The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 217 - 103: You Better Shoot a 3-Pointer_2

Gan Guoyang secured the rebound and passed the ball to Drexler, who started sprinting from the backcourt.

Dennis Johnson couldn’t keep up with Drexler’s pace and had to foul him to hold him back.

Drexler made both free throws, his shooting had indeed improved, 105:100.

Ramsay saw all this, so he kept increasing Drexler’s playing time.

Kevin McHale finally scored a low-post basket, the Celtics 105:102, still trailing by 3 points.

Gan Guoyang’s mid-range shot missed, but he then suddenly struck on defense, stealing the ball from Bird.

Drexler started up again, this time Dennis Johnson, using his experience, stopped Drexler’s fast break.

But immediately, Dennis Johnson’s reckless arc-top shot was interfered with by Drexler and missed, with Parish snatching the offensive rebound.

His turnaround jumper from mid-range was blocked by Gan Guoyang, and for two minutes the intense defense on both sides resulted in a deadlock in scoring.

The situation favored the Trail Blazers. Having secured the ball, Gan Guoyang didn’t rush for a fast break but slowed down to set up the offense.

Parkson brought the ball over half court and passed it to Clyde, who was exceptionally reliable in crucial moments tonight.

Gan Guoyang emerged to set a screen for the Glider, who sliced through the Celtics’ defensive line like a knife and entered the paint.

Facing Robert Parish’s defense, Drexler took off, soaring over the Chieftain, and scored with a gliding dunk!

The Trail Blazers’ bench erupted, all teammates jumped up, and Drexler’s dunk was earth-shattering.

Trail Blazers 107:102, widening the gap to 5 points again, with less than 1 minute left in the game.

The Trail Blazers seemed to have the game in hand, but their youthful oversight was significant—the Celtics didn’t call a timeout and quickly inbounded the ball for a counterattack.

The counterattack was incredibly fast, with no dribbling, all passing, the ball bouncing around the court like in squash, with Celtics players acting as the walls, and a few bangs later, the ball was in the frontcourt.

Larry Bird seized the opportunity on the left side, took a pass from Kevin McHale, and let loose a three-pointer, hitting his second three of the night.

107:105, the Celtics used only 10 seconds to narrow the gap to 2 points, prompting Ramsay to call a timeout.

The Trail Blazers probably had two offensive opportunities left, still holding the advantage, but undue excitement might imperceptibly let the advantage slip away, turning comedy into tragedy.

Ramsay set up a tactic commonly used by the team in clutch moments, with the guards and forwards running baseline to initiate the attack, Gan Guoyang and Thompson both ready at high post, followed by Gan Guoyang crashing in for the offensive rebound.

This strategy played a key role in several games, with the Trail Blazers’ perimeter shooting and penetration forcing the defense to step out, while Gan Guoyang’s offensive rebounding provided a second layer of insurance. They won games against the Nuggets and the Rockets this way.

But K.C. Jones anticipated Ramsay’s tactics and made arrangements in advance, Bird clung onto Gan Guoyang like a hound, preventing him from crashing the paint, and Drexler’s tip-in attempt on the drive missed, with Mychal Thompson grabbing the offensive rebound but his follow-up layup was blocked by McHale from behind, giving possession back to the Celtics.

K.C. Jones called a timeout, with only the last 27 seconds left in the game, a 2-point difference, the TV cameras and the eyes of the audience in the arena were all fixed on Larry Bird.

Bird always had a way of making an impact in such clutch moments. When the timeout ended and they returned to the court, Gan Guoyang stood in front of Bird.

"It’s you again, do you think you can guard me?"

Bird felt his hand was hot, he was confident about the shot.

Gan Guoyang said, "You better shoot a three, two points won’t do. There’ll be time left, and I’ll hit a buzzer-beater on you."

His voice was as confident as Bird’s, and for a moment Bird even felt shaky, perhaps he should forgo the coach’s tactic, and take a three-pointer.

But Bird shook off the thought. He found an opening in the left corner through off-the-ball movement, received Dennis Johnson’s pass, and hit a fadeaway jump shot over Gan Guoyang’s defense, scoring two points and tying the game 107:107!

