Champion Creed-Chapter 926 - 305: They can only pray to God (ask for monthly votes!)_3

Chapter 926: 305: They can only pray to God (ask for monthly votes!)_3

Carlisle had his considerations; Kurt Thomas wasn’t in good form today, his free throws were unstable, and it was likely he would miss both or just make one. Even if he made both, the Hawks would still be 1 point behind.

The most crucial point was that he was wary of Roger making the game-tying shot.

Rick Carlisle witnessed Roger’s ruthless dismantling of what was once the most promising Indiana Pacers while working as an assistant coach beside Larry Bird.

If there’s any superstar in this world who can single-handedly solve all difficulties, it must be Roger.

But the players of the Pistons rejected this request; committing a tactical foul while leading? It seemed like cowardly evasion.

They were confident in stopping the Hawks’ attack in the last 11 seconds.

Even team leader Big Ben thought so: "We’ve got this, Rick."

Of course, the Pistons players didn’t just decline this strategy out of confidence.

If Kurt Thomas made one out of two, the Hawks could still turn around and foul Ben Wallace.

Big Ben missing both free throws had a high probability, and in such a case, the Hawks might use a three-pointer at the last moment to directly win the game.

Even if the Hawks made a three-pointer, it would only tie the game, but if the Hawks counter-attack with a foul tactic, they could have a chance to directly win the game.

At this crucial moment, the Pistons were more vulnerable at free throws than the Hawks.

They would rather defend solidly for once more; it seemed safer.

The game resumed, and people saw the previously underutilized Jeff Hornacek being substituted in.

Rick Carlisle frowned, wondering if he would be an unexpected finisher?

No, he was responsible for securely feeding the ball to Roger.

This time, Roger moved without the ball, cut to the three-point line via a backdoor cut with Olajuwon’s screen, received a perfectly timed pass, and then took a distant shot with Hamilton’s defense closing in.

Rick Carlisle’s heart skipped a beat, Roger hit the three-pointer!

After the ball went in, the entire Philips Arena was trembling.

Steve Jones shouted hoarsely in commentary: "Since 1994, Roger has been doing this in the Eastern Conference Finals! Do you still remember how he mercilessly finished off the prime New York Knicks at crucial moments? Now it’s 2002; back when Roger was killing the Knicks, most of the Pistons’ players hadn’t yet entered the League. Time flies, opponents change batch after batch, but Roger’s control remains undiminished!"

After scoring, Roger looked at the entire Pistons team, calmly extended his hand: "Don’t laugh too soon, you sons of dogs, everything is under control. Big Ben, you’re allowed to laugh, you’re not included among them."

Obviously, Big Ben couldn’t laugh either, his expression was even more distressed than when he wasn’t allowed to submit homework by his family.

It’s no use calling the police if you’re not allowed to submit your homework, even the police can’t enforce that.

And it’s useless to regret Roger’s last-second tie, because even with a change of strategy, he could kill you once again.

It’s truly helpless!

This blow to the Pistons’ morale was significant, and coupled with Dream’s explosive mid-range shooting during overtime, where he scored 6 points on 4-of-3 shooting despite Big Ben’s incessant interference, ultimately allowed the Hawks to win Game 2 in overtime, evening the series at 1-1.

After the game, Roger exited amid the cheers of all Atlanta fans.

His game-tying three-pointer, his 6 points, 3 assists, and 0 turnovers performance in overtime, as well as his 38 points and 14 assists in total, all warranted extravagant praises from the fans.

In the player tunnel, Michael Gillen raised his arms in celebration, then tried to embrace Roger.

"Hahaha, perfect victory, I almost want to get on my knees for you!" he excitedly rushed towards Roger.

But Roger didn’t even glance at him, disdainfully pushing him away with one hand, then walked forward on his own.

Roger had long severed ties with the stakeholders’ team, having already stated that he plays for his career and the fans, with no desire for any ties with the stakeholders’ team.

This was a victory shared with his teammates.

It was a victory shared with the Atlanta fans.

But it was definitely not a victory shared with the stakeholders’ team.

Since it wasn’t a shared victory, why celebrate together?

The days of the stakeholders’ team scavenging off Roger’s leftovers were officially counting down to an end.

Paul Pierce intentionally patted Michael Gillen on the shoulder when passing by: "Don’t waste your effort, buddy, even if you held a stakeholder meeting to kneel to him, it wouldn’t matter."

"What about you, Paul?"

"Me? I’m not a god; you don’t need to kneel to me. But if there is no god, do you think Jerusalem could still be called a holy city? Do you think people would still yearn for it that much?"

That night, both Michael Gillen and Rick Carlisle felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Michael Gillen had nowhere to vent; he could only pray to God, hoping Roger would consider his feelings for this city and choose to stay with the team.

Rick Carlisle, on the other hand, unleashed fury on the team’s bus: "I told you already, I told you a thousand times to foul! Damn it! We were destroyed, we should have won this game!"

The entire team fell silent under the outburst, and Big Ben stood up as the team’s leader, answering unequivocally: "Go back to the front of the bus, Rick, in Detroit, the Hawks won’t win again; we can all guarantee you that."

"Right on!" Artest waved his fist.

"That bunch of bastards don’t stand a chance, when the game returns, we’ll take the match point!" Rasheed Wallace was inspired too.

"Damn, if not for Dream’s late-game resurgence, Roger would have lost! In Detroit, this won’t happen again!" Richard Hamilton chimed in.

Seeing the team recover from the overtime loss, Rick Carlisle decided not to disrupt the locker room atmosphere, and more importantly, to avoid conflict with the team’s leaders. So he made an effort to calm down, stopped shouting, and returned to the front of the bus.

The bus started, and the entire Pistons team set off back to the hotel, readying to return to Detroit the next day to regroup on their home court.

Carlisle sat in the front row, tightly clenching his fists.

He genuinely wanted to answer Big Ben:

"You can’t waste any chance to defeat Roger; it might become a lifelong regret."

Can they mend this lifelong regret in Detroit?

Carlisle could only pray to God, hoping for a response.

Yes, if their way to deal with Roger is only to pray to God, it already proves that they can’t do anything at all.

The King continues to firmly hold his reign.

Until he chooses to leave on his own.