The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1812 - 65: The Obvious Gap

The fiery atmosphere of the Rose Garden Arena and the overwhelming fervor put the entire Celtics team under immense pressure.

Ilgauskas jumped early during the tip-off at the center circle and was called for a violation, giving possession to the Portland Trail Blazers.

On the first offensive play for the Trail Blazers, Gan Guoyang received the ball at a 45-degree angle, faced Tim Duncan's defense, and directly made a mid-range jump shot, scoring!

A simple, unadorned mid-range shot claimed the first point of the game, yet the cheers at the venue seemed to tear the roof off, as if a game-winner had been scored.

For the young Celtics players, they need to adapt quickly to such fervor.

Clearly, they were not adapting well at the start. Steve Nash found Pierce on the wing, who attempted a mid-range jump shot against Kobe but missed.

Under the basket, Ilgauskas and Tim Duncan both fought for an offensive rebound, Duncan seized the ball, but his floater was blocked by Little O'neal.

Gan Guoyang grabbed the ball, and the Trail Blazers quickly launched a fast break, with Brellock rapidly advancing the ball.

Kobe had already sprinted to the frontcourt, facing Pierce, with his biggest advantage being explosiveness and speed.

He shook off Pierce's entanglement, received the ball past the baseline, and executed a spinning dunk!

The temperature in the Rose Garden Arena further rose, with this heat radiating from the court to all of Portland.

The Celtics were scoreless in the first three minutes, with the Trail Blazers leading 8:0, forcing Beelman to call a timeout in frustration.

In fact, the Celtics had made some adjustments at the start, and the players were putting in huge efforts.

Beelman had demanded pre-game to increase the fight for offensive rebounds to leverage the Twin Towers' advantage, forcing Gan Guoyang to shift inward from the three-position.

Who would have thought, they did seize the offensive rebounds, but twice in a row their attempts under the basket were blocked by Little O'neal.

Once their second chance offense failed, when Gan Guoyang got the ball on the perimeter, the Trail Blazers' fast break was hard to stop.

Thus, the plan couldn't keep up with changes. The Celtics wanted to immediately gain the upper hand but were stunned by the atmosphere in the Rose Garden during their away game.

Beelman had no choice but to adjust back to the regular offensive strategy, instructing Duncan to launch strong offensive plays from the low post to open up the game.

Is this the right choice? It is the right choice, trailing 0:8, letting your core player make strong moves is indeed sound.

But the right choice doesn't necessarily yield positive results, it could even worsen the situation.

Because basketball is unpredictable.

In contrast to playing the Lakers, in the finals, Gan Guoyang mostly guarded Duncan one-on-one on defense.

After all, although Duncan is well-rounded, his offensive destructiveness doesn't match O'Neal's, so defending Duncan is a manageable consumption for Gan Guoyang.

Moreover, it's the finals, so there's no point in holding back.

Coming out of the timeout, Duncan faced Gan Guoyang in the low post, all teammates spread out, leaving him to solo engage.

He bodied up backward, as always unable to budge, barely made a spin move, struggling to find a look, hoping his excellent touch could sink the shot.

But as he spun, Gan Guoyang remarkably swiped the ball from Duncan's hands.

Duncan reacted quickly, avoided a turnover by regaining control of the ball, quickly launched a floater.

The ball danced twice on the rim, unfortunately missed, Ilgauskas came for a follow-up, but the rebound was still controlled by Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang immediately long-passed to Kobe in the frontcourt, who charged after receiving the ball, Brellock got an opportunity in the right corner, Kobe passed, Brellock caught and shot a three.

It's good!

Brellock's outside shooting accuracy has significantly risen in this finals series.

Because Steve Nash's defense is frankly mediocre, he has the right attitude without intensity, the ideas without execution, working hard but falling short.

On this play, Nash didn't even make it to cover, missing the wide-open space on the right, giving Brellock an effortless shot opportunity.

11:0, the Trail Blazers further expanded their lead.

The Celtics desperately needed to score, looked to Duncan again, but he still faced Gan Guoyang's defense.

Honestly, the shadow of almost being shut out by Gan Guoyang in his rookie season hovered over Duncan's mind.

For three seasons, Duncan has been honing his skills and experience but, to be frank, the improvement isn't significant due to limited potential.

Meanwhile, players like Duncan, with moderate range and shooting, not outstanding in offensive percentage, would find it particularly difficult to score against Gan Guoyang alone.

Unlike O'Neal, whose immense strength, once the mental barrier was broken, made it hard for Gan Guoyang to stop him on offense during the West Finals, so it was smart to avoid his sharpness then.

Duncan, with average across-the-board skills but faced with someone like Gan Guoyang, who has superior skills all around even past his prime, struggles immensely.

Had Duncan, from Game 1, used his youth and vigor to consume and attack Gan Guoyang, engaged him over the entire series, his youthful stamina advantage would become more apparent the further the series goes.

Sadly, Beelman and the entire Celtics lineup played it too conservatively, the victory in the first game solidified this mindset, resulting in a setback in the second game, with the series momentum shifting to the Trail Blazers.

Duncan attempted a second low post strong offensive play against Gan Guoyang, with both physically fresh, having not undergone much fatigue.

Duncan still found it hard to move the world's strongest Gan Guoyang, finishing with a high-difficulty spinning jump shot, but once again, it was off target.