318: 134: So people will never understand (asking for monthly votes!)_3 318: 134: So people will never understand (asking for monthly votes!)_3 After all that had happened, when Jordan secured the MVP again, his emotions inevitably fluctuated.
To Jordan, this MVP symbolized the reclaiming of his dominance.
In the regular season, aside from losing the scoring title, Jordan had all but completely outclassed Roger.
His return to the throne was almost complete; all he lacked were the championship and the Finals MVP!
That night, the Bulls easily dispatched the New York Knicks at ho.
Michael Jordan slashed through with 44 points, a gift for his old friend Ewing.
A tornted Ewing could only sigh after the ga; his old friend was forever so ruthless.
anwhile, the unexpectedly advancing Atlanta Hawks were also under torture.
Stevie Smith full of confidence faced Roger and Shaq only to be held by Roger to a miserable 31.3% shooting percentage in the first ga.
The sa player who had shot 60% from the three-point range in the previous round missed all five of his attempts today.
What made Steve Smith so embarrassed?
Aside from Roger’s aggressive defense, Smith’s heart was almost shattered by Roger.
From the first minute of the ga, Roger’s mouth hardly ever stopped.
“Hilarious, your shooting would make your mom cry.”
“Know why the Miami Heat practically gave you away in a trade?
Because you’re a damn waste.”
“Nice shot, Steve, you clanked another one.
Reggie Miller’s injury isn’t actually good for you, because you shouldn’t have had to face .
But now, you’re gonna have nightmares every single day, every damn day!”
Roger’s incessant trash talk left Steve Smith irritated and distraught.
Steve Smith didn’t think he had any beef with Roger.
Even though both were in the East and t four tis a season, Smith and Roger barely spoke, and he didn’t understand why Roger was treating him this way.
Shaq’s unrestrained 41 points inside and Roger’s breezy 31 points helped the Magic take the first ga.
The second ga was an even bigger disaster; the Hawks lost by a whopping 34 points.
O’Neal, shooting like he was training with dummies, went 11-for-15 inside.
Such shooting percentages were almost unheard of in the playoffs.
Considering that the Hawks were using Christian Laettner at center, Shaq’s performance seed reasonable.
In college, Laettner definitely outshone O’Neal.
Laettner had won the NCAA championship and made it to the legendary Dream Team.
O’Neal faced Laettner twice during college; the first ti was like David Robinson versus Dream, where he got outplayed, and the second ti was rely a draw in scoring with Laettner.
Throughout his college basketball career, Shaq never escaped Laettner’s shadow.
It was only after entering the professional league that the gap between the two began to widen.
So now O’Neal was like soone who was just average in school but struck rich through so stroke of luck after graduation.
When he encountered soone like Laettner, who excelled in school but didn’t do well in society, he was bound to show off.
Once again, O’Neal crushed Laettner.
Laettner, having fouled out with six infractions, still couldn’t stop Shaq.
Given Laettner’s temperant and style, he really wanted to punch Shaq.
But considering how Roger always liked to ss with people’s eyes with titanium, Laettner held back.
He didn’t doubt that Roger would step up for Shaq.
O’Neal and Laettner had a grudge, so it was understandable that Shaq acted this way toward him.
But Steve Smith couldn’t grasp why Roger also treated him like a mortal enemy.
Tonight, Steve Smith managed only 18 points, continuing to miss beyond the arc, hitting just 1 of 4.
Roger wasn’t always the one guarding Steve Smith; he only took over when Harper rested.
But Smith felt like his ti facing Roger was especially long; the bastard would find every way to attack you, to insult you.
It seed like he was watching you all the ti, and as soon as you made eye contact, he would start cursing, making you suffer continuously.
He turned the basketball ga into a war!
With a 2-0 lead, it seed the defending champions were not planning to lose any ga in the second round.
Going to Atlanta for Ga 3, there was no sign of trouble even though the Hawks were at ho.
Their sheer lack of strength ant they couldn’t even steal a single ga victory.
During the press conference following the third ga, Steve Smith expressed his grievances with Roger:
“I have no idea what’s wrong with him.
He’s constantly verbally attacking on the court as if he has a vendetta against , but I truly don’t know what I’ve done to disrespect him.
I bet if the dia organized an anonymous vote among NBA players to choose the biggest jerk in the league, Roger would definitely be number one!”
The next day’s Sports Illustrated featured a cover shot of the confrontation between Steve Smith and Roger with an apt headline: “For Steve, it’s been a nightmare of a week.
He must be envious of Grant Hill by now, because he wouldn’t have to play a fourth ga to end the agony.”
In Ga 4, Roger completely destroyed Steve Smith.
That night, perhaps to prove he really was an asshole, Roger asked to defend him and even passed off many shooting opportunities to his teammates.
Under Roger’s vigorous defense and trash talk, Steve Smith staggered to 1 for 9 from beyond the three-point line!
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