Chapter 1203: Chapter 381: Until Roger Kills You Completely
Dwyane Wade began to press Diaw, preventing him from easily handling the ball.
This time, when he used a screen to drive, Wade immediately made body contact and attempted a steal.
Diaw saw through Wade’s intentions and held the ball high above his head with both hands.
But just as he stopped dribbling, Garnett came in to double-team him.
In the tight encirclement of Wade and Garnett, Diaw passed the ball behind his back to Stoudemire.
However, KG’s fingertips grazed the basketball, altering its trajectory.
Yao Ming stepped forward proactively, squeezed out Stoudemire, and intercepted the ball!
Immediately after, came the classic scene of Yao Ming’s long pass assisting Wade in a fast-break slam dunk.
The Knicks stacked their defensive resources on Diaw far more than before, but their strategy remained the same: choke the ball handler point.
In the second offensive possession, Boris Diaw early on passed the ball to Roger. Roger made a strong drive, blowing past Gary Payton with one step, then stopped abruptly to jump-shot and scored!
When the Knicks’ defensive resources were tilted towards Diaw, their pressure on Roger was far from enough.
Gary Payton once again became the sad victim of Roger’s onslaught.
"You know Gary," Roger said looking at the old "Glove," "the only way you could wear a ring in my era is by submitting to me."
Honestly, what’s so shameful about that?
Twenty years later, when Mark Zuckerberg sees Elon Musk’s MVP settlement screen, he will probably also want to say, "I can talk, I also ’maga’, I could also sing ’Young Man’ for Trump."
There’s nothing embarrassing about it. The ones who see the situation clearly are the smart ones. LeBron did it too.
Gary Payton didn’t respond, his attitude was no longer as steadfast as last season.
Perhaps, he was genuinely considering the feasibility of this question.
The Knicks changed their defensive strategy again, sending Wade back to guard Roger.
As a result, Boris Diaw’s post-up became much easier. When Kevin Garnett had to help defend Diaw, the Frenchman beautifully passed behind his head to assist Stoudemire for a mid-range shot.
Gary Payton despairingly found himself as a liability.
Roger and Diaw, these two ball handlers, whoever he defended would become the offensive focus.
The once Defensive Player of the Year now became a defensive hole.
In fact, it wasn’t Payton’s fault, but the Warriors’ all-forward lineup was just too overwhelming.
If Gary Payton were up against a team with an ordinary point guard, he wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage.
But with the Warriors’ all-forward lineup, Payton was mismatched defending anyone, which was too much to ask for him at his age.
Therefore, when the Warriors thought they could gain control by putting the full starting lineup on, they were still trailing with 2 minutes and 33 seconds left in the game.
Boris Diaw could also not defend Wade and Crawford, which was why the Knicks could keep the score close.
Now, Gary Payton had completely turned into a drag, becoming dispensable on both ends of the court.
So in the final two minutes, the Knicks simply subbed out the "Glove" and put in backup forward Michael Sweetney.
The effect of this substitution was immediate. Facing the equally strong and agile Michael Sweetney, Boris Diaw’s offensive threat significantly decreased.
The Knicks no longer needed to send Garnett to help defend him, and without the double team, Diaw found it much harder to find direct passing opportunities to assist teammates.
Finally, the Knicks painstakingly dragged the game back to a rhythm where the Warriors could only rely on Roger and Stoudemire for strong plays.
With Roger’s driving layup failing under the triple disturbance of Wade, Garnett, and Yao Ming, the Knicks got a chance to close the gap further in the last 2 minutes.
They were now only 5 points behind, and victory hadn’t yet slipped completely away from them.
The Knicks attacked, Wade faced Boris Diaw, and with familiar ease, beat him with a quick direction change.
Diaw dared not reach in, as the new rules were very unfavorable to defenders with height and wingspan but lacking lateral movement.
Wade passed by the Frenchman, like Germans breaking through the Maginot Line.
He stopped for another jump shot, having already scored 33 points today, a majority of which had come from this approach, and Diaw was powerless to stop him.
But this time, after bypassing the Maginot Line, another defensive line awaited Wade.
Roger appeared in time, closely contesting Wade’s jump shot.
If the Warriors had swapped Diaw for Jason Richardson to trade defense for offense, then the Knicks subbing Michael Sweetney for Payton was trading offense for defense.
At least Gary Payton posed some open jump shot threat. When he partnered with Wade and Crawford, the Knicks could stretch their offensive space significantly.
But Michael Sweetney was a textbook blue-collar wing: actively defending, physically strong, excellent rebounding ability, but his jump shot was even worse than Matt Barnes’.
In his career, he had only attempted two three-point shots and hit none. This season, his free throw percentage was below 75%.
Thus, Roger was freed.
Just like last season, he became a ghost sweeping the half-court.
"Smack!"
Wade’s jump shot was blocked, Boris Diaw immediately picked up the loose ball and pushed forward, fully showcasing his outstanding sprint speed.
Wade had to give chase with all his might, and finally, Diaw made an in-stride behind-the-back pass to assist Roger in scoring with a slam dunk.