The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 474 - 91: A Hair’s Breadth

The Lakers played excellent offense tonight, but Gan Guoyang played even better.

Riley could be certain, based on the Lakers’ offense in the first half, that even the Celtics would have been behind by at least 15 points.

Yet, the Trail Blazers managed to lead by 5 points, Guoyang’s offensive prowess and the advanced nature of his playing style were headaches.

Riley was one of the few coaches who recognized that Guoyang’s playing style was different and ahead of others in the league.

As a center in the paint, Guoyang had been merging his inside and outside techniques better and better over the past two seasons.

In 1985, his style of play was somewhat like Moses Malone, a rather pure monster of the three-second area.

By 1987, he had become an unprecedented offensive kaleidoscope with no attacking technique foreign to him.

This made defending Guoyang a very, very difficult job; you could only hope to overpower him with your team’s collective talent.

In fact, Doug Moe’s "Ah Gan Dilution Method" in 1985 was the right strategy, which was to engage in a frenzied scoring battle, using high team scoring to dilute the prominence of Guoyang’s individual points.

The Lakers were now using this method, where every spot on the team was strong and could initiate the offense, to launch quick attacks, speed up the pace, and push up the score.

In the second half, the Lakers made some lineup adjustments, starting Michael Cooper in the second half and pairing him in the backcourt with Johnson.

Riley hoped that Cooper would make amends with continuous pressure on Guoyang on defense, not allowing him to score easily anymore.

The first ball of the third quarter went to Johnson in the low post; he backed down Drexler, turned around, and his jump shot was good.

This year, Johnson had really achieved offensive greatness; his shooting had improved tremendously, and his offense had become very versatile, already racking up 20 points and 8 assists.

Gan Guoyang received the ball on the wing, and the Lakers tried to triple-team him; Guoyang passed the ball inside, Thompson received it, turned around, and hit the jump shot.

Thompson had scored quite a few points tonight by capitalizing on Guoyang’s defensive gravity, and that was something the Lakers could live with.

AC Green tried to make a play but was met with an unmerciful block by Gan Guoyang; the Trail Blazers counterattacked, but Cooper successfully stole the ball.

He long-passed to the frontcourt, and AC Green went up again, only to have Guoyang block it from behind!

A collective sigh came from the Lakers’ fans on-site; why was scoring under the basket so difficult?

The Trail Blazers’ subsequent offense didn’t score either; Vandeweghe’s shot was disrupted, and the Lakers launched another fast break.

Guoyang retreated quickly on defense; as soon as he entered the three-second area, Johnson had to stop.

The two teams entered a scoring drought, with nearly three minutes going by without a point.

The score remained at 69:64, the 5-point gap unchanged, a situation unfavorable for the Lakers.

Johnson chose to attack again; this time, Guoyang switched to defend him. Johnson attempted a bounce pass inside but Guoyang kicked it out of bounds.

Kicking the ball was a violation, but the Lakers still had the possession, taking a throw-in with Guoyang still defending Johnson.

Johnson’s offense would now face the test of the league’s strongest defense.

If Guoyang could lock down Bird in the finals, he could certainly lock down Johnson.

Johnson tried a direct jump shot, but Guoyang blocked it!

He was Drexler, the league’s top shot-blocker.

As a big man, Guoyang’s 6-foot-10 height was just right.

He was not at a disadvantage defending inside, and his height meant he wasn’t too tall to bend low and defend the perimeter.

His evenly proportioned body was also ideal for defense, able to get low to guard smaller players.

Long arms and a wide, long, and thick upper body could withstand various impacts.

Had he been 7 feet tall, like Ewing with long legs and a high center of gravity, Johnson would have broken through this time.

After the successful block, Guoyang passed to Drexler, who was on the fast break, and Drexler’s gliding dunk was good!

The Trail Blazers broke the scoring drought first, taking a 7-point lead, and Pat Riley called a timeout.

