The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 374 - 106 Walton! Walton! Walton!

Walton’s injury disrupted the Trail Blazers’ rhythm, and Jack Ramsay called a timeout.

With one corner of the "Three Towers" gone, they were no longer the "Three Towers." If only Mychal Thompson was left in the paint, they definitely couldn’t hold the fort.

Luckily, the Trail Blazers still had the veteran Jones on the bench. It must be said that the Blazers’ summer signings were quite correct and foresighted.

If it were the same as last season, with only Gan Guoyang and Thompson in the paint, they might not have even made it through the Western Conference Finals.

However, Jones had slimmed down somewhat, and his rim protection was nowhere near Walton’s. Ramsay hesitated, questioning whether to stick with the "Three Towers."

Or should he move Gan Guoyang back to the center position and give the small forward spot to Vandeweghe or Jerome Kossie?

But Vandeweghe had hardly played tonight; his defensive weaknesses were too great, and with the intensity of the game at this point, he simply couldn’t keep up.

Kossie had the strength to keep up, but he was still young and lacked experience. Whether or not he could withstand Bird’s test was really hard to say.

Indecisive, Gan Guoyang spoke up, "Let Jones play; we can let go of the inside defense for a while, but we absolutely cannot let Larry Bird get away. If there’s a problem on defense, we’ll try to make up for it on offense."

Gan Guoyang had a clear plan. He knew that they couldn’t afford to let Bird get away. Once Bird got going on offense, it would be disastrous for the Trail Blazers’ defense.

Therefore, Gan Guoyang must match up with Bird, marking him tightly, even if it meant temporarily relaxing their rim defense.

Ramsay agreed with Gan Guoyang’s idea, substituting Jones for Bill Walton, and continued with the "Three Towers" lineup.

The game continued, and the Celtics seized the opportunity of Walton’s absence to aggressively attack the Trail Blazers’ paint.

Kevin McHale scored two consecutive baskets, then joined Bird in double-teaming Gan Guoyang on defense.

The Celtics no longer cared about illegal defense; they used a zone trap strategy on defense, preemptively double-teaming Gan Guoyang sneakily.

The referees generally turned a blind eye at this point, only calling illegal defense if it was too excessive.

The Celtics’ triple team was meant to prevent Gan Guoyang from getting the ball and shooting.

Without Walton to handle and distribute the ball at the high post, the Trail Blazers’ offensive sets immediately became less fluid.

The ball had to go to Drexler and Jim Paxson to handle—for the sake of offense and coordination, Ramsay had no choice but to replace Porter with Paxson.

Paxson indeed had running and shooting ability and was more experienced, but his defense was also a problem. With the Trail Blazers’ offensive misfires, Dennis Johnson posted up Paxson aggressively and scored a basket inside. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The Celtics’ defense was merciless, with three players crowding around Gan Guoyang. Finally, Jack Madden couldn’t stand it any longer and called another illegal defense.

But the Celtics didn’t care. Even after Gan Guoyang made the technical free throw, they defended the same way, just standing slightly further back to not be so obvious.

Guarding Gan Guoyang were McHale and The Johnsons, with Bird standing to the side, dealing with Thompson. Bird had no problem defending Thompson.

Gan Guoyang received the ball and before he could even turn around, three players surrounded him. Passing the ball to the outside, Paxson took and hit a long shot!

Finally, a basket went in, and the Memorial Coliseum, which had been quiet for a while, erupted once more, but anxiety still loomed over the fans.

By the end of the third quarter, the Celtics had been chasing, and the score was now 72:79, with the Celtics trailing by just 7 points.

After Walton went off injured, the Trail Blazers scored only 11 points, with Gan Guoyang scoring just 3 points in the triple team, totaling 7 points for the third quarter.

By normal star standards, scoring 7 points in the third quarter was decent—28 points over four quarters. But for Gan Guoyang, the "King of the Third Quarter," 7 points were still too few.

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang still firmly locked down Bird on defense. Bird failed to score in the third, going 0 for 4 with no free throws and remaining at a total of 8 points.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, Bird walked to the sidelines and said to Gan Guoyang, "You’ve made up your mind not to let me score in double figures, even if the inside is left open?"

Gan Guoyang replied directly, "Yes, I’m determined to lock you down tonight."

Bird said with a smile, "You lock me down, but I will get the game victory."

"We’ll see who has the last laugh. We’re currently at 38:8."

Gan Guoyang had scored 38 points in three quarters, evidently aiming for over 40 points.

