The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 473 - 90 A Bad Feeling

Gan Guoyang took to the court, and Johnson and Worthy also re-entered the fray.

The Lakers’ backcourt featured Johnson and Cooper as partners, with Cooper starting to become the main force in helping defend against Guoyang.

Cooper had always been one of the league’s best defensive swingmen, often tasked with guarding Bird when facing the Celtics.

His arms were long, his speed fast, his hands aggressive, and his ability to steal was first-class, with a strong sense of how and when to double-team.

Most important though, was his character—he was a paranoid skeptic, constantly torturing himself.

He often suffered from delusions, such as once during an away game trip, when due to an ankle injury, Riley decided to bench him for a few games.

Before one game, Cooper told the traveling reporter Springer, "You’ve been good to me, and I want to let you in on something—I’m going to be traded."

Springer was shocked. As a beat reporter, he hadn’t heard any rumors or whispers—why would Cooper be traded?

Cooper vented to Springer, complaining about not being valued on the team, how he’d had enough, and that once he left the Lakers, he was going to come back to Los Angeles and kick the Lakers’ asses.

Then in that game, Cooper, with his foot injury improved, was sent onto the court by Riley and fully participated in the game. The supposed trade was purely his paranoia at work.

Afterwards, Cooper was of course embarrassed, but a person’s character doesn’t change. In the following years, he would often think he was done for and about to be shipped off.

Especially after losing to the Houston Rockets in the 1986 Western Conference semifinals, Cooper lay on the floor, face in his hands and in agony. No one took the loss harder than him; he felt as if the world was ending.

This trait kept him in a perpetual state of crisis, which he would combat by doubling his defensive efforts and determination on the court.

The best defenders on the NBA court are often a bit mentally troubled.

Before the game, Pat Riley gave Cooper his orders: as long as he was on the court, he absolutely could not allow Guoyang to easily receive the ball.

So as soon as Guoyang got onto the court, Cooper started to stick close to him throughout, ready to rush up and double-team at any sign of an attempt to pass him the ball.

Cooper’s double-teaming speed was faster than McDaniel’s, and his stealing was formidable, a skillful tast emphasizing technique and experience. Guoyang made a turnover when Cooper stole the ball and another pass to his teammate resulted in Drexler’s attempted lay-up missing the mark.

The Lakers scored on two consecutive counterattacks, turning the tables and putting the Trail Blazers in a disadvantageous position.

Then Vandeweghe hit a crucial three-pointer from the outside, bringing the score to 48:49 and narrowing the gap to only one point.

Worthy, on the offensive, drew a foul from Kossie, making one of two free throws, 48:50, with seven minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Guoyang went out to set a high screen for Porter and cut outside for a mid-range shot that missed; Cooper’s close defense on this shot was pivotal.

Turning around to grab the defensive rebound in the backcourt, the Lakers launched a counterattack, with Johnson delivering a beautiful no-look pass to Worthy, who made the layup!

48:52.

The Lakers knew that the key to stopping Guoyang from building a strong presence under the basket was speed—launching their offense immediately before Guoyang had a chance to get back to the paint.

That was also why James Worthy had always been such a headache for Guoyang—he was just too fast, and, of course, Magic Johnson’s passes were also lightning-fast.

To shake Cooper’s defense, Guoyang chose to receive the ball on the baseline, further out. With Cooper and Jabbar drawn too far outside, Kossie cut inside, where Guoyang fed him a neat pass, and Kossie made the layup successfully.

Guoyang was playing smart, not relying on brute strength. He knew that against the Lakers, he had to not only perform himself but also energize the entire team.

Tonight was his fourth assist.

However, after that successful shot by Kossie, Michael Cooper said something that he would regret to this day.

He called out to Guoyang, "Hey Sonny, are you only daring to pass now and not shoot yourself?"

Later Cooper couldn’t understand why he had said that; Riley had emphasized well before the game not to provoke Ah Gan.

This principle had been well maintained by the Lakers—they were just trying to play hard, gradually building their advantage.

Perhaps Cooper’s paranoia and combative nature made him unable to control himself, and he could not resist taunting Guoyang.

Incredulous, Guoyang said, "What did you say? I didn’t catch that, say it again."

Cooper saw no way out. He wasn’t Byron Scott—if it were Scott, he would’ve certainly said, "I said your pass just now was beautiful."

Cooper, steeling himself, repeated, "I said you only dare to pass but don’t dare to shoot yourself, right?"

Gently shaking his head, Guoyang responded, "Cooper, I’m giving you one minute to wash your face and cool down. Then we can talk."

