The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 243 - 128 Grudges

On the plane back to Portland, the Trail Blazers players were in a relaxed and joyful mood.

Although the third game was tough, they still managed to eliminate their opponents and advance to the next round.

In the second round, whether facing the Nuggets or the Spurs, the Trail Blazers would have home-court advantage. They could rest well in Portland and wait for the start of the semifinals.

Everyone was very interested in Gan Guoyang’s mid-range buzzer-beater in the final moments of the third game. They wondered when he had learned this "kiki-step."

Gan Guoyang said, "I just learned it, watching Kiki use it a lot yesterday, and I got it."

Everyone scornfully disbelieved, convinced that the kid must have been practicing secretly at some point.

In the third game, Vandeweghe scored 26 points, the second-highest on the team. In the series against the Mavericks, he was the team’s second-leading scorer, just behind Ah Gan.

His performance peaked at the beginning of the season when he first arrived in Portland, then slowly entered a slump in December. Following that, inspired by Gan Guoyang, he gradually regained his shooting touch, but soon suffered from injuries.

During the latter part of the schedule, Vandeweghe was in and out of the lineup. With the Trail Blazers not under pressure to win games and with Gan Guoyang holding the fort, he was able to rest and recover from a back injury, becoming the team’s most reliable outside scorer in the first round of the series.

Vandeweghe joked with Gan Guoyang, "You should be paying me royalties, stealing my moves and using them for a game-winner. Aren’t you afraid you’ll miss?"

Gan Guoyang joked back, "Afraid of what? It’s a tie game. If I miss, we won’t lose. If we were behind, I would pass to you to shoot. I wouldn’t take the shot."

"Fuck, Ah Gan, you’re way sneakier than I thought."

At that moment, Drexler came over and asked Gan Guoyang, "Ah Gan, how exactly did you learn that step-back jump shot?"

Gan Guoyang saw the eagerness to learn shining in Drexler’s eyes.

The kid played with Vandeweghe a lot, but it seemed it was just for fun, without really grasping the offensive techniques from outside.

Even though his shooting had greatly improved, his main offensive shooting moves were catching and shooting immediately, as well as pulling up directly with the ball.

For the young Drexler, mastering a skill requiring good coordination like the step-back was somewhat challenging.

Gan Guoyang explained to Drexler, "First, you take the ball, dribble inside, stop quickly, first do this, then do that, and it’s done."

Drexler was confused. What did he mean by ’first this then that’? Who teaches that way?

"Ah Gan, are you messing with me?"

"I’m not messing with you; it’s just that your brain can’t quite understand it yet. Better focus on practicing the basics. You’re in your second year, and your shooting is still so poor."

In reality, Drexler’s shooting had improved a lot—he had an 85% free-throw shooting percentage in the series and made several mid-range shots, though the shooting percentage was indeed mediocre. The intensity of the playoffs was much greater than the regular season.

But compared to Vandeweghe and Gan Guoyang, he was still far behind. These two ’beasts’ had a 100% free-throw percentage in the series, not missing a single one.

They scored all the points they were supposed to and Gan Guoyang even got some extra.

At that time, Ramsay sat in the front row, ignoring the players’ commotion, focusing on the statistics and mentally replaying the third game.

In truth, the Trail Blazers were at a disadvantage in every aspect of that game—tactics, morale, and on-the-spot performance were all dominated by the Mavericks.

In the third and fourth quarters, the Mavericks hit three-pointers in succession, with five out of eight from downtown. At that time, it was a very frightening shooting number and percentage.

It indicated that the Mavericks were in good form that night; their defense was solid, the players were making miraculous shots, and their morale was high.

However, the Trail Blazers’ perimeter defense had too many holes, and they made many turnovers in that game, but still won.

The reason was that, at many critical moments, Gan Guoyang stepped up and hit shots to stabilize the situation and firmly control the rhythm.

Especially in the third quarter, after a timeout, Blackman hit a three-pointer, and Ramsay felt trouble brewing.

Based on game experience, after you’ve made a series of offensive plays, the opponent is likely to counter with a run, and you might start missing continuously.

