Capítulo 1422: Chapter 446: No Hope, Only Disaster
Then, ca the cheers from all the fans inside Oracle Arena.
Tim Duncan calmly watched everything: “This is the price of competing with that bastard. If you can’t accept it, you’ll be in great pain this series.”
Paul Gasol sighed, now he can understand why the mighty Tim Duncan was also oppressed by Roger.
In the end, the Spurs lost the ga by 7 points on the road, with a series score of 1-0.
However, the Spurs’ nightmare did not end.
Because their problem is unsolvable, no matter how many gas they play, the problem still exists.
G2, the Spurs made the ga more intense, resolved only by Roger’s clutch three-pointer in the last 26 seconds.
Tonight, Ginobili and Parker were on the verge, putting on an amazing offensive performance.
But Roger scored over 40 points for the second straight ga, securing the win with 43 points.
G3, Popovich finally changed strategies, moved Bowen to the four position, and tasked him with sweeping the mid-range.
But Brandon Roy was relentless, delivering a career-playoff high of 34 points against Manu Ginobili’s defense.
In the original tiline, Brandon Roy beca one of the NBA’s biggest “what-ifs” with his career cut short early.
Yet many thought Brandon Roy was overrated, believing that even if he stayed healthy, this would be it.
No, Brandon Roy was precisely underrated.
He was underrated because even in his best year (22 4 5), his stats seed mundane.
What most people didn’t know is that Brandon Roy played in the slowest era on one of the slowest-paced teams.
Back then, those Trail Blazers were an old-school half-court team, ranking at the bottom in pace, so you couldn’t hope for his basic stats to explode like those in the small ball era.
But Roy was a player who showed outstanding BPM from his rookie season, a player who could increase production and efficiency in the playoffs, traits that reflect a player’s strength and level more than basic stats.
A healthy Roy might still not beco an MVP, but he would definitely be one of the top three shooting guards in the league for a long ti.
Having Ginobili and Parker defend such a level of guard is simply suicide.
Seeing Roy perform well today, Roger straightforwardly handed over more offensive duties, then focused on defending Parker and Ginobili. When the Spurs didn’t play a twin towers lineup, their offense heavily relied on those two guards.
So when Roger forced those two guards to beco less effective, the Spurs essentially beca a cold corpse.
Even though Raja Bell’s pressing defense combined with Bowen’s help defense successfully limited Roger’s points to “only” 31 and his shooting percentage to 42%.
But Roy’s performance and Roger’s defense rendered the Spurs’ efforts futile, 103 to 91, Warriors won after going to San Antonio.
3-0, Roger was just one ga away from another “FO.”
Roger seed unfazed by it: “I had long predicted the Spurs’ outco, but so of you thought it was nonsense.”
Scored a playoff career-high, Roy remained calm: “It’s no big deal, the real battle hasn’t yet arrived.”
Everyone knew what he ant by the real battle.
Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers already lead the Dallas Mavericks 2-0.
The Mavericks have a great roster, but the Super Lakers are simply too much.
Old Shaquille O’Neal got out-rebounded by Dwight Howard, and Jason Kidd turned into a bricklayer with less than 35% shooting under Chauncey Billups, his nesis.
Dirk Nowitzki perford exceptionally, but Kobe and LBJ’s combined assault left him helpless.
The Super Lakers and Dynasty Warriors are bound to clash.
And only by handling Kobe and helping Roger past the Lakers, would Brandon Roy accomplish his task.
He has been waiting for that battle, prior to which other opponents simply don’t matter.
Series G4, Popovich seed like the struggling German army in the spring of 1945.
He hadn’t been completely annihilated yet, but he knew the overall situation was irreversible.
He was only waiting for the end.
He desperately switched back to the twin towers, even though he knew it wouldn’t truly work.
Paul Gasol was completely lost in this ga, with a lack of toughness inside, making only 5 out of 14 shots. As the playoffs deepened, what he encountered was totally different from what he had previously understood about gas.
Your opponents treat you brutally, as if they’re fighting for their lives, not playing a ga against you.
And referees almost turn a blind eye to such high-level confrontations.
As the axis and spearhead of the Spurs’ offense, Gasol’s performance like this was almost equivalent to a death sentence for the Spurs.
This ga lasted only three quarters, as the entire fourth quarter was garbage ti.
Gregg Popovich only sat on the bench the whole fourth quarter, leaving the ga entirely for his assistant Mike Budenholzer to command.
On the bench, Paul Gasol covered his head with a towel, no one knew if he was crying silently.
Tim Duncan rely sat next to Popovich, speechless.
Popovich patted Duncan’s hand: “Sorry Tim, but our last chance is already gone.”
Duncan shook his head: “No Pop, we never had a chance.”
Popovich paused for a few seconds, then let out a long sigh.
Yeah, they never really had a chance.
4-0, Roger and the Warriors whole team celebrated with their arms raised on the court.
When the Warriors swept the Trail Blazers 4-0, no one was surprised, because the Trail Blazers were among the weakest of all playoff teams, with a regular-season record of not even 40 wins, pushed into the top eight only because other teams were tanking hard.
But when Roger was about to sweep the Spurs 4-0, the public exploded in debate.
After acquiring Paul Gasol, the San Antonio Spurs had already beco one of the most championship-caliber teams. In predictions, even if they were to lose to the Warriors, they shouldn’t lose without winning a single ga.
But Roger, with two 40-point gas and two 30-point gas, averaging 37.2 points and unmatched dominance, crushed the Spurs.
Post-ga, Duncan embraced Roger.
Roger smiled and told the No. 21: “Tim, your future is truly coming up next.”
Duncan gave a bitter smile: “Even if I succeed in the future, people will just say I only won in an era without Roger.”
At the press conference, Gregg Popovich was in a bad mood.
But reporters still decided to take the risk of getting scolded to ask him: “How do you evaluate your career’s last playoff encounter with Roger?”
Popovich glared at the reporter harshly, but didn’t lose his temper, nor did he joke sarcastically.
“He’s unbelievable, who can stop that guy? Over the past ten years or so, I’ve always been thinking about one thing, which is how to beat Roger. But I think, it might be more complex than the theory of relativity. Tim and David can figure out relativity, but they can’t solve Roger. If you give a Roger, I’d damn well win five championships too!”
This was the first ti Gregg Popovich praised Roger in public.
This ant, Roger’s conquest list added another significant na.
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