Chapter 1087 - 347: The Court May Not Judge You, but the Savior Can

Words : 914 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

But Kobe hadn’t even had time to show off, when Roger immediately responded to him. This time on offense, Roger broke through George Lynch and, facing the approaching help defense of Karl Malone, chose to gather the ball and step left to break through. As Malone shifted sideways, Roger’s next step was a sharp move to the right, an extraordinarily deceptive footwork that allowed Roger to pass through Malone’s defense with ease. This was a European Step, an inspiration for Wade’s Mysterious Steps. As Wade and Manu Ginobili, among other masters of the European Step, began to shine, more and more guards realized the practicality of this technique. But let’s not forget that in this timeline, it was Roger, having been teammates with Sarunas Marciulionis and mentored by him, who popularized the European Step! After bypassing Malone, Roger softly laid up the ball, with the basketball sailing past the defending Malone and intercepting Ratliff, successfully sinking into the net! Roger perfectly combined two of the most unique techniques, enabling him to score effortlessly even when surrounded by the Lakers’ twin towers. With the ball in, Roger waved his five fingers in front of him: "Now you see me, Now you don’t!" Roger also scored 38 points, extending the lead to 4 points once more. Everyone realized that even in a more challenging offensive environment, these two guys’ scoring wouldn’t slow down! In the following few rounds, both Roger and Kobe made some difficult shots. It was as if the two of them were on a different level from the others on the court, toying with the efforts of all the defensive players. Both coaches tried every strategy. Hubie Brown replaced Allan Houston with Jason Richardson to primarily defend Kobe, but it wasn’t too effective. Phil Jackson matched the stout Devean George against Roger for a few rounds, but his rather mediocre defense meant he couldn’t leverage his physical advantages at all. With five minutes left, as the Warriors brought Amar’e Stoudemire back in and the Lakers brought Steve Nash back, everyone knew it was decision time! The Warriors on offense, Roger was considering how to torment George Lynch this round, only to see Kobe switch to defend him! Now both sides deployed their final decision-making lineup, with Stoudemire and Nash’s inclusion stretching both defenses, which meant fewer defensive resources could be devoted to Roger and Kobe. So, just use your best one-on-one defender against the other’s top scorer! Michael Jordan got goosebumps all over; this kind of direct confrontation was something he and Roger had done countless times. Whether during their Bulls days or Knicks days, many times he and Roger had to face each other directly. But it was precisely because of this that Michael Jordan lost so thoroughly. Facing Roger head-on could either be the beginning of a dream or the end of ambition! No Warriors fans could sit still, seeing the top stars of both teams face off is a rare sight on the basketball court. Let alone when both are in explosive form. Al Michaels was just as excited as the Oakland fans: "This is a war between men!" Roger waved off Stoudemire, who was preparing to set a screen. Such things are useless against number 8. Roger slowly approached, while Kobe used his agile footwork to continuously adjust the distance. Basketball one-on-ones are much like boxing, where distance is particularly crucial. If you’re too far away while striking, not only can you miss, but you might also expose vulnerabilities for a counterattack. The same goes for basketball; if you explode into a drive from too far, not only can’t you break through the defense, but you might give the opponent a chance to steal the ball. And Kobe was actively managing this distance, staying close enough to contest shots yet ready to prevent drives. Roger glanced at the basket, but this superficial feint didn’t make Kobe shift his balance. After this fake shot gesture, Roger forcefully drove in, leaning on Kobe to reach the free throw line, stopped abruptly, spun, and shot a fadeaway jumper! Kobe reacted swiftly, reaching out to block. Every Warriors fan focused intently on the ball, and eventually, the ball swished through the net, Roger winning the first one-on-one showdown against Kobe! The fiery cheers in the arena made Roger exuberantly pump his fist and turn to shout at the Zen Master on the bench: "Phil, you send one, I’ll take one down!" Phil Jackson cursed, with an imaginary F-word density that was sky-high. He had already rotated too many defenders on Roger today, but none of the switches worked. The Zen Master isn’t the kind of coach who can’t handle losing, but he has lost too many times to Roger. From the Magic Dynasty to the Hawks Dynasty, Phil Jackson happened to coach the Bulls, Knicks, and Lakers, the three biggest losers. The teams he coached were always among the top favorites to win championships, yet never managed to defeat Roger to claim one. No matter where he went, no matter what team he coached, his ultimate fate was always being defeated by Roger. Truthfully, he was tired of this unchangeable result, fed up with the same outcomes every year. This year, he told himself countless times he must break the curse of being unable to beat Roger. Yet, even when he fielded the team’s best perimeter defender, when he decided to go all-in with star vs. star, he still couldn’t stop Roger.

Chapter 1087 - 347: The Court May Not Judge You, but the Savior Can

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