Champion Creed-Chapter 925 - 305: They can only pray to God (ask for monthly votes!)_2

Chapter 925: 305: They can only pray to God (ask for monthly votes!)_2

For nine years, there’s been no Eastern Conference Finals without Roger’s presence.

Although Bill Russell achieved the remarkable feat of reaching the conference finals 13 consecutive years, Roger’s accomplishments in his era are evidently more terrifying.

Roger has already caused tons of damage to the Bucks and 76ers, but in a post-game interview he said, "I feel like the playoffs have just begun, we just ended the warm-up. No one would consider dominating the East an honor unless they have too few championships to show."

Roger isn’t excited because, from start to finish, he has only ever considered one opponent.

Currently, the Detroit Pistons are leading the New Jersey Nets 3-1.

Jason Kidd is on the verge of elimination.

No one expects Kidd to win, although the Nets are third in the East, their record wouldn’t make it into the top four in the West.

Even New Jersey fans know, the Nets aren’t championship-contenders.

As expected, in Game 5 of the series, the Detroit Pistons clinched a victory over the Nets with a 21-point win.

The Nets’ final score didn’t even reach 70, they only managed 69 points.

All because Jason Kidd posted a bizarre stat in the do-or-die game - 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 0 points!

As the star player of the Nets, Jason Kidd was restricted to 0-for-8 shooting, couldn’t draw any fouls, and went scoreless.

If you think Tracy McGrady’s performance in Game 5 of the first round’s fourth quarter was ridiculous enough, take a look at Jason Kidd. Only then will you understand the full meaning of the NBA slogan where amazing happens.

to 90, the New Jersey Nets crumbled, and the Pistons made it to the East Finals again after 11 years since 1991!

Detroit Pistons fans feel this is a twist of fate, in 1991, they met the God of that time in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In 2002, another God awaits them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Of course, the Pistons’ animosity has never changed.

The 1991 Detroit Pistons hated the Bulls, the 2002 Detroit Pistons also hate the Hawks.

When advancing from the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Pistons player Rasheed Wallace didn’t celebrate the victory but rather shouted to the camera, "We can finally skin Roger!"

Since the brawl at the Philips Arena, the Pistons and Hawks have been at odds.

This isn’t merely an Eastern Conference Finals, but a personal vendetta.

From the day Detroiters arrived in Atlanta, they caused trouble for the Hawks, playing a resolute zone defense, giving up some outside space while shrinking the core area.

This gave the Hawks plenty of outside shooting opportunities, but the Hawks had an awful shooting night today.

Aside from Paul Pierce, no other player’s three-point shooting percentage was above 30%.

Even Roger couldn’t do it, the Pistons’ rugged physical confrontation greatly affected Roger.

Moreover, the Pistons had a new strategy for dealing with the V-shaped pick-and-roll.

In the regular season, the strategy against the V-shaped pick-and-roll was to bring up the Double Wallace.

But now, against the V-shaped pick-and-roll, generally only Big Ben comes up, while the Yelling Maestro stays under the basket to guard against breakthroughs.

He blocks Roger’s initial breakthrough off the pick-and-roll, and if Roger passes, Big Ben uses his mobility to contest the pick-and-roll and outside jump shots from the post.

If the post cuts after the pick-and-roll, they’ll have to face Rasheed Wallace’s rim protection.

The key to all of this is Big Ben, who essentially defends two points against the V-shaped pick-and-roll: Roger’s ball handling and the potential shot.

This is incredibly difficult to execute, but Big Ben’s value as last season’s DPOY is vividly demonstrated.

Facing this defensive strategy that requires attention to two points simultaneously, Big Ben executed perfectly, and the Hawks’ efficiency with the V-shaped pick-and-roll wasn’t very high today.

The V-shaped pick-and-roll was the Hawks’ killer move against the Pistons during the regular season, but tonight the killer move failed, coupled with the Hawks’ terrible three-point shooting, the Pistons won the first battle of the Eastern Finals 86 to 83.

The score alone reveals a quintessentially classic Eastern Conference Finals.

Grinding defense, rough confrontation, and low shooting accuracy.

Apart from Roger scoring 34 points, the rest of the Hawks collectively went 16-for-57, including Paul Pierce who went 6-for-17.

The Double Wallace’s solid defense combined with the peripheral meat grinder slaughter forced the Atlanta Hawks to play ugly as well.

While everyone knew the Pistons were strong, the result of the first Eastern Finals battle still left Atlanta fans uneasy.

So far this season, the Pistons are the only opponent the Hawks haven’t definitively defeated.

In the regular season, the record between the two sides was tied at 2-2. In the Hawks’ two wins, one got interrupted by a brawl and one was merely a narrow 6-point victory.

Now having lost the first game of the Eastern Finals, it’s the first time Hawks fans are unable to feel assured.

Because in the five encounters with the Pistons, the Hawks haven’t demonstrated a definite advantage in terms of strength over their opponent.

However, when the team needs it, Atlanta’s Savior never fails to appear.

The Eastern Finals Game 2 remained a meat grinder type of battle, although the Hawks’ entire team was stifled defensively last game, Roger’s performance remained outstanding.

But today even Roger couldn’t hold up, by the last 11 seconds of the fourth quarter, Roger’s shooting percentage was just reaching 40%, while the Pistons were trailing by 3 points.

Just 11 seconds away, the Detroit Pistons could lead the Hawks 2-0.

Despite this, Rick Carlisle was a bit nervous.

So, he had his players tactically foul Kurt Thomas the moment the Hawks inbounded, sending him to the free-throw line.