61: 045: Winning the game is right, that’s the truth!

61: 045: Winning the game is right, that’s the truth!

Chinese fans were all intently staring at their televisions; Sun Zhengping’s familiar voice added a touch of tension to the game:

“The game restarts, now with the Warriors’ guard, number 1 Hardaway in control.

The Warriors are trailing 106 to 108 by 2 points, it’s a critical moment in the game.

Let’s see if the 18-year-old from China, Roger, can stop Hardaway’s attack this time.”

Today’s game is not only a big deal in the United States, but it has also become the highest-rated NBA broadcast in China since its commencement.

Since Roger entered the league, CCTV began broadcasting two NBA games every weekend, which quickly spread the NBA’s fame domestically.

And this game between Penny and Roger pushed the NBA’s popularity in China to an initial high.

Sometimes you have to admire Stern’s marketing skills, the story of the struggle to become Jordan’s successor made the fans in faraway China start the habit of setting alarm clocks to watch the games over the weekend for the first time.

For Chinese fans, this story might just have a perfect ending now.

But for the Warriors fans, tonight is not so wonderful.

Roger’s outrageous basket has put them two points behind at the most deadly time.

Although Roger’s shot just now was absurd and played very unreasonably, now all the Warriors fans hope that Penny can lead the team out of trouble with an inspiring attack, just like Roger did.

Penny takes the ball beyond the three-point line, lowers his center of gravity, and looks like he’s about to break through.

Just when Warriors fans excitedly think Penny will finally make the strong drive, he pushes with one hand and delivers a fast and brilliant pass to “God’s Left Hand” who has found some space.

This move by Penny wasn’t bad because Mullin indeed got open.

But…

Today, Mullin has taken 11 shots and made just 2.

While not entirely abysmal, it’s barely passable.

Chris Mullin takes the pass and shoots instantly, with Meyers’s interference arriving too late.

Whether this shot will go in is a test solely of Mullin’s own touch.

“Bang.”

Unfortunately, Mullin still couldn’t find his rhythm, 2 for 12!

All the Warriors fans covered their heads with their hands.

Penny was playing what they considered the most sensible, textbook basketball, but they weren’t able to laugh about it now.

Seeing Penny pass to Mullin who missed, NBC commentator Jones shook his head, “Well, looking at it from a reasonableness perspective, Anfernee’s choice just now was not wrong at all.

But at such a critical moment, should he have taken it upon himself to attack?

A basketball game is not a math problem; there are no correct answers.

Sometimes, you just need to be more aggressive!”

Soon enough, the aggression came.

Kukoc snagged the rebound and passed it straight to Roger.

After running down to the frontcourt, Roger tried to shake Sprewell with a change of direction and then went straight up for a layup with the ball.

Sprewell was not shaken off this time.

He stayed right in front of Roger from start to finish, giving Roger a tough confrontation.

At the same time, Hardaway, who was guarding Kerr in the corner, also moved up, attempting to double-team Roger with Sprewell.

Roger immediately stepped towards Kerr, pushing the ball out with both hands.

It seemed he was finally forced to pass.

But just as Hardaway raised his arm to intercept, Roger’s second step moved toward the basket, he quickly retracted the ball and jumped for a scoring toss.

After faking a pass and playing both defenders, Roger continued scoring!

“Roger’s tough performance has given the Bulls a 4-point lead!

Anfernee must respond now; he has no room to escape!” announced a very excited commentator Jones, while on the sideline, Old Neil was furious.

“Stupid defense!

You’re like idiots being slaughtered!

Make the double-team fiercer, don’t hesitate!

Press him; that’s when his passes will fail!”

Next to Old Nelson, the impeccably groomed assistant coach of the Warriors, Greg Popovich sighed.

It’s useless; that guy is never going to pass the ball.

No matter how you press him, he will take his shot!

Before today, Popovich always thought Old Nelson was the craziest madman in basketball history.

In the 1991 playoffs, a 44-win Warriors team ran a blistering pace of 101 possessions per game and incredibly knocked out the 55-win Spurs in an upset.

That was when Popovich first witnessed Old Nelson’s madness.

But today, Popovich thought he saw someone even crazier than Old Nelson.

He was sure, that 18-year-old kid would become the league’s trouble.

Yes, his defense was as poor as Penny’s, his passing vision seemed almost blind to Popovich.

But he could do the quintessential thing in basketball, that is, putting the ball in the basket, to perfection.

After scoring, Roger continued to guard Penny and turned to Old Nelson, “Hey Donnie, I scored so much, Penny might not be happy, huh?”

At this moment, the Warriors fans desperately wished Penny would play just a little bit like Roger, irrationally, as the commentators cheered for Roger’s unreasonable shots.

The public opinion changed.

Roger was not only going to win the game today, but with his own hands, he was going to shut up those who criticized him for playing too individually!

Penny still couldn’t get aggressive enough, this time as he charged to the basket and jumped, he stuffed the ball to Alexander in mid-air.