The situation was turning increasingly dire, as the Trail Blazers intensified their defense at the start of the third quarter, with a noticeable increase in the intensity of their one-on-one defense.

The Trail Blazers’ offense was simple, revolving around Guoyang; his versatile one-on-ones provided a large margin of error for the team’s attacks.

Even if they missed a few times during the scoring drought, the Trail Blazers were not at all flustered, with the players not worried about the tactics failing, just feeling like it was a bad touch.

This was the role of a superstar center; someone would always cover for you.

Jabbar was once such a center, but he was now 40 years old.

Considering his stamina issues, Riley replaced him with Kevin Duckworth for a rest.

This was a risky substitution, but Riley had no choice—the Lakers had feared top centers who could overpower Jabbar throughout the ’80s.

This year, the Lakers were in great momentum; everyone but Jabbar had made significant progress, yet Jabbar could still be the game-changer on the court.

Coming back from the timeout, Guoyang saw Riley resting Jabbar and called out to Riley, "You’ll regret letting Karim rest!"

Gan Guoyang’s words put immense pressure on Riley, and sure enough, Duckworth’s inside catch and layup was blocked by Gan Guoyang!

His shot-blocking instinct was surprisingly good; most importantly, the attackers couldn’t push Guoyang away with their strength, which led to the blocks.

The Trail Blazers counterattacked; this time, Porter didn’t rush to push the fast break. They spread out, with Guoyang receiving the ball in the right low post to go one-on-one, and Cooper came from afar to help defend.

But it was too late; Guoyang did a drop step, turned, and went strong to the basket for a layup that didn’t go in, but he boxed out to get the offensive rebound and went back up!

He scored, drew the foul from Duckworth, and was going to take an additional free-throw!

Giving Guoyang free throws was like giving away points; he made the extra shot, bringing his total to 32 points.

Courtside Jack Nicholson held his head in his hands, feeling like the game was slipping away again!

They had played so well in the first half, yet here they were, still trailing in the third quarter by 72:64, now down by 8 points.

Both teams entered a fierce positional battle, with Worthy and Johnson still scoring steadily, closing the gap to just 3 points.

Every time it came to this point, Gan Guoyang would step up. The Trail Blazers, utilizing isolation plays and feeding the ball to Gan Guoyang, would always find a way to get the ball into the basket.

His scoring surged from 32 points all the way to 40 points. These 8 points were lethal, each scored just as the Lakers were trying to reverse the situation.

Even though Riley sent in Jabbar, it was too late. Gan Guoyang’s offense had found its rhythm and was unstoppable.

The sweat completely soaked through Gan Guoyang’s jersey. At the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers led 94:88, still ahead of the Lakers by 6 points.

Gan Guoyang scored 42 points in three quarters, and CBS’s cameras frequently focused on him as he sat on the bench, drinking water.

His expression was as resolute as steel, and his exceptional stamina paired with his dominant performance on both ends of the floor left Los Angeles fans feeling fearful.

Besides scoring, he also blocked 8 shots in three quarters, creating a no-fly zone under the basket.

Of course, despite such an explosive performance from Gan Guoyang, the Trail Blazers were only ahead by 6 points.

That’s because the Lakers were also playing excellently, it’s just that at critical moments, they were held in check by Gan Guoyang.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Gan Guoyang assisted Drexler, who cut to the basket, for a gliding underhand layup.

96:88, the Trail Blazers extended the lead to 8 points, and the hearts of the fans in the arena sank.

At that moment, Johnson passed the ball to Michael Cooper on the wing, who shot a three-pointer and scored.

Then, Jabbar solidly defended against Gan Guoyang’s offense, and on the counterattack, Johnson himself launched and scored a three-pointer.

It hit the mark too!

The gap was quickly reduced to 2 points, 96:94.

Jack Ramsay immediately called a timeout.

Just one missed offense from the Trail Blazers, and the Lakers immediately seized the opportunity, quickly narrowing the score with two three-pointers.

