? Unruly? I was the one who got along with the team veterans within the first week of joining.”

“Ha, yes, you’re not lying! Get lost Roger, just get lost!”

With idle chat over, the game continued.

In the second half, Roger toned down his personal scoring and excelled with the pick-and-roll with Stoudemire.

The season now nearly a month in, Stoudemire has proven himself as an elite mid-range shooter, as well as an elite finisher.

He’s immensely threatening on the offensive end and particularly suits the pick-and-roll game. Whether popping out or cutting inside, he handles it effortlessly.

In the third quarter, Hawks fans seemed to smell a stench from Salt Lake City; Roger and Stoudemire’s pick-and-roll was simply too reminiscent of Salt Lake City.

With Roger and Stoudemire slicing through defenses and Allan Houston hitting two three-pointers, the Warriors blew out the game once again in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Roger called it a night, and despite not playing the entire quarter, he still achieved 37 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds.

After the game, Pippen believed that no one could beat the Warriors this season.

Roger remained at peak form, Stoudemire had become an All-Star-level scorer, plus their excellent defense; no team could threaten them.

In the following half-month, Pippen’s prediction seemed to be fulfilled. Until they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on November 29th, the Hawks had only lost two games all season, with a record of 16 wins and 2 losses!

Aside from Spurs, their only other loss was to the Sacramento Kings.

But everyone knows the Kings are merely a regular-season team; there’s no way they could pose a threat to the Warriors in the playoffs.