The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 253 - 136 Red Alert

After the humiliating defeat in the 1984 Finals, the Lakers didn’t dominate the 1984-1985 season as people expected, but instead experienced a variety of ups and downs.

At the 1984 NBA Draft, the Lakers hadn’t come away empty-handed; they had secured the promising Earl Jones, who claimed to be a hybrid of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Jesus.

This seven-foot-tall, immensely talented black center was considered an underrated gem. Because of poor high school grades, he couldn’t get into a Division I NCAA school and chose the Division II University of the District of Columbia instead.

In 1982, he led his team to the NCAA Division II National Championship and was considered exceptionally talented.

It just so happened that the Lakers felt it was time to find a backup for 37-year-old Jabbar, or the beasts constantly entering the league would knock down the old man, so they chose him.

But unexpectedly, Earl Jones faltered much faster and earlier than Jabbar. This man, who couldn’t even manage to brush his teeth or perform basic math, let alone catch passes from Magic Johnson.

During training, he was constantly hit in the head by Magic’s passes. Then, after playing only two games in his rookie season and contributing one turnover, he suffered a leg fracture that ended his season, and he spent the rest of his Lakers career on a sickbed until he was cut by a thoroughly disappointed Jerry West.

Then the Lakers could only watch as Gan Guoyang rose to prominence in Portland, brutalizing Jabbar and Rambis at the Great Western Forum. Meanwhile, they started the season disadvantaged, suffering consecutive losses and slipping out of the Western Conference top eight within two weeks.

Los Angeles media constantly questioned them, with Jabbar continually being branded as too old and suggested to retire, perhaps in his last season. He appeared tired and slow against new powerhouses like Ah Gan, Olajuwon, and Sampson.

Magic Johnson seemed insignificant compared to Larry Bird. His shooting was off, his turnovers too frequent, and he couldn’t save games with consecutive shots like Bird could.

James Worthy was called a draft mistake of ’82, with Dominique Wilkins and Terry Cummings picked after him. Rumors had it that Magic wanted to send Worthy away to trade for his good friend Mark Aguirre, which led to tension within the Lakers team.

Byron Scott was considered incapable of replacing Norm Nixon. He was too young and completely lacked Nixon’s star quality. Letting go of Nixon for him was a huge mistake.

As for the bench, 33-year-old Bob McAdoo was on the decline, and 31-year-old Jamaal Wilkes had missed most games due to a torn left knee.

Head coach Pat Riley hadn’t truly proven himself yet. His 1982 championship was considered the legacy of McKinney and Westhead, and without Moses Malone who went to the 76ers, he was powerless in 1983. Losing again in the 1984 Finals seemed to emphasize that he spent more effort on his suits and hairstyle than on tactics and lineup.

It was in this hopeless, suffocating atmosphere that Riley gritted his teeth, overturned his initial thoughts from the beginning of the season, rearranged the lineup, redrafted tactical details, and placed extreme importance on training—the Lakers had the most glamorous playing tactics, supported by Riley’s devil-like training.

He would never give hollow warnings or preachings to the players, such as you need to work hard, you need to cheer up, you need to run.

He preferred action, liked to stir up players to attack each other during training, and rarely blew his whistle, allowing players to trash-talk, collide, and even fight during practices.

After every practice, the Lakers players were battered and bruised, Riley using this grueling cultivation to spur each player, making sure they wouldn’t get lost in the glitz of Los Angeles.

This type of training made the official games seem easy, and they only got easier and easier.

Finally, by March, the Los Angeles Lakers had become the fiercest team in the league. They finished the regular season with an impressive record, swept through the league like a whirlwind, clinched the Western Conference’s first spot with ease, and then swept the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Last season, the Suns could still put up a fight against the Lakers, but this year in the playoffs, they weren’t even a match.

The young Jazz, without Mark-Eaton, were even less noteworthy. The only team the Lakers took seriously in the Western Conference were the Portland Trail Blazers, and their superstar center Gan Guoyang.

On May 11th, the day of the first game of the Western Conference Finals, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the Great Western Forum, even the entire Los Angeles, had gone into red alert.

When Gan Guoyang arrived in Los Angeles on the 10th, although people here weren’t as arrogant, rude, and hostile as those in Boston, he could definitely feel the chill in every hotel employee’s gaze.

The service staff lost their usual enthusiasm and generosity, a faint sense of alienation prevailed, as if being too friendly might lead to accusations of treason.

By the Conference Finals of the playoffs, it was no longer just a basketball game but a war between two cities. Portland people had once won this war in the Western Conference Finals, making Los Angeles vigilant.

Not to mention, that kid Gan Guoyang had won so many times in Los Angeles, from high school to college to the NBA. Like Lucifer on the court, he had dominated the City of Angels, instilling fear in Los Angeles fans.

The Lakers had prepared thoroughly, with Pat Riley forcing the players to watch footage in the video room of the season’s first game against the Trail Blazers and of Gan Guoyang’s reversal with six three-pointers, re-experiencing the anguish of being dominated by Ah Gan to motivate their spirit and desire to win.

On the night of the 11th, the entire Great Western Forum was charged with a heavy air of aggression, from fans to players, all tensed up to win the game.

