The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1813 - 65: The Obvious Gap (Part 2)

Little O'Neal grabs the rebound, another fast break for the Trail Blazers.

This time, the Celtics quickly get back on defense and secure the basket as Duncan disrupts Sabonis's floater.

The Celtics grab the rebound, Nash pushes the counterattack, Paul Pierce breaks through and passes to Rick Fox in the corner.

Fox catches the ball and shoots a three-pointer, finally hitting a crucial three-pointer, scoring the team's first points of the game.

This crucial three-pointer steadies the Celtics' situation, but an 8-point gap is not that easy to close.

Both sides enter a stalemate in the first quarter, with Gan Guoyang refraining from shooting after an initial mid-range shot, instead focusing on defense and playmaking.

It's clear to the keen-eyed that Gan Guoyang is saving energy for the second half, for the third and fourth quarters.

If the Celtics can't establish an advantage in the first half, or even fall behind, they can forget about turning the game around later.

Duncan finally scores under Gan Guoyang's defense, with a turnaround floater and a follow-up bank jump shot from 45 degrees.

But on the Trail Blazers' side, Kobe also finds a way to deal with Paul Pierce, which is speed and the use of screens.

Kobe no longer insists on physical battles on the outside with the strong Pierce, but uses his exceptional stamina to keep running and find good catch opportunities.

Then, using Sabonis and Gan Guoyang's screens, he looks for chances to shoot.

Pierce has an advantage in strength, but speed and experience are his shortfalls.

The Trail Blazers intentionally focus their offense on Kobe at the start.

And Kobe performs his role well, with a good shooting touch at the start.

Mid-range, floaters, layups, breakthroughs, Kobe's consecutive scoring tears apart the Celtics' outwardly loose but inwardly tight defensive alignment.

By the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers lead the Celtics by as much as 10 points, 31 to 21, with the 31 points proving the Celtics' defensive strategy completely ineffective.

Starting from the second quarter, the Celtics no longer let Paul Pierce individually guard Kobe but use Rick Fox and Bruce Bowen to handle Kobe instead.

Paul Pierce misplaces to guard Little O'Neal or occasionally faces Ah Gan or Charles Barkley.

This is a defensive vulnerability for the Celtics, or rather, a significant offensive advantage for the Trail Blazers.

Whenever Gan Guoyang and Barkley come to the small forward position, it's inevitable to exploit mismatches and create defensive gaps for the opponent.

Once Barkley enters in the second quarter, he faces Pierce's defense twice on offense.

The ball is promptly passed to Barkley, who uses his large backside to back Pierce down, showing Pierce who the real "King of the Hip" in the NBA is.

Two offensive moves: one is a strong play that succeeds, and the other draws a foul on Pierce, sending Barkley to the free-throw line.

Beelman has to sub Pierce out, bringing in Cliff Robinson to handle the Trail Blazers' tall frontcourt at the three and four positions.

Actually, the Celtics' forward combination is quite formidable. In the Eastern Conference finals against the Pacers, the Celtics' forward lineup played a massive role in both offense and defense, which can be considered decisive.

Especially Cliff Robinson, as the sixth man, his all-around play on both ends and his size and agility left the Pacers without anyone to match against him.

He had standout performances in the crucial fifth and sixth games of the Eastern Conference finals, becoming a key figure in deciding the series' outcome.

But in the finals, having to face Ah Gan at the three and four positions led to an abrupt change.

Ah Gan can be considered half a mentor to Cliff Robinson. Although Robinson's time with the Trail Blazers wasn't long, it was the most important initial stage of his career.

He went through the most rigorous rookie training camp, received training from the greatest player in history, won a championship, gained invaluable game experience, and experienced Ah Gan's beatdowns.

When facing Ah Gan in the finals, to say there isn't a sense of panic is impossible. When Robinson gets the ball and faces Ah Gan's defense, he most likely passes it out, not daring to play aggressively.

Defensively, when facing Ah Gan, there is no confidence either, not daring to make a move, resulting in the Celtics' best sixth man not playing at his usual level in these games.

His outside shots don't fall, and he fails to provide coverage on defense, giving a weak impression on the court, making it very difficult for the Celtics' second lineup.

Robinson's two attempts from outside both miss, with Barkley grabbing the rebound inside; the Trail Blazers aren't in a hurry, slowly grinding their half-court set.

Even if they don't score, the pace is controlled by the Trail Blazers, and the Celtics can't find a spark to narrow the score gap.

At this point, Rick Carlisle expands the rotation, with veterans like Dell Curry, AC Green, Chris Mullin, etc., all stepping up to play a few minutes.

This change resembles the second game, aiming to allocate playing time, letting the main players rest more in preparation for the second half.

The Celtics know the Trail Blazers are conserving energy, but being the trailing side, they have to seize the opportunity to catch up.

Beelman makes adjustments, bringing main players Duncan and Pierce back on, seizing this opportunity to exploit Duncan's advantage in the low post, initiating a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 6 points.

When Duncan is not facing Gan Guoyang's defense in the post, his offensive success rate is still quite high.