The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 112 - 17 Really Simple_3

Having been sitting on the bench all game, not particularly engaged or concerned with the match, Havlicek stood up during the final phase of the game.

He came to the sideline and started shouting encouragements to the players, to get them running, moving, defending, and chasing.

There weren’t any superstars in the NBA All-Star Team tonight, but every player was a fiercely brave tough guy.

Terry Cummings and Rick Mahorn were well-known ironmen of the League.

Initially, they had scoffed at Gan Guoyang, but as the game progressed, they began to be stirred by him.

Another player didn’t need Gan Guoyang to motivate him, as he already had a deep aversion for Team USA, specifically for Jordan.

That was the substitute guard Reggie-Seth, who had been playing for the Chicago Bulls but was traded to Kansas in February this year.

This guard, who looked like an Indian, left and in 1984, the Chicago Bulls chose Jordan with the third overall pick, effectively making room for him by trading Seth away.

Seth, having spent six years in Chicago, was let go early by the team to make way for newcomers, and he was bound to have some hard feelings, so tonight he targeted Jordan from the moment he entered the game.

Their animosity, stretching over more than a decade, officially started tonight—during his time with the Bulls, Seth had dated a woman named Juanita for a while, who, years later, became Jordan’s wife.

Being kindred spirits, and with various other conflicts, it was impossible for them not to have grievances.

When Jordan once again took the ball to initiate an offense, Seth lunged at him with a ferocious foul.

Jordan, glaring at Seth, did not retaliate. He was all too familiar with such malicious fouls. He stepped up to the free-throw line and sunk both shots.

The score was now 107:104, with Team USA still leading by 3 points and the final two minutes of the game remaining.

During the All-Star Team’s offense, Seth took the ball outside, used a screen to cut inside for a layup, and was blocked by Jordan with a powerful swipe!

Gan Guoyang picked up the loose ball, pushed one step inside, then suddenly passed it to Ma Hong under the basket with a bounce pass, and Ma Hong scored with a powerful dunk!

The gap was now just 1 point. Team USA still wanted to play fast, but the All-Star Team’s defense was intensifying, with Havlicek shouting for defense from the sideline.

Bob Knight stood on the other side, knowing that Hong Duo was getting serious, as the game entered the critical moment of life or death.

Jordan did not take on the offense himself but patiently moved the ball around the perimeter, breaking through the defense with teamwork, culminating in Ewing catching the ball under the hoop and dunking!

Gan Guoyang was drawn out, leaving the space empty, but on the offensive end, Gan Guoyang called for the ball in the low post. After receiving Seth’s pass, he quickly turned and released a jump shot that went in.

His heel pivot was incredibly swift; Ewing didn’t even have time to react and interfere, and the ball was already out of his hands and through the net.

Gan Guoyang immediately doubled on Alford, as Team USA tried to break the full-court pressure with wide-ranging passes.

But they made a fatal mistake; the high intensity and speed of the offense and defense caused fatigue, and once tired, players tend to lose focus.

Cummings intercepted the pass, and as Gan Guoyang sprinted towards the basket, Cummings passed the ball there, but Jordan leapt up high and intercepted it!

The ball was back in the hands of Team USA, and as Jordan drove into the basket, he was met by a double team. His change-of-hands, folding layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang catching up from behind.

The referee did not blow the whistle for a foul, signaling a clean defensive play. Seth grabbed the ball, and the competition between both sides reached a fever pitch.

Then Gan Guoyang again posted up Ewing in the low post, demanding the ball. In the same position, Seth passed to Gus Williams, who then fed the ball to Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and without waiting for Team USA’s double team to arrive (a low post player is almost always double-teamed in a zone defense), he quickly turned and released another jump shot.

Ewing almost got a block on his shot, but the swiftly executed, almost unaimed shot by Gan Guoyang still made it.

The basketball traced a beautiful arc through the air and swooshed through the net!

The NBA All-Star Team finally took the lead! This was their first lead in the entire game! 109:110!

With only the last 8 seconds left in the game, the NBA All-Stars had come back from the dead in the second half, seizing the advantage.

Knight called a timeout, extremely dissatisfied with his players’ mistakes in the last few moments, berating them furiously.

One was a rash pass, and then how could they let Gan Guoyang score consecutively in the low post?

In a zone defense, it’s very hard to receive the ball and shoot from the center low post, indicating a problem with their zone defense.

Actually, Gan Guoyang’s positioning was exquisite, and his shooting was incredibly quick, hardly giving the defenders a chance to double-team.

Havlicek, who had hardly drawn up any strategies throughout the game, now stood up with a clipboard in hand, ready to arrange a defense.

As a nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selectee, Havlicek knew how to handle the critical last defense and had made a meticulous arrangement.

Previously on the sidelines with a blank expression, he now crouched at the edge of the court, gesturing on the clipboard with his players, as if he had returned to the glorious Celtics days, radiating a brilliance all over.

"Defense, take down the game, we want victory, victory!" Havlicek’s encouraging words were simple but powerful.

Originally in it just for a bit of fun, his heart now throbbed with excitement. He remembered the 1965 finals Game 7, his steal of Grier’s pass to Chamberlain, securing the championship in Boston and achieving the Celtics’ seventh consecutive title. The crowd flooded the court, lifting him up, then tore his jersey to shreds.

That night, that steal, he would remember forever.

Now, the players returned to the court, Team USA’s final possession. Chris Mullin inbounded from the outside, while the NBA All-Star Team applied a full-court press and double-teamed Jordan.

The atmosphere in the arena reached a fever pitch, with Mullin nearly inbounding past the allowed time, but he finally got the ball to Alford. Jordan managed to shake off the double team at the 45-degree angle on the right side, using a screen set by Sam Perkins.

Alford immediately passed the ball towards Jordan, but at the moment he released it, he sensed something was wrong. Like a tiger bursting forth, Gan Guoyang charged out from the three-second area!

He had just been hiding behind Sam Perkins, unseen by Alford. Perkins had set a screen for Jordan, but it also screened for Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang stretched out his long arm, deflected the ball toward the frontcourt, and tipped it to Seth. Seth dribbled towards the frontcourt, but there was no time left, the game was over!

In Hong Duo’s ears seemed to echo Johnny Most’s shout that he only heard after the finals had ended:

"Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball!" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Havlicek spread his arms wide, leaping up and pumping his fists, running towards Gan Guoyang, who had already sprinted out-of-bounds.

The two embraced tightly—even though they had only met less than two hours ago, and Gan Guoyang didn’t even know how to spell Havlicek’s name.

Reporters rushed up, snapping frenzied photos of the two, while the supposed main attraction, the national team of America, was ignored.

"Good job, kid, we won, you really did great." Havlicek praised Gan Guoyang with the simplest of words.

In that moment, he experienced once more the passion and joy that basketball and victory brought him, something he had forgotten for a long time.

"I told you, just let me play in the second half and everything will be fine, isn’t coaching very easy?"

Gan Guoyang was drenched in sweat, gasping for air, as he hugged Havlicek even tighter.

"Easy, it’s really easy."