Contrastingly, the Trail Blazers team was quite relaxed; making it to the Western Conference Finals was already exceeding expectations.

The players were young, and while they felt emotional about victory, defeat, and championships, they didn’t have deep obsessions.

The team headed into the game lightly equipped, and amidst the solemn and noisy atmosphere of the Great Western Forum, they seemed out of place; as a result, they were immediately struck hard by the Lakers at the start of the game.

In the first quarter, the Lakers used speed and physicality to pound the Trail Blazers with a 15:4 offensive surge, forcing Jack Ramsey to call two timeouts to make adjustments for his players.

The noise in the Great Western Forum had risen to at least double that of the regular season. Los Angeles fans, usually lax and indifferent, became wildly fanatical during crucial games.

Facing a team like the Lakers in the playoffs brings enormous pressure. Whether on offense or defense, they could ramp up the intensity to the max.

In the first quarter alone, the Trail Blazers made 5 turnovers, 4 of which the Lakers converted into fast breaks, making all the Trail Blazers extremely cautious.

This feeling of oppression was starkly different from when they played the Nuggets; the Nuggets team didn’t have this sense of playoff pressure, and by the fifth or sixth game, the Trail Blazers had actually taken control of the rhythm.

But the Lakers were different, their desire to win was so naked, without any concealment, and the lackluster play they showed during the regular season was completely gone.

He actively joined in on the fast breaks, slicing down the center, took a pass from Magic Johnson and finished with a one-handed slam, then vigorously shook his fists towards the audience after scoring.

Where was the 37-year-old veteran in all of this?

By halftime, the Lakers were leading 65:49, a full 16 points ahead of the Trail Blazers, which in the Great Western Forum was almost tantamount to announcing the Trail Blazers’ death sentence.

Gan Guoyang only scored 9 points in the half; he couldn’t concentrate on scoring the way he did in the semifinals against the Nuggets, as the Lakers’ offense was far too fierce.

Especially with the one-on-one pressure from Jabbar, he couldn’t just hand off the defense to his teammates in the end or spread the effort evenly, touching up here and there, and save his energy for offense.

This time, the Lakers didn’t avoid Gan Guoyang but instead launched full-force attacks at him, with Jabbar’s one-on-ones, Worthy’s drives, Magic Johnson’s charges, and Byron Scott’s onslaughts.

Under such a strong impact, with the Lakers’ almost frenzied offensive and defensive transitions and the suffocating half-court traps, Gan Guoyang managed to deliver 3 blocks, 2 steals, and snatch 7 rebounds on the defensive end by halftime, committing only 2 fouls.

During the halftime break, the other Trail Blazers were all in a daze, as if they had been steamed by high-temperature vapor, each of them lacking energy and unsure how to play the game.

In such adversity, Gan Guoyang simply encouraged his teammates to start with defense and then gradually start catching up on points from the third quarter. The Lakers seemed to have overdone it, responding to the Trail Blazers’ complete fold-back defense by missing several outside shots.

Jack Ramsey boldly used Steve Colter off the bench, as players like Valentine and Parkson were tightly guarded without any touch. The usually dull and obedient Colter suddenly erupted, scoring continuously in the third quarter.

Gan Guoyang provided steady offensive rebounds and was unyielding in the paint. As the Lakers’ attacking intensity waned, they suddenly found this rock hadn’t moved an inch, still firmly embedded under the basket.

In the third quarter, the substitute Colter scored 15 points, Gan Guoyang scored 11 points along with 5 offensive rebounds, and the Trail Blazers caught up by 10 points, entering the fourth quarter at 84:90.

The tenacity and willpower of the Trail Blazers were admirable. Most teams would have collapsed under the Lakers’ assault and the terrifying atmosphere, but Gan Guoyang was the backbone of the Trail Blazers.

As long as he didn’t give up, as long as he stood firm, the Trail Blazers could persist, continue to tussle with the opponent.

The Lakers, however, were too impatient, wanting to crush the Trail Blazers in one fell swoop and end the battle.

This mindset affected their performance; in the third quarter, they made a lot of mistakes.

The biggest mistake was blindly strengthening their defense, trying to smother the Trail Blazers with a full-court press.

Little did they expect Colter to withstand the pressure, committing no turnovers in the third quarter, while the intense defensive pressure led the Lakers to expose severe gaps. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

When the Trail Blazers scored easily after several backdoor cuts, especially when Gan Guoyang evaded the Lakers’ risky steal to drive into the paint for a one-handed jam, Riley’s cold sweat wouldn’t stop flowing.

In the fourth quarter, led by Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers’ perimeter shooting came alive, with Vandeweghe, Parkson, Drexler, and even Mychal Thompson hitting mid-range shots.

In a fast break, Gan Guoyang received a pass from Drexler, took a shot from a 45-degree angle on the left and hit a three-pointer, making the score 112:111. The Trail Blazers, having been pressured the entire game, finally surfaced from underwater and took a long breath!

Gan Guoyang raised his arms high after the basket, his expression as cold as a statue, his eyes flashing with a chilling sharpness that sent a shiver through all the fans in the arena.

This rookie, this Chinese player, was he already so terrifying, already unstoppable?

Sweat soaked Riley’s forehead as he thought to himself, the red alert really needed to be sounded.