At that moment, the Lakers initiated an attack, with Worthy once again, trying to power through Kossie at the low post. Gan Guoyang came over to help on defense, and Worthy passed the ball to Jabbar.

Jabbar was about to dunk when Gan Guoyang spun around and swatted Jabbar’s dunk away!

Gan Guoyang was playing one against two, and it seemed he had anticipated Worthy’s pass well in advance.

The Trail Blazers counterattacked, with Gan Guoyang rushing down fast, pushing through the middle like a tank, he caught Drexler’s pass and slammed it home with both hands!

Following closely, Gan Guoyang suddenly made a steal on defense, intercepting Johnson’s pass to Cooper, he dribbled on the counterattack, shoving Johnson aside and scored with a left-handed layup!

54:52, the Trail Blazers successfully took the lead.

The Lakers called for a timeout, and Gan Guoyang taunted Cooper, "What do you have to say now?"

Cooper was lost for words, and Gan Guoyang’s retaliation did not stop.

After the timeout, Gan Guoyang actively called for the ball at the low post, received the ball, turned and cut to the basket, drawing a foul from Jabbar.

The Lakers had height and strength in their low-post defense, but they lacked speed; both Jabbar and Duckworth couldn’t keep up with Gan Guoyang’s pace.

Making both free throws, Gan Guoyang had already scored 23 points, and there were still three minutes left in the second quarter.

Cooper was now full of regrets, why did he have to run his mouth? Normal defense would have been fine. Even if he couldn’t be a braggart like Byron, playing normally would have sufficed.

Now look, Gan Guoyang had suddenly exploded, and the Trail Blazers began to gain the upper hand.

The last person to dominate Cooper like this was Larry Bird—-and right now, he was at home with back pain, soaking in the bathtub to alleviate the pain.

Cooper tried to make up for it on the defensive end, pulling up to guard Gan Guoyang one on one, but Gan Guoyang used his height to pull up and shoot, hitting three straight shots!

Michael Cooper was stunned as Gan Guoyang scored 29 points in the half, single-handedly helping the Trail Blazers to suppress the Lakers’ incredibly strong offensive force.

In Salt Lake City, Karl Malone, who was watching the live broadcast of the game, couldn’t help but envy Gan Guoyang’s pull-up mid-range shot. He thought if he had such a mid-range game, how much more comfortable his offense would be.

At halftime, the Trail Blazers and the Lakers were tied at 67:62, with the Trail Blazers leading by 5 points.

Both teams had high offensive efficiency, but Gan Guoyang forcefully used his offense to pressure the entire Lakers team.

During the break, as both teams went back to rest, Gan Guoyang still didn’t let Cooper off the hook, "If you guys lose this game, blame it all on your damn mouth. Of course, I need to thank you. You reminded me that I could take on the offense myself. Thanks to you, motherfucker, you were really somewhat useful!"

Gan Guoyang was in a bad mood tonight, clearly the intense competition was putting everyone under high pressure, ready to explode at the slightest spark.

During the halftime break in the locker room, Pat Riley didn’t erupt in anger. He was seething, speaking in a low voice, "Sonny scored 29 points in the half, 29 points! Are you planning to let him score 60 in a game? Huh?"

Cooper was very conflicted and hesitant, wondering whether or not to tell Riley about the trash talk with Gan Guoyang.

He knew, with Riley’s temperament, he would definitely get a tongue-lashing, and might even be benched for the second half.

If they lost the series because of his words, wouldn’t he be traded in the summer?

After much thought, Cooper decided not to say anything, waiting to win this game before mentioning it.

But what if they didn’t win? Then he would keep it to himself forever.

That’s what Cooper thought, but unexpectedly Jabbar suddenly said, "Michael talked trash with Sonny, asking him why he doesn’t dare to play his own game."

A herd of metaphorical grass mud horses galloped through Cooper’s mind. Old man, you heard?

Not only did you hear, why reveal it in front of everyone?

Riley, who had been suppressing his anger, saw his face instantly turn from white to red after hearing this bit of news.

He glared at Cooper but managed to control his temper, as there was still half a game to play.

He gritted his teeth and asked Cooper, "Why did you talk trash to Ah Gan? Why?"

Cooper had no choice but to admit it, "I... I just wanted to hit him where it hurts."

Riley suppressed his anger and said, "I won’t ask you to apologize to Ah Gan. We are opponents; you’re supposed to attack him. But please do it the right way, not by provoking him with pointless trash talk, understand?"

Having said that, Riley looked at the door, feeling his urge to kick it growing stronger.

He had a bad premonition.