The Lakers were one of the teams with the most three-point attempts during the playoffs, and their shooting percentage was quite good too.

Johnson seldom shot threes during regular play, but at this moment he displayed the qualities of a superstar.

In crucial moments, he was able to deliver an extraordinary performance, to break through and surpass himself.

After the timeout, the ball was again passed to Gan Guoyang, and this time the Lakers triple-teamed him. Guoyang quickly passed the ball to Vandeweghe.

Vandeweghe’s drive down the middle was blocked by Jabbar. The Lakers counterattacked, Johnson pushed the fast break, with Worthy leading the charge, and Michael Cooper covering the back, pinning down Gan Guoyang to prevent him from getting back on defense.

Worthy caught the ball and performed a Statue-of-Liberty style one-armed dunk, scoring, 96:96, the teams were tied!

The Great Western Forum erupted into cheers, with Worthy and Johnson pumping fists and high-fiving.

This defensive setup by the Lakers was very successful.

Riley didn’t have Jabbar join in on the double-team against Gan Guoyang anymore. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Instead, he had Cooper, Green, and Worthy - two to stick close and one to block nearby.

Guan Guoyang passed to Vandeweghe, and there was nothing wrong with that pass, and Vandeweghe’s attack on the basket wasn’t a problem either.

But Cheche’s attempt to challenge Jabbar failed, getting his shot blocked by the veteran Sky Hook.

In the fast break, the Lakers displayed excellent teamwork. Two players attacked, one blocked, not allowing Guoyang to quickly follow down the court.

The Lakers hit the Trail Blazers with an 8:0 run, tying the score.

However, in the next possession, Gan Guoyang received a pass from Drexler at the top of the arc and rapidly took a mid-range jump shot that went in.

Regaining the lead, the once noisy Great Western Forum suddenly quieted down a bit, but the struggle between the teams continued.

Neither side was likely to knock out their opponent in one hit. As time passed, the game reached its most critical moments.

The score went from 98:96, to a tie at 98:98, then kept on alternating upwards, reaching a tie at 110:110.

Gan Guoyang’s score climbed to 48 points, but the Trail Blazers didn’t rely solely on Gan Guoyang. Vandeweghe provided crucial support at key moments,

His three-pointer and a left-handed dunk after a drive were pivotal.

His synergy with Gan Guoyang and Drexler was excellent, with the decision to pass or attack well-calibrated.

His strong physique also meant he didn’t lose out too much on defense - Vandeweghe’s average rebounds this season reached a career-high of 6 per game.

Previously his highest was an average of 5.3 rebounds in his rookie season, which then gradually declined to 2 or 3 rebounds per game.

In an NBA court, even a 2-meter-tall trash bin would have 2 or 3 balls fall in per game - that was the level of Vandeweghe’s rebounding.

This season, he worked hard to improve his muscles and three-point shooting. He became more functional, but also more useful.

His performance compensated for the loss of Walton due to injury, as the Trail Blazers could no longer play with three big men. Also, having him on the court in crucial moments made things easier for Guanyang inside.

With the final minute of the game left, Worthy got the ball at the elbow, Drexler came over to double-team, Worthy passed the ball to Johnson at the top, and Johnson passed it down low.

Cooper had an opportunity for a three-pointer, but his shot was blocked by a lunging Porter!

Porter’s block was effective - after blocking the shot, he also secured possession. The Lakers immediately pressed full court for a quick steal.

Gan Guoyang came to help, received the ball, turned, and passed to Vandeweghe, who was fast breaking down the court – the Lakers’ aggressive press left their backcourt unguarded.

Vandeweghe, receiving the ball on the fast break, dunked with his left hand! 112:110, the Trail Blazers took back the lead, and the Lakers called a timeout.

Porter, Gan Guoyang, and Vandeweghe high-fived, having executed a beautiful defensive play and counterattack.

Porter held up his finger and said, "I touched it, just a little bit, but luckily, I touched it."

The outcome hung in the balance by the slimmest of margins.