The players’ focus, touch, and synergy on the court all fluctuate, making it hard to maintain intensity throughout.

Only the top-tier strong teams, with their numerous talents and staggered performances, can extend the length of their offensive highs and shorten their lows.

The Trail Blazers were playing away, and after evening out the game, the Mavericks were clearly betting everything on a push after the timeout.

At that moment, Ah Gan actually withstood the pressure, using his ruthless jumpshots and hook shots to gradually negate the Mavericks’ comeback wave.

When the third quarter ended with the Trail Blazers still leading by one point, Ramsay took a deep breath, knowing that the game was most likely in the bag.

As for Gan Guoyang’s final step-back mid-range game-winning shot, that was just icing on the cake. Ramsay was no longer surprised by any technique Guoyang employed.

If one day he made a six-step layup that went in and the referees didn’t call it, Ramsay would applaud for him too.

Ramsay was surprised by Gan Guoyang’s maturity, calm, and rationality in dealing with adversity during the playoffs. He thought there would at least be one setback.

But it turned out that this kid was only giving setbacks to others.

Now it was time to seriously consider the next round’s opponent. As expected, the other Texas team, the Spurs, would not be a match for the Denver Nuggets.

The series currently stood at 2-1 with the Nuggets leading the Spurs.

If they were to face the Nuggets, it would undoubtedly be a grudge match.

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When the Trail Blazers returned to Portland, they were greeted and welcomed by many fans at the airport.

Gan Guoyang was right not to bring too many clothes. Without the need to carry a lot of luggage, he was lighthearted and joyful with just a travel bag on his back.

Seeing the slogans at the airport, Gan Guoyang thought to himself that one would think they had won the championship, when it was merely the first round. Was such enthusiasm necessary?

Adelman told Gan Guoyang, "Portland fans are just that passionate. You can imagine what it would be like if we won the championship."

As Oregon’s sole representative, the Trail Blazers team indeed held a special status. For Portland, this team was symbolic.

Although the fans at Reunion Arena in Dallas were very passionate and crazy, outside the arena Gan Guoyang barely felt the playoff atmosphere.

That’s because the symbolic team of Dallas was the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, known as America’s Team, which rooted itself in the city in 1960 and won the Super Bowl in 1971 and 1977.

The Mavericks would need a longer time to cultivate in the Cowboy City before they could be accepted.

The Trail Blazers were Portland’s Dallas Cowboys. Before the playoff opponents were decided, the tickets for the first two games at Memorial Coliseum sold out.

Many fans camped out in front of the arena just to buy a Trail Blazers playoff game ticket.

What the Trail Blazers and Portland fans didn’t expect was that the Nuggets and Spurs ended up going to a game five.

The Nuggets, leading 2-1, were tied by the Spurs in San Antonio. Mike Mitchell’s performance of 37 points on 17-for-21 shooting brought both teams back to Denver.

On the 28th, for the fifth game, the entire Trail Blazers team gathered in the video room of the training facility to watch the playoffs live, to see who their semifinal opponent would be.

Everyone had favored the Nuggets before the game, and surely enough, the Nuggets led the Spurs by 20 points at 65-45 in the first half, leaving no suspense in the game.

When the fourth quarter was halfway through and the difference was still 20 points, the game having entered garbage time, Ramsay turned off the TV.

"Let’s prepare for practice. Get ready for the Nuggets, your old friends, former team."

The expressions of the Trail Blazers players were quite complex, and Vandeweghe sighed deeply.

Gan Guoyang asked, "What, do you still have feelings for your ex-team?"

Vandeweghe shook his head, saying, "No, it’s just that I hate playing against the Nuggets. It brings back some... unpleasant memories."

This season, the Trail Blazers faced the Nuggets four times with an even record of 2 wins and 2 losses, winning tough and losing badly.

They knew each other too well, especially the Nuggets who knew more about the Trail Blazers. The only unknown to them was Ah Gan.

The two losses of the Nuggets were all due to Gan Guoyang.

And Vandeweghe’s performance against his former team this season always fell short of expectations, being heavily countered.

Gan Guoyang said to Vandeweghe, "Don’t worry, after this series, it will turn into a fond memory for you."