But the 206 cm center was unable to finish amid Green’s tough defense.

The Warriors failed on offense again!

The rookie season Penny didn’t yet understand what responsibility meant, and in fact, many veterans who had played for a decade or more still couldn’t grasp it.

Those who criticized Roger were starting to doubt their lives now, as Penny played the most sensible basketball, while Roger’s last moment shots were entirely reckless.

But now, the Warriors were drifting further from victory!

With less than 1 minute left in the game, Winter reminded Zen Master they should call a timeout, “We need to calm down Roger, the Warriors will double-team him again!

If he takes another shot next time, he might not be so lucky.”

Winter had always been on edge, believing that Roger’s illogical shots making it into the basket were largely due to luck.

But Phil Jackson wasn’t the kind of coach who liked to disrupt the flow of the game with timeouts, especially since the Bulls were leading.

Calling a timeout now would just give the Warriors a chance to catch their breath.

He simply stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, letting Roger deal with the problem himself.

This time, Roger, leaning on Spree, forced his way to a step inside the free-throw line, but due to limited physical confrontation ability, he was eventually stopped by a well-positioned Spree.

Meanwhile, Hardaway and Billy Owens converged on Roger, who had already stopped his dribble.

The NBC commentator couldn’t believe his eyes, “I actually saw an 18-year-old kid getting triple-teamed more than once in the NBA!”

Even Roger had to pass under those circumstances.

But when Roger looked up, he saw nothing but six long arms and the basket!

Sometimes, not passing isn’t about not wanting to pass; it could simply be about not finding any teammates.

Roger didn’t want to turn the ball over; he’d rather miss a shot.

After all, there was a high chance a teammate could grab the offensive rebound if he missed now.

Since the basket was all he could see, he aimed for the basket!

So what Roger did next even made the Zen Master, a man used to seeing incredible shots, widen his eyes.

Under pressure and triple-teamed, Roger jumped straight up on the spot, performed an in-air layup maneuver to dodge six arms, and scooped the ball toward the basket!

Seeing this, the Zen Master couldn’t help but compose a poem, “How can I blame him for making a mistake when it was I who let him play too freely!”

It’s all my fault for indulging this kid too much!

Even though he could accept Roger’s assertiveness, that play was a bit too reckless.

In Phil Jackson’s memory, such flashy move like a stationary jump layup only guaranteed success with Iceman.

Yes, the Iceman.

Roger hadn’t yet developed a young girl, but his emulation of peak Iceman was maturing gradually.

Roger, in a multi-person encirclement, jumped straight up for a layup, sending the basketball flying towards the hoop where it spun around a few times before finally dropping through the net!

“40 points!

Roger has broken Clifford Robinson’s record of 19 years and 362 days old, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 40 points!

His go-it-alone offense has completely pierced the Warriors!

Despite missing three consecutive shots earlier, at the crucial moment, Roger scored 6 points in a row!

He is a real assassin, unshackled without Scott, he has completely unleashed himself!”

After the ball went in, Old Nelson used up his last timeout.

During the game break, Roger did not leave the court; he stood in front of the stands and pointed to the ground in front of all the Warriors’ fans, “Winning is the right way to play, this is the truth!”

There were no more boos from the Oakland Arena; this court had been completely conquered.

That night, watching Roger shout at the fans while pointing to the floor, the Zen Master had a premonition that this kid was destined for greatness.

Yes, he was hot-tempered, he didn’t like to pass, he scored 40 points with zero assists.

Compared to the friendly, team-oriented Penny, he should have stood no chance.

But not passing and being hot-tempered didn’t matter.

Because these are only tools others use to kick you when you’re down, not the keys to judging whether a player is great.

In the NBA, only victory matters.

In terms of achieving victories, Roger was far more formidable than Penny!

The Zen Master turned to look at Winter, who had just suggested that he use a timeout to calm Roger down, and shrugged.

Winter felt that Roger’s erratic shots going in was due to luck.

But the Zen Master told him, “We don’t need lucky Tex, because we have the true secret to victory.”

Sure, if O’Neal had trademarked that nickname, he wouldn’t need to play basketball to make a living anymore.

Meanwhile, Krause was completely thrilled in his executive chair.

But he felt that the most thrilling moment had not yet arrived.

This game, Roger had firmly secured, presenting himself as the youngest player to score 40 points, overshadowing Jordan’s appointed successor.

So later, sideline reporters would definitely ask Roger questions related to this.

So, how would Roger respond to Jordan?

The only thing Krause knew was that Roger was not the type to be meek.

Even if he was facing Michael Jordan.

He was already looking forward to Roger and Jordan’s first indirect interaction.

What Krause did not know was that a few months ago, when Pippen and Roger had their confrontation, Jordan’s first indirect interaction with Roger could actually be considered a loss already.

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Thanks to Paige’s father, Yi An, and book friend 20191108171209875 for the rewards, I’m deeply grateful!