Boston Garden went into a frenzy, but Bird remained calm as if nothing had happened, returning to the bench. The Trail Blazers called a timeout.

He knew the game wasn’t over yet—looking at the score, it was just a tie, and the chance of a buzzer-beater was possible, so Bird began to worry.

The Trail Blazers had 15 seconds left, enough to complete one offensive play. Ramsay insisted on running down the clock, not leaving the Celtics even a second.

Although Drexler’s critical layup missed, Ramsay still gave him the ball, instructing him to coordinate with Ah Gan.

To Gan Guoyang, Ramsay had only one piece of advice, "Play it by ear, Gan."

Gan Guoyang nodded, his mind and body becoming even sharper during this critical offense.

He had to cling to the strategy that he had adhered to all game, capitalizing on the rhythmic advantage accumulated, and not let victory slip away in the last moment.

There was no problem with the inbound, Drexler caught the ball steadily, dribbling while watching the clock tick down.

The Boston Garden at this moment was as wild as hell, noisy, and only those with iron will could claim victory here.

The clamor from the fans on the sidelines didn’t disturb Drexler. He was timing the play, exchanging glances with Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang came up to set a pick for Drexler. Drexler was about to make his move—Dennis Johnson and McHale were both focused on him.

Just then, Gan Guoyang suddenly turned and cut inside; he wasn’t there to set a pick after all. Drexler lofted a high pass straight into Gan Guoyang’s hands.

Gan Guoyang leaped to catch the ball, with McHale and Bird quickly closing in on him. If he took a jump shot, he would surely be contested, and it would leave time on the clock.

Gan Guoyang turned and dribbled to the wing, avoiding Danny Ainge’s steal, took the ball to the baseline, and with a large stride unleashed a hook shot!

-----------------

In the apartment on Los Angeles Fox Mountain, the sky was completely dark, and without light pollution in a high-end community like Green Valley Circle, the bright stars over the Pacific Ocean were visible.

Riley had been fiddling with the rooftop satellite dish for quite a while, but to no avail. By now, the last quarter of the game should have ended, and he wondered about the outcome.

He pulled out a pack of Marlboro from his inner pocket and started smoking alone on the rooftop, the flickering light of his cigarette resembling a star in the sky.

Riley was a smoker whose habit was unknown to the public. He never smoked in front of players, reporters, or fans, so there were no photos of him smoking. He didn’t want cigarettes to tarnish his image.

In the arts, smoking might be cool, but in sports, it raised questions about health and could lead to suspicions about substance abuse.

Of course, those close to him knew he was a smoker because whenever he came back from the bathroom or the rooftop, he always smelled strongly of smoke.

He needed cigarettes, needed nicotine to relieve the immense pressure, needed it to calm down when he was on the verge of madness. This year, especially so.

Suddenly, mad cheering from downstairs startled Riley, causing ash from his cigarette to fall onto his velvet blazer. He hastily stamped out the cigarette and brushed off the ash from his clothes.

The screaming from the room downstairs continued. Magic Johnson burst out of the room and upon seeing Riley, he embraced him, exclaiming, "Woh! A buzzer-beater! A buzzer-beater!"

Riley frowned, wondering why the guy was still acting like a fool, and asked, "Who nailed the buzzer-beater? Larry?"

Johnson replied, "What are you talking about? Gan nailed it! He beat the Celtics at the buzzer, just like Karim did in 1974, from the same spot! With a hook shot!"

Riley paused for two seconds, then asked, "So why are you happy?"

Johnson said, "Of course I’m happy, someone beat the Celtics!"

It seemed that the Lakers players all saw themselves in the Trail Blazers—anyone who was an enemy of the Celtics was a friend of the Lakers.

Back then in the NBA, there was real sports hatred between teams and cities, especially between Boston and Los Angeles.

Riley said coldly, "Don’t forget, if we get to the playoffs, we’ll face the Blazers first, then we’ll get to the finals to face the Celtics."

This time Johnson paused for two seconds, but then he went back to the room, joyfully joining the others in a small celebration.

"Who cares, at least the Celtics lost!"

Riley shook his head. He was indeed a little pleased, but also slightly worried.

"Get me the game tape; I want to analyze it tonight!"