The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 377 - 109 Unshakable

Upon arrival at Boston Airport, the desolation here starkly contrasted with the bustling Portland Airport.

What was impressive was that the previous slogans attacking the Portland Trail Blazers had all vanished.

The airport staff, upon seeing the Trail Blazers players, all behaved with a sense of awe, their demeanor carried a hint of respect.

This time, the team’s hotel was booked by the Trail Blazers themselves, opting for the Sheraton Hotel on the South Bank, close to the Boston Garden.

From there, it was just a five-minute drive to the Boston Garden, no longer having to endure the city’s evening rush hour congestion.

Upon arrival by car, the hotel staff were much more respectful, gone was their prior indifference and arrogance.

Jack Ramsey said, "Indeed, only fists and victory can teach people humility and manners."

However, the Bostonians’ arrogance was merely somewhat restrained, as on the night the Trail Blazers checked in, at 3 A.M, the fire alarm on their floor went off loudly.

The Trail Blazers players, having had the same experience in Milwaukee, were quite calm. Awakened by the noise, they visited each other’s rooms, and Ramsay had the hotel manager bring over some beer, gathering in small groups to drink and chat.

Under the influence of alcohol, the players’ tense mood further relaxed, and then they went back to their rooms to rest, to sleep.

Such tricks no longer had any effect on the Trail Blazers players; instead, it only made them further despise the Bostonians.

As Gan Guoyang said, only the cowardly, timid, and those who can’t accept defeat would resort to such underhanded tactics against an away team.

The Bostonians had reached the point where they couldn’t afford to lose; last season, they were defeated by the Lakers at the Boston Garden, losing the championship, and thus their history of never losing the finals to the Lakers was broken.

This year the Celtics’ record of 68 wins and 14 losses swept through the league, and everyone was looking forward to a championship trophy, but they were once again pushed to the brink of the cliff. How could they not be afraid?

On June 12th, during the day, given everyone had not slept well the night before, Jack Ramsey decided to give them the day off, to stay in the hotel.

The Sheraton’s facilities were much better than the previous Hyatt Regency Cambridge, with a brand-new gym and swimming pool. The players swam a bit, did some strength training, just to maintain their condition.

Adelman found Jack Ramsey and said he wanted to talk about the starting lineup for game six, and the issues with player rotation.

But Ramsay told Adelman, "Didn’t we discuss this on the plane already, to let Ah Gan return to the starting center position, and let Jerome Kossie play the starting small forward?"

Adelman responded, "That’s true, but I feel..."

Ramsay cut him off, "At this stage of the series, the coach’s role is already very small, the players’ mood and state are what’s most important. Some things are already destined; too much interference can bring adverse results. Right now, the coach is no longer the main character. Trust our players, trust Ah Gan."

In Ramsay’s view, playing through a full season to the finals was like a novel reaching its conclusion.

When the season started, when the novel began, the coach was like the author with the pen, setting the characters’ profiles, planting the seeds of the story, with everything advancing under his command.

By the end of the season, as the finals approached and the novel neared its end, the characters penned by the author had developed their own souls and destinies, beyond the complete control and influence of the author (coach).

If the author (coach) forcibly twisted the plot, it would only cause the novel’s logic to collapse completely, bringing the team’s momentum to a halting stop.

What Ramsay could do was to let things take their course, to not make mistakes, to not fool around, to give the players space to perform, to let them decide their fate that was destined to arrive.

In the 1977 finals, by the fifth and sixth games, that’s what Ramsay did, letting them play to their heart’s content, strut their stuff to their heart’s content.

In the end, they created a miracle, and Ramsay believed that this time, without Walton, Gan Guoyang would not be worse than Walton, but do even better.

In the early morning of June 13th, the fire alarm in the hotel did not ring again. Perhaps the hotel’s insiders realized that this would not affect the Trail Blazers and thus stopped such futile efforts.

The Trail Blazers players had a good night’s sleep, recharged their strength, and took the bus to a Greek academy’s gym in the afternoon, where they had an hour of shooting practice and tactical maneuvering exercises.

Ramsay held a brief tactical preparation meeting, emphasizing some details in the game, including reducing turnovers, fewer fouls on screens, and some good defensive habits, and so on.