Bird couldn’t catch up, and the words "38:8" once again stabbed at his heart.

Indeed, boomerangs really hurt when they hit, and Bird clenched his fists, holding back.

Although Bird really wanted to rush up and fight with Gan Guoyang—getting both of them ejected would certainly favor the Celtics.

The Trail Blazers could still play without Walton, but without Gan Guoyang, they would truly collapse.

And Bird...tonight, Bird felt like a third option.

But Bird’s dignity and pride would not allow him to do so.

If he really did that, first, it would be a hollow victory;

second, he would afterward be slandered as "trading a low-grade horse for a high-grade horse", becoming that 8-points-inferior horse, which was a loss of face he couldn’t afford;

and third, he feared that fighting Gan Guoyang in the finals might leave him paralyzed, his old waist and damaged back couldn’t withstand such a torment.

Bird already felt his back aching faintly; he hadn’t rested for even a minute tonight.

As long as Gan Guoyang was not benched, K.C. Jones wouldn’t allow him to rest either; it was all to keep Gan Guoyang in check.

Bird’s stamina was excellent, but his body parts were somewhat worse for wear.

At this point in the series, both teams were gradually reaching their limits physically and mentally.

Just as the Trail Blazers were about to inbound the ball, starting the fourth quarter, a cheer emanated from the players’ tunnel.

A giant emerged from the shadows; Bill Walton appeared courtside.

The seated fans all stood up, craning their necks in his direction.

Someone started it off, shouting, "Walton! Walton!"

Gradually, that affectionate chant spread throughout the stadium, "Walton! Walton! Walton!"

Bill Walton jogged to the bench and said to Jack Ramsay, "Coach, put me in later."

Ramsay looked at Walton in surprise and asked, "Are you okay? Is your ankle not injured?"

Walton said, "No, I’ve had a painkilling injection, I want to play."

Ramsay’s face changed; the painful memories of 1978 flooded back, and he said, "No no, Bill, you can’t do this. Who allowed you to have a painkilling injection? We’ve made that mistake once before, who, who injected you!"

Walton said, "I had Calvin give me the injection, it’s not his fault, I need to play."

Ramsay looked helpless and asked, "Why do you have to do this? You’ve suffered so much, why still do it?"

Walton lifted his head, looking around as the chants of "Walton" continued, growing louder, reverberating to the heavens.

Outside the Memorial Coliseum, on the plaza, fans who heard through TV and radio that Walton had returned to the court also started loudly shouting his name.

The entire city of Portland, the whole of Oregon, was chanting his name.

"That’s why, Jack, I must play," Walton said, tears now in his eyes.

Ramsay was stunned; he knew he could no longer prevent Walton from returning to the court; these years had indeed brought Walton a great deal of pain.

Eight years, dozens of surgeries, again and again, he fell, stood up, underwent surgery, recovered, fell again, and rose again; most people would have broken after one or two times.

Yet Walton never gave up hope of returning to the court; his love for basketball had surpassed the physical pain and the torment to his soul; he just wanted to stand on this court.

Ramsay still remembered when Walton came back, the team doctor’s physical examination suggested he could just go ahead and get a disability certificate, but Ramsay pulled him out of the medical room, overruling everyone’s objections that Walton could play.

This season, Ramsay carefully managed Walton’s playing time, Calvin took great care of his body after the games, and Walton had the healthiest season of his career. Wasn’t everything done for this final moment?

On the field, the Trail Blazers were also inspired by Walton; facing the Celtics’ triple-team, Gan Guoyang didn’t shrink back but used his dominant strength to force his way to the basket, rising up for a two-handed slam!

The reinforced rim of the Memorial Coliseum wobbled, McHale was knocked flying out of bounds, and Jack Madden called a defensive foul against the Celtics; Gan Guoyang’s shot was in and there was a bonus free throw!

The Memorial Coliseum reached its climax tonight; Walton took off his warm-up jacket, straightened his jersey, and reentered the game!

"Walton! Walton! Walton!"

The chanting did not stop.

Many old fans present at the game were moved to tears.

Many of them had once hated Walton, lashing out with harsh words, feeling that Walton had betrayed Portland.

After all, Portland people truly loved Walton very much, but the deeper the love, the deeper the hate.

At that moment, all the past hatred was transformed into love, bursting forth in the Memorial Coliseum.

Bill Schonely shouted, "Bill Walton, once our king, has returned to the finals! Walton!"