These were all well-trodden subjects, a reminder to the players without much fuss before ending the training, and then everyone headed back to the Sheraton Hotel together.

When it was time to head to the Boston Garden, the team boarded the bus, and Gan Guoyang suddenly saw Gan Youwei seated on board.

"Ah? Dad, you... when did you get here?"

"I just arrived this afternoon. Mr. Buckwalter tied me up and brought me here, saying that I should come watch your game and cheer you on,"

"What? They’ve kidnapped you again? Didn’t you say that the shop was busy, and you were going to go back after watching one game?"

"There’s no helping it. My son is playing here; I had to come."

During the third game of the finals, You Wei visited Portland to watch a game, then complained that the venue was too noisy and hurt his ears. Plus, with the shop being busy, he went back to San Francisco.

Previously, during Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers had also invited You Wei to the arena to root for Guoyang and boost his morale.

"This team, really, they’ll kidnap the key player’s family to hold as hostages just to win... Thank you, Buck!"

Buckwalter didn’t understand the conversation between the two. He had invited You Wei out of kindness, hoping to give Guoyang strength, and at the same time, have the father witness his son climbing to the peak.

When Guoyang said ’thank you,’ Buckwalter smirked at You Wei, who then turned to Guoyang, "Guoyang, could you get me some earplugs for when I watch the game? My ears can’t take it."

By six o’clock, the entire team had arrived at Boston Garden. Their mood was vastly different from a week ago.

This was a disadvantage of the 2-3-2 format; staying too long on the road in between could lead to a great shift in the dynamic of the series.

Especially for the home team, their initial momentum might have already been sapped away by the long triple away games, returning to the home court feeling like a world away.

On the contrary, the away team appeared rejuvenated. The stifling heat and humidity of Boston Garden, the unpleasant locker room conditions, were no longer pain and torment but rather a means of tempering and a touch of frost.

In the visitors’ locker room of the Trail Blazers, an optimistic and positive atmosphere was passing among everyone.

Guoyang began his famous speech "I only brought enough clothes for three days, and after today’s game, I’ll be shirtless—I won’t have anything to wear! So please, put in a good effort tonight and win this one, so I don’t have to go home naked!"

Laughter erupted in the locker room, void of any pre-game tension.

Because everyone knew deep down that as long as Ah Gan was there, they would grab the victory.

This concept gradually took root in the hearts of every player and staffer of the Trail Blazers.

It was extremely important for boosting everyone’s confidence.

Eastern Time seven o’clock, the players hit the court, and the game was about to begin.

Although Guoyang was very confident in front of his teammates, as the game drew near, he still offered the most sincere prayer for divine blessing.

"May the Bodhisattva bless us, let everyone have a good shooting night and not miss every shot..."

He took a deep breath. After the opening ceremony concluded, the game started.

Boston Garden was as crazy as ever, with fans bringing many banners and models trying to insult and distract Trail Blazers’ players.

But the Trail Blazers no longer cared. The distractions outside the court couldn’t shake them in the slightest; everyone was focused solely on one belief: to win this game and take the championship.

Walton couldn’t play because of an ankle injury, but he insisted on wearing his tracksuit and sitting courtside. He’d done plenty of prep work before the game, ready to step in for even a minute if needed without hesitation.

The Trail Blazers’ starters were Gan Guoyang, Thompson, Jerome Kossie, Drexler, and Terry Porter.

Vandeweghe had been essentially benched since Game 2 due to defensive issues, but he had no complaints.

In the last game, he wasn’t in the starting lineup either, replaced by Kossie. Ramsey told Vandeweghe that when needed, he had to step up and do his job.

The Celtics kept their star-studded starting lineup, but as Little Spo had said, Parish and McHale looked worn out.

To keep up with Guoyang, the workhorse of the team, both had almost no rest during the game, with Parish averaging over 45 minutes on the court.

When Parish stood at center court and saw Guoyang looking energetic, ready to grind it out for 48 minutes at full health, the veteran felt on the verge of collapse. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The ball soared into the air; Parish was a beat slow, and Guoyang was the first to touch it. The sixth game of the Finals had begun.